UCLA Club Sports

In preparation for the face-off between the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins on the football field this Saturday, the two rivals got together for some friendly competition at USC Conquest, battling it out on the virtual battlefield in a series of show matches across different games. UCLA won in Rocket League and Overwatch and tied in Hearthstone, League of Legends, and Super Smash Bros while suffering an unfortunate defeat in Valorant. With many of these matches ending in a tie, the fight for the crown of California's esports champions is looking to be all but decided.

The first hard-fought battle of the day took place in Hearthstone. After losing the first two games, Nathan "Seoychi" Min managed to turn the tables and reverse sweep the Trojans, catching them by surprise using fun, unusual decks his opponents were woefully unprepared for.
 

Next up was our very own Dillon "MoleStar" LeDuc. Suffering an unfortunate defeat in the first game, Molestar recovered quickly, winning the next two games in an exciting fashion. Unfortunately, the opposition's deck proved to be the perfect counter to MoleStar's setup, and the Trojans managed to get the upper hand in the final two games, leading to an overall tied score of 5-5.

After the excitement that Hearthstone brought, the action got a little louder as the two universities faced each other in Valorant. The Bruins started with a strong defensive side on Icebox, taking the first two rounds of the game without much difficulty. From the third round on, however, the team seemed to have lost their footing and was only able to secure a single round thereafter, ending the half with a score of 3 to 9 for USC.

On the attacker's side, the UCLA team started strong and the Bruins were once again able to secure the first two rounds, thanks in part to Max "mxkwon" Kwon who managed to secure a fifth round for his team after a nail-biting clutch. Unfortunately, the Trojans' defensive side proved too strong as well and they let UCLA get away with just one more round, ending the match with a final score of 6-13.

The teams then traded the cold snowy peaks of Icebox for the gritty industrialized Japanese neighborhood of Split.  The Bruins got off to an unfortunate start and had to suffer eight losses in a row before Bai "Turles" Rong Lin managed to secure the Bruins' first round, winning a one-on-one duel as Jett against USC's Josh "ellzzihsoJ' Izzle's Reyna. After that, UCLA was able to secure only one more round, ending with a half-time score of 2-10.

Seemingly empowered by NATHAN's earlier reverse sweep, the Bruins managed to come back strongly in the second half, winning ten rounds in a row and reaching match point without dropping a single round. Ever fearful of a third map, however, the USC team managed to find their vigor again and won the two following rounds, tying the score, and forcing the game into overtime. The teams then went back and forth in nail-biting rounds that had the audience on the edge of their seats. In the third overtime, USC managed to close out the second game with a final score of 15-13, emerging victorious from the BO3.

The sounds of war had barely quieted down when they were rapidly replaced by the exhilarating sounds of revving engines and rocket boosts as the two universities went toe to toe in Rocket League. The Bruins secured the first two games without too much resistance before ultimately succumbing to USC in overtime after either team had failed to score a single goal during the entirety of the third game. Luckily, any chance at a comeback for the Trojans was shut down in the fourth game with overtime going the way of the Bruins after Aki "Magyo" Takashi managed to fake out his opponents and score the final goal of the evening finishing off a perfect passing play.

The next stop was South Korea, as the Trojans and Bruins took to Overwatch to battle it out on Busan. The USC team took a comfortable lead on the first point, only losing control a couple of times before reaching the 99th percentage mark. John "YaboiJohnny" Walkiewicz and Grant "Grantissimo" Carroll fought heroically to fend off the Trojans during overtime, but ultimately the team from USC was able to secure the point. The two teams went back and forth on the second point, but after a long and well-fought battle UCLA was able to take the upper hand and tie up the game. Faced with defeat, the Trojans seemed to have lost all hope and the Bruins put down a dominant performance in the final round of the game, securing the win without much resistance from the other side.

The attention then turned to Nintendo's most popular fighting game, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Both teams were evenly matched, with UCLA trailing very closely behind USC's lead in the first game, tying up the game on several occasions. Ultimately, however, the Trojans proved too strong and were able to slowly chip away at UCLA's lives before claiming victory in an exciting duel between Pranit "Goldinfernape" Pugazhendhi on Palutena and Terence "Smoothie" Li on Peach.

The second game proved to be even closer with both teams trading even blows until USC finally managed to get the upper hand in the first matchup leading by a single point. This lead did not last long, however, as Jorge "Vintage" Ramirez, playing as Terry Bogard, was able to eliminate his first opponent and tie the score without getting hit a single time. He then almost succeeded in taking out two more opponents, succumbing ultimately in the final elimination round against Julian "Jucchan" Kida on Palutena. From then on, things were looking good for UCLA until USC seemed to be achieving a reverse sweep of their own in the final two matchups of the game. Fortunately, Pranit "Goldinfernape" Pugazhendhi managed to put a swift stop to the comeback and showed the world once again who is boss on Palutena.
 

As is only right for the concluding battle, the Bruins and Trojans battled it out in League of Legends on the legendary plains of Summoner's Rift. Right off the bat, the team from USC was able to build up a comfortable lead taking quick control of the map. Shortly after, however, the Bruins were quickly able to catch up with Jaden "BEN10 FAN 81" Kwon on Syndra delivering his team a sorely needed double kill. After this, UCLA briefly managed to establish a small lead of their own, before losing their hard-fought advantage to an unfortunate team fight netting USC an ace. This quickly spelled the end for the UCLA team, and about five minutes later, USC was able to close out the first game with another ace.

The second game started in a similar fashion with USC quickly building up an early-game lead consistently winning their initial duels. The teams then went on to trade blows until UCLA managed to emerge victorious from a crucial team fight, giving the Bruins a small but significant lead. In contrast with the first game, the Bruins did not let this lead go to waste and determinedly pressed on towards victory, securing an ace of their own during a hectic team fight with Jaden "BEN10 FAN 81" Kwon once again coming through in the clutch, raining down carnage on his enemies as Viktor. After successfully pocketing another ace a mere four minutes later, the Bruins were able to safely push into enemy territory and destroy their opponent's core, concluding the event with yet another tie.

A broadcast of the event can be viewed on USC Esports' Twitch page.

Written by Arkadi De Proft.