Cogswell is breaking into the eSports scene this fall. The Cogswell eSports club held tryouts for the best Overwatch and League of Legends players, and the best were drafted to the college’s official competitive team: the Cogswell Dragons. Over twenty competitors auditioned for a role with hopes of improving their game and representing Cogswell in multiple high-level collegiate and non-collegiate tournaments for both games.

Overwatch Team

On September 15th, players cycled through teams of six. For an hour, they played and recorded as many games of quickplay as possible with their selected teammates. Players used heroes within certain classes while exhibiting skills that would later be evaluated such as professionalism, mechanical skill, and teamwork. The footage was reviewed for a final selection one week later:

Team A

Main Tank: Hunter McCall
Off Tank: Ryan Loveless
Main Healer: Blaine Bailey
Off Healer: Ryan D. Caven
Damage DPS: Eduard Medina
Harassment DPS: Andre Hines

Team B

Main Tank: Harley Lopez
Off Tank: Harvey Hui (Alternate to Team A)
Main Healer: Brian Peter Smaalders
Off Healer: Kenji Yoshida (Also Alternate to Team A)
Damage DPS: Ryan Casal
Harassment DPS: Jordan Zimmer

League of Legends Team

The League tryouts took place on campus, but players who were not able to attend tryouts were allowed to participate from home. Players cycled through teams of five, and the top five players were drafted to the team:

Top: Max Kungli
Jungle: Isaac Madsen
Mid: Hayden Bogar
ADC: Duc Nguyen
Support: Anthony Grupusso
Subs:
- Kevin De La Torre
- Michael Heckman

Ryan Loveless, the new eSports Club President, thanked everyone who tried out for the teams this fall: “There was a lot of talent at tryouts this year and we are excited to see what this year yields for us.” After inheriting the club from the previous officers, Ryan and the new cabinet worked hard to get everything ready for the season. To many officers and members, involvement in the club feels like a second job. “We work closely with the school to coordinate events,” Ryan said, “and the school is more than happy to shine a light on our teams.”

Each varsity team will be receiving team outfits sporting the Cogswell Dragons crest and colors. The club plans on rebranding as a “gamer’s hub”, gathering teams for esports for competitive play for games such as Super Smash Bros., Rocket League, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, and more.

Overwatch Team A will be competing in the Tespa Collegiate Series tournament from September 23rd, 2017, and February 28th, 2018. At the same time, Overwatch Team B will be competing in the Tespa Overwatch Open from September 24th to October 6th. The League of Legends team recently competed in the American Video Game League and placed fourth in their division. They will be competing in the Collegiate Star League starting October 14th.

To learn more about the Cogswell eSports Club and their upcoming events, join their Facebook group or email President Ryan Loveless at rloveless@cogswell.edu.