AUTHOR: CHRIS "BEARLIGHT" LEE / @BEARLIGHTCASTS
Warm clothes & drinks, spooky season, and the return of Stay Plugged In LANs are our top three favorite things about the Fall season (SPIN LANs come in at number 1, by the way). Luckily for us, the Stay Plugged In team was able to kick off the season with live events on back-to-back weekends here on the east coast.
The road trip started the first weekend of October with a stop in Smithfield, North Carolina, just outside the state's capital, at Johnston Community College. Once the recruiting festivities wrapped up here in the Southeast, it was off to Hartford, Connecticut for a recruiting LAN at University High School of Science and Engineering. Both events brought students, parents, and colleges together to assist in the growth of scholastic esports, and provide high school students the opportunity to pursue higher education through their passion of gaming.
A big thank you goes out to the staff of both JCC & UHSSE, full-time & part-time SPIN staff, the many colleges who made the trips to recruit, and the students & their parents for attending and making such an incredible start to the LAN season possible.
With so much action happening in such a short period of time, we've got a lot to cover. Grab a snack, sit back, and enjoy this extended version of the BearLight breakdown.
JOHNSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE (OCT 7 & 8)
JCC LAN - ROCKET LEAGUE - HIGHLIGHTS
An undefeated two-day run is quite uncommon amongst the many highly talented players in scholastic esports on LAN, but that was on the table for the team currently known as "Bean Boys".
Their toughest tasks in the Group Stage on Day 1 included a 3-2 win over the Red Hawks, and a 3-1 win over Wake Forest Esports and Gaming. The Red Hawks would be upset by William Peace University in Round 1 of Bracket Play the following day, clearing a path for Bean Boys to work into the Finals in sweeping fashion.
Standing in their way between them and the 1st place podium was Wake Forest, a team who set their sights on the revenge match, and made things difficult for Bean Boys in this series. After establishing a 2-0 lead in the series, the Bean Boys witnessed an awoken team of Demon Deacons, quickly mirroring the results of the first two games to equalize the series at two.
Game 5 was a nail-biter. We stayed scoreless for 4:50 before a goal by Jurikomo put the Bean Boys on top in the game, and when the clock hit zero, a lead in the series. Match point was then answered by Wake Forest, with a 5-2 win to bring us to Game 7 on Champions Field.
Early work from the Bean Boys, and a solid defense throughout the deciding game was enough to secure the 2023 SPIN JCC LAN Championship for Rocket League. Congratulations!
JCC LAN - ROCKET LEAGUE - CHAMPIONS
BEAN BOYS
Roster: JURIKOMO / BEARIS / RUXTF
JCC LAN - SUPER SMASH BROS ULTIMATE™ - HIGHLIGHTS
The battle for the JCC Super Smash Bros. Ultimate™ title felt as though it was a one-on-one slug-fest amongst two Stay Plugged In regulars from North Carolina.
SENORFROG and SoulKingLJ are not strangers to finding results. Each player has won a SPIN tournament title previously, and have faced each other numerous times throughout their careers in Smash. This kind of story leads to close, lead changing matches more times than not, and we were not left disappointed this time around.
The Day 1 Group Stage saw the two butt heads in Round 4, and one in which SenorFrog fought a brief deficit to edge out a 3-2 victory. He would finish the day 5-0 in matches played and walk into Bracket Play as the number 1 seed.
Meanwhile, his counterpart in SoulkingLJ walked in as the number 2, having only dropped that single match on the day. Meanwhile in Day 2, SoulkingLJ found more success. It would be a long and victorious path to the Grand Finals against, you guessed it, SeniorFrog.
SenorFrog had seemed invincible to this point. No matches lost through two full days and was ready to walk away with the title. No so fast, friend. In one of the most impressive matches I've seen by a player on Pac-Man, it was SoulKingLJ with the 4-2 win in the Finals, to become JCC Super Smash Bros. Ultimate™ Champion
JCC LAN - SUPER SMASH BROS ULTIMATE™ - CHAMPION
Winner: SOULKINGLJ
JCC LAN - VALORANT - HIGHLIGHTS
Much like the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate™ bracket, two VALORANT contenders put on a show for us for the entirety of the weekend, from the start to the very end. The Esports at NC State and Wake Tech Esports battle heated up in the Group Stage, and not only did the heat continue when they met in the Grand Finals, it increased tenfold.
All seemed in order for Wake Tech to close out a dominant Map 1 performance when they went up 11-1, and you could sense the room was mentally ready to count out Esports at NC State for the rest of the Championship match. That was until coach B1AZETAP talked it over with his team during halftime.
