Chapter 64: Is It That hard?
The Shanghai 16 School Tournament was incredibly important to the high school esports clubs in Shanghai. There were three reasons for this. First, this was the only official sanctioned League of Legends high school esports tournament in all of Shanghai. Some schools organized smaller events, like the Haiwan 4 School Tournament or the Pudong 8 School Cup, but those were local events for friendly competition. The 16 School Tournament was an entirely different sort of event. It was comparable to the national University tournaments in terms of scale and production value. The venue was huge! It had plenty of room for fans to come and watch, and the gaming equipment was of the highest quality. This was the stage to compete on for the high school students in Shanghai. It was a real professional tournament, nothing like their locally organized events. Victory on this stage also held meaning. Winning meant everything from further opportunities to team rewards. There was also the moment when they’d hoist a trophy up in front of hundreds of screaming fans. A trophy which would become the most valuable treasure in their club’s cabinet.
The second reason the different esports clubs put such importance on this 16 School Tournament was the prize money. The Shanghai Division of the Chinese Esports Association was the organizer for this tournament, and they sponsored a huge cash prize that would go to the teams who made it to the semifinals and finals. First place would earn a whopping ¥80,000. Even the fourth place prize was nothing to sneeze at, a respectable ¥20,000. On top of that, there was also the individual MVP award with a prize of ¥20,000 attached to it.
The third and final reason was that this tournament was the stage for any young player who dreamed of making it to the professional competitive circuit to showcase their skills. This was the tournament where they could get scouted. The tournament organizers invited famous professional analysts, players, and coaches to make guest appearances as commentators. Just last year, one of the members of the winning team had caught the eye of a top LSPL team’s coach.[1] That player was now part of that coach’s second team and a real professional gamer! This was THE dream for countless high school students in Shanghai.
The Shanghai 16 School Tournament was the first step on the path to glory. If they got scouted by an LSPL coach or player, an LSPL team might pick them up. From there, they could qualify for the LPL. Once they made it into the LPL, the World Championships were only a step away. That’s where they could fight on the highest stage in the world, playing at the highest level, millions of fans cheering them on. To fight for the highest glory and take home the biggest trophy, this was the dream of every avid League of Legends player!
The funny thing was the name of the tournament was a bit of a misnomer. It had grown considerably since its inception. The Shanghai 16 School Tournament currently had far more than 16 schools participating. There were roughly 200 high schools in Shanghai, and 70 of them participated in the 16 School Tournament. The sheer number of schools and teams required the introduction of a qualification series before the official tournament could begin. During the qualifiers, teams from the 70 participating schools would duke it out to earn one of the coveted 16 spots in the official tournament.
“So. What you’re saying is that we didn’t even make it out of the qualifiers last year?” Lin Feng asked, eyes wide in shock.
Ouyang awkwardly coughed. “Well… if you really wanted to be technical about it, yeah bro… you could say that.”
Yang Fan adjusted his glasses. “There is no other way to put it, Ouyang. It's not a technicality. Correct, we were knocked out in the first round of the qualifiers.”
The first round of the qualifiers for the Shanghai 16 School Tournament was a group stage between four teams. The top two from each group would move on to the next round and the losers would go home. Last year, High School 13 only had one win and did not make it through the first round of the qualifiers.