UCI’s esports team wins national title in League of Legends College Championship

UCI defeated Columbia College to win the 2018 League of Legends College Championship on June 10. The second-seeded Anteaters beat their fifth-seeded rivals 3-0 in the tournament final held at Riot Games’ North American League of Legends Championship Series Arena in Los Angeles. “I feel really accomplished and happy that we were able to win the 2018 League of Legends College Championship,” said Anteater Jeffrey “Descraton” Du, the final’s MVP. “This victory would not have been possible without the outstanding support we received from the UCI esports community and our friends and families.” In addition to having a close-to-home-field advantage, the Anteaters had assembled a powerful team for this first national championship since the UCI Esports varsity program was created two and a half years ago. Besides Du, the players were Evan “Captain Nuke” Phu, Youngbin “YOUNGBIN” Chung, James “Lattman” Lattman and Lyubomir “Bloodwater” Spasov. Parsa “Frostalicious” Baghai stood in as substitute. The team, managed by Loc Tran, was guided through the competitive season by coach James “Coachman” Bates and assistant coach Ian “Ido” McCormick. Mark Deppe, acting director of UCI Esports, said that this victory is a sign of things to come. “All of our players are returning to UCI next season, so our team is set up to be dominant for the next two years,” he said. “We look to build off our success this year and bring home more major titles to Irvine.” There will be a celebration of the championship victory at the UCI Student Center from noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday, June 14. The event will feature free game play in the UCI Esports Arena, guest speakers, trophy viewing, T-shirt giveaways (for the first 50 guests) and cake.