On the Focus | We take a look into the future of the e-Lig Series

The e-Lig University Series kicked off on the 29th of January in a three-legged series for its pilot season zero. The event was held at Kenyatta University Business & Service Centre that saw 24 participants enter for the Open series while only 6 entered for the All-Women division.

The e-Lig University series was birthed to help grow competitive side of FIFA in Kenya most especially in Universities which holds up to 90% of competitors in most of the events held in Kenya. The pilot season was to introduce the competition and showcase what Ace Pro has in store for the future as Esports continues to grow globally. The FIFA competitive global market is steadily growing with many licensed qualifying events held globally especially in U.K, Australia and the United States attracting millions of competitors.

The FIFA Electronic World Cup has so far since attracted many qualifying events such as electronic Major League Soccer (USA), electronic Premier League (U.K), E-League (U.S.A), E-League (Hyundai A-League Australia), GFinity FIFA Series and many more of LQE (Licensed Qualifying Events).

The e-Lig University series seeks to encourage more competitive Kenyan FIFA Players to compete highly in franchises based on University institutions. The series pilot season showcased the future of the competition set to come.

FUT MODE

The e-Lig University series will see FUT Mode being used for its season one set to commence in September this year. Players are encouraged to get well versed with the mode and build in their squads for the season to come. All international events use the FUT Mode and positioning the e-Lig University series for international events will need the series to go into the use of FUT Mode.

PARTICIPATION

The e-Lig series currently has 6 franchises from 6 Universities that registered to take part in the competition for its pilot season. Each Institution sent 5 players totalling to 24 participants for the Open series and 6 participants for the All-Female series. The next season will see a reduction of players but an increase of institution taking part in the series. We plan to increase the number of participating institutions to tap into newer markets of competitive FIFA playing communities.

The e-Lig University series moves into its week two with Peter Mumu holding top position and Kevin Omondi coming in second. Here is a full table after the weekend opener.

The Check | Inside e-Lig series points awarding system

The e-Lig University Series kicked off last weekend with 24 players competing in the Open series and only three ladies taking part in the All-Ladies competition.

The e-Lig series is a competition involving six University teams with each University bringing in 4 participants (Open series) and 1 participant (All-Ladies series). The competition is divided into four conferences with each University presenting a player in each of the conference.

PLAY-OFFS

The e-Lig series sees top two in each conference qualify for the quarterfinals whereas each position finish from each conference moves straight for position playoff. For example, if player A finishes 3rd in Conference A, he or she will meet all players who finished position 3 in each of the conferences to play for ranking positions (9th – 12th). This goes on for all other group stage position.

Position 1-2 in each conference qualify for main cup quarterfinals

Position 3 in each conference qualify for (9th-12th) playoffs

Position 4 in each conference qualify for (13th-16th) playoffs

Position 5 in each of the conference qualify for (17th-20th) playoffs

Position 6 in each of the conference qualify for (21st-24th) playoffs

POINTS AWARDING SYSTEM

The e-Lig University series uses a reverse point ranking system where the total number of players represents the amount of total points gained in each of the series tournament. The e-Lig series has 24 participants and thus the winner of the tournament gets 24 points whereas the last placed player gets 1 point.

Peter Mumu secures the e-Lig weekend opener beating Kevo CK in the final

The e-Lig weekend opener held at Kenyatta University Business & Students Service Centre showed a great and vibrant competitive nature of Esport, especially in the Kenyan FIFA Community.

Notable competitive players such as Peter Mumu, Kevin Omondi, Phillip Kimani, and KingSlayer were present on that day competing for their various varsity sides.

CONFERENCE A

This conference saw Zack win all his five games with a notable win against foe Kevin Omondi in the most anticipated game that ended 3-1. Kevo CK still managed to book himself in the quarter-finals finishing the second spot with a 2-2-1 W-D-L record. The hosts Bruno “GrimReeper” Sorre did not play to his expectation finishing last in the pool. Rockie, Rio, and Chrispee finished 3rd, 4th and 5th in that conference.

CONFERENCE B

e-Lig Weekend Opener winner Flossin Mauwano pierced his way out through this heavily loaded conference finishing 2nd in the group. MKU Flossin Mauwano finished with a 3-1-1 W-L-D record. He managed to qualify to the quarter-final stage through group stages after a loss against Steve from the Technical University of Kenya. The conference saw the University of Nairobi Yobra finish top of the conference with 4-1-0 record drawing one game against Flossin Mauwano. Steve, Strathmore’s #Mo, Kenyatta University Winchester and JKUAT’s Osnet finished 3rd-6th in that order.

