The spring semester is coming to a close, as final exams wrap up this week, which means our fifth year here at Butler Esports is nearly over! Check out all of the things our teams were able to accomplish below.
Call of Duty: Our Call of Duty team competed in the Vanguard season of the College Call of Duty League (CCL) for the fourth year in a row. They completed Stage 1 with an 8-3 record, enough to earn a spot in the highest Midwest competitive pool for Stage 2. The second stage was more difficult, with the Bulldogs adding only two more wins to finish 2-9 in the pool, but it was enough to earn a top Last Chance Qualifier seed in the hopes of earning a playoff bid. An overtime loss to Louisiana State ended the playoff run early, but it was overall still a great season, and we’re excited to return to CCL once again!
Hearthstone: We had one Hearthstone team compete in the Hearthstone Collegiate Masters: Fractured in Alterac Valley qualifier tournament, in which Butler went 2-5 to finish in position 112 for that event.
League of Legends: This semester our League of Legends team competed in the NECC Emergents Navy conference. The team went 7-1 in the regular season and earned the #1 seed for the postseason tournament, where they secured wins over Saint John’s MN and Augustana College to become spring season champions and earn Butler’s third-ever title in program history!
Overwatch: Our Overwatch team also competed in NECC this semester, placed into the Champions Yellow division. This was a difficult pool, with the team going 1-7 on the season, but it was enough to qualify for the playoff tournament and earn a top 8 finish.
Racing: Butler’s racing team competed in two big events this semester. The first, the eNASCAR College iRacing Charlotte 80, saw our own Wyatt Harvey qualify and race to a 24th place finish. Then later that month, the combined team won their pool of the iRacing Sebring 12-hour race, earning pole position and leading for more than 10 hours!
Rainbow Six: Bulldog Rainbow Six competed in the NECC Legends division after winning last year’s division and placing high in the preseason, going 1-6 overall in the spring season this semester. They also competed and finished 1-3 in one round of the CR6 season.
Rocket League: Butler Rocket League competed for the first time in the newly-revamped NACE Starleague Varsity league, where they finished 1-7 among several regional teams. Additionally, the team played in both CRL Spring qualifier tournaments held this semester, securing one win over those weekends.
Valorant: Valorant played in several different tournaments this semester, including a UGC event and the CENC/Esports U Midwest qualifier, in which the team went 0-3. However, EGF’s Power Series 2022 Prelim 1 tournament was a huge success for the Bulldogs, as they went 5-1 in the group stage and secured the tournament win over Wichita State University. The final stage of the Power Series will be later in May, and the team is looking at a potential summer tournament as well.
BIG EAST Teams: Our BIG EAST League of Legends team played a single round-robin through the BIG EAST conference, going 3-4 on the season and placing 6th in the conference. For Rocket League, the team finished with an 8-8 cumulative record from the fall in EGFC Season 3 and placed in the top 6 in the conference after playing through the BIG EAST bracket. Additionally, Rocket League player Cameron “Kai” Walker was selected as an EGFC All-Star team captain, and his team placed first in that event!
Club Events: This February’s Butler Day of Giving donation drive included a specific line item for Butler’s esports programs, and the club was able to receive 52 donations totaling $1,670 over that time, unlocking an additional $3,000 of funding for the program! Additionally, we held our annual Extra Life 24-hour charity stream again this year, raising a total of $652 for the Children’s Miracle Network and Riley Hospital for Children over the weekend of April 22/23.
Next fall will mark the opening of our new facility, The Park, on Sunset Avenue on the first floor of the parking garage! We’re excited for that opening, as well as what it symbolizes as our program continues to grow and develop going into our sixth year in the fall.
