Players rush to get their final kills, the commentators are counting down: “THREE… TWO… ONE!” The crowd jumps to their feet, cheers of excitement fill the air, confetti falls from the ceiling. At that moment, people’s lives were changing. A team of gamers was walking home with $50,000 and a piece of Canadian eSports history was being made.
Over the past weekend, Cineplex hosted the World Gaming Canadian Championships for Uncharted 4. The eight teams battling it out for the grand prize of $50,000 were: Bags of Skill, Dome Squad, Dream Team, Vanquish Gaming, Set To Destroy X (Calgary 1), Set to Destroy X (London 2), Swift GP, and Venom.
The Low Down, and Scores..
The first teams to start the Quarterfinals were Set To Destroy X (London) and Swift GP. Swift GP took the lead in both games with a score of 6-5 and 8-16, making them the first semi-finalist of the night. After a great opener match Venom and Bags of Skills hit the stage, where things started to heat up.
In the first match Venom went in strong, winning the game by 10-2. The second round however was a tie. This tie game was what made everyone sit on the edge of their seats. The championships were starting to get a bit more intense. We could see just how competitive and talented these teams were. Venom took the lead in the tie-breaker round with a fantastic score of 13-4, making them the second semi-finalist of the championships.
Dream Team vs Vanquish Gaming were the next teams in the Quarterfinals. The crowd was filled with tons of Dream Team fans, and the theatre started to echo with excitement as the match progressed. Dream Team took the win with a score of 9-11. They then completely annihilated Vanquish Gaming with a final score of 21-7, leading them into the semi-finals.
The final two teams Set To Destroy X (Calgary) and Dome Squad battled it out for their spot in the semi-finals. The first round was a very close call, but Set to Destroy took the win with a score of 10-9. After the sheer intensity of the first match I couldn’t wait to see who was going to make it through. The players on Set to Destroy seemed to have stepped up their game after seeing what they could do. They ended up in the semi finals after their score of 13-5.
“National Paint Drying Championship”
The commentary for the event was incredible; SanchoWest and Luke Connolly were commentating live for twitch, and bringing a hilarious easy-going vibe to some very intense matches. Swift Gp and Venom were competing for their spots in the Finals, and it seemed like their main strategy was to camp. Luke started to make some hilarious jokes about this being the “National Paint Drying Championship” and I could not stop laughing.
The first round ended up being a 0-0 match as no one seemed to want to push out to get a kill. As the second round started I found myself saying “May the best camper win!” I was a little surprised to see the teams actually play a solid match. and Venom ended up taking the lead with their score of 11-6.
The next round Venom and Swift GP got hesitant and went back to playing safe making a tie game of 1-1. One more tie-breaker round was being played, and at this point I didn’t know who to root for. The final score was 9-3 sending team Venom into the FINALS.
Dream Team and Set To Destroy (Calgary) were up next to battle their way to the finals. Set to Destroy and Dream Team had some incredible players on their teams, and both carried some great scores into the semi-finals. The first round was incredible and was action packed. Dream Team pushed through getting those kills, but unfortunately just wasn’t good enough. Set to Destroy won the close game of Round with a score of 11-10.
After that first round Dream Team seemed to have lost a bit of their edge. They struggled to get some kills in the next round and Set to Destroy started to clean up. With a score of 14-4 Set to Destroy (Calgary) was headed into the final round, for their chance of winning $50,000.
“Throwing a Hail Mary…”
The final round was about to begin. Venom vs Set To Destroy (Calgary), one of these teams was going to be the grand prize winner. The championships were becoming an emotional rollercoaster. Some matches were filled with such intensity that you were either sitting on the edge of your seat, or standing up with pure excitement. Other matches had you thinking “Is anyone even going to play?!” This final round was a Best of 5 so I was prepared for a long round given the history of camping in the Venom team.
The first round started and of course ended up being a 0-0 match due to camping. As the second round progressed Set to Destroy got a bit more confident, and ended up pulling through with a 4-0 score. After this match Venom could tell Set to Destroy wasn’t going to just sit around and wait anymore. Venom stepped up their game and ended up winning this match with a score of 6-5.
The next round was one for the books – this was a play will go down in World Gaming history. Venom and Set to Destroy were camping and both teams seemed to have a pretty steady game plan as to where each team members will be positioned. The round was just about to end and the countdown was about to begin when Set to Destroy decided to throw a hail mary grenade and with some luck, got a blind kill. The score ended with a 1-0 for Set To Destroy.
There was one more round left and this was going to be the gaming winning round. Both teams gave it all they had, and really played to the fullest, with limited camping. The final round score was 11-4 and the win went to…. SET TO DESTROY (CALGARY)
This was by far one of my favourite gaming events I have attended, and was truly surprised at how dedicated and encouraging the fans were in the crowd. I am very excited for the future of world gaming, and looking forward to more championships. Congratulations to all the teams who participated – and a big Congratulations to Set To Destroy, who took home the grand prize.
If you missed the championships, check out this incredible youtube video showcasing all of the World Gaming Finals Highlights! It’s a great watch: