Included in the final weekend of C2C was the game League of Legends, one of the most well-known and successful college and professional esports in existence. A total of 230 potential future collegiate student athletes signed up to compete in Carry2College in, seeking esports scholarship opportunities among some of the top colleges and universities across North America.
Let's reflect on the League of Legends competition, and highlight some standout players and results in this special C2C edition of the BearLight breakdown.
STORYLINES
Only 4 teams go undefeated through the 3-match group stage.
As always, we would like to point out that going undefeated in the Group Stage during the biggest online esports recruiting event of the year is incredibly difficult to do. It requires all players of your team to be prepared for the event in advance, and to be focused once into the action.
For this reason, we would like to highlight the players on all seven teams who were able to kick off the event with this impressive feat:
NR - Hugme / SkaterKidd / ThereTheir / Sterlyn / Saint Ghoul
Dreamland - Fischl / ybsilver / RomanianGoat / ryan gosling bot / Keimi
Weakside Warriors - AngryOrange / CHINA / Artemis / PopBob / Apex
Redeem Team - khoai / madao / moo / Deen / Q4gmireGIG
The "Architects" create a blueprint of future successes based on individual performance during C2C.
Seniors Learkyu and EighthRisen have been hands-down two of the most active Stay Plugged In high-school esports recruits in League of Legends, followed closely by fellow teammates notcoolcat and OTPShen. Experience in high level tournaments has been referenced by players as a key to the growth they've seen in their individual game, and for the Architects, this event was no different.
After dropping the first round of the Group Stage to the eventual C2C Champions, the Architects bounced back, and just in time to put their skills on display on stream for attending colleges to see.
Top lane guru, Learkyu, became a gold magnet and a fighting machine, averaging 652 gold/min and going 37/7/5 in KDA over the next three games. EightRisen was also trending off the charts in KDA, posting a 28/7/14 over the same timeframe.
The Architects may have fallen to #1 seeded NR in the Quarterfinals, but the time they spent shining in the spotlight further proves that college esports recruiting events are less about winning, and more about recognizing and taking advantage of opportunities.
Free Agent team "Dreamland" looks like they've been playing together for years, advances to C2C Finals.
As avid gamers and esports enthusiasts, we certainly understand that a group of talented players can get accumulated with one another quite quickly upon playing together for the first time. That being said, there is a level of coordination required to make appropriate complimentary champion bans/selections, to cover teammate aggressive vs conservative tendencies, and to communicate efficiently and effectively. Dreamland worked all of those points on the fly, and made it look easy.
Dreamland only surrendered 28 total kills to opposing teams in the Ground Stage, the lowest mark out of all participating teams. It was the Sophomore 'ybsilver' who gravitated to the leadership role, creating unique plays through stealth and positional superiority.
The most impressive feat for the free agent team was unquestionably holding then-undefeated Weakside Warriors to single-digit kills, and combining for 62 assists to advance to the Finals. Only Redeem Team played better as a unit. Not too bad for a team of randoms.
Redeem Team puts on the performance of a lifetime, defeats Dreamland in the Finals 2-0.
There simply wasn't anything more jaw dropping over the course of the two full weekends of Carry2College than to watch Redeem Team work their magic in the Final bracket. A perfect Group Stage was impressive enough, but few had them overstepping #1 NR in the Semifinals and what pristine team play was displayed in that match and in the Finals against Dreamland.
NR looked unstoppable up until this point. Finding picks against this team would take discipline and wouldn't come easy given the polished Grandmaster to Challenger level crew they brought in.
Redeem Team was up to the task, as they put up an unbelievable 82 assists in a game where they were allowed just 31 kills. We'll do the math for you. That's an outrageous 2.65 assists for every kill they managed to find. That level of support led them to an upset, a Finals appearance, and a chance to display the same team chemistry for all watching eyes on the main channel to see.
With plays like this from moo and the crew, the train could not be stopped. Redeem Team put up another 142 assists, outkilled Dreamland 71-53, and defeated their counterparts 2-0 to take the 2024 Carry2College League of Legends title. Congratulations!
WINNERS & AWARDS
League of Legends Champions
Redeem Team - khoai / madao / moo / Deen / Q4gmireGIG
FINAL THOUGHTS
A big thank you goes out to all of the college representatives, players, parents, and staff for attending and making this event truly outstanding.
The next chance to compete in League of Legends in front of college recruiters will be the Stay Plugged In Showcase in mid-March. You don't want to miss it!
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Improve your approach with college esports recruiters during esports recruiting events, and learn how to construct and execute your elevator pitch.
To learn more about our upcoming esports recruiting events, check out our article with all the information you need to compete in front of college esports teams.