White Rabbit to contest 37th Gauteng Provincial Championships.

Alwyn Venter - Chairperson of White Rabbit Gaming.

With four out of the five players of the White Rabbit team having earned Protea Colours for the League of Legends esports title, the White Rabbit League of Legends team is undoubtable the strongest League of Legends team in the country.

The team entered for Mind Sports South Africa's (MSSA) consists of the following players:

Names of players	When represented South Africa at IESF World Championships	Test matches
Gregory Neil Wessels*	Busan (2017)
Kyle Joshua Taylor	Busan (2017), Kaohsuing City (2018)
Maalik Rayaan Rawoot	Kaohsuing City (2018)
Simon West	n/a
Brett Alexander Whitehead	Busan (2017), Kaohsuing City (2018)	Switzerland (2017)

* dennotes being the flag-bearer.

Only Simon West has not earned himself Protea Colours before, and all eyes will be turned onto him to see just how he meshes with this well-structured team.

Thus every other team at MSSA's 37th Gauteng Provincial Championships will have its work cut out for themselves as they feel the full force of a team that has the experience of two World Championships under their belt.

It is going to be so exciting...

Details of MSSA's 37th Gauteng Provincial Championships are as follows:

• Board gaming: https://esportscommentator.blogspot.com/2019/01/37th-mssa-gauteng-board-gaming.html
• Esports: https://esportscommentator.blogspot.com/2019/01/esports-mssas-36th-gauteng-provincial.html
• Wargaming: https://esportscommentator.blogspot.com/2019/01/mssas-37th-gauteng-wargaming.html

Championship Details:

Hosting Club: Curro Aurora, Puttic Road, Sundowner, Randburg
Entry date: 18 February 2019

Date: 23 & 24 February 2019

Also read:

• The new national team selection criteria.

• 2019 Calendar of Events
• Reminder: Entry date of MSSA's 2019 Gauteng Provincial Championships - 18 February 2019
• Esports: MSSA's 23rd Western Cape Championships - 23 & 24 March 2019

21st NORTH WEST Championships - 25 & 26 March 2017

White Rabbit Gaming in action at MSSA's 2016 North West Championships.

Registrations are open for MSSA's 2017 North West Provincial LAN Championships.

MSSA's 2017 North West Provincial LAN Championships is part of the process of selecting the 2017 Protea eSports team that will attend IeSF's 9^th IeSF World Championships.

MSSA remains absolutely committed to sending teams to all future IeSF World Championships.

Not only will MSSA send teams to the World Championships, but MSSA will also continue with participating in the ever popular International On-line Test Matches.

Registrations will close on the 20 March 2017. 

Players who wish to compete in any of MSSA's Championships are advised to complete their annual registration forms so that they may registered as Registered Players as soon as possible. Please note that MSSA's financial year starts on 1 November, so all players need to re-register if they intend to participate in MSSA's 2017 North West Provincial LAN Championships.

All entries must be done by the member club on the Google Drive document.

Late entries will only be accepted in exceptional circumstances.

All gamers are reminded that MSSA's 2017 North West Provincial LAN Championships are an open championship. In other words any registered player is entitled to enter the championship – no matter where they live, or their category of membership. If you have any queries, please contact MSSA.

Championship Details:

Hosting Club: Curro Klerksdorp, 22 Elm street, Klerksdorp.Venue: Curro Klerksdorp, 22 Elm street, Klerksdorp.

Date: 25 & 26 March 2017

Entry Fees: R60.00 per Registered Player per Period

Computers: Bring your own. Please ensure that all game updates are done prior to arrival.

Schedule: The LAN Schedule for all 2017 is:

