CREDIT: BROOK IDEN
The Fanshawe Ultimate eSports League (FUEL) championships will take place on April 16 at 7 p.m. in Forwell Hall.

The Fanshawe Ultimate eSports League (FUEL) will be concluding its first year of operation with a night of championship tournaments. FUEL is an initiative that allows students to compete in weekly video games tournaments against their peers.

Throughout the academic year, the Fanshawe Student Union (FSU) has been keeping track of individual rankings to create a leaderboard for each of the four titles students have had the opportunity to compete in. These games are: Super Smash Bros. Melee, Rocket League (1v1), Overwatch (arcade mode 1v1 mystery duel) and FIFA 18.

At the championships, the top eight competitors for each game will qualify to compete in a tournament bracket to determine who will be crowned the champion for that game title. A grand prize will also be awarded to the winner of each game.

The finals for each game will include commentary from student casters and will also be streamed on Twitch.tv, the Fanshawe Student Union (FSU) website, Fanshawe TV and eventually on Rogers TV. “It will be a fun finale to put a cap on our first year of FUEL,” Tyler Hetherington, the events and programs co-ordinator for the FSU said.

The Championships will take place April 16 at 7 p.m. in Forwell Hall. As usual, multiple screens and a designated seating area will be set-up so that students can watch their friends and fellow Falcons compete for glory. In addition, the concession stand will be open during the event.

Looking back at the league's first year of operation at Fanshawe, Hetherington said that over 400 students signed-up to participate and four competitive games were made available for students to compete in. Of the four games, Super Smash Bros. Melee and FIFA 18 were most popular in regards to individual turnout.

“It was a positive year. There was a learning curve at the start, but [the weekly tournaments] are running like a machine now,”

Hetherington said. He explained that many students look forward to attending the meetings each week to support the initiative and participate in the various gaming tournaments. For others, the league has become somewhat of a gaming community that has fostered many friendships and encourages discussion of all things related to video games. Hetherington said that further discussion regarding future plans for FUEL will take place this summer and for students to stay tuned for more information.

The finalists who will be competing in the Super Smash Bros. Melee championship tournament are: DQKing, CDOE, Pawn, Ccap, Moose, Dart, TTBB and OneT.

The finalists who will be competing in the Rocket League championship tournament are: ToeKnee, Bink, WhiteShadowHunter, Pr1sh, Fluxley, Joester09, PocketProtection and Valorr.

The finalists who will be competing in the Overwatch championship tournament are: GameDestroyer, Pawn, SliestCoyote, Kat, Neobhater1, Riolu19, Joester09 and Valorr.

To learn who the top eight competitors for FIFA 18 will be, check out fsu.ca/fuel for updates.