Run-down of Collegiate Starleague Play for 2017-2018: League of Legends, CS:GO, and DotA 2
- Alan Nguyen, Vincent Tay, Sunny Yen
- Aug 25, 2017
- 4 min read
League of Legends:
UCLA has announced its participation in the 2018 uLoL Campus Series, the largest collegiate League of Legends tournament in North America. The UCLA team will compete with some of the best collegiate League of Legends players for scholarship money and the chance to win the 2018 College Championship.
Hosted by the Collegiate Starleague (CSL) in conjunction with Riot Games, the 2018 uLoL Campus Series begins with an unofficial preseason starting in Fall 2017. From October 7th to November 25th, the preseason will feature weekly scrimmages where school teams will face off against one another. With the results of these matches not affecting future ranking or seeding, the preseason offers the opportunity for college teams to gain valuable practice time, try out different players, and set their final rosters before the start of the regular season. UCLA League of Legends applications open September 1st! We will be holding "rolling tryouts", utilizing the Fall quarter to try out different roster combinations before officially locking the rosters a few weeks before Winter Break.
The official season of the uLoL Campus Series will commence starting in 2018. The previous iteration of the tournament featured hundreds of colleges competing in a round-robin style regular season, with the top 8 teams moving onto the postseason. Currently, the reigning college champion is Maryville University, who won the 2017 College Championship by defeating the University of Toronto in a best-of-five match held at the LCS Battle Arena in Los Angeles.
The CSL will also run year-long Division 2 and Division 3 leagues beginning in October. Product prizes will be offered for the top Division 2 teams, while the Division 3 league is solely for less-competitive players who are ranked Gold or below.
You can catch the UCLA LoL team during the tournament on the Collegiate Starleague Twitch Channel. Match dates, prize details, and tournament structure are expected to be announced at a later date.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
One of the longest running tournaments in the College scene next to Starcraft and DotA 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive returns for its 4th season in the 2017-2018 school year. Last year, the UCLA CS: GO tore through the regular season, Going undefeated in both Winter and Spring, UCLA reached the final four in the nation, playing in the semifinals live in Toronto, Canada and taking home $4,000 USD.
This year, Collegiate Starleague is handing out a $30,000 USD scholarship prize pool, with the first place team taking home $10,000. Teams will play 1-2 matches a week in group stages beginning October 7th with a break for Winter occurring between November 25th and January 13th. Play will then resume and culminate in playoffs in March, with the top 4 teams playing live at an as-yet-to-be-announced location.
Applications for the CS: GO team and all other titles release September 1st! We will be holding "rolling tryouts" for the Fall Quarter. Anyone can apply to play at any time during the Fall, and we will lock the final roster before Winter break and continue with that roster for the rest of the school year.
You can catch our UCLA CS:GO team, returning nearly a full roster from the previous top 4 season, on select streams on the Collegiate Starleague Twitch Channel. To read more information on prizing breakdown and schedules, head on over to the CSL press release.
DotA 2
DotA 2 returns to the Collegiate Starleague once again for the 2017/2018 season! Boasting a whopping $50,000 USD prize pool last season, the year long gaming league is set to attract top collegiate teams from across the region.
DotA 2 is an intense strategy game in which 5 players each control a hero and battle to destroy the opponent’s base. With the conclusion of the world’s biggest e-sports tournament, The International 2017, DotA 2 garnering more attention than ever before. With a prize pool of close to 25 million USD, it’s hardly a surprise. Like The International, teams participating in CSL will play best-of-threes in round robin groups and the top teams, seeded by ranking, will advance to the playoffs. The playoffs feature a single elimination bracket which will also be played in best-of-threes. The game mode will be Captains Mode where captains of each team can pick and ban heroes to be used in the game.
UCLA DotA 2 player applications release September 1st! As DotA 2 is an independent team under Esports @UCLA, tryouts and team selection will be handled by Joey "leafeator" Thimian, the manager of the UCLA DotA 2 team for over 3 years. UCLA will only be fielding a premiere team for the school year.
You can catch our UCLA DotA 2 team on select broadcasts every Tuesday and Thursday on the CSL Twitch Channel. All current college students are welcome to register. Teams must be comprised of players from the same school and players are required to be in a reasonably good academic standing. For more information on rules and eligibility, be sure to check out the CSL Press Release.
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