After a seventh-placed finish in the inaugural season of the eight-team competition, Essendon, one of the first Australian Football Clubs to adopt an eSports roster, will look to re-set and search for a whole new team.
Christian ‘Sleeping’ Tiensuu, Sebastian ‘Seb’ De Ceglie, Carlo ‘Looch’ La Civita, Alan ‘Tiger’ Roger and Andrew ‘Rosey’ Rose were all given their marching orders after falling ‘well short of expectations’, according to Nathan Mathews, the head of the club’s eSports team.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the players for their service to the organisation over the last one to three years and wish them the best of luck moving forward,” Mathews told Essendonfc.com.au.
“The players will also be remembered as important members of the organisation, but it is now time for us to finish the chapter and begin writing a new one. To all of our fans, we thank you for your continued support, the best is yet to come.”
Perhaps adding salt to Essendon’s wounds and triggering the roster clean-out was the performance of the other AFL club in the tournament, the Adelaide Crows, finishing third in an impressive display.
2018 is the first year in which AFL clubs have competed in professional eSports leagues. A number of clubs have been mooted to join the charge and take a slice of the ever-growing eSports industry.
]]>The Bombers enjoyed the better start in the League of Legends encounter, taking the advantage in game one after Crows top laner Min ‘Mimic’ Ju-Sung missed a golden opportunity early.
However, the tables were turned when Brandon ‘Claire’ Nguyen took out five Bombers in a team fight as the half-hour mark approached.
The Crows wrapped up the first game soon after and then clinched the tie with a convincing win in the second, with Mimic rallying late after another early stumble.
The best-of-three victory guarantees the Crows a place in this year’s finals series.
Adelaide acquired the Legacy Esports brand in May 2017 and have competed in various divisions since.
Following the win, the club revealed it would be promoting a new esports competition for high schools throughout Australia.
The High School League of Legends Australia and New Zealand Championship is expected to attract thousands of young gamers into the esports industry.
Known as the High School Esports League (HSEL), the new competition will see students create teams and compete against one another in League of Legends (LoL).
LoL is an online computer battle game played by several players at the speed and intensity of “a real-time strategy game with role-playing game elements”.
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