Photo via Super League Gaming
Photo via Super League Gaming

The first-ever Minecraft champion is a 10-year-old boy from Los Angeles.

Julien Wiltshire beat out more than 1,000 other players — many high school age — to become the Super League Gaming’s first Minecraft champion. It was the first contest of its kind, contestants playing Minecraft in movie theaters across the country against one another for the top prize.

The fifth grader, known as “SuperKraft11,” topped the leaderboards with his “creativity, critical thinking and teamwork,” over the six-week tournament that included competing teams from at least 40 cities.

Photo via Super League Gaming/Minecraft winning team
Photo via Super League Gaming/Wiltshire (center) poses with his school’s Minecraft winning team

For his mad Minecraft skillz, Wiltshire won a $5,000 scholarship and trophy. His team, comprised of fellow students at Seven Arrows Elementary in Pacific Palisades, Calif., also won a collective $10,000 scholarship.

“Many of our kids play Minecraft, and when they heard about this new after school league they jumped at the chance to compete,” said head of the school Margarita Pagliai in a release.

“It’s wonderful that there’s this opportunity for them to play with others across the country. It’s truly a unique experience and there is plenty of data that shows how Minecraft can help with STEM principles.”

Want to get involved in the second round? The next Super League season starts Feb. 2 and promises to be twice as big, in 80 different major markets across the country. Sign up for the four-week Minecraft session here.

Here’s a video of the last round’s launch below to get a better idea of how it works:

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