Welcome to the final Clark Esports recap of the semester!
After over ten weeks of competitive play, the Univesity had four teams make it to the championship round: Valorant Grey, Rainbow Six Red, League of Legends Obsidian, and Overwatch Obsidian.
Let’s look at how these teams’ successful seasons shaped out!
Valorant Grey
Valorant Grey kicked off Clark’s week of finals appearances last Monday, putting their undefeated record to the test against the Lambton Lions. Lambton had an undefeated season in their own right, securing the one-seed with a better map record than Clark.
The two teams didn’t meet during the regular season, as they’ve been on a collision course throughout the playoff bracket.
Comfortable victories over OWU Crimson and uOttawa Red brought the cougars to their first Valorant finals. Likewise, Lambton faced no trouble in their quarterfinal and semifinal matches.
The best-of-five series began on Pearl, with Clark taking the victory 13-8. However, Lambton bounced back on both Haven and Bind, (13-7, 13-9), taking a commanding 2-1 map lead.
With a roster that went through turmoil this season, including having to incorporate an emergency substitute, a finals appearance would have been a successful season alone.
However, the team wasn’t satisfied. With a 13-10 victory on Icebox, the match would come down to the fifth and final map: Fracture.
After falling behind 5-10, the Cougars pulled off a miraculous comeback, winning eight of the next nine rounds to hand Lambton their first loss of the season and capture the division title.
They had the only undefeated regular season of all of Clark’s teams and finished the job with an impressive finals performance. This could only be the beginning of Valorant Grey’s success in the NECC.
Rainbow Six Red
The Rainbow Six team matched up against the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) in their championship match on Tuesday. Fighting for the title in the Navigators division, the two teams won their quarterfinal and semifinal matches to get to this point.
Earlier on in the season, Clark and UNK faced off in a close battle, with the Cougars coming out on top in the third and final map. With the team going through intense preparation the week prior, Clark was ready to run the table and take home their first Rainbow Six championship.
After a dominating first map performance, with Clark taking it down 7-3, they followed it up with an even more impressive victory (7-1). Up 2-0 in a best-of-five series, UNK wasn’t going to go away quietly.
A back-and-forth third map ultimately went into overtime, with Clark’s finest taking home the victory and subsequent championship 8-7!
With an experienced roster taking form this semester, it was only a matter of time until they got their first trophy. It was also an exciting atmosphere for everyone who attended the watch party!
Here’s what Jasper ‘Cream’ Louden had to say about the match: “It’s some of the best we’ve ever played and a huge shout out to the guys, they did so well and I’m so proud of them, and also to the people who stayed to support us until the end–even though it was so late”
It was a long journey for the R6 boys, but it was all worth it in the end as they came out on top. Look for a potential title defense come this Spring!
League of Legends Obsidian
League Obsidian capped off their fantastic debut season with a finals appearance against the NJCU Gothic Knights. A week after a massive upset in the semifinals, the freshmen-dominated roster looked to capture Clark’s first League of Legends championship.
The Knights would prove to be a tough test, however, as the best-of-five series would not be decided easily. After winning the first map, NJCU responded to make it 1-1. After Clark punched back in the third game, the Knights made it 2-2 in a dominating performance.
It would all come down to game five, in which the opposition simply got too far ahead for Obsidian to make it interesting. Despite the loss, Obsidian was just inches away from a title.
Let’s see how they respond come next semester with their new-found playoff experience.
Overwatch Obsidian
Overwatch Obsidian capped off Clark’s week of esports finals, as they matched up against Catawba Blue in a best-of-seven series.
Largely going undefeated throughout their season, Obsidian only dropped one match, dominating most of the other competition. However, Catawba Blue was determined to capture a championship of their own.
While Catawba Blue garnered victory on Lijang Tower to begin the match, Obsidian bounced back with a 3-2 victory of their own on King’s Row. After that, it was all Catawba, winning comfortably on Gibraltar, New Queen Street, and Nepal to end the match 4-1.
Despite the losses for both League and Overwatch Obsidian, their accomplishments throughout the semester cannot be forgotten. With more time on the new Blizzard title over Winter break, let’s see how the Overwatch roster comes back better than ever to take the next step toward an NECC championship.
That’s all for this semester!
Have a great break, and thanks for supporting all the teams!
-Andrew ‘Pizza The Cat’ Diiorio