20 September 2018: The inaugural Comic Con Africa took place at the Kylami Grand Prix Circuit & International Conference Centre this past weekend, from 14-16 September 2018.  An unforgettable scene as  each day, thousands of people walked about exploring in excitement and awe at what the fest had to offer. This undoubtedly provided all pop culture, comic book, and gaming enthusiasts the experience of a lifetime.

Telkom VS Gaming, Africa’s largest esport league, solidified its presence at the fest by ensuring that gamers and the crowd have the ultimate experience and thrill by bringing the esport league finals to Comic Con. This included the Telkom VS Gaming Masters, the VS Gaming Championships (previously known as the DGC), and the Telkom VS Gaming HSEL (High School Esport League) for the respective divisions. This was the first time ever, Comic Con featured a professional esport tournament.

It was the first time the Comic Con franchise held an esports competition and judging by the success of the inaugural event, Telkom VS Gaming is setting the pace in defining the African esport landscape.

After eight teams started off in round one on Friday, the champions were announced on Sunday,16 September. The VS Gaming 2018 CS:GO Masters champions are Energy ESports who walked away with the grand cash prize, after a well-fought victory against Big5 Esports .

In what was labeled as one of the best games this year, Sinister5 won the DOTA 2 Masters after a tough battle in the finals against Leet.Pro Esports

A record-breaking R1.85million was set as the combined prize pool for the teams playing in the Telkom VS Gaming Masters and Telkom VS Gaming Championships league finlas. This prize pool makes the Telkom VS Gaming Masters and Championships the highest prize pool for gaming in South Africa, topping that of the VS Gaming Festival, which sat at R1.5 million.

Below is the breakdown of winners for Masters and Championships, respectively:

Masters

Dota 2

1. Sinister5
2. Leet.Pro Esports
3. Goliath Gaming

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

1. Energy Esports Academy
2. Big 5 Esports
3. Goliath Gaming

Championships

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

1. Exalted Esports
2. Online Kingdom CS:GO
3. ZAG CS:GO

Dota 2

1. LeetPro Senpais
2. FiB Aurora
3. Sentinel Dota 2

Battlefield 4

1. F5 Gaming
2. PLT.Eclectic
3. F5.ALT F4

Overwatch

1. Energy Esports E.D.E.N
2. White Rabbit Gaming Boostios
3. unIdentified

Call of Duty: World War II

1. Bravado Gaming
2. VinCo Gaming
3. Clan Hi5

League of Legends

1. WRG.GooN Squad
2. GG.Prime D
3. RYL Royalty Esports

Quake Champions

1. Stephen “Ph4ntom” Cloete
2. Travis “Shase” Weedon
3. Mark “Void” Van Heerden

Rocket League

1. xD.Rocket League
2. WDG Sirius
3. Fortitude - Rocket League

Hearthstone

1. Dale “Pand3m0nia” Pon
2. Matthew “Simplez” Christie
3. Michael “MicaGima” Georgiades

High School Esport League

Telkom VS Gaming HSEL in partnership with the High School Esport League (HSEL) held its online tournament in the run-up to Comic Con Africa. The top three teams from each game  participated in the inaugural tournament on the 15th of September and the results are as follows:

Dota 2 (HSEL)

1. Westville Boys High School
2. Oakhill School
3. Paul Roos Gymnasium

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (HSEL)

1. Paul Roos Gymnasium
2. Parklands College
3. Westville Boys High School

“The world of gaming, and esports respectively, is rapidly growing in Africa and platforms like Telkom VS gaming want to play an important role in facilitating the movement with tournaments that give gamers the opportunity to connect with each other”, said Wanda Mkhize Executive of Content for Telkom VS Gaming.