Written by Stephanie Fletcher
Edited by Melissa May
Esports and Game Design Collective’s (EGD) second Valorant tournament commenced on Monday, July 27th. Notable teams from the first tournament reappeared, such as LiViD Gaming. Pray No One DCs changed their name to AFA and swapped “raw chicken” with “Benjita.” It is a shame they changed their team name since it would have been topical in this tournament. Valorant servers went down in North America, Latin America, and Brazil halfway through the second round of the bracket and the games were continued on Monday, August 3rd for a lively competition despite Hurricane Isaias raging along the east coast of the United States.
In the first round, Dawgie and AFA played a close game against each other. The Sages were ruthless with “LozoLozo” stealthily hiding in a corner and earning three kills, then securing the final kill for Dawgie during the same round. Benjita of AFA also played Sage and killed three agents in round twelve and four in round twenty. Both participants who played Raze, “genuine” on Dawgie and “JisooRosé” on AFA, had the most kills on their teams. “JisooRosé” was the first to show their skill when they got a triple kill in the fourth round with a pistol. They were also adept at getting out of fights when wounded. Later in the game, “genuine” got one quadra kill and two triple kills, the last of which won Dawgie the game 13-9. After all 22 rounds were played, “genuine” had 33 kills. “LozoLozo” always resurrected “genuine” to keep them in the game since they finished off so many kills for the team. The other match-up in the first round was not as close and NDU won 13-1 against The Toreffics.
LiViD Gaming versus Stony Brook began on Monday, August 3rd in the middle of Hurricane Isaias, which became a tropical storm as it worked its way up the northeastern coast of the United States. LiViD Gaming’s Phoenix, “f0bless,” disconnected from the game when the scores were 3-8 in favor of Stony Brook. They were unable to reconnect and Stony Brook won the rest of the rounds despite “endless” on Brimstone getting a couple of first blood kills. Simultaneously, SiN X-RAY won their game against NDU, Team EBG beat Epherium, and Dawgie from the first round won 13-5 against Scarlet Hawks.
By the semi-finals, the downpours of rain could be heard over EGD’s Twitch stream as SiN X-RAY faced off against Dawgie. “Chase” played Sova and “Jiraiya” played Brimstone for SiN X-RAY since “Beta” and “Cubeupbro” could not be there on August 3rd. “Chase” proved their worth early on in the match by getting a triple kill in the second round with a pistol. In the second to last round, they one-upped themself by killing four people. “Apollo” on Sage and “Lxwks” on Cypher accomplished similar feats for SiN X-RAY. Throughout the match, “Jiraiya” consistently killed one person a round before being taken down themself. Raze, played by “genuine,” got twenty kills for Dawgie, more than anyone else in the game. “xFSN Archer” on Sage supported Dawgie with kills and skills. Their most notable play was in the fourth round when they got a triple kill and resurrected their teammate. “LozoLozo” as Brimstone was occasionally able to get a double kill with precise spray control, but it was not enough. SiN X-RAY won against Dawgie 13-6, sending them to finals along with Stony Brook who also won 13-6 against Team EBG.
Based on the results of the semi-finals, the final match-up was bound to be a close one. “Mendicant” on Phoenix for Stony Brook got the first kill of the match onto the enemy Phoenix and consistently lit up the kill feed with solo kills. The defending Phoenix, “xrt,” helped turn the momentum around with a double kill, only after SiN X-RAY lost four rounds in a row. “Chase” on Sova proceeded to get three double kills for SiN X-RAY. Then, “dafeoon” on Sova saved one round for Stony Brook with their ultimate ability in a one versus two battle. Even though “dafeoon” died, they stalled long enough for SiN X-RAY to not have time to diffuse the spike, winning Stony Brook the round. “Conman9” on Cypher got one double kill and one triple kill with their intelligence and lightning fast reflexes compared to “Lxwks,” who was not able to get a quadra kill for SiN X-RAY this game. “Apollo” on Sage got all the kills that “Lxwks” could not secure, but Stony Brook’s Sage, “C4pt1nn,” killed even more than that. “C4pt1nn” swiftly killed three enemies twice, then four enemies in one of the final rounds, the largest kill streak in the game. The Phoenixes, Sovas, Cyphers, and Sages had nearly identical combat scores by the end of the game. The difference in skill was most apparent between “Jiraiya” and “GaryAir,” who scored lowest and highest in combat score respectively when playing Brimstone. Though Sova’s big plays were helpful, “GaryAir” proved that consistent double kills, six throughout the twenty-two rounds, were all that was needed to carry Stony Brook to victory. SiN X-RAY received $25 and Stony Brook received $75 for their stellar gameplay.
Though summer is coming to an end, there are still a couple events left in EGD’s Summer Series! There will be a second League of Legends tournament on Friday, August 7th and a second Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament on Monday, August 10th. Create an account, join the hub, register for the event, and join EGD’s Discord to participate and win cash prizes.
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