NC State LoL fell in its first-round quarterfinal match to Maryville 2-0 Thursday night at the LCS Battle Arena in Los Angeles, California, ending its 2019 College Championship run.
The team played well at times during its best-of-three matchup, but in the end, the Pack couldn’t compete with the skill level that Maryville brought to the table for the entirety of the match.
“We definitely didn’t have the amount of early-game aggression that we were looking to have,” said senior jungler Stephen “Pluckin Penguin” Downhower. “We did come out pretty strong in the middle stages of the game… We just weren’t able to do what we needed to do with the advantages we generated.”
Although the Wolfpack was unable to make a run, the tournament showed the team and the college League of Legends scene that NC State, and the south region, can play with the top teams in the country.
It wasn’t a wasted trip either, as the Pack was able to experience something that not many teams get to do but a lot of teams dream about. The team played in the LCS Battle Arena, the same one the North American professional LoL teams compete in.
“Honestly, it was a surreal experience,” said sophomore top laner Harrison “Wolfskullrider” Ramsey. “We would be walking down the hallways and we’d see a professional player just nonchalantly walk by.”
In the arena, the team played on a large stage in front of an auditorium, but most of the viewers came on the Riot Games Twitch stream. The company streamed all the collegiate matches to an online audience of over 20,000.
“In some regards, it was daunting and nerve-racking,” Downhower said. “But I think once you get on the stage and play for a bit, things start to settle down.”
The quarterfinal loss concludes the spring season, but Downhower, who is returning for one more year, is already looking forward to next year’s team and the potential it could have while building on this year.
NC State will be losing senior mid laner Tyler “ShadowVisions” Deaton and senior support Kenton “Haanii” Crane to graduation, both of whom have been with the team for three years. NC State will keep the other three starters from this year, and Downhower is still confident in the team’s ability to compete against top teams next year.
“I know we have a lot of strong talent that’s really interested in competing with us,” Downhower said. “I think if anything, this collegiate championship has probably attracted even more talent to NC State this year and in the future.”
The next step for Downhower and the team is to recruit for next year, but it’s certainly a time for the team to celebrate reaching the College Championship as one of the top eight teams in the country.
“This experience has been really valuable, and we have a lot of things that we would be interested in doing differently if we were to come back here,” Downhower said.
