The best esports event you've never heard of: Microsoft Excel World Championships

The best esports event you may have never heard of—the Microsoft Excel World Championship (MEWC), has a core content that is closely related to most of us: spreadsheets. It may sound boring, but in fact, the tournament shows some people’s incredibly efficient use of shortcut keys and custom functions.

Yes, Excel eSports does exist

At 3 a.m., ESPN News is replaying the Dog Surfing and the College Corn Hole Championship (both of which are real events). It was then that I first discovered Microsoft Excel Esports and watched the 2023 Microsoft Excel World Championships. The game is both exciting and engaging. The commentators explained the "fight" with a passion between Spanish football and professional wrestling, which added to the viewing of the game.

Who is running Excel eSports?

The Microsoft Excel World Championship is hosted by the Financial Modeling World Cup (FMWC), which also hosts another independent Excel competition called the Financial Modeling World Cup. The two events are technically separate, but the top 16 FMWC players will automatically enter the online knockout round of the Microsoft Excel World Championship (MEWC). Therefore, there is some connection between the two. Microsoft is not the organizer of the event, but it is the main sponsor.

How exactly does Excel eSports work?

Each match is called a "battle" and contains 1 case with 8 level tasks and 5 additional tasks. In MEWC, tasks are by no means financially relevant. They are logical challenges, and there is no need for any pre-existing knowledge other than being familiar with Microsoft Excel. Only the digital answers for each task are scored to encourage creativity to the contestants. Participants have 30 minutes to complete all tasks and are free to seek solutions. Formats and styles will not be judged. Everything is possible.

Anyone can participate

I praise the organizers for their emphasis on inclusion. They seem to do their best to remove all potential barriers to entry. All 10 rounds of qualifying matches and play-offs are played online. Only the finals in Las Vegas are played offline, and the registration fee for any round is only $20 (USD). Each player's 30-minute match time starts according to their time zone. The complete rules of the tournament are quite loose. Accept any version of Microsoft Excel from 2010 to the present, and you can enter symbols using a custom toolbar or custom keyboard shortcuts.

You can do it!

Have your curiosity inspired? Are you ready to participate? There is still time! Only 7 of the 10 open qualifying matches have ended. There are two more games in 2024: September 19 and October 10. The final round of qualifying will be held in late October, followed by online knockouts for those who advance. The final was held in Las Vegas for three days, with 24 contestants participating and being held in front of live audiences and television broadcasts.

Excel World Championship: First Battle - January 25, 2024

If you are like me, the next thing you want to know is what the task looks like. All "fights" are on YouTube, and I've reviewed the first battle case, so you don't have to work harder. The following is the introduction of the first task:

<code>在“狗狗托兒所”中，您將追蹤狗狗在狗狗托兒所設(shè)施中的移動(dòng)軌跡，確定它們移動(dòng)的距離，并確保它們得到充分的喂養(yǎng)和洗澡。1級(jí)和2級(jí)向您介紹移動(dòng)機(jī)制。3級(jí)和4級(jí)要求您計(jì)算狗狗移動(dòng)的距離，而5級(jí)要求您在多次移動(dòng)后找到狗狗的位置。在6級(jí)到8級(jí)中，您將把所有這些技術(shù)結(jié)合起來，以確定狗狗何時(shí)進(jìn)食、何時(shí)洗澡以及它們?cè)谌粘Ｃ半U(xiǎn)中最終會(huì)出現(xiàn)在哪里。還有5個(gè)額外問題，其中一些與等級(jí)無關(guān)。祝你好運(yùn)，汪汪！</code>

I was immediately at a loss. I never needed to navigate tasks in a spreadsheet this way! I'm curious about what careers need to use Microsoft Excel like this. Maybe it's interior design?

Level 1—Simple basics of mobile

<code>在狗狗托兒所，狗狗每輪都會(huì)按照給定的方向和給定的單元格數(shù)量在設(shè)施內(nèi)移動(dòng)。為了熟悉這種機(jī)制，首先對(duì)每輪移動(dòng)的數(shù)字部分求和。所有移動(dòng)單元格中的數(shù)字之和是多少？</code>

The entire case design is completed in 30 minutes, but the level 1 task may only take 1 minute. My method only involves the SUM function here. Let's jump to level 4.

<code>您想知道一條狗在5輪移動(dòng)后從起始位置移動(dòng)了多遠(yuǎn)。確定狗每輪垂直和水平移動(dòng)的距離，并計(jì)算5輪移動(dòng)后的凈移動(dòng)距離。例如，向右移動(dòng)3個(gè)單元格，然后向左移動(dòng)2個(gè)單元格，結(jié)果是向右凈移動(dòng)1個(gè)單元格。添加垂直和水平分量，從起始位置的凈移動(dòng)距離是多少？</code>

I spent more than a minute reading this task carefully until I understood it. However, once I understand it, I think I can give it a try. What I appreciate more is that "everything is possible" during the game because I need to google it quickly for this. Honestly, I'm not sure if I can finish this level in 30 minutes. Even if level 1 and 2 take me only one minute per level, I suspect level 3 and 4 take 10 minutes. By then, I could easily be more than 20 minutes and I was about to start a more difficult task.

Tournament Live Broadcast

After all contestants complete the competition in 30 minutes and submit their ".xlxs" file, 5 expert contestants will broadcast live on YouTube to complete the task. I have taken screenshots of the level 8 mission in the First Battle Live for demonstration. You can see that this player has completed the first 5 tasks and 1 extra question, and there are less than 8 minutes left! Scores are assigned based on each correct answer. The player scored 565 points from the work he had done. In the online round, players can only get points after submitting their work. However, seeing each contestant’s scores accumulate over time in the live stream add to the drama of the sport. They also capture the players' keystrokes and explain the functions many players are using.

Level 8 - Very difficult

<code>在8級(jí)中，6級(jí)和7級(jí)的規(guī)則全部適用，但現(xiàn)在狗狗有空間奔跑，并且從進(jìn)食中獲得了額外的能量！每當(dāng)狗狗進(jìn)食時(shí)，接下來的三輪它們的移動(dòng)距離都會(huì)加倍。此外，當(dāng)狗狗到達(dá)狗狗托兒所的邊界時(shí)，它們必須留在其墻壁內(nèi)。如果邊界限制了一個(gè)方向的移動(dòng)，則不會(huì)限制另一個(gè)方向的移動(dòng)。例如，如果一條狗位于C27單元格，并且想要向上和向左移動(dòng)5個(gè)單元格，它們將最終位于B22單元格（向上5個(gè)單元格，向左1個(gè)單元格）。對(duì)每條狗進(jìn)食的輪次編號(hào)求和。</code>

Just as I often say in elementary school, "It's not me, flea says"! This question is easier for me to understand, but I don't even know what to search for to get a solution.

Grand Prize

FMWC has done a great job in creating and operating the sport, especially considering the subject matter. The only improvement I recommend is to increase the tournament prize to over $3000 (USD). Last year's champion must travel from Australia to Las Vegas to participate in the offline finals. He is an actuary (assessing financial risks for business clients) and I hope he goes well because his bonus is unlikely to pay for the trip. That said, it's an esports win that will look great on your resume.

I don't think I'm very ready to compete yet. I need to improve my Excel quick tricks, but I will continue to watch the game on YouTube. Learning new Excel functions has never been more exciting!

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