USC ESPORTS WEEKLY WRAP UP #4

By: Nikita Selene Xue

With the school year in full swing, the teams at USC Esports has been booked and busy. This past weekend, USC Esports’ League of Legends team participated in a LAN tournament at Long Beach City College. This was their first LAN tournament of the semester, but hopefully, lots more are to come. 

Because esports is a community held online first and foremost, it’s difficult to get in-person tournaments gathered. Team manager Alivia “Liv” Alva tells me, “Playing in in-person tournaments is completely different from holding those same matches online. I'm glad that players from all three of our teams have been able to get that experience ahead of the LAN tournaments at USC, like E-Conquest and Games Expo.” 

As for the event itself, USC Esports sent two teams: Varsity and Academy. Although neither team came home with the gold, Varsity made it to finals—losing 2–0—and Academy got the semis, placing third overall. Both teams featured entirely new rosters excepting Geneho “GJKINGS” Hong, who was on the League of Legends coaching team but filled in for one of the players unable to make it during the event, so it’s especially important they get practice with in-person ornaments.

Later this semester, the League team is anxiously awaiting E-Conquest, which is USC Esports and UCLA Esports’ annual LAN tournament. Held during the USC-UCLA Conquest week, it will be coming up this November. As far as other LAN tournaments go, USC Esports’ Valorant team is hosting their first-ever Coliseum Cup tournament on the 17th, which is being hosted at the Newegg Gamer Zone and is free for all USC students. Be sure to check it out!