SATURDAY
Time	StarCraft II	PES (Pro Evolution Soccer)	League of Legends (LoL)	Hearthstone	Ultimate Street Fighter V	Counter Strike GO
09H00	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts
09H45	Round 2 Starts	Round 1 Continues	Round 1 Continues	Round 1 Continues	Round 2 Starts	Round 1 Continues
10H30	Round 3 Starts	Round 2 Starts	Round 2 Starts	Round 2 Starts	Round 3 Starts	Round 2 Starts
11H15	Round 4 Starts	Round 2 Continues	Round 2 Continues	Round 2 Continues	Round 4 Starts	Round 2 Continues
12H00	Round 5 Starts	Round 3 Starts	Round 3 Starts	Round 3 Starts	Round 5 Starts	Round 3 Starts
12H45		Round 3 Continues		Round3 Continues		Round 3 Continues
13H00	LUNCH
Time	TEKKEN TTII	PES (continued)	LoL (continued)	Hearthstone (continued)		Counter Strike GO (continued)
14H00	Round 1 Starts	Round 4 Starts	Round 4 Starts	Round 4 Starts		Round 4 Starts
14H45	Round 2 Starts	Round 4 Continues	Round 4 Continues	Round 4 Continues		Round 4 Continues
15H30	Round 3 Starts	Round 5 Starts	Round 5 Starts	Round 5 Starts		Round 5 Starts
16H15	Round 4 Starts	Round 5 Continues	Round 5 Continues	Round 5 Continues		Round 5 Continues
17H00	Round 5 Starts
18H00	Awards Ceremony
19H00	Doors Close
SUNDAY:
Time	DotA 2	VainGlory	FIFA '16	Mortal Kombat X
09H00	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts
09H45	Round 1 Continues	Round 1 Continues	Round 1 Continues	Round 1 Continues
10H30	Round 2 Starts	Round 2 Starts	Round 2 Starts	Round 2 Starts
11H15	Round 2 Continues	Round 2 Continues	Round 2 Continues	Round 2 Continues
12H00	Round 3 Starts	Round 3 Starts	Round 3 Starts	Round 3 Starts
12H45	Round 3 Continues	Round 3 Continues	Round 3 Continues	Round 3 Continues
13H00	LUNCH
Time	DotA 2 (continued)		FIFA '16 (continued)	Mortal Kombat X (continued)
14H00	Round 4 Starts	Round 4 Starts	Round 4 Starts	Round 4 Starts
14H45	Round 4 Continues	Round 4 Continues	Round 4 Continues	Round 4 Continues
15H30	Round 5 Starts	Round 5 Starts	Round 5 Starts	Round 5 Starts
16H15	Round 5 Continues	Round 5 Continues	Round 5 Continues	Round 5 Continues
17H00
18H00	Awards Ceremony
19H00	Doors Close

Rules and Regulations: All Rules and Regulations pertaining to eSports are available from MSSA. Players are strongly advised to familiarise themselves with the LAN League 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 the eSBoC who will take all comments into account.

The following Medals may be awarded at MSSA's 2017 South African National LAN Championships:

• PREMIER: Medals shall be awarded to the first three players who are registered players.
• UNIVERSITY: Medals shall be awarded to the first three players who are currently registered at any officially recognised University, provided the players have not received any Premier Medals.
• SCHOLARS: Medals shall be awarded to the first three high school scholars, provided they have not received any Premier medals.
• WOMEN: Women will be awarded medals as per the same basis as above, that is in all three categories.

Colours and National Team Trials:

• National Colours: All Players that win all of their Matches at a National Championship will earn National Colours.
• Provincial Colours: All Players that win all of their Matches at a Provincial Championship will earn Provincial Colours. All Players who score within the top 50% in a specific Period at a Provincial Championship, and who also score within the top 50% at a National Championship in the same period and in the same year, will earn Provincial Colours.
• National Team Trials: All Players that score within the top 20% or top three places, whichever is greater, in a specific Period at a Provincial or National Championship will earn an invitation to National Team Trials. 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. 

The next provincial event is: MSSA's Provincial Online Championships that shall be held on 22 April 2017.

May professional esports athletes play in MSSA events?

Alwyn Venter (White Rabbit Gaming) watching his team

As seen in the article 'Does pride, not money, spur growth in esports?' which tentatively explored the link between amateurs and professionals, I feel that there needs to be greater clarity on the issue.

The reason for such is that MSSA has been inundated, since the publication of such article, by professional gamers asking if they may participate in MSSA's 2016 South African National Championships in December.

The short answer is YES, yes they may - as long as certain conditions are met.

In fact there are already a number of professional clans that  have also started non profit clubs that are now affiliated to MSSA. Anteria Gaming and White Rabbit Gaming are examples of such clubs.

The conditions are:

1. The  player must be registered to MSSA through a non-profit association or non-profit company (NPC), and
2. The player must be a fully-paid-up registered player.

Considering that registration fees for 2016/2017 are R5.00 per annum (if a member of a club based at a school) and R95.00 for all others, the cost is not expensive at all.

Through participating in MSSA's 2016 South African National Championships, players are able to qualify for the 2017 National Team Trials.

White Rabbit leads MSSA's CounterStrike: GO Ladder

The White Rabbit Team that played in MSSA's 2015 S A National Championships

White Rabbit Gaming currently leads both MSSA's ranking and MSSA's Ladder for the CounterStrike:GO eSports title.

According to  the rules for the Ladder, teams are listed in accordance of ranking and may be challenged by teams that are ranked within five places of themselves. New teams enter at the bottom of the table and have to work their way to the top.

