AUTHOR: CHRIS "BEARLIGHT" LEE | @BEARLIGHTGAMING
The Stay Plugged In Road to Radiant Summer Series always hosts some of the biggest shake-ups in the realm of Valorant esports. This week's bracket may have witnessed the craziest one yet. As the premier platform in esports recruitment, we can safely say that the collegiate Valorant circuit is about to see a boom in talent over the next couple of years. College teams continue to keep on eyes on the competition here in Week 5, as the Summer Series clubs take to the battlefield in the second-to-last week of the regular season. Players recognize the implications of these games and kick it up a notch to make the top 8, and be left standing when the $1000 Summer Series Invitational kicks off in August. This week I give my predictions on which bubble teams make it through to the post-season, followed by a recap of the chaos that left the top teams scratching their head. All of this and more in this week's breakdown below.
PREDICTION - WHICH BUBBLE TEAMS PLAY IN AUGUST?
(#5) BAD AIMERS [5-4] - 180 Points
On the surface it seems to be a safe bet to go with the number 5 team in the Series to make it through. However, the reality is that a sizable portion of the new talent playing for the same Invitational spots have a larger win percentage. If Bad Aimers isn't careful, a [1-2] Week 6 is a very real possibility, and that result wouldn't even guarantee the squad a spot. Doomsday vision aside, this team finds ways to win against teams at their level. Their Series up to this point hasn't been one to hang their heads over, and I fully expect them to be a part of the equation in August.
(#6) 1996 CHICAGO BULLS [5-1] - 171 Points
With a win percentage of 83.3%, it's actually pretty mind-blowing to be talking about '96 Bulls as a team on the bubble. That being said, the team has only been able to compete in a couple of weeks of competition, whether the reason was in their control or not. '96 Bulls' only loss was an overtime thriller in Week 3 against Iron Head Tappers, a club who came into this week at a perfect [12-0]. I believe they make the post-season here thanks to their two great weeks, but they will need to make a reappearance in Week 6 to regain traction and momentum if they want to make it deep into the bracket.
(#9) ECLECTIQ ACADEMY [3-0] - 101 Points
(Warning: weekly result spoilers) It takes a gritty team to be out of the current post-season picture with one week left and still be listed in my teams predicted to make the final bracket. More specifically, it takes a team that defeats Bald Babies and Iron Head Tappers in the same night. You read that right. The top 2 teams in the Summer Series standings were taken down by Eclectiq Academy, a team that started the Series in Week 5. I'm pretty sure you see why they made the list, now let's take a look back at their unbelievable debut week.
ECLECTIQ ACADEMY DEFEATS IHT, WINS WEEK 5
ECLECTIQ 13 | BALD BABIES 10
Icebox is a map that Chamber and Viper regulars love to see selected at the end of the map ban process. Especially Chamber mains, who love the open A-site to utilize the Operator at range and the ability to Rendezvous out if needed. As a result, we got a brawl of early snipe contests, and a combined 10 first bloods between dizzde (6) of Eclectiq and wamm (4) of Bald Babies both on Chamber. Dizzde was a true MVP in this big win for Eclectiq Academy, landing an additional 25 late round kills for a total of 31 in the match. As soon as the (13-10) results hit the Stay Plugged In website, everyone (IHT included) knew that they would need to play at the peak of their game if the Eclectiq Academy team came calling.
ECLECTIQ 13 | CLAREMONT 4
Different agent, similar results for dizzde who led the mid control for Eclectiq at Ascent. Call it cliché if you want, but mid control really is the backbone of this map, and dizzde was a damage dealing machine on Raze. The perfect timing and combinations between the Boom Bot, Paintshells, and Showstopper led dizzde to 19 kills in this one. Austn also server as a partner in crime during the tilt, adding an additional 14 kills as KAY/O. Arguably more impressive than that was the fact that Austn tallied 16 assists (the next highest was 8) and only died 6 times through the 17 rounds played. After this single performance, I almost named austn both Survivalist and Utilitarian on-the-spot. You'll just have to read to the end to find out if austn accomplished that feat.
