The WePlay Academy League is back for its fifth season, once again shining a spotlight on the CSGO academy teams of several well-known organisations in the space.
And the league will also feature a mix of up and coming desk talent, including several from the UK. More on them below.
WePlay Academy League Season 5 gets underway today (July 25th 2022) with the group stage, and the tournament will run until August 14th. It features a $100,000 prize pool.
The current holders of the WePlay Academy League are Mouz, who won Season 4.
WePlay Academy League Season 5 Broadcast Talent
The desk talent working on the latest WePlay Academy League features a ton of up-and-coming, promising talent.
From the UK we have Neo ‘Ne0kai’ Caine, Ryan ‘ReTr00’ Bernard and Brandon ‘BDog’ Rawlings.
Then there’s Lucy ‘LucyLuce’ Eastwood, a UK-based Australian CSGO commentator, whom Frankie Ward is a fan of.
From Ireland there’s Jack ‘Zerpherr’ Kell, and from Bulgaria there’s Teodor ‘Tedd’ Borisov completing the English language line-up.
The Ukrainian language broadcast will feature Oleksii “yXo” Maletskyi, Aleksandr ‘Enkanis’ Polishchuk and Yuriy ‘Strike’ Tereshchenko.
Quoting the above tweet, casters commented on being a part of the line-up.
BDog said: “A privilege to be working with WePlay Esports. A special event showcasing the future talents of CSGO! Cannot wait to kick this season off with Lucy Luce.”
Lucy Luce added: “Super excited to be part of WePlay Academy League this season! Can’t wait to cast the next generation of CS talent alongside BDog.”
Zerpherr said: “Delighted to be working alongside these talented individuals, very excited to get going on this one!”
“Genuinely an honour to be involved with WePlay this season, always wanted to work with a production like it. It may only be for a short stint, but I’m going to 100% make the most of it – and alongside ReTr00 of course.”
Ne0kai
Tedd said: “Done with my vacation, which means it’s time for some action again. Really happy to be a part of the WePlay team for this season of the Academy League and already looking forward to casting some CS.”
ReTr00 commented: “We’re back for another event, this one super close to the heart, for the next generation of players. Super excited to get this one underway, come and join us through the event with the amazing people I’m working with and get this season underway!”
Ne0kai said: “Genuinely an honour to be involved with WePlay this season, always wanted to work with a production like it. It may only be for a short stint, but I’m going to 100% make the most of it – and alongside ReTr00 of course.”
WePlay Academy League Season 5 Teams
There are 14 teams split into four groups:
Group A
- 00 Prospects
- Astralis Talent
- Eternal Fire Academy
- Fnatic Rising
- Mouz Nxt
- Navi Junior
- Spirit Academy
Group B
- Apeks Rebels
- BIG Academy
- Ence Academy
- Furia Academy
- OG Academy
- Young Gods
- Young Ninjas
UK talent on teams is slim – we have Volt with Fnatic Rising and coach Whitey with Ence.
WePlay Academy League Season 5 broadcasts and day one match times
- 4 p.m. CET — Astralis Talent vs Navi Junior
- 5:15 p.m. CET — Young Ninjas vs OG Academy
- 6:30 p.m. CET — Eternal Fire Academy vs Mouz Nxt
- 7:45 p.m. CET — 00Prospects vs Spirit Academy
- 9:00 p.m. CET — Apeks Rebels vs BIG Academy
- 10:15 p.m. CET — Young Gods vs Ence Academy
The WePlay Academy League English language broadcast will be available on the WePlay CSGO Twitch and WePlay Esports YouTube channels.
More UK CSGO caster content: When Harry Met Hugo: A Deep Dive into the UK CSGO Scene and the Esports Journey of Harry ‘JustHarry’ Russell
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
