CREDIT: JACOB "CHEAPUS" WHITE
Big name players are returning, a whole new Rainbow Six Siege Academy team is coming and a special invitation comes to the Fanshawe Fuel Apex squad in the 2024 winter semester.

Fanshawe Fuel teams have been holding try-outs in the first few weeks of January. There is a lot of hope and passion moving into the 2024 winter semester. Many teams are looking to have some changes in their starting squads. Most rosters have not been finalized yet, but here is the latest scoop on where all the teams are at so far.

Valorant

Nicholas “Slipri” Florczyk said they have already held closed tryouts for the Valorant Varsity team.


“There was a lot of returning students that were all around the same skill level, so I tried to find the best option,” Florczyk said. The team already had a set of four with Slipri, Mink, Jakie and Boyc3. Boyc3 played for the Academy team last semester and is returning to the Varsity team this semester.

“Boyc3 showed up one day to practice and we noticed that his in-game leadership is what seemed to be the missing piece to our squad,” he said. The team was looking for a fifth member to join as Sistane decided to only play Rocket League this semester. Florczyk mentioned they added Thor to the squad as they see a lot of potential with them with the other four members they have.

There are a few leagues the team is looking to join this semester. The team recently had a show match on Jan. 13 against the Ontario Tech Student Union (OTSU). Fuel lost 2-0 in the best-out-of-three matchup but Florczyk mentioned that the show match was a good warm-up for them before they get into stronger matches this semester.

“I’d rather lose the show match so that now we know that this is what worked, this is what needs fixing and fix it so we can come back better for the regular season matches,” Florczyk said.

Rocket League

Try-outs for Rocket League took place and Ralph “Leopard” Constantin said they had fewer players try out this semester.

“The returning players are Nxzy, Sistane, Wiseyslides, Wagon, Greely, Perc and Mai but no new players so far,” Constantin said.

He did mention potentially two newcomers in their last try-out and is excited to see if they will be a good fit for any of the current teams they have.

Constantin said that Nero, who helped the Varsity squad last year to victory, will be stepping down from Rocket League this semester. OfficialPaper1 will also be another member who will not be returning and same with Constantin himself.

“I’m proud to be a manager and coach for Fanshawe Fuel Rocket League this winter semester,” Constantin said. “I’m hoping to keep this role for several semesters.”

Rainbow Six Siege (R6)

James “Purzaa” Perez said R6 tryouts went great this semester. They are looking to put a whole new Academy team together with the addition of Portertheprodigy, Beter, Natewalks, and John.

“This team is looking better than ever, and I believe they are a championship contender team!” Perez said.

For the Varsity team, Brendo will be returning this winter semester and they also recruited Mai to the main R6 squad.

“We think Mai can definitely add some more fuel to the team,” Perez said. “We are also looking to improve on our main team this semester a lot and picked up a coach this semester as well.”

Perez is most excited to see how their teams will do in the leagues they are competing in this semester. Most importantly, he wants to see how well the main team will do in the Queen City Clash Tournament.

Counter-Strike 2 (CS2)

Jayvee “Ny1ander” Macapugay said they had six new players come to try-out for the CS2 squad. The returning players are Ryan (Cheap), TylerS, and Ny1ander himself. The team is looking for two well-rounded players for the starting rosters and Macapugay is hoping to get a couple subs too. Orochimaru was another returning player who tried out in the 2023 fall semester. The newcomers who attended try-outs are Jak0b, Miko, Kirederf and VerteX.

“Overall, I was quite impressed on the level of skill from all six players and how they were all willing to try one of the newer maps in rotation that they may have not played much of,” Macapugay said.

The team will be returning to the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) Varsity Plus league again. Macapugay is hoping to have an improvement in their regular season record compared to last semester.

“We are also hoping to have the opportunity this semester to play the St. Clair Saints in a LAN event if we end up in the same division,” Macapugay said. Both teams had plans to do it the previous semester but schedules fell through. Macapugay also mentioned they hope to grow the Canadian Collegiate CS2 Discord server. This is in hopes of bringing Canadian CS2 players together. The server is run by Conestoga Condors CS2 head coach Blupsy and features players from 10 different schools already.

Overwatch

Jacob “Cheapus” White helped put the try-outs together for Overwatch this semester. He said that everyone who came to try out performed really well and that it was great to see who was all interested in playing on the team.

“I tested their teamwork out in this try-out, by manually picking out teams for every map they played,” White said. He added that he took notes from how the teams were playing and the chemistry of communication from each rotation. “I think it’s very important to have players who mesh well together.”

They had several returning players for this winter semester, including a new main “hitscan” Damage Per Second (DPS) player Gatotamalero and Support substitute LittleSpark.

“Their performance in try-outs really stood out to me and I’m happy they are taking positions on this team,” White said.

White has set up a few scrimmages over the next few weeks for the Overwatch squad and is hoping to keep practicing as much as possible together.

“I want them to not only feel like a team who plays video games together, I want them to feel that they are a part of a bigger picture,” White said.

Try-outs are still ongoing for the Apex Legends teams. There will be a few new names coming to the Varsity and Academy rosters. Russell “RustyG” Gubesch that Fuel has been given a premier invitation for the Octane Collegiate League. This is something that is only given to the top playoff teams from the previous stage of the competition.

“I’m most excited to make another playoff push this semester and hopefully outdo our performance from Fall,” Gubesch said.

No information has been provided yet for the League of Legends squad or Call of Duty too. Jake “Bonk” Deneau has started tryouts and has said that they hope to bring a winning team in this winter semester. Make sure to join the Fanshawe Fuel Discord server or follow their socials for the latest announcements and events.