Saturday, 12 May 2018, five giddy students from Laval University stood before a cheering crowd in the Blizzard eSports Arena in Burbank, CA as confetti rained down. They had stormed unscathed through the Heroes of the Dorm Live Finals, in two dominant series against the University of Kentucky and the University at Buffalo. Tespa co-founders Adam and Tyler Rosen and former Dorm winners Michael Udall and Fan Yang placed medals around their necks.
Medals aren’t the only thing they receive for their efforts. Each student on the winning team receives full tuition for their remaining years of college, a prize worth fighting for. Rouge Et Au wasn’t content being the first Canadian team to reach the Heroic Four, they had their eyes on the prize and swept the Live Finals to claim the Championship and solidify their name in eSports history.
What is Heroes of the Dorm?
In 2015 Tespa, an organization supporting and promoting collegiate esports, organized the inaugural Heroes of the Dorm, a tournament following a similar format to the NCAAs’ March Madness. Registered college teams competed in games to determine seeding with the top 64 teams entering a single elimination bracket. In 2018, Regional Play was added, allowing more than 300 teams to compete in five weeks of regional league play to determine the seeding and qualification for the Round of 64.
Tournament Format
After Regional Championships in March, Tespa reveals a 64 Team Bracket divided into four groups. Over the course of a month, teams compete in single elimination Best of Three matches, progressing to the Round of 32, the Super Sixteen, and the Epic Eight. When the dust settles, the four teams to emerge from the Round of 8 are given four weeks to prepare (and finish school exams) before being flown to the live finals for a round of gripping semi-finals leading up to the Grand Finals.
What You Can Win
Heroes of the Dorm comes fully loaded with prizes and loot for both contestants and viewers. Blizzard sponsors a yearly Bracket Challenge for anyone who would like to submit their predictions. The highest scoring bracket earns a $10,000 prize, and perfect bracket- correctly predicting all 63 matches- earns $1M. Along with the tempting cash prizes, in-game loot abounds for viewers and contestants alike.
The players on teams qualifying for the Heroic Four each receive a custom-built gaming PC, with a value of up to $1,000. But to the victor go the spoils- paid college tuition for their remaining years of school, up to $75,000.
Who Can Participate?
Attending a four-year college or university in the United States of Canada? You can form a Heroes of the Dorm team! The 2018 Tournament saw teams from over 300 schools register for the tournament. If you are interested in learning more, it’s not too early to be planning for 2019! You can learn more about tournament rules and registration here.
Heroes of the Dorm and Its Future in eSports
Crowd waiting to enter Blizzard Esports Arena for the Live Finals
Over the past four years, Heroes of the Dorm has not only grown, but has inspired and supported the growth of college eSports programs. Nearly 70 schools nationwide now offer scholarship supported eSports programs. Heroes of the Dorm remains the largest, and arguably most impactful, tournament in collegiate esports.
Many professional players in the Heroes Global Championship originally participated in Heroes of the Dorm, and credit the tournament as an important part of their professional career. Michael Udall, 2016 Dorm Champion, and professional HGC player for Gale Force Esports recently talked to ESPN about his experience as a runner up in 2015.
“I will never forget the first Heroes of the Dorm, walking offstage and having the confetti go off and hearing everyone cheering and just knowing how close I was. That was actually one of the defining moments of my esports career. I think it was so good for me to lose, because it filled me with this fire and drive.”
Building on a foundation of passion and excitement, Heroes of the Dorm is at the forefront of a growing world of college esports, and it’s not going anywhere. The past four years have seen nothing but growth and at this point, the sky is the limit.
