News

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Hearthstone team has advanced to the semifinals of the Fall 2019 Hearthstone Collegiate Championship. The group is one of the SIUE Esport Club’s many varsity teams and is the first to make it to the semifinals in their respective game’s championship bracket.

“This is a huge deal for Esports at SIUE,” said Jordan Kramer, Esports Club president. “This accomplishment allows us to showcase how Esports is more than just playing video games. This is the farthest that any of our teams have gotten. Just like any other varsity team, our players have put in a lot of time practicing with their team to get ready for their matches.”

The tournament features matches of Hearthstone, an online, turn-based card game created by Blizzard Entertainment. In Hearthstone, players can choose one of nine classes to play, such as warlock, priest or rogue. Every class has special attributes and skills, and players create their own decks to suit their class and outsmart their opponents. Throughout the tournament, players compete in teams of three while discussing and performing the optimal play for each turn.

SIUE’s Hearthstone Team consists of Esmir Karabas, Brad Johnson and Bryan Dinman. The team is ranked among the top four in the tournament and will be heading to Full Sail University near Orlando to compete in the upcoming championships.

“We have been together as a team since the beginning of 2018,” explained team captain Karabas. “During our first semester together, we made it past the competition’s qualifying stage, but lost the next bracket. Since then, we have become a much more cohesive unit by working together outside of our scheduled matches and preparing properly. Through these preparations, we were able to put ourselves in the semi-finals of this tournament. I am proud of what our team has become.”

“It’s always great to have our club teams get regional or national recognition,” said Philipp Leyerer, club sports coordinator. “This is especially exciting with how much exposure and interest our Esports Club has gotten over the last several months with our new Esports arena coming to Bluff Hall. Events like this are exactly why we have been pushing to get an Esports arena on our campus. We’re all very proud of our Hearthstone team and are excited to see what they can accomplish in Florida. Go Cougars!”

The team will be competing in semifinals on Saturday, Dec. 14 at noon against Simon Fraser University. Leyerer encourages the community to support the team by viewing the matches, which will be streamed live at twitch.tv/playhearthstone.

Tournament prizes consist of:

• First place: $2,000 per player in scholarships and an invitation to the Hearthstone Masters Tour
• Second place: $1,200 per player in scholarships and an invitation to the Hearthstone Masters Tour
• Third and fourth place: $700 per player in scholarships

The Hearthstones Masters Tour will take place in Arlington, Texas, where players compete for a share of a $250,000 prize pool. Unlike the collegiate tournament, Masters Tour competitors consist of the top players around the globe in Hearthstone Esports.

The collegiate tournament is sponsored by Tespa, an Esports organization that sponsors multiple yearly tournaments for colleges across the North American region. Since its inception, over 40,000 students have participated in the organization’s tournaments and over $3 million has been awarded in prizing and scholarships.

To learn more about the Fall 2019 Hearthstone Collegiate Championship, visit compete.tespa.org/tournament/140.