Uncharted 4 Championship Doesn’t Disappoint
E-Sports is incredibly fast growing and as I went in to cover WoldGaming’s Uncharted 4 Championship tournament at Toronto’s ScotiaBank Theatre, I realized how far behind I was in catching on to that. A flashy and impressive layout as well as a red carpet walk let you know that this Canadian Championship was very serious and the teams were about to put on a show. With a grand prize of $50,000 for the winning team, everyone brought their A game in what ended up being an extremely competitive and highly entertaining tournament.
Eight teams had made it to this final showdown after some rigorous regional competitions and the competitors were from all over. SetToDestroyX had a top ranked team from London as well as a crowd favourite team from Calgary. There was also the maligned Team Venom from Toronto as well as Dream Team – a team comprised of 5 guys who had only met online. They came from all over the world, one of them bringing their parents along a trek that took them over 18 hours and several flights!
In between the matches, WorldGaming kept us very engaged as the hypeman/host kept the energy high and dished out a ton of prizes – several that I wish I was eligible for (that Uncharted hoodie though…). The engaging host and his team kept the crowd riled up between matches but the matches themselves were enough to really ramp up the energy in the nearly sold out theatre.
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“The engaging host and his team kept the crowd riled up between matches but the matches themselves were enough to really ramp up the energy in the nearly sold out theatre.”
It began with the aforementioned top ranked SetToDestroyX(London) team being ousted in dominant fashion in the first round. Once that thrilling match ended with the #1 ranked team getting blown out of the water, it was pretty clear that nothing was going to be set in stone. Teams like Swift GP and Dream Team took the aggressive approach as they racked up huge amounts of points as they pushed through to the second round. SetToDestroyX (Calgary), led by team captain Allamen Ally who had a whole cheer squad following him, took a more balanced approach of tactical movement and aggressive pushes to dominate their matches while Toronto’s own Team Venom chose to camp out for most of their matches, playing counter attack instead of aggressor.
Ultimately, Swift GP and Dream Team’s aggression got the better of them Venom and STDX picked them apart to move on to the finals. GP and Dream team had an absolutely thrilling match for third place where Dream Team managed to secure third and some prize money.
In the finals, Venom’s use of camping out became a real controversial point as STDX was too smart to run head long into a trap, trying their best to engage Venom without being blindsided. It became clear Venom had no intention of engaging whatsoever, so the first match ran out the clock and it seemed like the second would do the same. But STDX used Venom’s time wasting technique against them, getting a point in the final 30 seconds with an absolutely legendary blind double grenade toss across the map, catching Venom off guard and securing the only point they needed. Venom, not learning their lesson, tried the same tactic in the next match, but STDX had enough of this and pushed hard on them in the final three minutes, racking up point after point after point and securing the victory and the championship in impressive fashion.
The entire tournament was very entertaining even when there was PSN problems or certain teams chose not to play just so they wouldn’t lose. Watching some teams employ straight aggression or watching others roll out tactical hits, nearly every match was fun and tense to watch. Seeing such a big turnout, including Ally’s own private squad and STDX’s overall fanbase, and to see so many people personally involved with these teams shows what a big, growing community that E-Sports is cultivating.
The choice of Uncharted 4 seemed like an interesting one to me as I didn’t realize that it had such a big presence but I ended up seeing the beauty in the game choice. With such a large purse on the line, WorldGaming wanted to ensure it was a team match and the winner’s weren’t just relying on one talented player to get them through. Watching these guys play, it became very obvious that Uncharted 4 multiplayer wasn’t a one man game but every person on the map needed to function like a well oiled machine in order to secure the win. It was a great choice and it made for a great, fun filled finals that has me looking forward to seeing more of these competitions in the future. Tune in to WorldGaming and see when and where their next big tournament is going down.
Congratulations to Team SetToDestroyX(Calgary) on their big win!
