Jon Dunning
Staff Writer
Murray State Esports League of Legends was eliminated from the Riot Games College League by Missouri University of Science and Technology but defeated Meme City to hold first place in the Upsurge Junior League, while the Overwatch Blue Squad fell to a 0-2 record in a loss to University of Rochester.
League of Legends
Upsurge Junior League:
Murray State defeated Meme City Gaming 2-1 in the Upsurge Junior League of Legends tournament on Friday, Feb. 28.
The Racers chose Mordekaiser, Vi, Ekko, Jinx and Nami for game one. Meme City picked Poppy, Zac, Corki, Senna and Braum.
Meme City took first blood of round one at 5:29, giving the team leads in kills 1-0 and gold 8.0k-7.3k. They continued to expand their lead in kills to 6-1 before taking the first dragon objective of the game at 9:43 with the slaying of an Ocean Dragon.
At 15:54, Meme City took the second dragon objective with the slaying of a Mountain Dragon. This play expanded Meme City’s overall lead, putting the team up 14-2 in kills, 2-0 in dragon objectives and 26.1k-21.3k in gold. Meme City took the lead in turrets 1-0 at 16:26.
Meme City mounted a lead 2-0 in turrets before Murray State destroyed its first one at 18:52 to make the turret score 2-1.
Meme City took game one at 35:49 to put the team up 1-0 in the match, leading Murray State in turrets 9-2, dragon objectives 4-0, kills 33-9 and gold 64.2k-54.1k.
For game two, the Racers went with Aatrox, Trundle, Orianna, Miss Fortune and Nautilus. Meme City used Pantheon, Gragas, Veigar, Varus and Thresh.
Murray State took first blood in game two at 7:37 to give the team a 1-0 lead in kills. The Racers continued their success at 8:00 when they took the first dragon objective with the slaying of a Mountain Dragon.
At 13:35, the Racers slayed a Cloud Dragon to give them the second objective of game two. Murray State led 6-2 in kills, 2-0 in dragon objectives and 21.6k-20.2k in gold. They took a 1-0 lead in turrets when they destroyed the first turret at 15:34.
Meme City tied the turret score 1-1 at 16:06 when the team took its first turret of game two. The Racers only gave up one more turret though, going on to lead in turrets 10-2, dragon objectives 3-0, kills 25-10 and gold 50.9k-39.9k before achieving victory at 26:31. The Racers tied the match 1-1.
In game three, Murray State picked Vladimir, Xayah, Lissandra, Trundle and Morgana. Meme City played as Kled, Heearim, Ornn, Aphelios and Braum.
Meme City took first blood at 1:03. Murray State responded at 5:31 by slaying a Cloud Dragon, taking the first dragon objective of the match.
Meme City took the second dragon objective at 11:12 with the slaying of a Mountain Dragon. This play tied dragon objectives 1-1 with Meme City leading 5-3 in kills and 17.8k-16.6k in gold.
Finding an answer, the Racers destroyed the first turret of game three at 14:34, but Meme City quickly answered back by taking one of Murray State’s turrets 20 seconds later. At 15:10, the Racers took down a second Meme City turret, re-establishing Murray State’s lead in turrets 2-1.
At 16:46, Murray State took its second dragon objective, taking down an Ocean Dragon to give the Racers 2-1 in dragon objectives. At this point, Murray State also held leads in turrets 2-1 and gold 28.1k-27.3k. The kill score was tied 9-9.
Meme City took a turret at 18:22 to tie the turret score 2-2. The team took another turret at 20:30, giving Meme City a lead in turrets 3-2. They also re-established leads in kills 11-10 and gold 34.4k-33.0k.
The Racers added to their lead in dragon objectives at 22:22 by taking another Ocean Dragon, making the score 3-1. They also mounted comebacks in kills and gold, leading 14-11 and 36.9k-36.4k respectively. Thirty seconds later, Murray State tied the turret score 3-3.
Murray State staff adviser Sean Mitchuson sees the League of Legends team as having the potential to take the top spot in the Upsurge Junior Tournament.
“I think we actually have a pretty good chance at winning the whole thing,” Mitchuson said. “We are one of the few teams that still has technically a perfect record in the tournament, so we are looking really good there.”
