Vikings were defeated by the ASU Sun Devils 2-0 in a heated game of Valorant Saturday afternoon at the home Esports facility, ultimately eliminating LBCC from the CVAL West.
The Vikings Valorant Esport squad played for their ticket to the playoffs of the (College Valorant West) CVAL West and managed to keep hope alive all the way until the end, but fell short against the ASU Sun Devils.
Valorant is a team based tactical shooter game and the objective is either to arm or disarm an explosive or eliminate the entire opposing squad before the time runs out.
The game consists of two sets and each set is won by defeating your opponents the most out of twenty five rounds.
“The opponent team has beaten some teams that we haven’t beat, and we have beaten some team that they haven’t. I am stressed but I think they can get it done,” said Coach Gabe Giangualano.
“If we follow the plan and play as a team we have a good chance,” said Valorant player Brandon Walker, also known by his username, Thermo.
The game started with the Vikings losing 1-4 during the first set of the fifth round, however, everything changed after Giangualano stepped in with a new strategy during the first time out.
“They are playing slow and far apart, if we take advantage of the spaces they leave open, we can turn this around,” said Coach Giangualono to his players.
The game was tied just three short rounds after making it 4-4.
Shortly after the Vikings turned things around during the first set, finishing the 10th round ahead 6-4.
Things were not going to be as easy as the Sun Devils again took the lead just four rounds after, giving them a small advantage of 6-8.
During the 15th round, LBCC Valorant player Isaac Estrada whose username is Green did a spectacular round and took an “ace” meaning he eliminated the entirety of the opposite ASU team making it 7-8 ASU.
The first set finished with Vikings trailing 8-13, as they lost their first set all the players and their coach got everyone together to strategize a new plan.
The second set started really strong for LBCC, five rounds later LBCC took the lead and made the score 3-2.
By the end of the 14th round, things were even for both teams making the score 7-7 and the players strategized new plans together during a time out.
“We keep falling for their same strategy, they are playing nearby each other waiting for us, we are not playing as a unit,” said player Sean Torres.
At the end of the 20th round the Vikings managed to keep the game alive by staying tied 10-10.
The outcome of the game was never clear due to the Vikings ability to keep up with the Sun Devils all the way to the 25th round with an electrifying 12-12 score for the second set.
ASU took the 25th round and the Match Point round, cutting the run short for the Vikings this season with a final score of 14-12 ASU for the second set and the all around score 2-0 ASU.
With frustration on their face the rest of LBCC players had no comments to add.
When asked about their performance Coach Giangualano said, “We did not follow the plan, we took too long adjusting to them and this is what happened.”