USC ESPORTS WRAP-UP #1
By: Nikita Selene Xue
Weekends on the USC campus are typically quite calm, but in the main quad, by Traveller the Horse, USC Esports have been working all day. This past weekend was our Media Day, where all of the staff, players, and members of the 2026–2027 cohort gathered to take headshots and team photos.
During all the hubbub, there are moments of peace, where the new executive board and the retired seniors coming around to help out can see the fruition of their efforts. I managed to ask a few of them their opinions for the upcoming semester.
“I’m feeling optimistic about the new [executive] board,” Vivian “blackparadex” Huang, the ex-Vice President of the org, tells me. All past members of USC Esports, the e-board have been involved with the community for a while. “...All of them are experienced and good at what they do. We had to do a lot of rebuilding last year… we navigated a lot of problems together, so we have a good feeling and grasp of how to problem solve certain things.”
Media Director Emma Kate “emmenome” Hamlin is one of our photographers today, and she’s feeling really good about the turnout for Media Day. “I feel like the past couple years with USC Esports has been kind of inconsistent; we’ve kinda been worried about if we were gonna have another semester,” she confides. “So I’m really loving the enthusiasm we’ve gotten from our e-board… and seeing all of these people show up for Media Day is always great, seeing our players be involved. I’m feeling very positive and I’m excited for what is to come.”
“I think this new class, this new semester, is like a boost of enthusiasm,” Jonathan Ho, another photographer, adds.
On the teams side of things, a lot of changes have happened. With a new year comes new players, evolving teams, and bigger communities. Alivia “Liv” Alva, the manager for USC Esport’s League of Legends teams, has a lot on her plate. “Luckily, I do have some help. You know, there’s all of our dedicated JV and Academy managers, although we all help out around the place.”
With three League teams in the division, there are lots of new faces this year. Liv is optimistic about all of it. “[Our new players have] been working really hard together… Their dedication’s really good to see. The enthusiasm’s awesome, and I’m hoping we can transfer that into some results that’ll make everyone happy.”
Arielle “Ezzy” Choi, the manager of the Marvel Rivals team and founder of the division, also told me their thoughts on the new semester. This is the start of Marvel Rivals’ second competitive season, so they’re relatively new as far as teams go.
“The Marvel Rivals program has gone so much further than I initially had thought it would,” they say. “A lot of our teams focus very competitively, and… [I wanted to focus on building] up our casual community.”
This goal has definitely been achieved, and it’s looking like it’ll grow even more in this new season. “We have a couple of official Marvel Rivals moderators in our server, we have pro-players, [and] we have so many casual players. We connect with so many different schools, so this has kind of grown into something bigger than just a competitive team.”
All in all, the future of USC Esports is looking bright. A Teemo hat gets passed around for the League players, the Marvel Rivals managers pose as the Fantastic Four, and bonding activities come in the form of making TikToks and other short-form content. The enthusiasm is tangible. Later this week, teams will be doing placements for NECC, the National Esports Collegiate Conference, so the day of bonding is a great start for the year.
