Upsurge 2021: A Look At What's To Come
Upsurge Esports (Written by Tejaun Richard) 1/10/2021
Hello everyone! With the new year comes new changes, and with Upsurge, this is an understatement. Hopefully, everyone has had a happy holiday season and is navigating their placements well as the start of season 11 in League of Legends begins. While you guys have been busy getting used to the new state of the game during the preseason, we’ve been working hard to provide you with some of the best amateur play opportunities in 2021. We hope you’re equally as excited as we are because we have a lot of big things to unveil throughout the year. Perhaps our most notable change for this year is that Upsurge will take its place as part of an ecosystem designed by Riot Games designed to help facilitate the amateur scene as part of its “amateur overhaul” vision described in the company’s change list for 2021. These changes will allow Upsurge to work directly in tandem with the LCS Proving Grounds and function as an organizer of events that will allow amateur teams to compete directly against academy teams. That’s right- Upsurge will now be directly in the middle of the path that players can take to become pros. This means the stakes are now even higher than before, with the rewards and glory being even bigger for those aiming for the highest highs of competitive and coordinated play. With highly recognized teams and organizations like 100 Thieves and Evil Geniuses already investing into their amateur development, Riot has also taken notice and decided that working closer with amateurs at the development level could make the region stronger and allow for more talent to be able to show off just what they can and cannot do against some of the strongest teams and players that North America has to offer, whether it’s at the university level or third-party teams. These changes will also directly intertwine with how the new League Championship Series and Academy tournament will operate. You can read more about what Riot Games hopes to bring to the amateur scene here. Founder Garrett Meyerson is thrilled at how Upsurge is slowly and surely becoming a more definitive gateway for developing talent and amateurs. The organization has come a long way since its founding in December 2016, where he initially sought to play in tournaments as a kid in middle school, and its first hosted tournament in 2017. Working closely with the United Esports Association, who acquired the company in December 2019, he has been working diligently to keep content and production going even in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic while making strides at allowing more and more people (both players and people interested in things like casting, production, and just the business side of esports) the opportunity to get their feet wet and gain experience in the field. Ultimately, his goal for the coming year is to allow those who are interested to gain perspective of what it's like to work in esports so that they can make an informed decision in regards to if esports is the career path they want to take. With that said, our Winter 2021 tournaments are right around the corner, with the Upsurge Contender, Minor, Junior, and Gold leagues all accepting applications up until Saturday, January 16, 2021. You can apply via our events page, so get a squad (or join one) and come and test your skill to see if you have what it takes to win it all! For more information, we encourage you to read up on the specific tournament(s) you are interested in and join our official Discord server, where you can talk with staff and get a fast response to any concerns you may have. It’s a big year of change and exciting developments. With everything being slowly laid out on the table and all of our hard work coming to fruition, there’s only one thing left to ask - are you ready? We hope to see you guys on the rift soon. Contact Information | Website | Request a Partnership Packet | Join an Esports League
