AUTHOR: CHRIS "BEARLIGHT" LEE / @BEARLIGHTCASTS
Stay Plugged In's Road to Radiant has hit it's 30th week, and more Valorant players than ever are looking to gain recognition amongst colleges in the SPIN network. It is also the final weekly bracket before 12 of our Valorant teams pack up and roll out to Smithfield, North Carolina for the Johnston Community College Campus Series LAN, set to take place this Saturday and Sunday. We will get to see CELO of Kitten Aimers with a new team, as well as the NC State Red roster live in person. The bracket this past Wednesday will be a good indication of what level of competition that our attending colleges will be scouting at LAN. Let's take a quick look at some highlights from Week 30.
NEW TEAM TO WATCH - REYHAND GAMING
If you were wondering where Bald Babies have been, you're not alone. They hadn't made an appearance since Week 27, where they mad a finals appearance but were beaten by NC State Red. Whether it be new school obligations or a decision to go in a different direction, FEEDZ and SINBAD lined up with a new team called Reyhand Gaming. ARES, REDI, and SLIGHTLY rounded out the roster, and were highly competitive in their first outing.
They were able to get past a red hot CONRAD (24/15/1 KDA) to defeat Wake Forest Gold (13-5) at Icebox. The agent selection of Sage was a new look for FEEDZ. Although seen quite often on another sentinel, Chamber, there are virtually no similarities between the two agents. The only similarity is the dependency of the team on keeping the agent alive, and FEEDZ has earned the Survivalist badge in multiple events. He was downed only eight times during this match and added 16 kills to the equation to lead his new team into the Semifinals to face off with Jitterbugs 2.0.
Bald Babies versus Jitterbugs has always been a rivalry with matches that tend to never disappoint in entertainment value. This continues even to this day, where only three-tenths of competitors from their original Road to Radiant match are still on the two active rosters. This time around they clashed through six rounds of overtime to reach a conclusion, and it was a brutal battlefield. Only two players in the lobby finished under 20 kills, and that was the opposing initiators (Fade), who were too busy combining for 26 assists. ARES and SLIGHTLY, two additions in the formation of Reyhand Gaming combined for an incredible 51 kills. Although they fell short (14-16), and Jitterbugs 2.0 moved to the Finals, big promise was showed by this team for future success.
FINALS - JITTERBUGS 13, KITTEN AIMERS 11
Kitten Aimers debuted last week and quickly became the team to beat after defeating Jitterbugs 2.0 (13-4) on Bind. This week they took out the always-challenging NC State Red (13-10) in the Semifinals to advance to the Finals, and would match up again with the Jitterbugs. Both rosters were exactly the same as last week, so we took a dive into what factors led to the turnaround in Week 30.
First, the map choice could be considered polar opposites. Last week's map, Ascent, allows an attacking team access to the middle of the map for map control. We saw Kitten Aimers methodically take out any defensive mid presence when on attack, and were allowed more angles to push onto sites. On this week's Finals map, Fracture, there are two ways to cross mid. Either on the bi-directional zip lines that lead you well outside both sites, or by heading through sites and use defenders spawn. With both mid options relatively useless for map control in the early game, perhaps the previous benefit was taken away for Kitten Aimers.
Another factor could be the utility advantage of Raze and Chamber on this map. As a Raze main, SMRTY truly thrives on Raze when used on the appropriate map. His ceiling was much higher this time around because of it. He would bounce back and stand out with a 22/18/8 KDA in this tilt. The Jitterbug 2.0 economy was much better for this reason, and therefore ZRONA was allowed the chance to shine on Chamber with the Operator (Sniper rifle). Plus the sight lines on the front side of the B-Site of Fracture are much stronger than anywhere on Ascent. Impressive work from ZRONA, ending the game on top of the ACS list with a 26/17/3 KDA.
WINNERS & FINAL THOUGHTS
Congratulations to Jitterbugs 2.0 for their Week 30 Road to Radiant victory. A couple of close matches to close out the night is what we love to see from teams when judging player's ability to perform under pressure. Our MVP for this week is SIMPLYQ101, who was up to the task, quietly putting up some pretty stellar numbers. Largely in part of his 15 assists in the Finals, he tossed up a 1.941 KDA ratio in the final match, and finished the night atop the Jitterbugs with a 1.757 KDA ratio through the bracket.
For details and registration for all upcoming Stay Plugged In events including LANs and weekly tournaments, you can visit our Events page on this site. To keep up with all of the results, news, and updates regarding the Stay Plugged In brand, visit the News page.