Texas A&M’s League of Legends team is poised to face off against three other North American teams in a battle for $180,000 in scholarships.

After winning eight straight games, Texas A&M’s League of Legends Team, Team Maroon, will be flown out to Los Angeles to compete in the finals and given a chance to secure first place along with $30,000 in scholarships per player. 

League of Legends is a video game in which two teams of five players battle across a map in a quest to destroy the opposing team’s base. Released in 2009, the game now boasts over 27 million players daily.

This year, Riot Games, the developers of League of Legends, sponsored a North American collegiate tournament that awards the first-place team $180,000 in total scholarships. The second-place team will earn $15,000 per player, with the third and fourth place teams receiving $7,500 per player.  

The A&M team, Team MarSeoon, went undefeated through four rounds. Now the team is flying to Los Angeles, the headquarters of Riot Games, to compete against three other schools on the big stage.

Grant Hewitt, industrial engineering senior and team captain, said while the team is excited about going to Los Angeles, it intends to concentrate on winning.

“Honestly, we are going to have fun at the event, but we are there to play so that’s going to be our focus,” Hewitt said. “Playing on stage is going to be amazing, there is going to be a big crowd, and obviously there is going to be a big stream.”

Stephen Callaghan, English senior and coach, said the A&M League of Legends community has helped foster Team Maroon’s success.

“The competitive environment at A&M has been around long enough we kind of bred a lot of good talent,” Callaghan said. “And now it’s becoming bigger and when we take it on a national level, we’re top four.”

Trent Jones, economics senior and team member, said the team will not get to practice as much as it wants to, but the players still feel confident.

“We have finals and tests coming up so its going to be tough to get as much practice in as we can,” Jones said. “But as long as our team synergy stays and we are fresh on the champions we play we’ll be ready to play.”

Hewitt said the team often does better when all the members take a short break from the game to get revitalized and back in the mindset. Hewitt said the most important mechanism for doing well is a positive atmosphere and focusing on one game at a time.

Jones said the team tries to have fun in games, especially when doing well, by yelling war cries, making jokes and “breaking out the radios.” 

The finals will take place in Barker Hanger at Santa Monica Regional Airport in front of a live audience. Hewitt said the team knows numerous Aggies will be watching them play both in the audience and online.

“I think a cool aspect too is that a bunch of our friends from the university are flying and driving down so they are going to be in the audience cheering for us,” Hewitt said. “It’s just going to be a really good atmosphere.”

Reid Towart, engineering senior and team member, said he is not overly worried about playing in front of the crowd.

“Even pros, still, they talk about how they have nerves or jitters before the game but once the game starts you’re just going,” Towart said.

Hewitt said he thinks the team will do fine once they start playing.

“I was nervous before the Georgia Tech game, Hewitt said. “But as soon as I got into the game, honestly, I forget everything — all that matters is that one game for me.”

Team Maroon will play May 2 and 3 against the University of Connecticut, Robert Morris University and the University of British Columbia.