Esports

UK University Esports Leagues

The best way for students in the UK to experience competitive gaming is through tournaments run by the NUEL and National Student Esports. These organisations run both semester-long tournaments and one-off cup events for a wide variety of gaming titles. Registration is free and there are significant prize pools on offer across the different competitions.

The only requirement to participate in the tournaments is being a current student, verified by an active university email address. SLUGS membership is not required to register to the NUEL/NSE, create teams, and play in tournaments. Joining SLUGS and participating in our weekly social events advertised through our Facebook pages and Discord server will help you find players to become your teammates in these tournaments. Before the start of each NUEL and NSE season team finder forms will be posted to our Facebook page for each team tournament hosted by the NUEL and NSE.

You may participate in any number of tournaments from both the NUEL or NSE but it is your responsibility to make sure there are no clashes in tournament schedules. For most tournaments it takes 2-3 hours after the game day start time to complete all tournament games that day. Some tournaments use a check-in system where the team captain must check-in their team on game days for the team to be allocated pairings. Check individual tournament web pages for more information.

Team Tournaments, Winter 2020

Full information about each tournament can be found on the relevant tournament web page including full schedule breakdown, rules, and prize pool. You may create or join a team independently, or use a team finder form to find teammates. The forms will close on Tuesday 6th October at 23:59, you will receive information about your team by university email in the following days. You need to log into your university google account to access the forms. Try opening them in an incognito tab if you are having difficulties accessing them.

Groups of players may use the team finder forms to fill out the remainder of their team. Each team member must fill out the form and complete the optional section which pertains to groups.

After the forms have closed it may still be possible to join an existing team. It is also possible to join a team once the tournament has started, but it is not possible to create any new teams after a tournaments’ sign-up deadline. For help after the forms close, contact a member of SLUGSoc Committee on our Discord server.

League of Legends

League of Legends team finder form

Dota 2

  • NSE Dota 2 Winter Championship
    Sign-ups close: 16th October
    Tournament starts: 18th October
    Games every Sunday, starting at 19:00, until 12th December

Dota 2 team finder form

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team finder form

Valorant

Valorant team finder form

Rainbow Six Siege

Rainbow Six Siege team finder form

Overwatch

Overwatch team finder form

Rocket League

Rocket league team finder form

Hearthstone

Hearthstone team finder form

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Smash Bros team finder form

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

There are no semester-long Call of Duty tournaments hosted by the NUEL or NSE scheduled for Winter 2020. The NUEL has offered Call of Duty in the past and may do so again in the future. A team finder form is offered below for players looking to practice together in the meantime and pursue ventures such as scrim games versus other university teams.

Call of Duty team finder form

Solo Tournaments, Winter 2020

The following tournaments do not require team and hence do not require team finder forms. Please visit the tournament web pages to see full information and sign up.

Teamfight Tactics

Clash Royale

  • NUEL Clash Royale: Winter 2020
    Sign-ups close: 16th October
    Tournament starts: 19th October
    Games every Monday, starting at 18:45, until 7th December

Hearthstone

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

FIFA 21

NUEL Sunday Cups

The NUEL runs various one-off Sunday cup events in addition to those advertised in advance. These events are frequently announced during tournament seasons and feature games ranging from Minecraft to Call of Duty: Modern warfare. Check out the NUEL website for the latest information on upcoming Sunday cups.

Production and Casting Opportunities

Contributing to the production of the NUEL twitch streams is a great way to gain experience in the field. New product managers, stream producers, casters (game commentary), and observers (game footage) are required every year.

Information about current vacancies and how to apply to them can be found on the NUEL Broadcast Discord server and on the NUEL’s Hitmarker page. For casting and observing positions in particular no prior experience is mandated and applications are open to everyone, ranging from freshers to alumni. All NUEL positions are paid.

The NUEL Broadcast Discord server also contains postings for a range of paid and unpaid opportunities from a wide range of organisations, ranging from charity streams to university society-run tournaments.

Hitmarker provides a wider range of gaming-related job opportunities, although many won’t be suitable for a current student. Career advice on entering the gaming or esport industries is also available.

Additional Information

  • It is highly recommended to have a Discord account as both the NUEL Discord server  and NSE Discord server host weekly captains meetings and post up-to-date tournament information on their servers. You may need to link your NUEL and/or NSE account with your Discord account to gain access to relevant channels.
  • The team finder forms will match you with other players and details will be sent to your university email address. Your team on the NUEL and/or NSE sites will not be created for you; the team captain must create the team and invite the other players to join after receiving the team information. Make sure to register or re-verify your NUEL and/or NSE accounts to be able to create or join teams.
  • Team captains have extra responsibilities and benefits. In addition to creating the team on the NUEL and/or NSE site team captains will be the primary point of contact for NUEL/NSE admins, other team captains, and the SLUGS committee. They are also expected to remind their players about upcoming game days and attempt to field substitutes if some players can’t make it. One expected benefit of being team captain is that your friends list will naturally grow as you add opposing team captains every week which can help you network and find groups to game with.
  • Found an error on this web page or one of the team finder forms? Please contact a member of SLUGSoc Committee on our Discord server and describe the issue.

How Team Finder Form Information is used

Information submitted through the team finder forms is used to put together teams for the associated tournaments. The information will not be shared with any organisation outside of SLUGSoc, nor used to contact you about any matter other than the events described in the form.

Your in-game name and optionally Discord name will be shared with other players on your assigned team. Additionally, team captains and substitute players will have their in-game and Discord name shared with every team captain for that game.

If you have any questions about the Sheffield Students’ Union GDPR compliance activity please contact [email protected]