Meet Challengers Uprising, North America’s Next Step in Developing Domestic Talent

Fans in the North American League of Legends scene have complained about the lack of domestic talent development. Whether they have issues with imports in the LCS or veterans in Academy League, fans have longed for more opportunities for North American amateurs to rise. Challengers Uprising is the newest FACEIT partnered tournament in the Scouting Grounds Circuit (SGC), presenting itself as that opportunity.

Challengers Uprising actually started on June 10, and features teams such as ANEW Esports (2019 SGC Winner), SUPERNOVA (2019 SGC Runners-Up), Maryville University (two-time College Championship Winners), 100 Thieves NEXT (100 Thieves’ development team) and Simplicity Esports (management group for Flamengo Esports in Brazilian pro league CBLoL). They are competing for $15,000 and 1,000 FACEIT Qualification Points, the highest prize pool of all amateur competitions. Challengers Uprising calls itself “the first step taken towards the organization’s objective of developing a legitimate ladder from amateur to pro in the North American League of Legends competitive scene”.

“For years I’ve been running operations on the team side of competitions; even though I enjoyed it a lot, when I stopped to evaluate the ‘next steps’, I realized we had hit a ceiling. There’s a large void in the organizer space between the amateur and professional scene in North America,” said Chris “Crono” Harris, CEO and Commissioner of Challengers Uprising, “There isn’t a clear path to pro, and the lack of resources results in North American talent getting pushed aside due to imports with better development structures. I want to bridge the divide and disrupt the perception that North America lacks talent by creating a true professional environment to nurture new talent. This season is just the beginning.”

For live matches and videos of broadcasts, you can view them here.

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