The Student Government Association (SGA) announced Wednesday night that Butler eSports is an official club on campus. Competitive video game playing, widely known as eSports, is a growing international trend and Butler is now a part of it. The new club fields a variety of popular video games including League of Legends, Overwatch, Call of Duty, FIFA, and Rocket League. The club held tryouts for FIFA and Rocket League over the weekend in preparation for the upcoming Big East eSports season. The Big East will begin its inaugural eSports season by competing in both FIFA and Rocket League. Here’s a breakdown of the teams and their record so far in early collegiate play.
League of Legends
Butler’s League of Legends team competed in the Collegiate Star League earlier this year and finished with six wins and one loss. The team consists of five players and are led by captain Luke Renchik who goes by Renegade Mac in the game. He is ranked at Platinum I which is the fourth highest ranking in the game. The other four players are Vishnu Vaid (t h i k k), Kyle Angelbeck (Mastergamerlive), Kevin Nguyen (GUCCIBLACK), and Andolini Casa (DaBawsss6969). The team competes on computers and plays against other colleges across the country. Butler’s League of Legends team advanced to the playoffs in the Collegiate Star League and will play their first playoff game on March 17 at 3 p.m. against the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Overwatch
Butler’s Overwatch team hasn’t competed in a game yet but have their first match scheduled for March 23 at 7:30 p.m. against Ball State University. This game has six players on each team. John George, a.k.a coins, is the captain of the Overwatch team and the president of Butler’s eSports club. The rest of the team includes Nick Golding (Hodor), Ceridwyn Snow (SilentStorm), Jenny Thach (StormDiamond), Griffin McPhail (ratfink40), and Cisco Scaramuzza (Vertscarz).
FIFA 18
Playing FIFA for eSports consists of one player controlling the entire team competing against another player and their team. The winner of Butler’s FIFA tryout tournament Stephen Gaa will represent Butler in the upcoming Big East eSports season. He won the tryout tournament with his favorite team, FC Bayern, located in Munich, Germany. Gaa has past experience playing FIFA competitively.
Rocket League
The Big East eSports season will also include Rocket League. This popular car soccer game requires three people from each team to compete. Butler held their Rocket League tryouts last weekend as well and came away with five competitors. These include Henry Johnston, Blake Leonard, Madison Velchek, Matt Bourquein, and Stephen Gaa. The team is still working out captains and first and second teams heading into the season.
For updates on Butler’s eSports journey from console to campus, follow them on Twitter @ButlerEsports and Facebook @ButlerUEsports. For game coverage with student commentating tune into their Twitch stream Butler Esports.