CONFERENCE C

The conference saw the biggest upset in the opening weekend. Kenyatta University’s Phillip “Yardie” Kimani who had recently won the Jumia Gaming Tournament failed to qualify for the knock-out stages but also finishing 5th in his conference of 6. He only won 2 matches and lost the rest failing to qualify for the quarters. This conference saw Horizon Organization Joel finish top of this conference followed by Alpha Team GeeMajid. MKUs ju88oi, JKUATs donuts, K.Us Yardie and TUKs Malvin finished 2nd-6th in that order.

CONFERENCE D

Alpha Teams Kamal sat at the summit in this conference after a brilliance performance. He finished with a 4-1-0 record drawing a game against 2nd seeded WekaMbali from JKUAT. TUKs KingSlayer, Pablo, Max and Soka finished 3rd-6th in that order.

PLAY-OFFS

Main Series Quarter Final Pairings

(Flossin Mauwano v. Zack)

Flossin Mauwano easily passed Zack with a 5-0 aggregate. Flossin powered his first match with a 4-0 score and only managing a 1-0 for the second match.

(Yobra v. Kevo CK)

In a tight match, Horizons Yobra looked to create a great match against A-Teams Kevo CK. With a 1-0 win in the first match, Kevo CK managed to get a lead over Yobra. Yobra came back for the second leg managing a draw to end the game 2-1 on aggregate in favor of Kevo CK.

(Joel v. WekaMbali)

Horizons Joel shot passed Elite Organization WekaMbali with a 2-1 aggregate score to book a spot in the semi-finals.

(Kamal v. GeeMajid)

The Alpha Team derby had GeeMajid easily book a spot in the semi-finals against Kamal. GeeMajid beat Kamal with a 5-3 aggregate score.

SEMI-FINALS

(Kevo CK v. GeeMajid)

Kevo CK cruised passed by GeeMajid on a 7-3 aggregate score to book a place in the finals.

(Flossin Mauwano v. Joel)

The most heated match of the day saw Horizons Joel going up against Mauwano organization team leader Flossin Mauwano. Joel made a comeback in the first leg to even the game at 2-2. Going into the second leg, Flossin Mauwano composed himself to take another lead but Joel equalized and took the game to Extra Time.

An error by Joel awarded Flossin Mauwano a penalty in the second half of the game to end 3-2. Flossin Mauwano took the game 5-4 on aggregate.

THE FINAL

The final saw two of the most decorated FIFA players in Nairobi Flossin Mauwano and Kevo CK continue to grow their status of best players in Nairobi. Flossin Mauwano managed to win the game 3-1 going into the next round top of the table and contributing 24 points to his organization Mauwano Organization.

The second leg will be played on the 16th of February in a location we will communicate this week.

Ace Pro Gaming launches the next phase of its pioneering Esport series.

The Tekken 254 Circuit has provided an in-depth look into our investment in Esports. The circuit has run for the past 6 months with two seasons and looking to grow bigger and better. We believe Esports is wholly dependent on its management and we have invested fully in management. With all these up our sleeves, we are excited to be launching our next planned series of competition and that is the FIFA franchise.

FIFA is arguably the largest game played amongst many persons living in and out of Nairobi and also regionally in East Africa. FIFA constitutes to up to 80% of games being played in many of the gaming lounges. ‘Walk into any gaming lounge in Nairobi, Kiambu, Kisumu etc and FIFA will be the most played game you will see on the screens. Out of 10 screens in the lounge, 8 are being used for FIFA’– says Head of Marketing Jairus Ogembo.

FIFA is highly played by many young people who throng into the many game lounges around estates, university accommodation areas, and also residential homes. Gaming lounges have also had its share of increase constituting to 35% growth especially in Nairobi. Many movies & series shops have either closed to create room for a gaming section or expanded space inside to spin off to have a video gaming business on the side. This clearly shows its intense growth and we as Ace Pro Gaming look to tap it by creating a series of tournaments that will see players compete for points and prizes.

The FIFA series will go by the name “e-Lig series”. The e-Lig will be played in a format designed by the Ace Pro Gaming tournaments team. Our first investment into the planned FIFA competition will be the universities & colleges series. The series will be played amongst different universities & colleges in Kenya. The series will feature a great format of play, and points awarding system that will spice up entertainment but also incorporate a lot of strategy, competition and business opportunity.

We also look to angle and work hard to have the e-Lig | University & Colleges Series to be part of the Kenya University Sports Association games in the near future. ‘Digital sports are proving to be an answer to an increase in spectatorship, participation and also job creation amongst many young people.”– Charles Wambugu, Head of Operations Ace Pro Gaming.  The KUSA games are run annually having different Universities competing against each other clearly showing how organized these games competitions are and we believe including Esports will have great benefits to the games.

More information on the e-Lig selected venues, dates, explained format, number of participants and points awarding system will be released soon.