After an undefeated regular season, UD’s League of Legends team earned a No. 2 seed in the northeast region. After picking up a win over SUNY Albany in the quarterfinals last weekend, they will take on third-seeded Oakland University in the second round of conference playoffs at 3 p.m., Saturday, March 19. Finals will take place the following Saturday, March 26.

Team captain Jake Brandvold, an honors student with a double major in economics and finance, said the team is “extremely confident” going into the semifinals.

“What sets us apart is our ability to adapt. Even if we fall behind we are able to outmaneuver our enemies and bring it back to a win,” said Brandvold. “We play strong at all stages of the game and don't have many weaknesses as a team since we cover for each other so well."

Team member and chemical engineering student Paul Von Buhr agreed, seeing a clear advantage that the Blue Hens have over their competitors in terms of University support and resources.

“Outside of our scheduled scrimmages and practices, you'll find every member of our team getting individual coaching, playing on their own time to improve or watching VODs of pro players,” said Von Buhr. “A lot of these schools we play against don't have the kind of out-of-game support that we do. They are club teams playing on their own equipment. Having access to school sponsored computers, peripherals and funding for coaching has played a huge part in allowing us to be the team we are.”

The top team will advance to the College League of Legends (CLOL) Championship, competing against the top 32 teams nationwide. And much like basketball, the starting lineup is composed of five players: Brandvold and Von Buhr join Dennis Chen, Matt Harada and Rob Salati.

Chances are looking good for the UD team, but a little luck never hurts. Von Buhr said his pre-game ritual never fails.

“At the start of every series we play and in between every game, Matt, Dennis and I always take off our headphones, get down on the floor on stage and crank out pushups,” said Von Buhr. “It always gets the blood flowing, hypes us up and so far we haven't lost a single game after doing it.”

About esports and game studies at UD

The fast-growing, new sport made its way to the University of Delaware in the spring of 2020 with the launch of UD’s first-ever varsity esports gaming team and high-tech arena. The Delaware Esports team competes in several national leagues, including the Electronic Gaming Federation, Activision Blizzard and College League of Legends, against more than 600 colleges and universities nationwide. 

From cultivating creative thinking and encouraging analytical, strategic processing to building leadership skills and creating social collaboration, esports proves there is more to gaming than just fun. The new program is expected to attract top talent for this ever-growing, international sport that is, while highly competitive, also both inclusive and interdisciplinary.

In 2021, UD established its first undergraduate degree program in game studies and esports, an innovative new effort to prepare students for careers in this high-rolling industry. Today's video game developers and publishers aren't just looking for qualified programmers and designers; they need well-balanced experts in cultural awareness, marketing, management, education, communication, law and health. Meanwhile, the surging popularity of esports, live streaming and indie game development shows how global game culture continues to grow and diversify in the 21st century.