It is really quite encouraging to see so many school teams making their way up the table which bodes well for the future of gaming in South Africa.

Ranking	Name of Player	year	Club	Points
1	WRG	15	White Rabbit Gaming	410.6
2	PORAXYSM	16	All Stars	285
3	VIGILANTES	15	TV	270
4	PAROXYSM	15	All Stars	235.7
5	VOID	15	St John's	204.5
6	DELTA	15	All Stars	200.7
7	Rondebosch Boys High	15	RBHS	200
8	QUANTM	16	STC	150
9	Fairmont High School	15	FHS	125
10	SPEARR	15	STJ	120
11	PBHS red	15	PBHS	112.5
12	HGH	16	HGH	100
13	All Stars	16	All Stars	100
14	PRONHS	15	NCLF	97
15	LAGSTEPS	15	BNKR	85
16	VGR146	16	Lofdal	75
17	PG – 18	15	Parklands	75
18	PBHS white	15	PBHS	56.3

Results: 33rd Gauteng Provincial Championships

Xola Magwaze has returned!

As the year continues with its relentless march forward, players frantically scramble for a place in MSSA's National Team Trials.

Thus MSSA's 33rd Gauteng Championships (sponsored by MWEB) is the third last championship in which players may qualify for such Trials.

For those teams that have qualified, the work has begun in earnest in order to hone their skills for Trials, while some players are still desperately trying to qualify.

MSSA's 33rd Gauteng Provincia Championships were hosted by Tuks Mind Sports Club.

Thanks must be extended to MWEB, Tuks Mind Sports, Johan Uys, Ryan Boyes and Ewan Retief.

The championship attracted players from the Free State, Gauteng, North West, and Mpumulanga.

Players battled it out to earn the various titles of Gauteng Champion Champion, and the right to fight for a place in the 2016 National Team Trials that will ultimately deliver a team to the IeSF's 2016 8^th World Championships in Jakarta from 6 to 9 October 2016.

The championship delivered a number of surprises. Most notable of the surprise results were to be found in the League of Legends, DotA 2, FIFA, and Street Fighter V titles.

In League  of Legends, White Rabbit Gaming team maintained its winning ways that it started at the North West Championships. The team smashed their opposition to win all their games and by thus, truly enforce their position as the team to beat in South Africa.

However, special mention must be made of the St Stithians College team that finished in second place, and, which even gave White Rabbit a few (very) scary moments.

DotA 2 was dominated by Tuks Mind Sports Club. The North West Champions (Northcliff High School) battled long and hard to contain the juggernaut that which is Tuks, but were unable to, even with Herculean effort, do so.

In FIFA, MSSA saw the return of Xola Magwaza. Xola had represented South Africa twice in South Africa in 2009 in international championships in IeSF accredited championships. Even though Xola had been away since 2010, Xola still is the stuff of which champions are made. Xola immediately stamped his authority of the game and, by winning  all  his games, earned himself both the title of being Gauteng's finest and Gauteng Provincial Colours.

Xola, after winning, stated, "Watch out Kyle, the champ is back!".

In Street Fighter V, Leonard Loftus travelled up fron Sasolburg to compete, and, compete he did. Loftus waded into the competition and emerged the victor.

This is the first championship where Street Fighter V  was officially played.

The winners are:

Title	Name of player/team	Club	Colours awarded
Ancients (DBM)	Jason Batzofin	St John's College
Ancients (DBM) (female)	Elishia Retief	Old Edwardian Wargames	Gauteng Provincial
Checkers (female)	Lucille Brown	All Stars	Mpumulanga Provincial
CounterStrike: GO	PORAXYSM	All Stars	Mpumulanga Provincial
DotA 2	APTWE	Tuks University	Gauteng Provincial
FIFA '16	Xola Magwaza	Knights Mind Sports	Gauteng Provincial
HearthStone (female)	Adele Janse van Rensburg	BISH	Gauteng Provincial
HearthStone	Wynand Meiring	BNKR	Gauteng Provincial
League of Legends	WRG	White Rabbit Gaming	Gauteng Provincial
Mortal Kombat X (female)	Riana du Plessis	All Stars	Mpumulanga Provincial
Mortal Kombat X	Connor Chaplin	Northcliff High School	Gauteng Provincial
StarCraft II (female)	Angie Magon	Blue Dragon Online Gaming
StarCraft II	Edwin Williams	Blue Dragon Online Gaming	Gauteng Provincial
Street Fighter V	Leonard Loftus	Masters Gaming Club

In total 22 players earned the right to wear provincial colours.

Photographs of the event may be found on: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154663901109008.1073741938.146018324007&type=3