PLAYERS

“Hopefully, this will start to normalize esports at a grassroots level in this area. You can see the world championships of any game in sold out stadiums around the world. By bringing a tournament like this to Sioux City, we become part of that world stage and are showing people that you don’t have to be in Los Angeles, Berlin, or South Korea to see people gathering to watch an esports event.”

Morningside will be playing in all four games at the Morningside Esports Invitational. Group stage play kicks off Friday, March 10 at noon and runs until 8 p.m., then continues on Saturday, March 11 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. At 3 p.m., the top four teams from each game will be seeded and the semifinals will commence. The finals for all four games are set to begin at 6 p.m.

MARCH 10-11

Seaboard Triumph Foods Expo Center

LANDON CHRISTENSEN BENJAMIN HUGHES-DIVELY

YEAR: Senior

Landon Christensen

MAJOR: Computer Science

GAME: League of Legends

“League of Legends is a 5-vs-5 game with three lanes, where everyone has a designated role. It’s a strategy based game with an objective of trying to get to the other side of the map before the opponent gets to your side.”

YEAR: Sophomore

MAJOR: Biology

GAME: Overwatch

“Overwatch is a 5-vs-5 team-based shooting game. There are a lot of strategies and different heroes you can play as. The objective is to take control of a point on the map and keep it in your possession or move it.”

Seth Nelson

YEAR: Junior

MAJOR: Public Accounting and Business Administration

GAME: Rocket League

“Rocket League by quick definition is just car soccer. For matches, we play 3-vs-3 and it is a best of five games series. Otherwise, in regular season championships or finals, it’s the best of seven games.”

YEAR: Senior

Jorden Presnall

MAJOR: Business Administration

GAME: Valorant

“Valorant is kind of like Call of Duty, but it is a 5-vs-5 and one side is the defenders and the other is the attackers. The attackers’ job is to plant the bomb and get it to explode. For the defenders, it’s the opposite - stop the bomb from being planted or defuse it if it gets planted."