Sunday eSports: LAN Recap – here’s what’s been happening around Australia

Whether you’re a fan of League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Starcraft 2, World of Tanks or even Shootmania, there’s something to whet your competitive fancy over the next month or so.

Being the king of the hill, League of Legends is getting all the attention of late. But when you kick off February with the third season of the Championship Series.

Australians, sadly, aren’t able to take part in the Championship Series, although they haven’t been left out to dry. The Australian and New Zealand branch of the Electronic Sports League have organised an Electronic Pro Series for the region.

Chiefs, Leedle Lee, Qlimax Crew, Team Immunity, Kal Vas Gaming, Exile5’s Lunar squad, Team Imperious and Volf Goes RAWR.Giga have either been invited or qualified for the finals. At the time of writing, the final qualifier hadn’t begun although by the time you read this the last four teams will have been determined.

Console gamers are enjoying plenty of love too lately, with the Australian and New Zealand qualifiers for the Call of Duty Championship announced recently. Eight teams will qualify from two separate online events, with the top two from that bracket getting an all-expenses paid trip to Los Angeles to compete for US$1 million.

The event’s only open to those aged 18 or over, creating a bit of consternation after several quality players realised they wouldn’t be able to compete. Nevertheless, it’s going to be a great event, complete with an Australia vs New Zealand showmatch. The Australian/NZ finals will be held in Sydney on the 15th of March.

There’s plenty of Starcraft 2 action down under as well, with the Southeast Asian Clan League (and its associated fantasy league competition) progressing smoothly.

Australian powerhouses Team Immunity and Gamecom.NV will face off at 6pm tonight in their round match; the two have had a rough road and are sitting in the middle of the ladder with 6 points apiece. The Cityhunter-sponsored Xeria Gaming are riding high at the top of the leaderboard, although their schedule will become tougher when they face off against 3rd place Frenetic Array next week.

New Zealand are putting in a strong showing of their own, with Team Iris sitting on a comfortable 10 points after 4 straight wins. The Kiwis pulled off a surprise 3-2 upset of Team Immunity in the third week, although they face Frenetic Array and Gamecom.NV back to back.

The local LAN scene is continuing to grow as well. Rural Victorians got a taste of competitive action at the last RGL event in Mildura, with almost 40 players showing up for the free-for-all Halo 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 events.

In Sydney there’s a new type of LAN brewing, with the organisers behind MPU starting up Ctrl-Alt-Defeat. The event is a sit-and-play LAN party, rather than a BYOC event, and is being held at the Good Games store on Clarence St.

The idea is for people to come down and just enjoy some LAN gaming during the week without having to go through the hassle of lugging their gear around. $15 will get you a spot at the keyboard (spectating is free). 12 computers have been organised for Monday night, and for fans of collectible card games, miniature war games or board gaming, there’s also a 5% discount in the store for everyone in attendance.

New Zealanders won’t miss out on the LAN action either, with Adversity Gaming announcing a teaser Easter LAN ahead of their traditional annual Auckland LAN. Held on the final weekend of March, the LAN will feature 2v2 competitions for Call of Duty, Halo 4 and some yet-to-be announced fighting games.

But the biggest event around the corner will be the OZHadou Nationals next weekend. We’ve already previewed the event here at GON, and I’ll be down at 99 on York to cover all the action. The fighting gaming community’s calendar doesn’t stop there though, with the Victorian-based Shadowloo Showdown finally revealing the date for its next event.

The timing is more akin to a Battle Arena Melbourne event than the Shadowloo Showdown, but I’m certain it’ll be just as good as ever. And in case you’re doubtful on the skill and technical expertise behind the Shadowloo team, here’s a reminder.

Know of any other LANs in your local area with some eSports action? Let us know in the comments below!

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