The Malta National Esports Team’s debut happened as the GamingMalta Foundation became a member of the International Esports Federation (IESF). The Malta Esports Association took care of the operational aspect of the national selection process, and the organisation of the national team.
Disciplines
National Selection
The organisation of the Maltese national qualifier was delegated by the Malta Esports Association to local organisers, Level Academy, Visionary Iron Team and N-Gen Labs. The GamingMalta Foundation acted as a sponsor for the qualifier.
Twelve participants signed up for the qualifier, which was held on the 25th October 2020. The Grand Finals of the event was played between Lyon “Lyonidas” Buhagiar from the team Visionary Iron Team, and Miguel “Kaneo” Scicluna. Kaneo, coming from the Lower Bracket, managed to reset the bracket against Lyonidas with a 3:2 win, however Lyonidas won the overall tournament after defeating Kaneo 3:1 in the second leg.
Lyon “Lyonidas” Buhagiar was therefore selected to represent the Maltese National Team.
Regional Qualifier
Lyonidas was required to compete in the European Regional Qualifier in order to proceed towards the championship event, which would be held in Eilat, Israel.
Team Malta (Lyonidas) 1:0 Team Netherlands (ArtofAce)
Team Malta (Lyonidas) 1:0 Team Norway
Team Malta (Lyonidas) 0:1 Team Finland (Jopelix)
Team Malta (Lyonidas) 1:0 Team Slovakia
Team Malta (Lyonidas) 0:1 Team Poland (Why)
Unfortunately Team Malta was eliminated from the regional qualifiers in 9th place, and did not qualify for the offline finals in Eilat.
Outcome
Following the continued spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IESF cancelled the World Championships for 2020.