Action kicked off at the Helix Recruiting Showcase on Friday, April 22nd featuring Valorant as the game of the day. We saw many teams arrive at Helix to compete live in person for a cash prize of $1,000 and the chance to qualify for the Stay Plugged In Recruiting Showcase at PAX East the following day. Here is how it unfolded:
Picking up in the semifinals, we saw ToozyVal face off against the Knights in the match off stream. This match was handled quickly where ToozyVal took the game 13-3 with an outstanding performance from the player Toozy, class of 2022, with a 27/7/5 KDA to take the game MVP. In the other semifinal, we saw Minutemen also have a great performance, with a 13-4 scoreline with player offaclaw, class of 2025, with a 29/10/3 KDA.
In the Winner’s Finals, Minutemen took on ToozyVal with both teams coming off a great last round. This Best of 3 started on Haven where it was very back and forth for the first few rounds, seeing ToozyVal jumping to a quick 2-0 lead, but being answered back by the Minutemen, evening it out 2-2. In Round 6, Toozy grabbed a triple kill and the round, finding the round count to be 4-2, ToozyVal. This kickstarted the rest of the match, where at the half ToozyVal was up 9-3, led by Toozy and Harmony, Class of 2025, with 14 and 11 kills respectively. This map ended at 13-7 with Harmony taking map MVP with a 22/14/4 KDA.
Map 2 of the Winner’s Finals found us on Ascent and a hot start from Minutemen where after 7 rounds, the map score was 5-2 with player needsomeservice, class of 2023, with 8 kills and teammates channi, class of 2023, and zpetz having 7 of their own frags as well. However, ToozyVal started to regain their playstyle, coming back to tie the first half at 6-6 before the sideswitch with Harmony leading the lobby with 15 kills. From here, ToozyVal regained the driver’s seat, and ended the map and series with a 13-8 scoreline on Ascent.
In the Loser’s Finals, we saw Minutemen take on Baroon Bonkies with a very close matchup, however the Minutemen prevailed 13-10 on Ascent with player, offaclaw, leading his team to victory with a 24/13/3 KDA.
After the day’s action, Minutemen were set to have another go at ToozyVal in the Grand Finals, where ToozyVal had a 1 map advantage in this Best of 3 series. Map 1 was on Haven with ToozyVal on the attack. Round 1 opened with a flurry of kills and player zpetz taking a triple kill to grab an early lead for Minutemen. The following early rounds showed much action with offaclaw grabbing an OP early to play longer angles, proving to be a good tactic. Double kills from needsomeservice, Toozy and offaclaw in the first half all proved to be the edge the teams needed in those respective rounds. The action was back and forth throughout the first half, with a scoreline of 7-5 in favor of Minutemen at the side switch. Offaclaw had 12 kills to lead his team to the halftime lead.
The action of Map 1 continued to be back and forth, with offaclaw continuing to be a menace with a huge marshal double kill to grab the round and finding the scoreline to be 11-8 in favor of his team, Minutemen, with his 20 kills being a huge contribution to the three round lead. However, ToozyVal started to find their footing again with some aggressive and courageous plays, including getting a spike defuse in a 4v4 situation. At the end of 24 rounds, we were all tied up at 12-12, heading into overtime.
Overtime was one for the books, with both teams handling their defenses with ease, quickly putting us into double OT before ToozyVal grabbed their first attack in Round 29 to the thanks of Ecrudox, class of 2024, grabbing a double kill. But, this wasn’t enough as Minutemen grabbed their attacking round, forcing TRIPLE overtime! Minutemen then followed with a great two rounds put together, with Channi grabbing a triple kill in Round 31 and and needsomeservice clutching a 1v2 to seal Round 32 and the map win, pushing the series to a 1-1 tie heading into the decided map. Harmony had an impressive 32 kills, with the most in the lobby!
The decider map was Ascent and after the legendary game that we just witnessed, this was shaping up to be one for the history books. The first two rounds of play were decided simply by Harmony, while losing the first round after missing the pistol shot in a 1v1, he answered back quickly with a quad kill in Round 2 to even the scoreline. From there, ToozyVal just clicked, quickly taking a 6-3 lead led by a triple kill from their namesake player, toozy in Round 9. At the half, the lead was 8-4 with the momentum securely in ToozyVal’s hands. After 16 rounds, Harmony had 21 kills and led his team to a 11-5 lead, looking unstoppable. Ascent ended in a polar opposite of the previous map, with ToozyVal taking it 13-6 with the MVP of the day, Harmony, leading the charge with a 25/13/0 KDA.
The Valorant portion of the Helix Recruiting Showcase was incredible to say the least. Many college coaches roamed the LAN, looking for their next recruits and were very excited to see the level of talent present at the LAN. With many entertaining matches featuring incredible talent, recruiting was in peak shape at this Showcase. GGs to all competitors and huge congrats to your winners, TOOZYVAL!
For a full event recap with pictures and video content, click here.