The Ogeechee Technical College gaming club, Out to Conquer, competed in two events at the Georgia State Esports PantherLan 2020 Tournament, held March 28 and 29. This is the first time that Out to Conquer has ever competed in an external Esports event. 

A group consisting of Christopher Archambeault (Redd Robbin), Mikayla Haigh (EchoLupe), Jeremy Kaylen (Forsaken Reality), Matthew Magalei (Kuro Sonsaku) and Williams Morrison (Azura Vs Corrin) competed in the League of Legends Tournament. While Jacob Bolen (Tetherball) competed in the Brawlhalla competition.  

Bolen, who finished in 4th place on Sunday in the Brawlhalla finals, said, “I’m just happy we got to play in spite of everything that’s happening in the world right now. It was a fun escape to compete.” 

Due to the circumstances surrounding COVID-19, the tournament that was originally scheduled to be held at Georgia State Stadium in Atlanta was moved online and streamed via Twitch. 

While the League of Legends team may not have placed as high as they would have liked, Magalei was optimistic about the overall experience, “Everyone was overwhelmingly positive and enjoying themselves as much as they did during team practice. I was especially proud to see that we took this as an opportunity to learn and improve together. I’ll always be grateful to have played with such an excellent team.” 

The PantherLAN event is co-sponsored by the Georgia Game Developers Association and the National Association of Collegiate Esports.  Competition in League of Legends, SMITE, Paladins, Overwatch, Hearthstone, Brawlhalla, Dragon Ball FighterZ, and Tekken 7 give students many different options to compete.