After months of planning from USSA, ACGL, universities and students alike the USSA Esports Finals was held on the 1st and 2nd of October. The weekend saw over a hundred and fifty students from nine different universities around the country compete in earnest for different titles.  

Among participating universities were: 

The main titles for the day were FIFA22 (PS4), Rocket League (PC) and Clash Royale (Mobile). 

FIFA22 was the most popular titles with thirty-six students, four from each university, competing in the premier division. The students were broken into eight pools with the top two from each group qualifying for the knockout tournament. The bracket continued on the Saturday until the semi-finalists were confirmed. The semi-finalists were;   

Tate_Dux’s match against JaytheGoat was extremely tense with JaytheGoat finishing the first game with a two goal advantage. Tate_Dux managed to calm himself and turn it around to win in the second game. Wiseman fought well but unfortunately lost 3-5 to Zuhayr. Zuhayr obtained an early lead against Tate_Dux in the finals but Tate was no stranger to playing from behind and clawed his way back into the game. Zuhayr managed to just hold onto the lead and won 8-6. All in attendance were impressed at the level of play and sportsmanship from the Esports athletes. The game was also cast by Snare and ThendoPlays on Twitch. The VOD can be found here. 

Individual Results 

DUT’s accumulative score from two students in the top six (fourth and sixth) got the institution third place. TUT came second with three students in the top fifteen (third, fourteenth and fifteenth). CPUT had three students in the top ten (first, nineth and tenth) securing them the win.  

Full University Results: 
 

Place 

University 

Accumulative Points 

1 

CPUT 

33 

2 

TUT 

23 

3 

DUT 

20 

4 

SU 

18 

5 

Wits 

16 

6 

UCT 

12 

7 

MUT 

8 

8 

NWU 

4 

 

Rocket League has historically been a match between Varsity College, Stellenbosch and UCT but speculations were wild with VC being unable to attend and MUT and Wits submitting teams for the first time. Although Wits and MUT were knocked out they showed promise and a thirst for Rocket League as was evident by grilling their opponents for advice when they lost. Rocket League shows extreme promise with more high school students graduating and universities expanding their titles. The Finals were a competitive Bo7 with UCT being on home turf. Stellenbosch put up an extremely good showing and won 4-2. 
 

The Clash Royale students were whittled down by dividing the students into two pools with the top four making it into the knockout bracket. Stellenbosch had an extremely strong showing with their students take first, second, fourth and fifth positions. Their second seed Francois “Mr C-Weed” Kotze came first against Reyan De Lange. UCT’s Kaiden “Zero Two” Wessels came third. Institutionally UCT came third on the back of Zero Two coming third, Wits came second with their players coming sixth and eighth and Stellenbosch picked up the win. 

The ceremony was held at 13:00 for the winners where institutions and individuals were awarded for their performance. Excited but exhausted players left to spend their last few hours in Cape Town before departing for home. Students that competed can be feel very proud to have represented their universities at the highest national level and fostered friendships and rivalries that will sustain far beyond USSA. Planning is currently undergoing for the next ACGL University League and USSA Finals. This will see a focus on accessibility and wider participation as well as bringing new titles into the pool.  

The pictures are now available on Facebook (Build Up, Day One, Day Two)! Look forward to the upcoming wrap up video. 

 

If you want to get your university or tertiary institution involved email adam@acgl.co.za 

 

 

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