SLU Esports Team Reaches Final Four of Collegiate Championship

05/30/2023

Saint Louis University’s Esports team has reached the final four of the Collegiate League of Legends 2023 Championship.

SLU is set to face the University of St. Thomas in a semifinal match on Sunday, June 4, at 2 p.m. The winner will advance to the finals of the Championships.

Saint Louis University competed in the Riot Games-supported Collegiate national championship called the "College League of Legends Championship," with
531 teams from schools across North America (US and Canada), said Director of Esports Nicholas Chiu. The field was whittled down to 32 teams, with SLU earning a spot in the North Conference.

SLU finished second in the North Conference, with their only loss coming in the finals to Maryville University.

The SLU squad opened up the Collegiate League of Legends 2023 Championship tournament with a 2-0 win against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In the second round, SLU defeated the University of California San Diego 2-0. A 2-1 win over Northwood University propelled SLU into the semifinals, where they will take on St. Thomas. The winner of the semi-finals will face the winner of the Winthrop University and Maryville University match. 

League of Legends pits two five-player teams against each other. Each player has unique abilities. During the match, the goal is to advance toward and destroy the enemy base.

The semifinal match will be in Los Angeles at Riot Games Studio Arena — the same venue that hosts pro teams. Spectators can either come to Riot Game Studios in Los Angeles to watch for free or tune in on Twitch to watch the action. 

To prepare for the tournament, the SLU squad spent the last week in the Esports lab in the Busch Student Center. The current SLU squad is made up of Adam Khamis, Olivier Lapointe, Seungmin Lee, Aaron Li, and Daniel Soetikno