E-Swarm Report Feb. 28: Sac State esports teams take heavy losses, closer victories

NECC Valorant teams take losses, ECAC team maintains undefeated season

Colby Case

Each week, The State Hornet will recap all the action from Sac State’s esports games. The Sac State Valorant Hornet team (4-0, ECAC) won a narrow victory against Johnson & Wales University on Feb. 23.

Colby Case
March 1, 2021

‘Bye bye’ League of Legends

The Sac State League of Legends Green team will be getting a bye for its sixth game Feb. 27, its second bye of the Big Sky season due to two withdrawals by University of Northern Colorado and Weber State’s Claw Gaming. This will make the Sac State Green team 6-0 going into the final match of the season against Portland State University’s Vikings on March 6 at 3 p.m.

Devastating losses and close victories in Valorant

New England Collegiate Conference

The Sac State Valorant Green team took a crushing 2-0 loss against UC Davis’s team 1. Sac State took an early lead during the pistol rounds on the map Bind, but was quickly overtaken, losing eight consecutive rounds to the Aggies’ aggressive plays. 

Eventually the Hornets took a defensive stance, digging in their heels and pulling themselves up to 11 rounds before losing the first match of the set. The second match took place on the map Ascent, where the Aggies took and held the lead over Sac State causing the second loss, 13-9, losing the set on Feb. 24.

The Valorant Gold team lost 1-2 against Bryant University on Feb. 24. While Sac State won its first match in the set on the map Ascent due to tight angle and site control, the Gold team couldn’t find a win in the next match despite trying new characters and strategies.

“We just needed to find our mojo, but it wasn’t there, it was hard for us to get a groove,”  Samuel “SAC HaZe” Caus said over Discord. “Everyone got quiet towards the end with less callouts and not enough chatter to keep us motivated I guess.”

The next game for both teams is March 4. 

Sac State Green team (red) wins a round in Valorant on Ascent by killing all the opposing UC Davis players (green) after the Hornets plant the spike Feb. 24. Pushing the enemy team out of ‘Heaven,’ the raised area on the right side, secured the site for Sac State and the victory for the round, but Sac State went on to lose the set 2-0. Video via NECC stream.

Eastern College Athletic Conference

The Sac State Hornet Valorant team (4-0 ECAC) won a narrow victory against Johnson & Wales University on Feb. 23. The first match on the map Split started with J&W taking an early lead against the Hornets and running with it all the way to 10-4. Despite the score disparity, the Hornets came back, pushing from winning just four rounds to winning the first match in the set.

The second and final match of the set took place on the map Ascent and was even closer for the Hornets. Both teams kept up with each other until the final rounds, where J&W pulled away. On the match point, Sac State pulled a decisive site retake, throwing the match into overtime where the Hornets won the next two rounds and closed out the match 14-12, winning the set 2-0 and keeping the Hornet team’s undefeated streak alive.

The Hornets have a bye for the next round March 2 and will play next March 9 against a team yet to be determined.

Unfortunate sweep in Rocket League

The Sac State Rocket League team (2-2 ECAC) took a 0-3 loss against Post University on Feb. 24. The losses came from what the Hornets’ team lead Wesley “ShamWes” Ghilarducci said was a lack of synergy from the players due to not having practiced as much.

“Our positioning was the best it’s ever been in the game,” said Wesley “ShamWes” Ghilarducci via Discord. “It came down to a few misplaced touches/passes which resulted in a break in our rhythm and they were able to capitalize.”

The team’s next game will take place against Mansfield University on March 3 at 5 p.m.

Decisive victories for the Sacramento State Super Smash Bros. teams

Sac State’s Hector “PandaToast” Navarro (Sheik) punishes a special move from Neumann’s Nicholas “Nick” Kelly (Sonic) and takes his last stock in a 3v3 crew battle Feb. 22. This was the first of three consecutive fights for Navarro sweeping the opposing team. Video courtesy of Hector Navarro.

The Sac State Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Green (3-1 ECAC) team fought Assumption College’s Blue and White Smash Crew on Feb. 22. Losing the first set to a tricky Joker and a lagging Hero, the Sac State Green team was forced to play from behind. 

“It was the first time this season that we lost a set, so that was a new experience,” Aaron “ArgonGames” George said over Discord. “It was both thrilling and intimidating not having the buffer of winning the first set.”

The second featured George as the team’s Captain Falcon bust through Blue and White’s Cloud and Joker before taking one of three stocks from the remaining Hero, who was finished off by the rest of Green’s team. 

Dominik “Sora” Ortiz started off set three as R.O.B., taking down the Joker and all but one stock off the opposing team’s Cloud. George, as Captain Falcon, took down the remaining stock on Cloud and one stock off of Hero. Jahque “JJ$TATIC” Wilson as Snake cleaned up the remaining two stocks, securing the match and the set, 2-1.

The Sac State SSBU Gold (1-3 ECAC) team went up against Neumann University’s Knights. Sac State Gold won the set 2-0 with Arturo “Zoro” Rodriguez slicing through the team as Sephiroth during the first set, and Hector “PandaToast” Navarro outmaneuvering the enemy team as Sheik to take all nine stocks during the second set against the Knights’ Sonic, King Dedede and Joker. 

Their next games will be March 1 at 5 p.m. for the Gold team against Moravian College’s Cyberhounds and 6 p.m. for the Green team against New York Technical’s Cybears.