Age of Esports (September Edition)

King of the Desert #3

King of the Desert — hosted by MembTV — is back for its third edition! With a mesmerizing $50,000 prize pool the best of the best will compete over a six week period, starting from September 14th through to October 25th.

King of the Desert is a community favorite tournament that brings out the world’s best players to compete on a single map: Arabia. In the previous installments, King of the Desert has been purely single-elimination. This year, however, it will use the GSL style format. All games from the group stage and onwards will be streamed live –  expect to be sitting at the edge of your seat experiencing the best Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition around.

Sign-ups are open until September 6th. The 64 highest rated signs up will then compete for the title of King of the Desert.

Empire Wars Duo

Empire Wars Duo —hosted by LidaKor — is a 2v2 Empire Wars tournament filling the gap between Red Bull Wololo 2 and King of the Desert. The tournament is the first of its kind, exploring in 2v2s the possibility of further Empire Wars team games. Empire Wars Duo is featuring a $1000+ prize pool and a 16-team main event — including a Silver League!

The top 8 teams will be automatically added to the main event, while 16 others will compete in the qualifiers for the 8 remaining spots in the main event. The Silver League is a fantastic place to test your skills and get involved in the competitive scene, good luck to all those who signed up!

• August 31st  – September 6th: Round 1
• September 7th – 11th: Round 2
• September 12th: Semi-Finals
• September 13th: Grand Final

Wars of Liberty Jamboree

Wars of Liberty Jamboree — hosted by the Wars of Liberty team— is played on The Wars of Liberty mod for Age of Empires III, adding over 40 new civilizations and 60+ new maps! Their team recently announced the tournament would be back for its 3rd edition, and its imminent return is coming soon. Make sure to tune in! 

Death Match Rising Star 3

Death Match Rising Star 3 — hosted by Brisolyn and p0ni_b0i — is a Death Match tournament designed to help players improve their gameplay in the competitive environment. The participants range from fresh Death Match players to those close to breaking through to the next level. Death Match Rising Star 3 consists of 53 hopeful stars that will battle over five weeks of action to claim a slice of the $650 prize pool and the coveted title of Death Match Rising Star. Don’t miss out on this action-packed, fast-paced tournament taking place during the month of September!

Death Match Rising Star 3 will last five weeks and begin on August 24th! Who will be the next Death Match Rising Star?

Group Stage

• August 31st – September 6th: Round of 32
• September 7th – September 13th: Round of 16
• September 14th – September 20th: Round of 8

Finals Weekend

• Saturday, September 26th 17:00 GMT: Semi-Finals
• Sunday, September 27th 15:00 GMT: 3rd/4th Placement Match
• Sunday, September 27th 17:00 GMT: Grand Finals

Debbies and Justus Charity Event Streams

Debbie is working hard this month continuing the amazing charity events we’ve seen from the Age of Empires community. She has organized a series of events to help Pfotenhilfe Sauerland, a German Dog Protecting Organisation.

“We will be fundraising money for the Dog Protecting Organization “Pfotenhilfe Sauerland”. I have been an active part of this organization since 2014, where we help provide foster homes. Of course, Justus, our beloved AoE Doggie, is from there too. The dogs need food, straw, blankets, and doghouses to get through the winter. It’s a German Organisation helping in Hungary.” – Debbie

The event promises to be a great entertainment spectacle while also contributing to those in need.

Schedule

• Saturday, September 5th: Confirmed guests so far are TheViper and Ornlu_aoe. Montesaurus and Debbie will be publishing a new AoE song on TwitchSings, and Ornlu and Debbie will be casting rigged community games to help our little friends at the same time.
• Sunday, September 6th: A charity talk show stream with confirmed guests: Hera, TheViper, LilT, OdetteD, Sarah0nFire, and Lidakor. It shall cover topics such as struggles regarding looks/skin, social media, hair loss at a young age, and what it means to become a bigger streamer or idol – and the struggles that come with it.

Eagle Scout Cup

The Feudal Age Cup

The Feudal Age Cup — hosted by In Season e-Sports — is the second in a series of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition tournaments. This is the next step forward after the Dark Age Cup, which completed its finals last month. It’s designed for intermediate players and will be held in a format chosen by said participants, with an increased base prize pool of $75. As a growing, friendly community, it’s a great way to get involved in the competitive scene.

