Bronco Esports’ Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team is currently undefeated in its league after winning the six matches of the nine weeks of the regular season.
The CS:GO team is ranked first in the western division of the Challenger Division which features second and third place teams from the University of British Columbia and UC San Diego. The Challenger League, similar to a junior varsity league, is hosted by Collegiate StarLeague, a long-standing collegiate esports coordinator.
“I definitely can feel there’s a significant increase in skill level thanks to our veteran players,” said Alex Chang, a fourth-year business administration student. “Our communication is less cluttered and more straightforward. We rely more on each other’s knowledge inside the game and in certain firefight scenarios.”
Chang joined the CS:GO team in November 2019 but took a small break from playing the game to focus on academics and playing Valorant. He rejoined the squad as the team’s secondary AWP, or sniper, in time to play an early week 7 match against University of Colorado, Boulder on Nov. 11.
The regular CS:GO season is divided into two sections, explained Jason Kison, the team’s coordinator and second-year chemical engineering student.
The first half of the matches began Oct. 13 and will continue until Nov. 21. The second half of the matches will be held from Jan. 9 to Jan. 23. Kison added that playoffs for the competition will take place two weeks after the regular season ends with grand finals scheduled in April.
CS:GO, released in 2012, is a first-person shooter originally available on various platforms including Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. The competition focuses on the PC version of the game that is available on Steam.
This year’s five-member starting roster, put together by Kison, includes more advanced players including Nicholas Cheung, a third-year finance and real estate and law student, as well as some less experienced players.
CS:GO matches are played on a best-of-three system. The team played against Seattle University in week one, winning 2-0. The following week, they won 2-0 again, this time against Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Week three’s victory against CSU Long Beach’s blue team had a final score of 2-1. Week four’s win was another 2-0 match, this time against Colorado School of Mines. Week five’s match against University of British Columbia was won 2-1.
The team’s early match Nov. 11 against University of Colorado, Boulder was won 2-0 as well.
“I think the season has been going extremely well for the amount of effort we put in,” said Cheung. “I’m pretty sure we are at the top of the conference in our division with no extra practice outside of the actual match.”
Cheung joined the team during the 2019 season. In the lineup for this year, he plays as the team’s primary AWP.
Aside from the Challenger League competition, the CS:GO team also holds smaller tournaments at Bronco Esports’ Fragfest events alongside the other gaming teams in the club.
The next match in the Challenger League competition will be held Nov. 21 at 5 p.m.