By Gio Gaxiola — Reporter
64 universities played Valorant for nine weeks for a chance to win up to $1,000 and to crown a champion in the Gold Coast Invitational. San Jose State came out on top.
The Spartans were able to beat Oregon State University in dramatic fashion on Saturday, 3-2 in the grand finals claiming the $1,000 first place prize.
This win was to avenge the loss the team had to OSU earlier in the tournament.
After SJSU won the first game 14-12, OSU was able to hunker down and claim the second game by the score of 13-9.
That is when Kevin “Choiboi” Choi and company came back from a 9-12 deficit to force two overtimes in game three, the team ended up on top 16-14. He got the final kill of the series to close it out, and finished the final game with 24 kills, 16 deaths and five assists.
“It felt amazing for me and the whole team because we worked so hard to secure that win nearly six hours of play time,” Choiboi said. “This team is great. The chemistry we have in each map despite any setbacks that may occur can’t stop us.”
Anthony “raeB” Wong was determined not to lose to OSU again. He finished the final match with the most kills for one player with 31.
“I think these playoffs were the most challenging we have ever had and we learned what we need to work on,” raeB said. “We overcame those challenges and we can now confidently say we are the No.1 college Valorant team.”
Teddy “Teddy” Tran was another key player for the Spartans with a stat line of 28 kills, 24 deaths and 13 assists. He also led the team in first blood kills in the final match with seven.
The seven man roster of the Spartans proved they are the best Valorant team on the West Coast with the team’s fifth tournament win this year.
“There is nothing quite like watching the team you saw grow from the very beginning come so far and prove themselves as the best time and time again,” said Vice President of SJSU Esports, Edward Ham.
“I am grateful to work with such hardworking players and staff at SJSU Esports.”
You can keep up with the news of the Valorant team and all other SJSU Esports over on the programs twitter @SJSU_Esports.
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