Carl Sandburg College was believed to be one of the first two-year colleges in the country to offer an eSports program when they launched in 2019.
Now a Charger sophomore is on the verge of becoming their first national champion.
Skyler Hoke, a graduate of United High School says he is “surprising” even himself.
Hoke will play in the semifinals of the NJCAA Esports Hearthstone spring championship at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The championship match is scheduled for 8 p.m. that evening.
Hearthstone is a strategy-based card game that Hoke said is somewhat similar to Magic: The Gathering and Chess.
The tournament has one on one matchups each round and they play a best of five series.
And while Hoke is one of the premier NJCAAE players in the country in Hearthstone, he hadn’t played the game much until he came to Sandburg.
He began practicing more and studying YouTube videos and streams of top players.
That hard work is paying off this year, as he has spent most of the season near the top of the rankings.
Hoke, will transfer to Northern Illinois University after this semester and study computer science.
He says that being a part of the Chargers’ first esports team and building new relationships eased his transition to college.
