Mt Roskill searching for second High School esports title

Mt Roskill Grammar School head into the national High School League as defending champs.

Mt Roskill Grammar School will defend their national High School League esports title at the Armageddon Expo in Auckland on Saturday.

Standing in their way will be Mt Albert Grammar School and both teams were dominant forces in the Premier Division during the HSL's second split that got underway in July.

Mt Roskill defeated Massey High School in the first split earlier in the year and have had to overcome the loss of Vinson 'Kedu' Feng who has since turned professional, making him ineligible for the HSL.

Danny Chang is the teacher in charge of esports at Mt Roskill Grammar and he said the departure of Kedu served as inspiration for other gamers to show what they could achieve.

"His success greatly encouraged his peers and improved the perception of esport within our school," Chang said.

The HSL provided an avenue for students to have their first opportunity to represent the school.

"For some students, HSL is the first time the student is actively pushing themselves to achieve a challenging goal. This self-motivation allows the development of important skills such as communication and teamwork."

The best-of-three encounter in League of Legends will get underway at the ASB Showgrounds at 2.00pm in the Logitech G Esports Arena.

Mount Albert Grammar captain Vincent Lo said they were ready to put on a strong performance this weekend.

"The success we have had has evolved around teamwork and communication. We ensure that each and every one of us talk as much as we can during the match as communication in a team is the key to success," Lo said.

"We also have a plan before every game and analyse any mistakes that we have made after every game, even if it was a clean win."

In the second-tier Challenger Division, Northcote College No 3 will meet Aquinas College.
Northcote College's teacher in charge of esports, Sean Crossen, said the commitment of his players led them to a spot in the grand final.

"At the start of the season, I had no idea of how well it would be received by the students. It all came up so quickly that the school's computer facilities needed to be set up to host the matches," Crossen said.

"This had students playing from home and bussing out to net cafes to play their matches. Even with the delay, every student logged in early to all of their matches to ensure they could start on time. Without the immense dedication from all of the players at Northcote College this would not have been possible."

The second split in the HSL saw more than 35 teams registered in each division and the competition, which is operated by Letsplay.live, Computer Power Plus and TechCafe, will continue to grow.

League of Legends is a popular gaming title and more than 110 million people play worldwide every month.

Tournament Director Matt Ross said it was exciting to see the expansion of the HSL, which had teams from across New Zealand involved during the second split.

"This Saturday represents a huge opportunity for us to showcase the HSL at New Zealand's biggest gaming expo. Don't miss out on seeing some of the most talented gamers in the country playing one of the biggest titles."

HSL Broadcast Schedule

Challenger Division
Saturday
Broadcast free on www.letsplay.live
www.twitch.tv/letsplaylive

Premier Division
Saturday
Broadcast free on www.letsplay.live
​www.twitch.tv/letsplaylive