Multiplayer video game team competition isn’t new to U‑M students, but it has a new home at Recreational Sports. Students run our entire esports program—which focuses on competition, community, and well-being.

Stay Connected

To get involved, join our Discord sever!

See our tournament results, events, streams and more by following the Michigan Esports Twitter.

Follow our Twitch channel to see our collegiate teams compete in a variety of competitions, live.

Program Contact Info

Kevin Palmer
Assistant Director, Esports & Intramural Programs
kevpalm@umich.edu

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a shooter game developed by Valve. In the competitive play, two teams of five players face off with the goal of either attacking or defending the two bomb sites on the maps. On offense, you are tasked with planting the bomb at the site and defending it until it explodes, or eliminating the enemy team. On defense, you must defend the sites by eliminating the enemy team or running out the clock, or retake the site after the bomb has been planted and defuse it. The competitive games consist of 30 rounds, with teams playing 15 on offense and 15 on defense. The first team to 16 rounds wins, and in the event of a tie, the teams will play two 3 round halves until one team wins 4 rounds in the overtime set.
• Our CS:GO team typically consists of 5 players and 2 substitutes. This team usually competes in NACCS, CSL, and other collegiate tournaments that come up during the year.

Dota 2

• Dota 2 is a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) in which two teams of five players compete to destroy a structure called the Ancient in the enemy team’s base.  Each player controls one hero from a selection of over 120, which has a unique array of abilities they may use to become more powerful, battle other heroes and A.I. controlled creeps, and ultimately attack the enemy’s Ancient, while defending their own.
• Our team competes regularly in Collegiate Star League (CSL), as well as other smaller tournaments throughout the year. In the past, we have also had a secondary roster in the CSL open league division.

Hearthstone

• Set within the Warcraft universe, Hearthstone is a digital-only, turn-based collectible card game which pits two opponents against each other. Players select a hero from one of ten classes. All classes have unique cards and abilities, known as hero powers, which help define class archetypes.
• Collegiate Hearthstone consists primarily of two large tournaments each semester, the Varsity tournament where our best team of three competes against other Varsity teams, and the open division tournament where we field as many teams of three as we have players interested in filling. The format for both is best of five conquest, and they merge after the regular season into one large playoffs bracket for the top teams from each division.

League of Legends

•  League of Legends is a fast paced Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) where 5 players work together to destroy the other team’s nexus. Players choose from a diverse array of champions, ranging from gun wielding pirates to ice witches, there are over 140 champions in the game to choose from. Every champion is piloted differently and incorporates 4 unique abilities they can use in battle. Players typically play one of five roles, which have specific champions designed for them and unique attributes of their role. Typically, competitive League of Legends is played on Summoners Rift, one of the only supported maps for the game.
• The League of Legends team consists of 3 supported competitive teams, where each team has 5 players, a coach, and a manager. Typically the Varsity team consists of players who are Diamond II +, the Junior Varsity team consists of players who are Diamond IV+, and the Junior Varsity II team consists of Players who are Plat II+. Each team will play a set of scrimmages for practice each week and some might review their games to improve play. Our varsity team competes in Collegiate League of Legends (CLOL), which is a swiss bracket taking place in early February onward.

Overwatch

• Team Fortress 2 ripoff without everyone’s favorite gamemode: but with an esports scene that is only supported a lot at the highest level! Overwatch is a 6v6 hero-shooter (a combination of a traditional FPS and MOBA genres) released by Blizzard Entertainment where two teams fight over different objectives on maps based on real-world cities and places such as Japan, Hollywood, or London. Teams in Overwatch consist of six players split across three roles: Tank, Support, and Damage
• In the past, our teams have competed in TESPA and the Activision-Blizzard Collegiate series as well as various tournaments put together by other collegiate teams around the United States.

Rainbow 6: Siege

• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege is an online tactical shooter published by Ubisoft. The game puts heavy emphasis on environmental destruction and cooperation between players. Five players from each team assumes control of an attacker or a defender from various Counter Terrorism Units in different gameplay modes.
• Our team consists of five starting players and three substitute players. We have been consistently participating in CR6 Open playoffs and the first FACEIT playoff in the previous seasons.

Rocket League

• Rocket League is a fast-paced hybrid of vehicular action, and traditional soccer. Simply put, it’s “soccer with cars.” Two teams of up to three players compete to outscore their opponents in an intense 5-minute match.
• Our Varsity UMich Esports Rocket League roster consists of 3 starting players and 2 substitutes. They are constantly competing in major collegiate events, and have placed top 10 in the nation three times in the past 2 years.

SMITE

• Smite is a third person over the shoulder style Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) based off of mythological figures from across cultures throughout the world and history
• The Smite team consists of 5 starting players and 3 substitutes and currently consists of masters level play based on the in-game ranking system. We compete in regular tournaments with monetary prizes against other colleges organized by AVGL and try to scrim 1-2 days a week and during the season play in 2 official league matches per week.

Starcraft 2

• Starcraft 2 is a competitive Real Time Strategy (RTS) game made by Blizzard Entertainment. The game is usually played with an emphasis on 1 versus 1 competitive gameplay but can be played in team games up to 4 players or in free for all formats. Starcraft 2 is an asymmetrical RTS, meaning that it has multiple “races” or “factions” that each have different mechanics as having completely unique army units. In general, the gameplay of an RTS consists of gathering resources, building buildings with those resources, and building an army out of those buildings with the same resources. Once an army is built, the players will try to achieve the win condition of the game which is to destroy all of the enemy’s buildings. However an opponent can recognize if they have been defeated and surrender the game before the win condition is met. In order to do this, players will try different strategies and mind games, fight the enemy army with their own, and disrupt enemy resource gathering.
• The Starcraft 2 team has around 4-5 people active in practice and meetings but when called on, we can have up to 15 people participating in a tournament. We have played in TESPA in the past and a few smaller tournaments individually as well as organizing some of our own collegiate tournaments with the help of the MSU Starcraft 2 team.

Valorant

• Valorant is a tactical shooter published by Riot Games. In Valorant, two teams of five players compete against each other with the goal of either attacking bombsites and planting an explosive device called the spike, or defending the bomb sites and defusing the spike. Each player picks an agent  to play. Each agent has special abilities which give their team a tactical advantage. After 12 rounds, the two teams switch roles, causing the attackers to defend and the defenders to attack. The first team to 13 rounds wins the game.
• Our varsity team consists of 5 players that specialize in playing specific agents for the team. The team competes in leagues such as the Collegiate Star League (CSL), Collegiate Valorant Conference, and the Big Time Conference which features teams from the Big 10 Schools.

U‑M students are already building a national esports reputation. With your support, we can build on our impressive team-gaming status and provide more opportunities for student participation and leadership.

Facilities Donations and Corporate Sponsorships

Your support will help us find a campus home for Michigan Esports. And our teams need corporate sponsors for all aspects of the program. To discuss your options for facilities donations and corporate sponsorships, contact Lexi Chaput, senior assistant director for sports programs and development, at lexic@umich.edu.

Donations for Team Costs

Your gifts cover necessary team costs such as competition fees, travel expenses, and equipment. You can support Michigan Esports costs via online donations.