ECLECTIQ 13 | IRON HEAD TAPPERS 6
Coming into this matchup still undefeated on the Series at [14-0], you would never be able to tell that Iron Head Tappers (IHT) were going through a bit of an roster crisis. They've had to juggle their lineup a handful of times over the course of the season, but they are still a talented bunch. Talented teams know how to find a way to win, and they had been making it work for them through the first 4 weeks. Finally, the legs of IHT gave out in Round 3 of the night here in Week 5 against a team that could be considered their biggest challenge yet in Road to Radiant. Jacket of Eclectiq Academy went full "Battle Sage" with an enormous 26/11/6 KDA and an incredible 239.9 average damage per round. They held multi-MVP Smrty to a minimal .625 KDA and earned 9 out of their 13 round wins with kills. IHT was only allowed back-to-back round wins on one occasion (rounds 13-15). Eclectiq Academy will no longer have the chance to fly under the radar. They will have a target on their back in Week 6, and if they can earn the points necessary to make the Invitational, we may have a new team most likely to win the top prize.
WEEK 5 INVITATIONAL CONFIRMATIONS
(#1) IRON HEAD TAPPERS [14-1] - 474 Points
It's strange to see the "1" in the IHT loss column. Though the Iron Head Tappers have finally fallen in a match, they have officially earned a spot in the Invitational, AND are the only team to lock in their position, which will be at the very top by the way.
(#2) BALD BABIES [8-4] - 280 Points
Bald Babies are officially making their way into post-season, and although their #2 seed is easily challengeable given the small 50 point gap back to 3rd, I just haven't seen enough improvement from #3 CHS Esports and #4 Claremont High yet to believe in a late season jump here. As long as Bald Babies can make it to Week 6, they should be on the opposite side of the bracket from IHT to start the Invitational.
(#3) CHS ESPORTS [6-9] & (#4) CLAREMONT HIGH [5-10]
I've grouped the final two confirmed teams because their entire existence in our Series is practically identical. Like, scary identical. Low hanging fruit here, but I have to start by mentioning that the two schools have the same acronym, "CHS" (Clifton High and Claremont High). Both teams compete in Stay Plugged In's partnered high school league, UFEA, and have shared similar records there. Now, in the Road to Radiant Summer Series, they stand separated by just 25 points, and by one game in their differential. They both have punched their ticket to the post-season as well, not because of their impressive records, but because both of them continue to grind and show up to work on a weekly basis. I hope we run into a matchup of these two schools in the Invitational. It might just be the closest game we get.
PLAYER AWARDS
TOP FRAGGER
Name: TOTSI
Team: OFF BRAND - LENNY TIME
KDA Ratio: 1.906
Notes: Totsi popped off and topped the charts among all Week 5 competitors with 50 kills in 2 matches for an average of 25 kills per map. Totsi also averaged 5.50 first bloods for early starts, and 5.50 assists, making Totsi the most involved player in gun fights among the rest.
UTILITARIAN
Name: FEEDZ
Team: BALD BABIES
KDA Ratio: 1.813
Notes: Outpaced by just koz of OB-LT (10.50) and boom of Eclectiq (9.0) in average assists, feedz put up an impressive 8 assists per map while ALSO averaging 21 kills per map in the process. Using utility to help out your friends is great, but using it to help your friends while also taking advantage of it yourself? A great way to take the title as Utilitarian.
SURVIVALIST
Name: AUSTN
Team: ECLECTIQ ACADEMY
KDA Ratio: 2.355
Notes: As previously mentioned in the article, austn nearly won the Survivalist award instantly when only marked with 6 deaths in the win over Claremont. I thought I would be fair and take a deeper dive into the stat book, and yet there was no reason to stray from my gut feeling. Austn ended the night with the least average deaths per map at 10.33. The top 3 finish in average assists also helped the cause, indicating to me that all teammates had a better chance to survive thanks to austn's creativity on the map.
If you would like to analyze the stats, standings, and results heading into the final week, you can find find those data points on our Summer Series main site here.