University of Warwick crowned UK Esports University of the Year for third year in a row

Warwick Esports, the official esports society at the University of Warwick, have retained their title of UK Esports University of the Year, winning for the third successive year. Warwick Esports finished first in the British University Esports Championships (BEUC) league table. The competition culminated in the Spring Finals from 9 April to 11 April.

Joshua Mankelow, president of Warwick Esports, said: “Our first two wins were great on their own, but this third win really allows us to say that we’re creating a legacy in university esports. A legacy of excellence and sportsmanship that future students will be inspired to surpass.”

He added that within university esports, Warwick is establishing a reputation for being the best and that the achievement was only possible due to Warwick Esports’ grassroots movement, fielding over 40 teams of all standards during the year.

Warwick’s score of 3027 was 1021 points above the closest competitor and almost doubles their points from last years’ competition

Warwick topped the leaderboard of 100 teams with 3027 with the runner-up, the University of Southampton, attaining 2006 points and Staffordshire University on 1815 points coming third. Lancaster University came fourth, the University of Portsmouth fifth, and the University of East Anglia sixth.

Warwick’s score of 3027 was 1021 points above the closest competitor and almost doubles their points from last year’s competition.

Alex Petropoulos, Warwick Esports Communications Director, commenting on the future told The Boar: “I wouldn’t say there is any one university that we have to look out for as our challengers. If you look at the standings, you see us at the top, and then a battle for second place between a number of different universities. So for us staying at the top will be more about reflecting on what we can do better, how we can improve upon what we are already doing.”

The 2020/21 competition occurred in winter and spring splits with 100 teams participating, the most BUEC has had at once.

Between winter and the spring finals the team ‘Warwick Ducks’ for DOTA 2 was the best performing team bringing in 150 points in both splits for a total of 300. ‘Warwick Dire Wolves’ for Valorant, ‘Grey Warwick’ for League of Legends, ‘Warwick Angels’ for Overwatch, and ‘wanna buy a g shock 50 quid’ for Rocket League were the next four best performing Warwick teams.

Captain of the ‘Warwick Ducks’, Pier Rollins, told The Boar they were “happy to have won again, maintaining our title, having won I think five of the last six DOTA championships, not missing a final in the last several years”.

This win was a culmination of two terms of hard work from all our players, and we couldn’t be prouder

– Alex Petropoulos

He added that he hoped “NSE will be able to host an in-person LAN sometime in the next academic year, but I’ll be gone by then”.

Daniel Zeng, who was president of Warwick Esports for the duration of the competition, said: “I am incredibly proud of everyone’s efforts over the past year. I handed the society over to a bigger and better team, and I have no doubts that we’ll be pushing the limits for what university esports has to offer over the next year.”

Alex Petropoulos also said: “The scale of our BUEC win shows that there wasn’t any individual, or individual team that was the key to our success, it really was a society wide effort. This win was a culmination of two terms of hard work from all our players, and we couldn’t be prouder.”

Looking towards the future and a possible four-year streak Alex said: “We obviously want to go for four years in a row. We’re looking at really expanding our reach on campus and aiming to be the society that provides the best experience for all students.”

From everyone at The Boar and The Boar Games and The Boar Sports, congratulations to all of Warwick Esports for your fantastic win!