The Racers continued to dominate and took the game at 27:41 with leads in turrets 7-3, kills 20-11, dragon objectives 3-1 and gold 49.5k-42.6k. Murray State defeated Meme City 2-1, allowing the Racers to advance to 3-0 for the season and maintain an undefeated record.
Riot League:
The Racers were eliminated from the Spring 2020 Riot Games Collegiate League of Legends tournament by Missouri S&T in a 2-0 bout on Feb. 29.
In game one, Murray State chose Ornn, Olaf, Syndra, Slvir and Morgana. Missouri S&T picked Soraka, Diana, Yasuo, Ezreal and Janna.
The Racers took first blood in the match at 3:25, making the kill score 1-0. At 5:51, Murray State also took the first dragon objective, slaying a Mountain Dragon.
Missouri S&T took its first dragon objective of the match at 11:36, slaying a Cloud Dragon. At this point, Missouri S&T led in kills 4-2 and gold 18.3k-16.4k. Both teams tied in dragon objectives 1-1.
Missouri S&T destroyed the first turret of the game at 13:00. Once Missouri S&T took the first turret, it went on an unanswered sweep of the rest of Murray State’s turrets to claim victory at 20:39, leading 7-0 in turrets, 20-4 in kills, 2-1 in dragon objectives and 40.8k-29.8k in gold.
In game two, the Racers chose Nautilus, Galio, Jhin, Nocturne and Poppy. Missouri S&T played as Zac, Talon, Kalista, Morgana and Zoe.
Missouri S&T claimed the first kill of the second game at 2:15. It also took the first dragon objective at 6:47 with the slaying of an Ocean Dragon.
Murray State took the second dragon objective of the game at 13:08, taking down a Mountain Dragon, tying the teams in dragon objectives in 1-1. Missouri S&T maintained leads in kills 9-8 and gold 22.1k-20.7k.
Missouri S&T took down the first turret of the second game at 14:54. Murray State responded at 19:38 by taking a turret, trailing Missouri S&T 2-1 in turrets.
Murray State took out two more turrets, but never took the lead. Missouri S&T defeated the Racers at 30:43 with leads in turrets 9-3, kills 29-18, dragon objectives 4-1 and gold 61.3k-48.5k. Missouri S&T swept Murray State 2-0, ending Murray State’s Riot Collegiate League season.
Mitchuson said the League of Legends team did not have a viable route to win the tournament but decided to continue playing for experience.
“We were already out, we were basically just playing for the practice,” Mitchuson said. “The team we played was a little bit better than us. We tried some stuff out and lost.”
The Racers ended their season 3-2 in the Riot Games College League.
Overwatch
The Murray State Overwatch Blue Squad faced the University of Rochester Yellow Jackets in the Overwatch Collegiate Championship tournament on Sunday, March 2, and lost.
In game one, the teams faced-off on the control map Oasis.
Round one of game one, Rochester took complete control of the objective, shutting Murray State out by not allowing the Racers to gain any control percentage. Rochester earned a quick 1-0 lead.
Game two of the first round did not change much, as Rochester completely controlled the objective once again.
Round two took place on the escort map Dorado.
In round two, the Yellow Jackets earned three points during their turn to escort the payload, driving the objective to the end of the map. During Murray State’s turn to escort the payload, the Racers were not able to reach the first checkpoint of the map, giving the win to Rochester and putting the Yellow Jackets up 2-0.
Round three took place on the hybrid map King’s Row.
Game one of round three involved an escort objective. Rochester took the turn at escorting the payload, once again managing to push it to the end of the map to earn three points. Game two of round three was an assault game mode. The Yellow Jackets took this game as well, giving Rochester a 3-0 sweep of Murray State.
The Overwatch Blue Squad fell to 0-2 for the season.
Mitchuson blames Blue Squad’s loss on inexperience.
“Basically, they are still really fresh, they are still really green,” Mitchuson said. “They’re trying to get the hang of working as a team still and communication and shot-calling and coordination, and they’re just not there yet.”
To keep up with all Esports’ activities, viewers can subscribe to the team’s Twitch channel at RacerEsports and YouTube channel at RacerEsports.
