AUTHOR: CHRIS "BEARLIGHT" LEE / @BEARLIGHTCASTS
Stay Plugged In's Road to Radiant Valorant recruits went back to work in Week 25 this past Wednesday. College recruiters may be putting the final pieces in place for their rosters in the Fall, but the process of scouting these talented young men and women is a continuous cycle.
Programs in the collegiate space continue to grow and improve both in number of players and in talent, and not just in Valorant. Most schools recruit for multiple esports titles including Fortnite, League of Legends, Rocket League, and many more. For that reason, many are beginning to realize that the earlier they begin connecting with rising high school seniors, juniors, and underclassmen, the stronger their programs could become in the early stages of the scene, giving their program a clear-cut advantage in the long run.
Players are also beginning to showcase their talent earlier in their high school days too. Many of the participants in Week 25 were rising juniors or younger. It's never too early to begin the college search, and why not enjoy the process in the meantime? We certainly enjoyed the show they put on. Check out which teams made the final four, and which players walked away with the title in the BearLight Breakdown below.
SEMIFINALS MATCH: BALD BABIES 13, JHIT NEM 11
Another team with a strong effort in their debut run, as Jhit Nem appeared in the Semifinals next to one of Stay Plugged In's powerhouse teams. Although the Jhit Nem roster may disagree with my positive outlook in their lost match, my counter argument can be found on the final score card.
As a majority of high schools start classes in the coming weeks, we see a lot of teams turning to subs to fill in for returning students. Meanwhile, Bald Babies came in with their full roster AND a defending championship title at their side. Yet Jhit Nem held last week's MVP, YANDERE, to an even 17/17/7 KDA. They also limited top fragger MIZAKY to a 1.313 KD ratio, which is quite the accomplish against a team that typically averages right around the 1.5 mark between all of their players. Despite AMIR going full Rambo Mode with a 26 kill performance, they weren't quite able to take down their counterparts. Based on the results I'd say we may see a Jhit Nem appearance in the Finals in future weeks.
SEMIFINALS MATCH: THE BLACK ARMORY 13, VICTORY_6 4
Even with their Summer Series championship win under the name "Iron Head Tappers", it never truly felt like the true Iron Head Tappers without their captain Smrty. Though not having Smrty's unmatched fragging hurt, this feeling manifested less as a result of a decline in talent and more so in the breaking of team comradery. WAVES has done a spectacular job taking over as captain, at the very core in the decision to rebrand to The Black Armory in their former captain's absence, and also in the way the team continues to win big matches.
Known as the team whose lone appearance in the Summer Series made a splash in their opponent's Summer plans, Victory 6 is now struggling to find their way back to the top in the return of the week-by-week format. Their past run included two of the other teams here in the final four, but in the Semifinals their weapons wouldn't match up to those forged in The Black Armory. CRYAN has noticeably improved as the fill-in for Smrty, shaking off a rough outing last week with a 17/8/11 KDA performance as KAY/O to join REFLEX, WAVES, and SAMBAE at the top of the final scoreboard here. Their one-sided victory secured a Bald Babies vs The Black Armory Final.
FINALS: THE BLACK ARMORY 13, BALD BABIES 10
A lot has changed since the Jitterbugs vs Bald Babies battles in the weekly tournaments prior to the Summer Series. The core of the Jitterbugs roster has changed names twice, once to Iron Head Tappers, and again to The Black Armory. Fade was introduced as Valorant's 19th agent, and Pearl was released as the game's 9th map (though it gets absolutely no love in the competitive scene). One thing remains true in this match, it's a toss up on who will come out on top.
Bald Babies were coming off a big win over The Black Armory last week. Things were looking up for the Bald Babies again this week to kick off the Finals at Icebox this week, as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Site penetration wasn't the issue early for The Black Armory. Aside from the inevitable second round save, they were able to plant the spike pretty frequently. As Bald Babies adjusted to a frequent site stack, the armorers made counter moves to rely more heavily on slow-play intel gathering. They were able to dissect the defense and really excelled at using any available space left open for real estate.
The Black Armory led 7-5 into the second half and extended it by two more to reach a 9-5 lead. They may have gotten a little too comfortable though, as Bald Babies went hard save in Round 14, allowing them to full buy the next round and outgun them on the 4v4 post-plant scenario. This would spark a run from Bald Babies to march within one round at 9-8. REFLEX had enough of it. A quick pull on the Tour de Force toward the end of Round 18 collected 3 kills, and as a plant attempt was forced in the final 3 seconds, DSLASH had an open shooting range to finish the final two. This turning point for The Black Armory carried enough weight to bring them to this week's win.
Congratulations to our MVP REFLEX, and the rest of the players of The Black Armory for their tournament title! For more information on the many upcoming Stay Plugged In Valorant events, make sure to check out our events page. If you would like to register a team for Week 26 of Road to Radiant, you can register here on the Stay Plugged In website.