Esports at UCLA Offical Member of Pacific Alliance of Collegiate Gamers

In an effort to increase the popularity of college esports, eleven PAC-12 universities have come together to form the Pacific Alliance of Collegiate Gamers. PACG is organizing semester long tournaments in esports, including Overwatch and League of Legends in the vein of its namesake. The league offers structured play, content creation, as well as stream and scheduling for participating teams.

PACG tournaments will begin in its spring season in the middle of February and end with the conference championship tournament in April. Tournaments will feature teams from universities such as UCLA, USC, Oregon State University, and Stanford.

Although the establishment of PACG will help collegiate esports grow, the unofficial and unsponsored organization faces many challenges since universities do not recognize esports as an official sports league.

“Student esports groups all across the country are in great need of support from universities that may not understand what they are trying to accomplish,” said Jack Callahan, PACG Co-Commissioner and student leader from University of Colorado-Boulder, in a press release. This movement may grant aspiring esports athletes the opportunity to be recognized and convince schools to develop varsity esport programs.

UCLA Overwatch Premiere will compete in the upcoming PACG tournament. The team will feature a combination of veterans who have played previous collegiate esports tournaments, such as the Collegiate Starleague, and new players that were carefully picked by team managers. Following the departure of coach-player Harsha Bandi to the San Francisco Shock, UCLA Premiere looked to it's Junior Varsity division to fill the void. With the addition of JV players Gavino Marquez and Jasper Mok, UCLA Premiere features:

Brad “raxa” Jiang - DPS

Brian “Pip” Sou - DPS

Alexander “sireku” Gonzalez - Off-tank

Jasper “Juggernaut” Mok - Flex

William “Tsang” Tsang - Support

Gavino “LTsoxs” Marquez - Flex

In the last Overwatch competitive season, the team did not reach its full potential because of management and personnel problems. The team had poor team coordination despite each player’s high individual skill.

The team will enter PACG with better team coordination due to a more structured scrim schedule. With new manager and support player Tsang, UCLA Premiere enters the tournament with a new focus. Stay tuned to the official Esports at UCLA website for updates and for the game schedule. UCLA Overwatch Premiere debuted last night against Stanford, taking their first win in the inaugural PACG season.

UCLA League of Legends Junior Varsity team will also be participating in the PACG tournament. The JV team currently has yet to lose a single game, holding a record of 5-0 in the CSL's JV league play and going 10-0 in games in that span.

A roster of both new and returning players has enough experience to feel confident going into PACG. Sophomore top laner Nathan “Rebel Riven” March boasts an amazing 6.7 KDA and 60% kill participation. Additionally, Freshman AD carry Junwei “OmaeWaMoShinderu” He has the lowest average deaths per game, at 1.6, while dealing over 600 damage per minute and averaging 8 kills per game and a 7.5 KDA.

UCLA League of Legends JV will play their first PACG match against the University of Arizona on Feb 21.

#overwatch #league #leagueoflegends #pacg