Gamers Gather in Austin

Photo Credit: Henry Yang

"Oh, oh my God, Snoopeh flashes through and manages to turn the tables. I do not believe he just pulled that off."shouts sportscaster Leigh "Deman" Smith after an exciting play. Moments like this send the crowd into a frenzy as members jump from their seats in excitement.

   Players from both sides of the Atlantic gathered in Austin, Texas' Marchesa Hall & Theater on Nov. 10th & 11th for e-sports tournament Lone Star Clash 2.

   LCS2 hosted tournaments for both Blizzard's Starcraft II and Riot Games' League of Legends. For those unfamiliar with League of Legends, it is the largest online game in the world, receiving the attention of mainstream news sources like Forbes, Yahoo, and CBS. The popularity of this fast-paced strategy game has exploded since its 2009 release, amassing a whopping 32 million monthly users from all across the globe.

   Even after qualifying for the event, the members of American team Orbit Gaming were unable to receive sufficient funds from their organization, so team manager Ferris Ganzman turned to crowd-funding. Thanks to generous donations from their fans, Orbit's players were able to raise more than four thousand dollars, more than enough to cover their trip's expenses. During the event, they assumed the name Reddit Nation, after the community where the majority of their funds originated. Due to the  funding fiasco, Orbit's players sought a new sponsorship organization, and are now known as Quantic Gaming.

Bracket credit: Leaguepedia

Counter Logic Gaming Europe took first place, beating Curse Gaming North America in a best-of-three during round two. Curse analyzed their mistakes and improved upon them, coming back from the loser's bracket to take CLG EU into a heated five round final.




   John "Totalbiscuit" Bain, a caster for LSC2's Starcraft matches, praised TeSPA's performance, considering their limited resources, and puts them ahead of gaming giant Blizzard Entertainment in terms of event quality.

E-Sports fan and League of Legends shoutcaster Reid Melton loves Lone Star Clash 2 and  e-Sports so much that he he's willing to volunteer.

   LCS2 attracted 47 thousand concurrent spectators, a massive amount compared to their last event, Texas Starcraft Showdown, which attracted a measly 2500. About LCS2, TeSPA Founder and Co-President Adam Rosen said, "Lone Star Clash shattered every single expectation we had." Over the course of the weekend, "we had over 1.5 million [unique] views and millions of total impressions."