After much anticipation, Comic Con Africa returned to thrill fans following a two-year Covid hiatus. Thousands of fans gathered over four days to enjoy a colourful weekend packed with cosplay, superheroes, villains, and the most exciting gaming action!
According to Games Industry Africa, South Africa leads the gaming industry in Africa with the highest saturation of gamers with up to 40% of the population playing video games. While our esports industry is smaller compared to international events there’s no lack of local talent and this was certainly brought to light at Comic Con Africa this past weekend.
Telkom VS Gaming was recognised as the official Comic Con Africa gaming partner which saw them owning the largest tournament stage and giving away R615 000 in prizes across several VS Gaming tournaments. These saw local esports enthusiasts battle it out and claim victory over various titles. Let’s take a look at the final results of the VS Gaming tournaments:
Telkom VS Gaming Championship Grand Finals – Rocket League
Prize pool R 45 000
Telkom eDiski Finals
Prize Pool R140 000
eDiski Season 5 began in 2021 and consisted of four qualifier cups & two playoff events, as Telkom VS Gaming narrowed the field down to just four players. These players competed in the grand final events at Comic Con Africa. All four qualifier events took place online and were open to the public to enter. The two playoff events took place at Centennial Schools in Sandton where two players from each playoff earned their spot into the grand finals. The finals consisted of the winners of Semi 1 and Semi 2.
At the first eDiski Semi Final event, Masoom Fakie put on a great performance against esports team Pirates, making it to the grand finals of the VS Gaming eDiski Semi-finals with a score of 1 – 0.
In the second Semi, Pirates’ Aasim Lamara claimed a spot in the grand finals where they went up against Masoom Fakie. On the last day of Comic Con Africa, Lamara claimed victory over Masoom Fakie and was crowned the eDiski champion.
HSEL Rocket League Final
Prize pool R55 000
On Friday 23 September, Grantleigh – Psychotic went up against Paul Roos in the High School Esports League Finals. The game had a thrilling start with Paul Roos dominating and ultimately being named the HSEL Rocket League Champions, walking away with R55 000.
HSEL CS:GO Final
Prize pool R55 000
Finals: Parklands College vs Rondebosch
On Saturday 24 September gaming fans got to witness Parklands Collage go up against Rondebosch at Comic-Con Africa. This event saw Parklands being crowned the VS High School CS:GO champions and walking away with a prize pool of R55 000!
VS Masters Final
Prize pool – R290 000
The quest to find the VS Masters Final Champion took place over four days, kickstarting with the Upper Bracket Finals where VS Gaming defending champions Bravado Gaming beat Nixuh.
On day two Blacklaminate went up against Goliath Gaming in the lower bracket final, in the first Map Goliath Gaming won 16 – 2. The second map went to Blacklaminate who bounced back with a score of 16 -12. The final Map saw Goliath Gaming securing their spot in the lower bracket finals where they faced Nixuh. It was here Nixuh made a statement win over Goliath Gaming, securing their spot in the grand finals against Bravado Gaming.
The grand finals had fans at the edge of their seats and finally saw Nixuh being crowned the VS Masters Champions for 2022.
Comic Con Africa is a prime example of Telkom’s commitment to driving the local esports industry forward and taking local gaming to the next level.
“Telkom is a proudly South African brand, dedicated to supporting and developing local talent and providing them with the most competitive platform to grow players and prepare them for the international stage,” said Wanda Mkhize Head of Executive Home and Content at Telkom.