Registrations for the Feudal Age Cup will open in the first week of September. Join the official Discord channel to become a part of a growing community of players, streamers, and casters with a shared love for the game!

Crystal Cup

The Crystal Cup—hosted by ShadowCrystall and ZeroZabias—is a single-elimination, 1v1 tournament designed to highlight up-and-coming players between 1200-1700 Elo. The tournament is offering a combined prize pool of $150 between the runner-ups and winners of each bracket.

Schedule

• August 24th – August 30th: Round of 32
• August 31st – September 6th: Round of 16
• September 7th – September 13th: Round of 8
• TBA: Semi-Finals
• TBA: Finals

Ayre Age League Season One

The Ayre Age League: Season One — hosted by Jasent — continues into the month of September! Competing players have now advanced through the qualifications stage and entered the swiss stage, which will run until September 5th. On completion of the swiss stage, the playoffs will be on September 11th, including a double-elimination bracket. The unique map drafting system has made for some interesting matches and strategies so far, we can’t wait to see what the playoffs bring!

Swiss Stage

• September 5th – 18 GMT: Round Three

Playoffs:

•  September 11th  – 15 GMT: Day One
• September 12th  – 15 GMT: Day Two
• September 13th – 15 GMT: Day Three
• September 13th – ~19 GMT: Finals

Red Bull Wololo 2

Like a fine wine, the Red Bull Wololo is only improving with age! In its second edition, we saw some huge upsets in the main event and matches that easily qualify for “match of the year”. The fast-paced Empire Wars game mode has once again entertained a huge crowd over the four-day main event. The open qualifiers resulted in some fantastic and unexpected players earning themselves a spot into the competition.

Leveling Up for Sick Kids with LilTrouble__

This month LilTrouble and fellow Age of Empires II enthusiasts joined the #14forStarlight Fundraising Campaign! Between the 13th and 30th of August; a range of Age of Empires II-themed events raised funds for the Starlight Children’s Foundation Australia. The event provided some of the most entertaining matches of the year as viewers were able to bid on sabotages for the competing players; such as deleting villagers and forcing idle time.

The Age of Empires community truly opens their hearts during the event, donating over $20,000 to the cause! We’re always proud of the Age of Empires community, an event like this highlights exactly why. A huge thanks to everyone involved and those who made this outstanding event possible.

To look into how Starlight is brightening the lives of seriously ill children and their families, head to www.starlight.org.au

The Stay-At-Home Cup

The Stay-At-Home Cup — hosted by the ESOC team — is an Age of Empires III charity event which sees all proceeds from Twitch subs & bits go towards COVID-19 relief funds. This unique event allows players to pick their home maps, forcing their opponents to play on unfamiliar territory. With a $750 prize pool, you can be sure every player will be bringing their A-game!

Allies for Better Mental Health

The issues surrounding mental health, depression, and anxiety have been close to our hearts for a long time, and since the outbreak of COVID-19 across the globe, these issues have only become worse. On August 22nd, Cbass held a 24-hour stream raising funds for the Anxiety and Depression Association of America—a charity dedicating their time and money to raising awareness of and helping those affected by depression and anxiety.

By the end of the event, Cbass managed to raise a whopping $4,000! Another huge thanks to the Age of Empires community and all those involved who continue to offer their time and support to these amazing causes.

OrnLu's BIG NOMAD Cup

The BIG NOMAD Cup—the first tournament hosted by OrnLu_AoE—featured eight teams in a thrilling 4v4 nomad event. With a $900 prize pool, teams settled in an unknown world and adapted their play to the randomly-assigned civilizations.

Hidden Supremacy Tournament

In August, we were treated to The 1v1 Supremacy Tournament — hosted by Riotcoke. The tournament featured each player using an anonymous account to play their matches on, leading to unpredictable games and strategies.

Battle of the Four

Battle of the Four—brought to you by fenrir5—invited four of the world’s best Brazilian Age of Empires II players together for a round-robin event. The four participants, F1re, Miguel, St4rk, and dogao battled it out for the lion’s share of the $900 prize pool.