Registration for the WardBaron Collegiate Series Qualifiers is now formally open to all accredited universities in the US and Canada. With the growth of collegiate eSports now in full swing, WardBaron wants to provide the community with a more permanent and visible atmosphere to showcase their skills and represent their school.
The WCS is a two-month event that showcases 8 high-level collegiate teams in a 7-week, round-robin season format. Each team will play every other team once, with the records tallied at the end of the 7th week. After the regular season, the top 4 teams will compete in playoff matches to determine the champion. All matches, including playoffs, will be streamed and casted on WardBaron’s Twitch channel at www.twitch.tv/wardbaron.
WardBaron puts significant focus on the desires of the community, which is the biggest reason for this tournament structure. Upon interviewing various collegiate organizers, many found it difficult to keep track of the various times of matches and large diversity of teams. Organizers noted that their members enjoyed watching streams in which they can follow certain players and teams, such as those of the LCS. It is with this knowledge that WardBaron hopes to bring a more consistent and desirable experience not only to players, but to viewers as well.
The 8 WCS teams will be selected through the WCS Qualifiers, fielded by up to 128 collegiate teams from all over the US and Canada. After a series a single elimination rounds, the remaining 8 teams will be asked to compete in the WCS, beginning on March 7th. Each school will only be allowed to enter one team into the qualifiers in order to provide a broader representation of the collegiate atmosphere.
In addition to representing their school in a competitive setting, each team will be playing for a $1,000 prize pool. The winning school will also win a LAN Party sponsored by WardBaron (full details TBA at a later date). This rewards not only the players in the championship team, but also the school’s organization that supports them.
For more detail including registration, rules and specific dates/times, please go to www.wardbaron.com/wcs/. Any questions or inquiries should be directed to [email protected]. Best of luck!
Important Dates
February 26th Qualifier registration closes
February 28th Qualifier bracket announced
March 1st – 2nd Single-Elimination Qualifying rounds
March 3rd WCS Teams Announced
March 7th – April 19th WCS Season Matches
April 26th – 27th Playoff/Championships
