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Esports Recap: Week of March 21

Esports Recap: Week of March 21
March 29, 2022

(Howell, MI)-- Here is your weekly recap for Cougar Esports for the week of March 21.

WHAC Contests:

  • WHAC Overwatch lost to Indiana Tech 3-0 in a match rescheduled from the previous week.
  • Tuesday's League of Legends matchup featured Concordia vs Cleary in a pivotal matchup that would alter conference tournament seeding for both teams.
    Game 1 was a reality check for the Cougars who were beaten by the Cardinals in 31:06. Adjustments to the Cougars draft needed to be made in order to take on a team previously thought to be an easy match, and adjust they did.
    The Cougars came roaring back in game 2 riding the back of Connor Wisnewski's Cho'Gath who finished with 10 kills, 2 deaths, and 7 assists. The Cougars also found success in the game switching to a more passive Ziggs/Seraphine bot lane which enabled them to play safer. Andrius Jurenas' Seraphine and Pichit Charoenpanich's Yone put together some incredible combos to lock down team fights and get the Cougars a win in 33:06. 
     
    Then the beast that was game 3 happened. The Cougars were allowed to draft an identical team to the one that they found success on in game 2 and by 21 minutes, Connor Wisnewski had found himself with 5 kills on Cho'gath and a huge lead over the enemy Urgot.
    The Cougars were in position to end the game early on, but the Cardinals stalled the game out and managed to pick up a Hextech Soul buff after slaying 4 dragon objectives. 
    At the 45:00 mark in game 3 the second Elder Dragon spawned onto the map and the Cardinals were in position to take the objective. This dragon provides a critical advantage to the team who kills it, rewarding them with a buff that amplifies the damage they deal and gives all their attacks an execute that immediately kills anyone they damage below 20% hp. 
    Joey Dibartolo, who was playing Ziggs, knew this was happening and blindly threw his ultimate ability, a long range explosive bomb, into the Elder Dragon's pit. He timed it perfectly and dealt just enough damage to kill the Elder, rewarding Cleary with the monstrous buff.
    Cleary immediately used the advantage they gained to march into the Cardinal's base and win the game at 48:34.
  • Cleary's final Overwatch match of the first ever WHAC competition in the sport was one for the history books. Both teams came into the match with a 1-3 record and their eyes on the #4 seed heading into the playoffs. This was no throw away match. The winner would get the first map pick in their guaranteed rematch in two weeks. Knowing they would be seeing each other again as the guaranteed 4 and 5 seeds in the first round meant this match was important not only to win, but to gather information on the opposing team.
    The Cougars came in confident in game 1. LTU took the first map win, but Cleary answered back to tie. Unfortunately, the Cougars gave a little bit too much ground on map 3 and lost the match 2-1. 
    Game 2 on Kings Row saw Cleary dominate on offense escorting the payload the entire length of the map getting the full 3 points available. The Blue Devils answered back though and although they took a little more time than the Cougars did, they also secured the full 3 points forcing an overtime. The Cougars went first and pushed the payload through almost to the end, but finished with 5 points. LTU had something up their sleeves and though the Cougars captain, Joey DiBartolo, knew what was coming, the team couldn't answer the Bastion composition LTU broke out and fell 6-5 to lose game 2. 
    What happened next could only be described as the greatest feat any esports team can accomplish. A reverse sweep. Down 0-2, the Cougars faced elimination every single match. They could not lose or else they would be cemented as the #5 seed. 
    Lose they did not. The Cougars stuck together as a team and played like they had nothing to lose despite everything being on the line. Joey DiBartolo (xxBOMAxx) and Griffin Andrews (Relxpse) were the catalyst in driving the Cougars to victory as they consistently outperformed their counterparts on LTU, Fade and 1991.

NACE Contests: 

  • Rocket League fell to Central Michigan 3-0
  • Super Smash Brothers Ultimate dropped their match to Oakland 1-0

Cleary's regular season is complete in all game formats, but the Cougars will participate in the WHAC Tournament for both Overwatch and League of Legends on Saturday, April 9.