Suddenly, the Wolfpack began to vibe with one another. A pistol round secured. The follow up and bonus rounds went the way of Esports at NC State too, and then the economy was flowing on their side while kept dried up on the other.
Esports at NC State worked ALL the way back to a 12-11 differential, but fell just shy of a comeback. That being said, that run-to-remember would set the tone for the rest of the match.
By the counts of 13-6 and 13-2 in Maps 2 and 3 respectively, it was Esports at NC State who would walk away as VALORANT Champions at the Stay Plugged In JCC Recruiting LAN.
JCC LAN - VALORANT - CHAMPIONS
ESPORTS AT NC STATE
Roster: HAJI / FAST / GENERIC / NUTHIOM / BRIETZ
UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL OF SCIENCE & ENGINEERING (OCT 14 & 15)
UHSSE LAN ROCKET LEAGUE - HIGHLIGHTS
Last time Stay Plugged In visited Connecticut for a recruiting LAN, we witnessed 'the PSA Mustangs Show' at Hall High School for the PlayVs Road to College event. Oxy, Swazz and Haz all returned this semester for the Mustangs, and we saw some pretty similar results this time around at the UHSSE Recruiting LAN just a week ago.
PSA Mustangs went 12-for-13 wins in games played within the Day 1 Group Stage bracket, dropping their only game to Team Nevar. A bit of foreshadowing, perhaps, as those two teams met one another in the Grand Finals on Day 2.
As shown in the linked tweet here, the excitement for the Grand Finals spread throughout the UHSSE gym. Team Nevar, a team featuring SPIN RL Top 24 of '24 prospect GABABY (#8), managed a Game 3 win to keep the series within one, but the PSA Mustangs were too strong.
After a 4-1 victory in the Grand Finals, PSA Mustangs claim another title in Connecticut, and become the 2023 UHSSE Recruiting LAN Rocket League Champions.
UHSSE LAN - ROCKET LEAGUE - CHAMPIONS
PSA MUSTANGS
UHSSE LAN - SUPER SMASH BROS ULTIMATE™ - HIGHLIGHTS
Tons of talent entered the arena for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate™ at the UHSSE Recruiting LAN this past week. Twenty-six competitors exerted themselves into an epic fight for the title, but non were more ready for the tough path ahead than "bbroz_justin".
Justin isn't a stranger to Stay Plugged In, nor to winning ways in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate™ tournaments. A previous top 2 performance at UHSSE and Hall High School LANs last recruiting season, alongside plenty of SPIN weekly tournament wins to go along with them makes Justin one of the most decorated SPIN Smash recruits out there.
No path was more difficult to victory than this time around, though. In the Group Stage, Justin went 5-0 in matches played, while handing four of five opponents he faced their only loss of the day. To put that in perspective, Isiah_archer, Shiro, Grape123, and Optimal_key were the only prospects at 4-1 behind the lone undefeated Group Stage participant in Justin, and he was the one loss they all had in common. This proves he had hands-down the most difficult schedule of anyone, and he still thrived.
And the outstanding run didn't end there. Although a valiant effort by Shiro in the Upper Final, Shiro came up a round short against Justin, and was unable to get revenge upon returning to the Grand Final from the lower side. Justin was perfect in matches played over the weekend, and is your UHSSE Recruiting LAN Super Smash Bros. Ultimate™ Champion!
UHSSE LAN - SUPER SMASH BROS ULTIMATE™ - CHAMPION
Winner: BBROZJUSTIN
UHSSE LAN - VALORANT - HIGHLIGHTS
Spire Academy, known for their expertise in coaching & training in the world of traditional sports, recently expanded into the world of esports. In the team's first competition together, we found out this past weekend how quickly they managed to find success.
The VALORANT squad for Spire Academy radiated heat right out of the gate, going perfect in maps played on Day 1, and acquiring a Round 1 Bye for the Final Bracket on Sunday.
Starting one match after all other teams in the bracket proved more beneficial than hurtful for Spire. Having defeated PSA Mustangs 13-3 off the incredible 19/7/0 & 20/9/9 KDAs of avien & Leone respectively, Spire Academy rode into the Grand Finals with a head of steam.
It was Pickerington High School next on their list in the Grand Finals, and they were not able to stop the Spire Academy train. Spire took Map 1 (Lotus) 13-6, and followed it up with an impressive Map 2 (Haven) win, crowning Spire Academy as UHSSE Recruiting LAN Champions for VALORANT. Congratulations!
UHSSE LAN - VALORANT - CHAMPIONS
SPIRE ACADEMY
Roster: AVIENVA / BAMERINO / LEONE / TIDAL / YUNO