The All-Year-Round Microsoft Excel World Championship Begins Again

The spreadsheet software program Microsoft Excel has become a prime tool for those of many assorted careers. Whether as a data analyst, an accountant, a project manager, a developer, or an actuary, Microsoft Excel can make data management simpler, efficiently turning data into meaningful insights essential for businesses.

With the intricate features and much knowledge Excel has to offer, it is no surprise all the work that can be done using the platform has been turned into an E-sport, titled Microsoft Excel World Championship (MEWC), run by the organization behind Financial Modeling World Cup (FMWC), the very first Microsoft Excel-based global competition.

Knowledge for E-Sports

Launched by financial analyst Andrew Grigolyunovich along with his colleagues Max Sych and Emils Saulitis, the FMWC focused on having contestants work on case studies based on their knowledge regarding financial, business, and data modeling.

Due to Excel’s versatility and the realization that though widely used for those with financial expertise, not every Excel user can excel in just that, the organization was enticed to build a more adaptable, all-around contention, thus the creation of the MEWC.

This year’s competition starts with the Excel Esports Battles (EEB) titled Road to Las Vegas, which runs in the span of 10 months from January 25th to October 10th. Participants can register for battles one day before the round, as tasks will be sent to them via email as the game starts during the battle day. The Battles are followed by the MEWC Online Rounds in the span of October 12 to October 31 and, lastly, the Live Finals, which will take place at HyperX Arena, Las Vegas, in December.

Each round of the EEB requires contestants to solve cases or answer questions in Microsoft Excel in the span of 30 minutes. For instance, on the January 25th round, participants were given their task between 4:30 pm and 4:40 pm London time and had to submit their answers before 5.15 pm within their 30-minute limit.

The MEWC Online Rounds will then start with 128 participants, in which 50 places are given to 5 winners from each of the 10 Excel Esports Battles rounds, with 16 places taken by the highest-ranked participants of last year’s FMWC. The rest of the places will be given to two wildcards awarded by MEWC organizers, as well as 60 winners from a separate regional qualification round from EEB, arranged on October 12.

Each question, which varies in topics that require data management skills and logical thinking, gets more complex but awards contestants with more points if answered accurately. Strategies to solve cases and answer questions are not restricted to any method. Whether they’re using IFS, XLOOKUP, SUM, VBA, or Power Query, participants have a chance to move up to the next rounds as long as they are able to consistently perform well and answer correctly under pressure.

Excelling in Excel

2023’s MEWC witnessed Andrew Ngai, an actuary from Sydney, Australia, win for the third consecutive year. Titled “The Annihilator,” Ngai won a $3K prize money, a trophy, and a championship belt and was congratulated by Microsoft with an Instagram post saying, “You didn’t just succeed - you Exceled.”

As an actuary with responsibilities of analyzing statistics and calculating insurance risks, Ngai had already been accustomed to using Excel every single day, giving him the ability to handle the fast-paced work that all of the Championship rounds had coming for him.

To ensure another win, however, Ngai took things a little further and prepared for the Championship by practicing on past cases using the latest version of Excel to familiarize himself with all of its new features.

2023’s In-Person Finals were broadcast on ESPN’s event, “The Ocho,” undoubtedly bringing a whole lot of audience, which in turn brings new attention and acknowledgment to the E-sport.

Those wishing to participate in Road to Las Vegas still have plenty of time until October to give themselves a little more practice that may just lead to a spot in the finals. A $20 fee is required to partake in each battle.

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