Illinois State University’s Redbird Esports Overwatch team seized the national stage, becoming champions of the Collegiate Overwatch Collegiate Homecoming National Tournament #HUE2021.
Sweeping the final playoffs 10-0, the Redbird team toppled schools such as the University of Maryland, University of California Irvine, and Northwood University, securing first seed. After sweeping through University of Maryland and Converse Esports 3 rounds to 0 each, the Redbirds played Northwood University in the top eight and won, three rounds to one.
“We then 3-0’d University of California Irvine and Fisher College for a stop in the National Championship where we played Northwood University again in a best of 7 and beat them 4 rounds to 1,” said Director of Redbird Esports David Kirk. “Throughout the entire top 32, we only lost 2 total rounds, a near perfect run.”
Hundreds of colleges across the country competed in the five-week tournament, sponsored by the game publisher, Activision/Blizzard. Battling in the “Swiss” style of elimination that pits opponents against those with similar running scores. The 2021 Overwatch team finished in the top 20 in the nation, a respectable result for a program in its first year. That success paired with a top five finish for the League of Legends squad gave Redbird Esports strong momentum when they started recruiting for the 2021–22 season.
A round of single-eliminations saw Redbird Esports rise from 32 to the top eight teams, with teams playing on the Activision/Blizzard Discord across PlayStation, Xbox, and Battle.net platforms the finals were a double-elimination bracket.
Follow the playoff bracket here.
“We learned from past tournaments and how teams would study us,” said Redbird Overwatch Coach Megan Lomonof. “We learned our ideal tempo and strategy and changed it at the last minute this time instead of giving teams a chance to ‘download’ us.” Lomonof said this proved to be the winning strategy. “It gave our students the most time to study for finals for school and while not having their own gameplay simultaneously studied and countered.”
Illinois State established the first varsity esports program at a public higher education institution in the state in 2019 and has become synonymous for excellence in esports. The esports boom across the nation is drawing more students to schools with competitive programs. Illinois State is meeting the demand with a Redbird Esports facility.
Read more about the Redbird Esports facility.
The Redbird Esports team consists of Rick “GiG” Salazar, Denis “Lethal” Tari, Landon “Vision” Monteferrante, William “Lyar” Ohlstein, Steven “Renko” Saucedo, Shawn “MovingFish7” Reddy, Thomas “Deeko” Buck, Saad “Saadist” Khan, and Eric “Wheats” Perez.
