Four months after establishing UA’s first StarCraft 2 team, members are surprised by the amount of success the team has achieved.

This past summer, Vince Hill, team manager and a freshman majoring in chemical engineering, noticed that the University was not participating in the Collegiate Star League for StarCraft 2 competitions and decided to start up a team.

“I had heard of Collegiate Star League when I started playing over the summer,” Hill said. “I decided to start a team and posted on forums and community sites. Several people responded and now we have over 20 people on the team.”

Collegiate Star League consists of more than 250 teams representing different universities around the United States that compete in the virtual landscape of StarCraft 2, a science fiction real-time strategy video game set in the 26th century.

The game, released in July 2010, revolves around three different races of aliens, the Protoss, the Terrans and the Zerg. The game is a sequel to StarCraft, which launched in 1998.

Hill said players are able to choose one of the three species to play, and none is more powerful than the others.

Patryck King, a senior majoring in history said, “I play the game on a daily basis, and joining the team has given me a lot of experience and people to play with.”

King said the team focuses primarily on strategy for competitions, and members play against each other for practice.

Currently, the UA StarCraft 2 team is wrapping up the first half of the season and is ranked eighth in the country. In addition to winning the southeastern division, the team is undefeated 7-0 and will play against Arkansas this weekend.

“I grew up with sports and love competing,” said Thomas Beutler, a graduate student majoring in computer science. “I don’t have time now to stick with a schedule, so this game allows me to practice in my free time and compete at the drop of a hat.”

Matches are best of five sets that last anywhere from 5-30 minutes each, and the team competes with interdivisional schools such as Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi and even schools in Canada.

“I was a little surprised by how well we did,” Beutler said. “The team format is difficult because five players compete, but you don’t know who is paired up with who. We might not have the best skill set, but we are good at strategy.”

In addition to glory, different tournaments offer winning teams prize pools ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

Hill said playoffs for the Collegiate Star League will be held in May and will consist of single elimination style rounds.

“I like the camaraderie of the team,” Hill said. “We are all friends, and teams that don’t do well aren’t friends with one another. We may not have the best players, but we have good strategies that have allowed us to pull through some gritty matches.”

For those interested in joining the team for next year’s season, contact Vince Hill [email protected].