It was the first game of the season, and Washington University was already down 2-0 to New York University in a best of five. The third game would be a departure from the opening matches: two-on-two instead of the typical one-on-one. Graduate student Eddy Lazzarin went into his first match knowing that if he and his partner, senior Brian Lee, didn’t pull it off, their team would start the season on the back foot in a tough division. “We were screaming,” Lazzarin said. “I think Brian was still drunk from the night before.”

Wash. U. would go on to complete the comeback with a risky play by senior Kyle Schwent, barely pulling off a 3-2 victory against the NYU team. “That really gave us a lot of hope, that we had the players, that we had what it took.”

A StarLeague of their own

You’ve probably never heard of Lazzarin and the team he coaches at Wash. U. They compete every weekend in the 144-school Collegiate StarLeague (CSL). Their sport? “StarCraft 2.”

“StarCraft” competition isn’t new. Thirteen years after the game’s release, it retains a massive following in South Korea, where professional “StarCraft” players attain the same star power as any NFL or NBA athlete in the U.S. While eSports do not enjoy quite the same spotlight here as in Korea, the sequel “StarCraft 2” has invigorated the competitive scene in North America.

“Competitive StarCraft is unlike any sport out there,” Schwent said by email. “It stretches your mind to limits you didn’t think existed and then forces you to transcend those limits.”

Last year, Wash. U. fielded a small team in the CSL. With the launch of “StarCraft 2” in July 2010, the CSL transitioned to the sequel. The Wash. U. team followed suit, expanding the roster to 25 players.

Practice makes perfect

For Lazzarin, team dialogue is essential for improving gameplay. “You can’t get better just by playing alone … like you might with a game that’s less of a sport, like Modern Warfare or something like that.”

Making the playoffs won’t be easy. “We are in easily the best division … by a long shot,” Lazzarin said. The Wash. U. team has to contend with superstars Carnegie Mellon University and Harvey Mudd College. “They’re just monsters,” Lazzarin said. “Harvey Mudd could be a pro team.” Their lead player, junior Kevin “qxc” Riley, plays for a top North American “StarCraft 2” team called Root Gaming.

“When you have a guy that good, it’s hard not to get better, just by osmosis,” Lazzarin said.

A growing sport in the US

Riley isn’t an anomaly. Many of the best players in “StarCraft” right now are college-age or fresh out of school. The winner of Korean GOM TV’s most recent season of Global StarCraft II League (GSL) was 20 years old. For winning first place, he earned 100 million Korean won, or $89,000.

“It can be daunting to imagine people that are much better, much less have to play them,” Schwent said. The difference is time and focus. “I’d say these pros aren’t that much different than me, they’ve just had years more experience in the game.”

Lazzarin insists that “StarCraft” is not a complicated game. People get bogged down by the details. “If football was a new thing, people might be bogged down by football as well,” he said. “But because football is so deeply entrenched in our culture—children know the basics—learning the extra details requires almost no effort.”

The nerdy reputation still lingers in America, though. “It’s a shame that here, unlike, say, in Korea, there’s a stigma that the game is strictly entertainment—merely entertainment—and not competitive.” That’s true of most games, but according to Lazzarin, not “StarCraft.”

Thanks to that stigma, it can be difficult to establish a fan base. “But it’s growing,” he said. “It’s bigger than it’s ever been.”

If you cast it, they will come

Lazzarin has seen interest grow at Wash. U. too. After putting up only a few flyers, he was bombarded with emails from students who wanted to join the team or who just wanted to talk about the matches.

Still, most students have never heard of the team, let alone the sport. Lazzarin’s doing everything he can to gain some publicity. With many of their best players graduating this year, Lazzarin said, the team needs the attention.

“I know teams at other schools take it just as seriously,” he said. “They have shirts and advertisements, and they cast games on Saturdays.”

Lazzarin’s goal for the season is to make the playoffs. “I don’t care if we’re wiped out immediately, totally swept right when we get in, it doesn’t matter. That would be a major victory.”

Check out commentary on an exciting series between Wash. U. and the Columbia College of Art and Design on our blog.