[Updated] Midwest Amateur eSports League

December 8, 2012 in Events, Regional Leave a reply

Can’t get enough StarCraft or League of Legends? Ready to show your skills in a regional amateur tournament? Looking for opportunities to get involved with casting/production? The wait is over, announcing the return of the Midwest Amateur eSports League (MAeSL) hosted by Kansas StarCraft as part of Heartland eSports. The MAeSL is an online amateur tournament series for StarCraft 2 and League of Legends consisting of 6 weeks of season play culminating in a final championship bracket. The MAeSL is open to ALL players in the Midwest region, including players of all skill levels. The season will run Jan 12 to Feb 23.

[UPDATED]

Thanks to everyone who signed up to compete! At the close of registration, we had 16 registered StarCraft 2 players and 2 full teams for League of Legends. Unfortunately, due to the low numbers of registered participants for League of Legends, we are cancelling the season portion of the League of Legends event. Registrants have been notified of the cancellation and their registration fees refunded. We do plan to still hold a League of Legends championship tournament on Feb 23rd, for which details and registration will be published soon. Those players who registered for the LoL season will be allowed to register for the tournament at a discounted rate.

Registered contestants for the StarCraft 2 league have been emailed with further information about scheduling of matches and whom their opponents over the next 6 weeks will be. If you have specific questions or concerns, please address them to heartland.esports@gmail.com. Thanks again for supporting the MAeSL!

About the MAeSL

MAeSL was originally the Kansas StarCraft League (KSL), where players throughout Kansas battled weekly for fame and fortune in StarCraft 2. As a part of Heartland eSports and with growing demand for League of Legends events, the league is being expanded to include both games and players throughout the region. The purpose of the league is to provide an opportunity for players of all skill levels to play competitively in the games that they love. This is also a great opportunity to get involved in casting or production in the eSports community. Finally, our hope is to reach out to players that have not previously played in tournaments or who are looking to meet more gamers in their area. The MeSL is a great opportunity to meet people and make friends who love StarCraft and League of Legends as much as you do!

League Format

This season, the league is open to players throughout the Midwest region, meaning better competition and more prestige to the victor! That being said, the league is designed to first and foremost be FUN and to accommodate players of ALL skill levels. Therefore, the format of competition during the season will be Swiss rounds to facilitate evenly matched games across skill levels,  allowing everyone from bronze to master to show off their skill and most importantly have fun.

The league will begin with season play beginning Jan 12th and continuing for 6 weeks. Each player/team will play one best of three (Bo3) a week. An official match time will be designated from one of three nights via poll sent to registered competitors. There will be some flexibility in which weekly matches may be played early, but these will be made on a case by case basis with the constraint that matches be competed by the prescribed time each week.

The season will end with a championship bracket to be held on February 23rd. Seeding for these brackets will be determined by the results of the Swiss rounds with the top players being automatically invited to compete and seeded deepest in the brackets. There will also be open registration for this tournament to players who did not compete in season play for the remaining bracket spots (numbers TBA), for $15 per player (SC2) or $30 per team (LoL). Bracket play will be single elimination, with Bo5 matches for SC2, and Bo3 matches for LoL.

EDIT: Match times are TBD. They will be evenings, probably around 6:00 PM. Basically once registration closes on Jan 10th, a poll will be sent out to registrants for what times work for them, and then an official match time will be set.

Note that matches can be played at times arranged between the two players/teams that differ from the official match time. The idea is that you play one Bo3 each week at a time that works for you and your opponent. The official times are just there as a default in case an agreement between players cannot be made as to when they want to play their match.

When and Where?

Swiss rounds begin: January 12th
Championships: February 23rd

All matches will be played online via BattleNET or PVP.NET. Players should meet in the HLeSports chat channel.

How to sign up?

Entry Fees:

• StarCraft 2 – $5 per player 

  Register here for StarCraft 2

• League of Legends – $15 per team, or $3 per player 

  Register here for League of Legends

IMPORTANT NOTE TO LEAGUE OF LEGENDS PLAYERS

• If you do not have a team you can still compete! We will add you to the “Free Agents” list and create teams for you! Registration is only $3, which is refundable if for whatever reason teams cannot be created.
• If you do have a team, but it is not a full 5 players, that works too; we can fill the extra spots on your team with players from the Free Agents list to create a full team of 5 players. Just make sure all of you current team members register with the same team name and we’ll take care of any gaps you may have in your roster.

Prizes!!

100% of each entry fee goes directly into the prize purse for each tournament. Prizes will be given to the top 3 finishing players/teams as follows:

• 1st: 50% of prize purse.
• 2nd: 30% of prize purse.
• 3rd: 20% of prize purse.