After months of online play, the inaugural season of the New Zealand Esports Hyperfibre League made its way to LAN at the stunning Skycity Theatre for three days of action-packed gameplay. Hundreds of players and fans from across the country filled the theatre to watch the best of the best duke it out for a national title, with many more tuning in online to watch the spectacle.
After coming into the tournament as favourites, We Love Cans proved why in their finals campaign. Following a win over Minotaurs to be named as guild champion, they fought their way past a strong Nativez Esports outfit before matching up against Team Ultra Instinct from Frost in the final.
The fourth seed had put on a clinic in their semifinal, battling through Mr Cresswell’s Minions to earn their spot in the finals. However, the class of We Love Cans was too good for Ultra Instinct, prevailing 2-0 and becoming the first ever League of Legends national champions
Taking to the stage in the last series of the weekend, the crowd atmosphere was filled with hype as the two local Valorant heavyweights went head-to-head. Both teams traded blows in the early stages of the game, but the experience of DNC Gamers allowed them to pull away in both maps en route to a 2-0 victory.
Held alongside the NZEHL finals were the national High School League finals, with three schools from across the country competing in League of Legends, Valorant and Rocket League.
The League of Legends team from Burnside High School had a massive weekend, as they’d also played in the NZEHL finals representing Alliance as Mr Cresswell’s Minions. Amid their marathon nine-game Friday, they narrowly went down against Botany Downs Secondary School 1-2 before rallying to eliminate Macleans College later that afternoon in a brutal 2-1 series.
However, the fairytale run wasn’t to be — despite dragging the series to three games on Championship Sunday, Botany Downs eventually bested the South Islanders to claim the title of national champions, the second title of the afternoon for Botany Downs and We Love Cans ADC Alvin “Danteh” Wong.
Overall, the first NZEHL LAN was an absolute success, and we’re extremely excited to build upon this showing in 2023 and beyond!