META High School Esports (META) hosted their League of Legends preseason tournament over the last two weekends, filled to the brim with emerging high school talent.
The tournament saw 16 teams composed of players from high schools across the country face off in a single round robin tournament on March 21-22. The top two teams in the three brackets then moved into a single elimination round on March 28.
The Melbourne High School team sat at the top spot in group one after the first weekend, with an undefeated streak in their five games. They had an impressive no-death, under 20-minute win against the second placed The Seven Shreks on the second day of the competition.
Charles, who competed in the Melbourne High team, admitted his favourite moment of the event was the team’s 8-minute Rift Herald against The Seven Shreks during their rampaging victory.
“It allowed us to get two mid lane towers, leading to complete domination of the enemy’s jungle. The confidence that our team showed over the weekend allowed us to close out all our games within 25 minutes,” he told Snowball Esports after the tournament victory.
Their game was cast by Juves ?— an experienced ex-Oceanic Pro League star ?— and Pabu, who is currently fifth-placed Gravitas’ top laner in the same national competition. The duo shared out plenty of compliments for the Melbourne squad.
In particular, they highlighted the team’s excellent macro, dubbing it “impressive.” The overall map play contributed in a big way to Melbourne’s eventual success, they said.
While Melbourne marched to an undefeated 5–0 victory in Group 1, BOLD secured the top spot in the second group with a similar, 4–0 undefeated record. INT IQ finished in second place in Group 2 with a 3–1 run.
In the third and final group, Cyber Athletes also clocked up an undefeated record to finish top of the pile. The Science Team placed just behind on 3–1.
Day 3 of the META tournament saw games begin at 10AM AEDT. First off the bat in the quarter finals was the Science Team, who faced off against The Seven Shreks. The Group 1 runners-up claimed the all-important win to kick-start their day.
Melbourne High struggled to hit the same heights of the group stage, however, falling to INT IQ in a best-of-one competition in the second quarter finals.
The semi-finals were exciting too. The Seven Shreks were bowled over Cyber Athletes, and BOLD fell to INT IQ. With those two victories, the stage was set for Sunday’s final.
Juves and Pabu were once again on the mic for an action-filled battle. In the end, the game went to 49 kills in just 25 minutes. Unfortunately for INT IQ, 36 of those were for the Cyber Athletes, and they used the mega-gold pile to steamroll to victory.
Impressively, two members of the team ?— Maxamize on Mordekaiser and Exeden on Senna ?— even managed to avoid a single death in the bloody game.
Game 2 saw even more kills, in less overall game time, with 50 total kills across the board in just over 20 minutes. Once again, the Cyber Athletes had the majority of the kills, with 38 of them on their members and this assured their victory, scoring the 2–0 victory in the finals over INT IQ.
Maxamize was a key player on the Cyber Athletes team, and spoke about the tournament and the competition.
He felt “that they were stronger individually” across the board, and going into the weekends matches, “felt confident” that they could take out the overall win.
The only player they were wary of was INT IQ’s mid laner, Totoriffic, who they target banned. He reflected on the tournament, which he felt overall was “easy” due to his team “individually outclassing almost all other players in the tournament.”
After the conclusion of the grand final, the players participating in the preseason tournament also had the opportunity to play on in a showmatch. The two teams facing off were led by Juves and Pabu, aptly named Boomers and Zoomers.
This completion of the tournament marks the way for the upcoming META High School Esports competition, with the Melbourne High School team featuring members who have competed in previous years. They’re looking to make the state title win a hat trick this season, after already claiming the previous two years titles.
The League of Legends competition kicks off on May 5, details at metahse.gg
Imagery courtesy of META High School Esports
Produced by Josh Swift
]]>META High School Esports (META) invites all interested players to register their interest for a preseason League of Legends tournament, with the chance to play alongside ex-Oceanic Pro League players Juves and Pabu in a tourney showmatch.
Registrations for the upcoming preseason event are open now. Players looking to hone their skills ahead of the 2020 High School League season will have until Wednesday, March 18 to register interest.
All registered teams will be split into groups with up to six-teams in each, with the top one or two teams—to be decided based on registration numbers—invited to the tournament’s third day. After the finals series, the best-of-three bracket final will be played on Day 4.
- Read more: META High School Esports 2020 Roadmap
The four-day tournament is slated to begin March 21, with two days of group round-robin matches kicking off the event. The preseason series’ single-elimination finals will be played the next weekend, on March 28-29.
All matches across the first two days will be played from 10am AEDT. Each day during the round-robin is expected to run until 4pm with a half-hour break after two games. The finals days are expected to run 10am to 5pm AEDT.
As well as the preseason bracket, the League of Legends tournament will also play host to an exhibition match for chosen students, to be played on Day 4.
This exhibition match will see former OPL stars Brandon “Juves” Defina and Jackson “Pabu” Pavone draft two teams from the pool of players involved in the four-day tournament, before competing in a best-of-three format.
How to register for the META preseason tournament
- Register your interest here.
- Get your friends to register too.
- You will receive an email about next steps, and a Discord invite.
- Complete team registration form.
- Check the META website and META social channels for updates.
- Come on the day, check-in on time and compete!
META will release more information on what to do on the day once you have registered, and how to see results once matches have been played soon.
If you are a high school student that is also interested in the 2020 META season, make sure you check out the teacher’s hub. If your teachers have any questions, feel free to email META’s school engagement manager Amy Lau at [email protected].
]]>The META High School Esports League is set to return with competitions in League of Legends, Rocket League, and more, starting with a preseason tournament in March, before the league itself kicks-off in April.
First off the bat for new and returning competitors is the League of Legends preseason tournament, complete with exhibition matches alongside former Oceanic Pro League stars, streamed matches, and more. This early tournament will be held on March 21-22 and 28-29.
After that first hit-out, META’s main leagues return for the year. LoL tournaments are set to begin on Tuesday, April 21 in Victoria and Tuesday, April 28 for New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia, and the ACT and Northern Territory.
League of Legends
The League of Legends tournaments will be inter-regional swiss competitions, with all games played kicking off from 5pm on matchday. All matches within the swiss section of the competition will be played online.
After the league play is concluded, the top four teams will immediately proceed to the playoffs, which will be online, single-elimination best-of-three matches. The top two teams from this round will proceed to the Regional Finals.
The Regional Finals will be played on a Saturday and will be played in-person at a LAN event, with the venue of the finals to be determined. Each team will play one best-of-three series in a seeded tournament, with winners moving onto the Championship Rounds.
There, each regional champion will play in a double-elimination bracket across two Saturdays, before the final two schools enter the Championship Grand Final. The best-of-five decider will be played at a LAN event as well, with the venue TBD.
The LoL tournament also has Riot Points and in-game skin prizes for top teams in each division, as well as state championship medals. Schools that qualify for the Division 1 nationals stage will also have flights and travel to the Championship Grand Final event covered.
LoL Key Dates
- Season starts: April 21 (VIC), April 28 (NSW, TAS, SA, WA, ACT, NT)
- Regional tiebreakers: June 9 (VIC), June 16 (NSW, TAS, SA, WA, ACT, NT)
- Regional playoffs: June 16 (VIC), June 23 (NSW, TAS, SA, WA, ACT, NT)
- Regional finals: July 4 (VIC), July 18 (NSW, TAS, SA, WA, ACT, NT)
Rocket League
Rocket League is also set to start in April, with registrations closing on Wednesday, 8th. The competition is then expected to begin on Thursday, April 23 in VIC and QLD, while all other states and territories begin a week later.
The competition will be played in regional leagues, within a swiss format. Each game day will begin from 5pm every Thursday, dependent on region. All league play will be online, with teams expected to log into their matches. All games will be best-of-three.
After the league play is concluded, the top four teams will immediately proceed to the playoffs, which will be online, single-elimination best-of-three matches. The top two teams from this round will proceed to the Regional Finals.
The Regional Finals will be played on a Saturday and will be played in-person at a LAN event, with the venue of the finals to be determined. Each team will play one best-of-three series in a seeded tournament, with winners moving onto the Championship Rounds.
There, each regional champion will play in a double-elimination bracket across two Saturdays, before the final two schools enter the Championship Grand Final. The best-of-five decider will be played at a LAN event as well, with the venue TBD.
Rocket League Key Dates
- Registrations close: April 4 (all tournaments)
- Season starts: April 23 (VIC, QLD), April 30 (NSW, TAS, SA, WA, ACT, NT, NZ)
- Regional tiebreakers: June 11 (VIC, QLD), June 18 (NSW, TAS, SA, WA, ACT, NT. NZ)
- Regional playoffs: June 18 (VIC, QLD), June 25 (NSW, TAS, SA, WA, ACT, NT, NZ)
- Regional finals: July 4 (VIC, QLD), July 18 (NSW, TAS, SA, WA, ACT, NT, NZ)
While League of Legends and Rocket League are both full steam ahead for the 2020 META High School Esports League, there will also be other video game titles set to be included in the nation-wide competition, to be announced soon.
For more information, or to register a team of students to represent your school in the 2020 META High School Esports League, visit metahse.gg.
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Snowball Esports and META High School Esports are excited to announce an ongoing content partnership starting from 2020, with aims to shine a spotlight on the best high school teams, players and positive school outcomes across the Oceanic region.
The content coverage from Snowball Esports will include regular articles on the competition’s results and ongoing news on the teams and players involved, while META’s involvement will see increased readership and new major sponsorship deals.
“This is the first move of this kind for Snowball, and an exciting one for everyone involved in the ever-growing project,” publication co-founder Andrew Wray said of the impending partnership.
“It has long been our goal to help Australia and New Zealand esports grow to a new level with our coverage within the publication, and this ongoing content plan with META continues those ambitions within the fast-growing high school competition.”
This partnership is an important one for the development of the publication, most importantly in regards to supporting the future of the region through coverage.
“Partnering with Snowball Esports will allow the creation of compelling content around the positive outcomes teachers and students discover through high school esports competition. This partnership will allow these amazing stories to be amplified across schools, parents, and students throughout Australia and New Zealand,” META High School Esports League Commissioner Woody Wu said.
META High School Esports has already experienced massive growth this year, with the championship grand finals being held live at the Melbourne Esports Open earlier this month.
“It’s a fantastic strategic partnership opportunity,” said Nigel Smart, Project Lead for META High School Esports.
“A growing esports tournament platform like META High School Esports partners with a dedicated and respected Oceanic esports content organization like Snowball Esports, which will enhance the growth of audiences and commercial opportunities for both parties.”
While the META partnership will be a major step forward for Snowball in 2020, you can also expect to see continued coverage of other major competitions around the region too, including the Oceanic Pro League, Overwatch Contenders, and the CS:GO circuit.
Follow META High School Esports & Snowball Esports on Twitter.
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