HUE Invitational: Teams to watch in this weekend’s tournament
Sixteen of the top collegiate teams in the country are heading to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to compete in the HUE Invitational hosted by Harrisburg University.
Collegiate Overwatch tends to take a backseat to other branches of Overwatch esports such as the Overwatch League and Contenders, so now is a good time to get a refresher on some of the top teams heading into this weekend’s tournament.
HUE Invitational Format
The HUE Invitational will run for two days with the first day consisting of a group stage and the quarter-finals. Day two will feature the semi-finals as well as the finals.
On Saturday, teams will be placed into one of four groups consisting of four teams. Teams will compete in a double-elimination bracket where the top two teams advance to the playoffs.
On Sunday, the final eight teams will play in a single-elimination playoff to determine who wins the tournament and $5,000 USD grand prize.
Teams to watch at the HUE Invitational
Redbird Esports (Illionis State University)
This team truly needs no introduction. Although the team is fairly new to the collegiate scene, Redbird Esports are the favorites to win the entire tournament following their victory in September’s Contenders tournament.
Redbird Esports is filled to the brim with household names in the Tier 2 scene including Reiner, S9mm, Hydron, and UltraViolet.
This tournament is Redbird Esports’ to lose. Anything less than a victory could be considered a failure for this talent-filled squad.
Maryville Esports (Maryville University)
What Maryville Esports has over Redbird Esports is history. Maryville has a long history in Collegiate Overwatch capped off with a title in April’s Collegiate National Championship.
READ MORE: Redbird Esports’ Ultraviolet on the collegiate esports experience
Maryville Esports’ squad is stacked with talented players. The team includes former Boston Uprising teammates Halo and mikeyy, Contenders champions iced and False alongside other notable names in the tier two scene.
With all the talent on their roster, it is a safe bet that the national champs will make it into the second day of action and make a run at the title.
Northwood University Esports
Before Redbird Esports came into the scene Northwood University had been battling it out with Maryville for the title of top dog in the collegiate scene for the bulk of 2021.
In April, the team just fell short of the National Championship after losing to Maryville in a close 3-2 match. However, Northwood bounced back in August by sweeping Maryville to win the Cheez-It Grooves College Esports Invitational.
Northwood’s roster features Contenders veterans including Dynasty, Cowman711, Landon, and LEP.
One can hope that the HUE Invitational will treat us to the rubber match between Northwood and Maryville at some points in the playoffs.
HU Storm (Harrisburg University)
HU Storm has a lot to prove as the home team for this weekend’s tournament. The Storm was one of the first teams to make collegiate Overwatch a legitimate option for up and coming Overwatch players after attracting former pro players Elk and Joemeister into the program.
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Harrisburg used these additions to build a program that saw loads of success early in the collegiate scene, winning both the 2019 and 2020 Collegiate National Championships.
However, recently Harrisburg has lost its title as the best in Collegiate, losing in the semi-finals of the National Championship to Northwood Esports.
This weekend is a prime opportunity for Harrisburg to remind the rest of the collegiate scene who they are, and the fact that they are playing from home only goes as an added bonus.
Harrisburg has several grizzled vets of the Overwatch scene to lead the team to victory including Elk, Akawa, Hobbs, and Hooey.
HUE Invitaional Talent Predictions
When I was writing up this preview I reached out to Eren “Kenobi” Erkey who voices will be casting this weekend’s event to ask him who he thought viewers should be looking out for during the tournament.
Here’s what he said:
My eyes are on Northwood University. They have a bunch of great talent and Dynasty is a DPS player that I think can really make magic out of nowhere for his team. Northwood has been at the top of the Collegiate scene recently but that was before Redbird Esports were around. I can’t wait to see them clash.
Where and when to watch the HUE Invitational
The HUE Invitational group stage will begin on Saturday the 18th at 3:00 PM EST with the final matches of the group stage starting at 6:00 PM EST.
The quarterfinals will take place three hours after the final group stage matches at 9:00 PM EST.
The semi-finals and finals will take place on Sunday beginning at 1:00 PM EST with the finals beginning at 5:30 PM EST.
Matches will be streamed on the Harrisburg University Twitch Channels:
