Watch out Joshua, Oakhill School is coming...

Blake Govender (Oaks_eSports) the winner of MSSA's Online School League for 4 term schools.

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) has just released the latest ladder results for the FIFA '18 esports title.

The Ladder still shows Joshua Williams (Northcliff High School) as being in pole position. However, MSSA's Online School League for 4 term schools saw a much improved standard of play from Oakhill School.

From being unranked, Sash Sunkar, Matt Jenkin, Blake Govender, and Francois Viljoen (all of Oakhill School) are now all sitting above the half-way mark.

It is thought that any one of such players from Oakhill School stand a more than reasonable chance of unseating Joshua Williams.

The Ladder works on a system of challenges.

Clubs may challenge any club on the ladder. Any club so challenged has 5 days within which to respond and play the match. Such rule allows the ladder to retain its dynamic nature and stops the challenged club from delaying unnecessarily.

However, any team challenged during any official MSSA event while both teams are participating in such event, and are paired by the umpire to play against each other, must play such challenge. This means that any or all games in a MSSA Regional, Provincial, and/or National Championship may count as ladder games.

The full rules for the ladder may be found here: Important changes to MSSA's Inter-Club Ladder rules.

The current ladder for the esports title of FIFA '18 esports title is as follows:

National Ladder for the FIFA esports title
Schools
Pos	Name of Team	year	School
1	Joshua Williams	17	Northcliff High School
2	Zamani Magagula	17	HTS Witbank
3	Mikhyle Naidoo	17	Northcliff High School
4	Kristian Volek	17	Northcliff High School
5	Sicelo Mahaye	17	HTS Witbank
6	Gareth van Straten	17	HTS Witbank
7	Sean Sithole	17	HTS Witbank
8	Allen Magagula	17	HTS Witbank
9	Mthokozisi Sibanyoni	17	HTS Witbank
10	Neo Nkabela	17	HTS Witbank
11	Sash Sunkar	18	Oakhill School
12	Matt Jenkin	18	Oakhill School
13	Blake Govender	18	Oakhill School
14	Francois Viljoen	18	Oakhill School
15	Irfaan Sabat	18	Empangeni High School
16	Sibabalo Kalani	18	Oakhill School
17	Jodie Motala	18	Empangeni High School
18	Kopano Maseko	18	Curro Klerksdorp
19	Siyabonga Biyela	18	Empangeni High School
20	Nkanyiso Masinga	18	Empangeni High School
21	Kembo Arfaro	18	Curro Klerksdorp
22	Raken Belayet	18	Curro Klerksdorp
23	Bongi Ndlovu	18	Oakhill School
24	Bux Imtiyaaz	18	Hoërskool Warmbad
25	Umar Onafuwa	18	Curro Klerksdorp
26	Nicholis Chihanga	18	Curro Klerksdorp
27	Andy Zoundokpe	18	Hoërskool Warmbad

Other National ladders are:

• Senior CounterStrike: GO
• Senior DotA 2
• Senior Tekken 7
• Schools DotA 2
• Schools FIFA '18
• Schools Tekken 7

2018 City of Johannesburg Championships - 8 & 9 September 2018

OLD EDWARDIAN MIND SPORTS CLUB

11 Ninth Avenue, LOWER HOUGHTON, 2198
Tel: 011 728 7335
e-mail: wargames@iafrica.com
https://www.facebook.com/OE.wargames

As one of the oldest mind sports clubs in South Africa, having been established in 1982, Old Eds (to which it is lovingly referred) has remained at the forefront of promoting all the various disciplines.

The club has produced no less than five (5) world champions, and also is actively involved in the administration of the sport at national and international levels.

The club too also is the only club in Johannesburg that has hosted City of Johannesburg Regional Championships.

Such championships have produced the following winners:

Year	MEN				WOMEN
	Period	Name	Club		Name	Club
2017	Ancients	Terence Allwright	Old Edwardian Wargames Club
2016	Ancients	Tie: Jason Batzofin & Terence Allwright	St John's College Old Edwardian Wargames Club
	Morabaraba	Dion Du Preez	Witbank
2015	Ancients	Colin Webster	Old Edwardian Wargames Club
	FIFA ‘15	Rowan Batzofin	Wits University		Blair Hamberger	St Andrews
	Morabaraba	Simphiwe Maphumulpo	Zola Checkers Club		Boitemulo Mako	Nafeng Primary School
2014	Ancients	Dr Renier van Heerden	Knights Mind Sports Club		Elishia Retief	Old Edwardian Wargames Club
	Morabaraba	Merlin Love	St John’s college

Thus OEMSC will be hosting the 2018 City of Johannesburg Championships on 8 & 9 September 2018.

The championship also counts as a qualifier for the MSSA's National Team Trials as according to MSSA's rules, the winner of a Regional Championship automatically is invited to such National Team Trials.

Entries will close at 18H00 on 7 September 2018. Players who wish to compete in any of MSSA's Championships are advised to complete their annual registration forms so that they may register as Registered Players as soon as possible. Late entries will only be accepted in exceptional circumstances.

All gamers are reminded that the City of Johannesburg Regional Championships is an open championship. In other words any player is entitled to enter the championship – no matter whether they are a member of Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) or not. If you have any queries, please contact the MSSA.

Championship Details:
Hosting Club:	Old Edwardian Wargames Club (OEWC)
Venue:	Blue Room, Old Edwardian Society, 11 Ninth Ave, Lower Houghton, Johannesburg
Date:	8 & 9 September 2017
Game Entry Fees:	R34.00 per Registered Player per Period
	R64.00 per non Registered Player
Entries:	Please contact Terry Allwright on: tj.allwright@gmail.com
Food & refreshments:	Highly reasonable prices

The schedule of events is as follows:

	Saturday – 8/9/2018		Sunday – 9/9/2018
	Morabaraba		Ancients	PES 2018
Round 1	10H00-10H45		9H00-10H30	09H00
Round 2	11H00 - 11H45		11H00 – 12H30	10H30
Round 3	14H00 -14H45		14H00 – 15H30	12H00
Round 4	15H00 - 15H45		16H00 – 17H30	14H00
Round 5	16H00 - 16H45			15H30
Awards shall be awarded immediately after play has ceased.

