League of Legends at Stony Brook University is currently participating for the first time in the University League of Legends Campus Series. One of the prizes offered to the winning team, other than in-game exclusive bonuses, is $30,000 of scholarship money for each member of the team.
League of Legends was created in 2009 by video game publisher and developer Riot Games. It is a player versus player competitive online game that averages 27 million members playing per day.
The League of Legends club at Stony Brook University attracts an average of 30 members per meeting. Although the club was only formed two semesters ago, select members have decided to take gaming to a global professional level, eSports.
Senior biology major Elias Jalili is the team manager for the A-level team, called Suchbrawlicundergraduates, participating in the ULoL Campus Series East Conference. The team of five members and one substitute practices throughout the week, averaging around two to three hours on weeknights and six hours on weekends. He described the matches as very high energy and focused.
“Even if our team is losing, we have positive attitudes,” Jalili said. “If you get a negative thought in your mind, you tilt. You just plow downhill.”
Suchbrawlicundergraduates’ aim is to win the semifinals and earn a spot in the North American Collegiate Championship playoffs in March.
“Given the fact that everyone just met up and they are doing this well is pretty amazing,” Jalili said.
Sophomore physics and math double major Sanjay Singh said the members on the A-level team have high ranks and are very good. During club meetings, members can watch and learn from the A-level team’s gameplay.
Club member and senior neuroscience major Justin Fazel has been playing League of Legends since 2010.
“I like winning,” he said. “It’s never the same thing.”
Gameplay in LoL is always changing; it is never the same game twice because players and gameplay are always rotating. As Jalili described, “League of Legends is not a static game.”
Being social is also a huge component of the game and is what keeps many “summoners” coming back for more.
Anthony Paino, a junior English major, is a team member of Suchbrawlicundergraduates and is competing in the upcoming campus series. Paino said in an email that one of the reasons he continues to play League of Legends is the connections and friendships he has made through the game.
Playing with friends is what has kept A.J. Ryan, a junior computer science major, playing LoL since 2012.
“If I didn’t have friends who play, I wouldn’t play,” Ryan said. “It’s not easy for me to have a good time unless I’m with friends.”
Layne Mapes, a sophomore human evolutionary biology major, is the president of the LoL club at Stony Brook University. She said the ULoL team is very talented and they have formed their own gaming family playing together. She has also continued to play LoL because of the love of sharing something in common with a diverse group of people.
“Stony Brook University has potential to be a huge eSport community,” Mapes said.
She plans to take the club further in competitive gaming, which could increase opportunities for scholarship money through Riot Games.
The University League of Legends campus series website has rankings of each university registered with the North American Collegiate Championship. Broadcast schedules and teams are also posted.
“Wish us luck, guys,” Jalili said. “A lot of these guys are excited. This is our first year really participating in this competition.”
“I want to be a part of the team that sets a name for SBU in the League scene,” Paino said.
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