Halloweekend + College Students = Esports Tournament?
That’s exactly what happened at DreamHack Atlanta this past weekend at the Georgia World Congress Center, where college esports teams from all over the US competed in Rocket League and VALORANT tournaments for the second ever DreamHack Collegiate Invitational, featuring a prize pool of $1,500. Outside of the invitational, college esports teams also made their mark in tournaments around the festival.
What is DreamHack?
DreamHack is North America’s largest gaming and esports festival, boasting over 40,000 attendees and a multitude of esports tournaments, with this one including Marvel Rivals Ignite, Clash of Clans World Championships, CFB26 and more. In recent years, collegiate esports has made its impact into the festival, with colleges tabling, official meetups, and the first-ever DreamHack Collegiate Invitational held in Atlanta in 2024.
The 2025 Collegiate Invitational was set to be the largest one held at DreamHack, boasting a Collegiate Rocket League and a Collegiate VALORANT Tournament, with 24 teams and hundreds of players from all around the US coming to the festival. The event is entirely student-run and planned by students DJ Fratt and TJ Stephens – and is the biggest collegiate event so far in terms of total support, budget, and involvement – though not by player count.
Rocket League Recap
For many of the schools, the matchups at this tournament were no stranger.
Group A featured West Virginia University (WVU), Lesley, WSU and Georgia State. Group B featured Kennesaw State (KSU), WCTC, San Diego State University (SDSU), and Huntingdon.
Group C featured Fisher, Akron Gold, Charlotte, and Florida, and Group D featured Brewton-Parker Christian University (BPCU), East Tennessee State University (ETSU), University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK) and BPCU Academy.
In terms of anticipated matchups, some players were extremely excited:
“We were most excited to play Fisher this weekend 100%,” said Ian “Yawnathon” from Akron Gold RL. “They have been a consistent Top 10 ranking for CRL, and earlier in the week we played them in NECC and reverse swept them to win 4-3.”
“We’re excited to play every team in our group. We really wanted to not only make playoffs, but go deep into playoffs,” mentioned Aarav “5stars” from SDSU.
Rocket League caster Blake “MrBepic” Phillips shared his excitement around the competitors: “There are several standout players to watch out for on LAN. “Royales” at Fisher College is probably the most mechanically talented player at this event making his LAN debut with Fisher. Lesley’s “Swazz,” SDSU’s “aZapatos,” Florida’s “Hammy Crackers,” and Huntingdon’s “Syliss” are players that are so individually strong that their teams can play around them with a lot of success.”
He shared his predictions: “West Virginia are definite favorites to win the entire event, seeing as they’ve been ranked in the CRL top 3 for the last month, but some teams can surprise them on LAN. Kennesaw State is a very good LAN team and are reigning DreamHack Champions.”
Phillips also shouted out East Tennessee State for their wild run to place second at the Scenic City Invitational in Chattanooga, but took the safe route, predicting West Virginia as the champions for this event.
West Virginia University ended up winning the Grand Finals at DreamHack Atlanta, taking down Florida in a 4-2 Victory.
Aside from WVU, KSU, Fisher, and BPCU wound up as winners for their respective groups.
VALORANT Recap
For VALORANT, Group A featured Maryville, Baker, Stony Brook, and Kennesaw State (KSU). Group B featured St. Thomas, Fisher, University of Texas – Dallas (UTD), and Converse.
“I really want to see a KSU vs Converse rematch as a local Georgian, but also since KSU and Converse faced off for top two at the Peach Belt Conference last year!” said Zhobiii, a VALORANT caster for the event.
In terms of players to look out for, their eye was on Maryville University’s Kyle “ScrewFace,” who was a 6th man to VCT’s Evil Geniuses, and after a bumpy rostermania VCL year, has chosen his new home at Maryville to play VALORANT and pursue his degree.
When asked about predictions on who was going to win, Zhobiii stated, “Maryville is definitely the team to beat as CVAL defending champs!”
Maryville Esports took the Grand Finals victory against University of Saint Thomas Esports in a 2-0 Victory on Sunday. Maryville secured a dominant run in winners semi-finals and winners finals, beating UTD 13-2 in a Bo1 and UST 12-5 in final map of the Grand Finals, ending St. Thomas’s 3-0 run in groups.
Other Collegiate Happenings at DreamHack
Aside from the Collegiate Invitational, collegiate teams made their mark in other ways.
Akron Esports went UNDEFEATED in the R6 Siege X tournament, which was a non-collegiate LAN. Fisher, Kennesaw State, and Clemson University also showed up to battle some Tier 2 R6 players in this tournament.
Aside from The Competition
Attendees were super excited for DreamHack, including things outside of the Collegiate LAN. Some shoutouts included the artist alley, activations, and being able to meet people IRL that they’ve only ever known in the digital space.
“DreamHack is a completely different experience than your traditional LAN,” said Yawnathon. “Most traditional LANs we may attend will be specifically a Rocket League or game-specific event, but DreamHack has all-of-the-above! It’s great because it’s such an awesome convention and a super cool place to be.”
“[One of my favorite parts] was playing on setups with good ethernet. One of our players has had internet problems since August, so showing everyone what we were capable of on Friday was a great feeling, and we did it all severely jet lagged,” said 5sters.
Many students who attended are hopeful that collegiate esports can make a permanent home for itself at DreamHack and not just in competition. While most typical LAN events are held for players and viewers, DreamHack creates an open, exciting space that provides competitive, networking, educational, and entertainment activities for all in our space.
“Overall, this is an extremely special event run by students for the students of CRL and CVAL at one of North America’s most prestigious gaming conventions. The more support it gets from the community, the more likely events like this are to get the green light in the future. So if you love collegiate esports, you should be supporting the DreamHack Collegiate Invitational,” said Phillips.
Events like the ones at DreamHack are important are not just important for collegiate esports, but the greater esports industry. The weekend was a melting pot where students got to engage in-person with their favorite streamers, players, brands, and professional esports teams. There is a unique opportunity for engagement and fandom-building that can’t compare to the online space collegiate esports typically operates in.
Looking Forward
Overall, the second ever DreamHack Collegiate Invitational was deemed a success. The organizers are extremely hopeful about what this event means, but also setting an example for events like this in the esports space.
“It’s not only an honor but a severe need in our community. How is esports done professionally successfully and bring community together without a college campus?” said Stephens, one of the event’s organizers. “I think that me and DJ have a very important job to take these events and showcase as much student potential as we physically can. These student-ran events become classes, educational opportunities and job opportunities, and it has to stay that way to become that.”
Stephens mentioned the importance of keeping this event student-run: “If a varsity program comes in and takes over with their staff, it loses its opportunity. That’s what’s so important about student-led projects. In terms of student potential, the DreamHack Collegiate Invitational is the best example in the entire nation.”
When asked about possible expansion to more titles, here’s what he had to say: “In terms of expanding, we’re always fighting for the ability to host more. The problem is finding more space. If we have the room to do more, it’s out of our hands for now.”
You can join the DreamHack Collegiate Invitational Discord here, Check out the 2025 VALORANT and Rocket League VODs and keep your eye out for the next DreamHack in Atlanta 2026!