Rules and Regulations: All Rules and Regulations pertaining to eSports are available from the MSSA. Players are strongly advised to familiarise themselves with the LAN Bylaws and all Period Specific Rules. If any Player wishes to provide advice regarding the drafting of the Period Specific Rules they are encouraged to contact MSSA who will take all comments into account.

The following Medals may be awarded at the MSSA's 2018 City of Johannesburg Regional Championship:

• PREMIER: Medals shall be awarded to the first three players.
• WOMEN: Women will be awarded medals as per the same basis as above.

Colours and National Team Trials:

• Regional Colours: All Players that finish in the top three places in a 1v1 in a Regional Championship shall be awarded Regional Colours.
• National Team Trials: All Players that win their division in a Regional Championship shall earn an invitation to National Team Trials in such division. National Team Trials shall be held in the event that a National Team must be selected to represent South Africa when competing in such Period in an International Championship.

Please note that times may be changed to take into account load-shedding.

Also read:

• Rules for MSSA's One Day DBM Championships

After a long struggle...

Alasdair Donaldson in game.

At the online test match against Russia held on 28 August 2018, Sergei Belousov of Russia faced off against South Africa's Alasdair Donaldson in the Tekken 7 esports title.

For such test match Alasdair Donaldson earned his 11th 'cap' for playing in the South African Protea Esports Team. Alasdair Donaldson performed well at IESF's 9th World Championships - Busan where he sailed through the group stages to to finish 13th overall.

However, in the test match, Alasdair not only had to contend with the finest that Russia could pit against South Africa, but also the latency issues that dog South African esports athletes when playing online test matches.

Nevertheless, Alasdair's innate sportsmanship shone through as, despite the issues, he gave it his all.

Although Sergei Belousov (Russia) eventually won the test match, Alasdair made him fight for it all the way.

After the gruelling test match, Alasdair thanked his opponent, and admitted that he had learnt much during the match.

MSSA is confident that Alasdair Donaldson will perform even better at IESF's 10th World Championships - Kaohsuing City.

Results of MSSA's Online Inter-School League for 4 term schools.

Oakhill School's 'Team Theory' racking up another victory.

With the Mind Sports South Africa's (MSSA) annual Online Inter-School League for 4 term schools having drawn to a close, the winners are able to be announced.

The league started back in 2010 thanks to the input and support of ASUS, and since then has continued to grow in popularity.

Through playing in the official school league, learners are able to earn:

• Medals for finishing in the first three places in the various game titles, and
• School Provincial Colours, and
• A berth in the 2019 MSSA National Team Trials.

The winners of the Counter-Strike: GO, DotA 2, League of Legends, StarCraft II, and VainGlory esports titles have automatically earned themselves Provincial High School Colours as  well as a place in MSSA's 2018 National Team Trials.

What is becoming more and more evident, that those schools that contribute the most to the development of esports, reap the greatest rewards.

The winners are:

Title	Name of player/team	School	Colours awarded
Counter-Strike: GO	PRG B	Paul Roos Gimnasium	Western Cape High School Provincial Colours
DotA 2	Team Theory	Oakhill School	Western Cape High School Provincial Colours
FIFA '18	Blake Govender	Oakhill School
	Sash Sunkar	Oakhill School
Hearthstone	Matthias Dhont	Paul Roos Gimnasium
	Junior Moor	Empangeni High School
League of Legends	The Lunar Squad	Emangeni High School	KwaZulu Natal High School Provincial Colours
StarCraft II	Riaan Pretorius	Hoërskool Warmbad	Limpopo High School Provincial Colours
Tekken 7	Ian Halgreen	Empangeni High School
	Darnell Fynn	Empangeni High School
VainGlory	Empangeni High	Empangeni High School	KwaZulu Natal High School Provincial Colours

Russia rides rampant.

Team Counter-Strike: GO Russia - Aleksandr Melehov, Ilia Bushuev, Grigorii Plotnikov, Igor Nazarov and Nikita Shchegorev

In the Counter-Strike: GO online test match between Russia and South Africa that was held on 28 August 2018, the 2018 Russian team demonstrated the might that is Russia.

The South African Protea Counter-Strike: GO team, ably lead by Marisa van der Westhuizen, fought long and hard. However, the Russian team showed no mercy in their first international test match and snatched the spoils away from South Africa.

Nevertheless, Amanda Pakade (MSSA President) and Johan van Breda (National Team Manager) both expressed their satisfaction with the South African Protea Team's performance.

"The team played well, and although having lost to the country that won the Counter-Strike: GO esports title at IESF's 9th World Championships in Busan, the Protea Team shows that they have what it takes to truly represent South Africa at IESF's 10th World Championships in Kaohsuing City", enthused Amanda.

Johan van Breda, stated that while he was satisfied with the team's performance, the test match had highlighted areas where the Protea team must pay special attention. However, Johan did state that he was very proud of the Protea Team, and that through the team's positive attitude, dedication, cohesiveness, and ability, will be a credit to all South Africa.

The South African Counter-Strike: GO Esports Team consists of:

• Marisa "Faith" van der Westhuizen
• Nicole "Nexxy" Rootman
• Alora Ann "Saphira" Liebenberg
• Lelane "Lilly" Soldin
• Leander "Chappy" Van Schalkwyk