Imperial College London win London University Esports League of Legends tournament at New Meta, as organisers announce expansion plans

Imperial College London (ICL) have emerged victorious at the latest London University Esports tournament event in League of Legends.

They took home the £500 top prize at North London’s New Meta Gaming Arena on Sunday April 2nd 2023, following their final against Queen Mary University.

Organisers secured Monster, Faceit, Into the Breach and New Meta as sponsors and Tournament Realm from Riot Games for the finals, plus a host of casters and players took part.

The universities that made it to the latest finals event included College of Esports, UCL (University College London), ICL (Imperial College London) and Queen Mary University. College of Esports’ team included support player Finnlo, winner of the UK Esports Christmas Party jungle challenge.

ICL’s winning team consisted of Freehug (top), KarmaWe1les (jungle), Astromanon (mid), Dog (ADC) and Steven (support).

You can check out a video montage of the finals and Imperial College London’s win in the following video from London University Esports:

Universities that participated in the latest London University Esports tournament

There were 17 universities this year, up from 16, as Goldsmiths University and UAL collaborated to make a team, with both of the arts universities being located close to one another.

• SOAS University of London
• University College of London
• London School of Economics
• Westminster University
• Cambridge University
• Ravensbourne University
• Queen Mary University
• Imperial College London
• St Georges University
• City of London University
• College of Esports
• University of the Arts London
• Kings College
• Metropolitan University
• Brunels University
• Oxford University
• Goldsmiths University

Who are London University Esports and what are their goals? Organiser hopes to expand to the North of the UK

The LUE has been put together by UAL student Kuba Wieczorek, the founder and CEO of London University Esports, whose first events at New Meta were announced last year.

Kuba said: “The ethos of our brand, ‘LUE’, is to create an esports organisation designed ‘for students by students’.

“We established it in October 2022 after realizing a significant absence in the UK market for LAN tournaments for non-professional gamers. We questioned why local football leagues were sponsored while there was no equivalent for gaming.

“Why are there such strong grassroots tournaments and competitions in the UK sports scene but nothing when it comes to esports? Our mission is to encourage the next generation to develop an interest in esports, providing the necessary infrastructure that facilitates their passion, driving the industry forward and pushing for change.

“I founded London University Esports with the purpose of addressing the void in the market for UK-based LAN tournaments. Now that our second split is complete, we plan to expand in September.”

Kuba continued: “This year, we broke records with 1,200+ hours watched, 5,000+ individual viewers, and 16 of the top London universities competing for a prize pool of £500. In under a year, we have sponsored a tournament that rivals established brands like NSE and NUELs. Our winners were awarded £500, equivalent to the first-place prize pool budget of these two organisations. This doesn’t only showcase the interest of young people, but how all of this is possible!

“Our goal is to distance ourselves from the isolation of “online-only gaming” and the bracket system utilized by NSE and NUEL, which primarily benefits universities with the highest funding, limiting the pool of competitors for end-of-year LAN events.

“We strive to provide every young individual with the opportunity to nurture their interests in this industry. To achieve this goal, we have organised physical events, hosted by locally talented casters.

“We are partnering with professional esports teams such as Into the Breach (who recently qualified for the Paris Major). We are looking to expand the list of UK esports orgs, allowing them to support the future of UK competitive gaming and allowing grassroots interests to form.

“In discussion are League of Legends, CS2, Valorant and Rocket League, allowing for more students and young people to enter our tournament from a larger region. “Our finals will still be in London, but with a much vaster range of universities across the UK.”

Kuba iterated that the expansion to the North is not 100% confirmed just yet, but the expansion within London and the surrounding areas is. The expansion further North ‘might take a couple of years’.

“Last but not least, with the increased representation of young individuals starting their own orgs, we want to expand our university team only rule, to accommodate start up student teams, allowing them to enter our tournaments and grow their brand,” Kuba said.

“If there are any orgs, brands or people who would like to get involved, please get in touch. We want to make this a community-based project, the UK is full of talent and we want to showcase that. Thank you!” Kuba added.

Related article: University of Southampton students host SouthLANder esports event

Dom Sacco

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.