The Arizona State University electronic sports (eSports) team have emerged as the victors of the second annual Heroes of the Dorm after defeating The University of Texas at Arlington team. Heroes of the Dorm, which was broadcasted on ESPN2, is the biggest eSports event in the collegiate level.
The championships were held in Seattle, Washington. The Arizona team, called Real Dream Team, won over UTA's Dark Blaze. They were the runner-up last year.
Excellent profile on the Sun Devil eSports Championship team via @techinsider https://t.co/9jEteOQAfr
— Sun Devil Athletics (@TheSunDevils) April 29, 2016
The Tournament
The Real Dream Team is composed of Parham "pham" Emami, Isaiah "Snickers" Rubin, team captain Michael "michaeludall" Udall, Vann "Vanity" Childs, and Austin "Shot" Lonsert and Stefan "akaface" Anderson. Tech Insider reported that in the drafting phase, UTA had banned one of the characters Anderson was known for playing.
ASU and UTA are just two of the nearly 400 American colleges that participated in Heroes of the Dorm. The teams engaged in a contest in multiplayer online game Heroes of the Storm by Blizzard Entertainment.
The top four teams are called the Heroic Four. According to the Heroes of the Dorm website, each member of the Heroic Four's prize is a custom-built personal computer.
The tournament had a round of 64, 32, 18 and 8, before the Heroic Four and the Grand Finals, according to Tespa's website. Tespa is the largest network of collegiate gaming groups in North America.
Secrets To Success
The Real Dream practiced 10 hours a day, according to Tech Insider. Last year, the ASU team was formed hastily and had messy coordination. This year, Real Dream Team spent six out of 10 hours of practice to team play.
eSports clearly dominated the six members' lives, leaving little room for social life. Asked by Tech Insider how they balanced their eSports careers with school and social life, they said: "What's that?"
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