On Thursday, Sept. 13th, the Augustana eSports team traveled to the new Paradigm Virtual Reality Gaming and Training facility in Davenport to compete against their cross-river rivals, the St. Ambrose Bees. The Vikings lost to the Bees 0-3.
The Augustana eSports team battled it out against the Bees in a game called Overwatch, a first-person shooter game developed by Blizzard Entertainment with aspects of a multiplayer online battle arena. First-year student Austen Clark knew coming in that it would be difficult to compete well after having only two practices prior to the match, but overall, he had a good time playing his favorite game.
“It was a fun experience,” said Clark. “We did really well despite the lack of practice we had. Personally, I want to practice harder and become a better team player.”
For the team’s first time competing in a large gaming center, eSports coach Michael Yuchs was very impressed by how well his team played Overwatch despite their loss.
“The team did better than I expected. They won a few team fights,” said Yuchs. “They definitely have potential and the match showed us a lot of what we need to work on.”
Thursday night’s competition was the first time that Augustana had an Overwatch team compete. Coach Yuchs plans to work with general compositions with which the team can open the round and work on expanding the teams hero pool to give the players more ability to adapt.
After the first match, Yuch said that he believes this team can really come together and work as a team.
“I want them to be the best they can be and generally make Augustana proud of their first ever Overwatch team,” said Yuchs. “The team has potential, they just have to draw it out.”
Paradigm Virtual Reality Gaming and Training in Davenport is a place for people of any age who want to come experience video games, virtual reality, or simply to have a place to hang out free of charge.
Facility Director of Paradigm, Chase Neukam, and other staff want eSports to continue to grow through the midwest.
“Paradigm is a place for people who may not be involved in sports, clubs or the arts. We want people to come here and feel like they belong,” said Neukam. “Paradigm wants to bring eSports to the Quad Cities.”
The Overwatch team doesn’t have any events planned out for the future season yet, but plans to register for a league play with Collegiate Star League, the forum for collegiate eSports team to play each other.