There’s no denying that eSports are on the rise, and with that rise comes a multitude of outlets and competitions for fans to consume and enjoy. With so many options to choose from it can be hard to identify ones of high quality, which is why I want to take a minute to highlight one of my favorite eSports organizers: Super League Gaming.
Super League Gaming’s mission is to give gamers an entirely new way to enjoy the games they love. The Santa Monica-based company cut its teeth producing Minecraft events nationwide, with event series that continue to grow. Never content thinking small, Super League Gaming goes big. Its competitions take place in state-of-the-art movie theaters. All the action is played out on big screens and bolstered with thundering sound systems. Their primary tournament series is called “City Champs”, during which teams from cities across the country compete against one another in a specific game. Now personally I have to represent for NY, but all the logos are pretty sweet; I mean how can you not love the conspirators? But I digress.
The online qualifiers for the upcoming City Champs tournament are happening March 11th- 17th. The current game through which you can attempt to claim city dominance is League of Legends. When you buy a City Champs ticket, you will be placed into one of four tiers based on your League of Legends solo queue ranking. This will help create a balanced competition and allow you to play against players with a similar skill level. You will remain within this tier for the entire City Champs season, so there’s no need to worry about losing games because of poor matchmaking. (And you should probably get that solo ranking up before you enter.)
This eliminates a problem I have with many tournaments. I love to play numerous games, but I am never a top-tier player at any of the games I enjoy. A competition like this stops me from getting crushed all the time by a far-superior player and taking all the joy out of a game that I love. Another motivating element is the idea of playing games in a movie theater if you qualify for a team. This alone would make competition worthwhile for me; the experience of playing with that kind of sound system on that sized screen would be second to none for a hardcore gamer.
City Champs has been gaining traction lately and the sponsors seem to be lining up. Just recently, Red Bull eSports has joined with Super League to present the first-ever All-Star event following League of Legends City Champs Season 3. In this All-Star event, players from around the country will travel to the Red Bull eSports Studio in Santa Monica to battle it out for city pride!
Sports in the United States are a part of the everyday culture whether it’s a “classic” sport such as football or baseball, or something new (and exciting) like eSports. For a hobby that is often knocked for toxic online environments and perceived detriment to interpersonal skills and sociability, eSports help to highlight just how much camaraderie and pride city-based competitions can bring to the table. There is no doubt in my mind that eSports are about to enter a golden age and I believe that Super League Gaming will be one of the pillars of this next evolution.
For more on City Champs: League of Legends, goto their site HERE and check out the video below and be sure to keep an eye out for the qualifiers next week!
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