CREDIT: ALEX ALLAN
A quick insider update on how some try-outs have been going for Fuel teams for this upcoming school year.

Fuel Esports try-outs are now active for the 2023/24 academic year. More try-outs are soon to ramp up over the first few weeks of September but here’s what we know about a few of the teams already.

Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO)

Former captain of CS:GO, Oogasplada decided to step down to focus on school and a different CS:GO league team this academic year. Jayvee “Ny1ander” Macapugay, second-year student in business finance will be stepping up to manage this year’s CS:GO team. Macapugay said that the returning players from last year’s team will be Cheap, TylerS, Cairo and Ny1ander himself. They are hoping to find a strong fifth player for their Varsity team but also a substitute to be alongside them.


“I had nine new students sign up and six made it out to tryouts on Aug. 19,” Macapugay said. “We ran a handful of games on the FaceIT servers and overall it was a really good turnout.”

There have been two notable newcomers Macapugay said have stood out from try-outs. A previous Valorant Rising player Dawner and a new first-year student that goes by Stuszy. Macapugay said that he will host another try-out around the first few weeks of September for any first year students that missed summer try-outs.

Two players that Macapugay also wanted to mention were 2Heavy and Orochimaru. 2Heavy previously lived in Brazil while Orochimaru is from India. He said that both players have adapted well with North American callouts in CS:GO and the maps they played on.

“Funny story is that 2Heavy accidentally queued us into a South American FaceIT game, but he did lead the way on how to approach a Brazilian defense and how to pace against in offense,” Macapugay said.

Macapugay used to coach basketball and football back in high school. He said that it has been a while since he has been able to sit back and see the passion and effort coming from students trying out. The CS:GO team won in the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) Open Plus division in the 2023 winter semester. Macapugay said that he hopes to keep this momentum going for this upcoming academic year.

“I believe it’s going to come down to understanding our roles, continuing to use the fundamentals of map control, and keeping communication high at all times,” Macapugay said. “We’ve looked our best when everyone is on the same page and follows the calls to the very end.”

Rainbow Six Siege (R6)

R6 captain James “Purzaa” Perez from the graphic design program believes their team has been making improvements over the summer. The team did some training in a summer league but they are testing out new players to join the Varsity team this academic year.

“New Academy team will be revamped with some new talent for this coming fall,” Perez said. “I believe there definitely will be potential for that team to bring home a trophy with the right chemistry between the players.”

Try-outs will be starting on Sept. 6. He’s hoping more students will sign up for try-outs and he will be looking to join a couple new leagues for this academic year.

Call of Duty (CoD)

Jacob “Bonk” Deneau, captain and manager from Fanshawe’s business marketing program has been busy already with try-outs. Around eight players came out to try-outs. Deneau said that reviews will be the next step for each player to see who will be making the Varsity roster or Academy.

“It’s exciting to have so much competition in tryouts,” Deneau said. “With the players we have now, no matter who makes Varsity or Academy, both teams will be strong.”

Deneau is looking to have more video on demand (VOD) reviews this next season. VODs are quite known in every area of Esports. Teams from any game will watch back recorded gameplay and break it down with either their captain, manager or coach. Deneau believes this is a big piece they were missing last academic year and could potentially help fix any small mistakes they made.

Two Fuel members that are coming back this year will be Bosfrost and Fein. Last year, Bosfrost and Fein both moved up from the Academy team to the Varsity team. Deneau said finding new players they can work and train with on the off-season was a main task for him. Fuel will see two new players coming to the CoD teams. KMC from St. Clair and Sus who is coming from the University of Windsor. Deneau said both these players are incredibly skilled and know what they are doing out there.

He said that KMC is really good on the assault rifle in the game and to keep an eye out for what KMC has to offer in matches. Deneau used to play with Sus back on a Challengers team in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2.

“One thing I can tell you about Sus is that when he’s moving…. he’s moving out there,” Deneau said. “His potential is through the roof and I can’t be more excited.”

More Fuel insider reports are still to come as more teams start their try-out process. It’s not too late to try out for some Esports teams at Fanshawe as well. Make sure to join the Fuel Discord server to get the latest announcements.

Here’s all the upcoming try-out dates for Fuel Esports teams:

• Apex: Sept. 11 at 7 p.m.
• Overwatch: Sept. 2 at 8 p.m.
• League of Legends: TBD
• Rocket League: Sept. 5, 7 11 and 13 at 7 p.m.