By Kiefer Donlon
The University of Mississippi is well known for its primetime football and record-smashing baseball teams, but there’s a new dominant force on campus. The Ole Miss Esports team has recently emerged as a powerhouse in the gaming community. The team specializes in games like Call of Duty, Overwatch, Super Smash Bros., and multiple other popular video games. The team finished No. 1 in the US Call of Duty league and 2nd in the North American league. Colm O’Sullivan is a member of the team’s first-person shooter team, but his reason to join the team goes past the monitor.
“I joined cause I wanted to meet new people,” O’Sullivan said. “I did not expect to be where I am now.”
While the team excels in first-person shooters, their range varies in the world of popular fighting games in the community. Alice Fischer is a member of the Ole Miss Esports’ fighting community.
“We specialize in fighting based games like Super Smash Bros. and Street Fighter,” Fischer said. Alice boasts an impressive ranking as the 3rd best Smash Bros. player in Mississippi.
The team has experienced some difficulties due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. According to team member Alice Murphy, fighting games have been affected most of all because many events for these games are held in person.
The team originated as a League of Legends club, a game that features a multiplayer online battle arena. As Esports has become increasingly popular, the team has branched out to many different popular games. All matches are promoted on Twitter and Discord and can be seen via the Ole Miss Twitch stream or Youtube channel.
