By Luis Olguin, Dec. 13, 2022
On Nov. 5, Cal Poly Pomona’s esports team Bronco Esports Black participated in the Red Bull Campus Clutch southwest regional LAN Valorant qualifier in Santa Monica, in which they secured second place.
Unfortunately, by obtaining second place in the qualifier tournament for the Red Bull Campus Clutch, they could not qualify and advance into the tournament. However, all hope was not lost when Bronco Esports Black entered as a wild card in the Red Bull Campus Clutch Last Chance Qualifier in Arlington’s esports stadium in Dallas, Texas.
Bronco Esports Black won their LCQ as the wild card and was able to participate in the national final group qualifier on Nov. 19 in Dallas, Texas. In the national final group qualifier, they finished fifth overall and were top of the group stage.
UC Riverside, San Diego State, and Cal State Fullerton had representative esports teams that participated against Bronco Esports Black, which attended the Red Bull Campus Clutch southwest qualifier in Santa Monica.
Bronco Black won the first game against CSUF Blue in an explosive and one-sided victory. Bronco Black lost its next game to UCR Blue, which moved Broncos to the loser’s bracket, where they would face SDSU Black.
After they won the loser’s bracket against SDSU Black, Broncos played against UCR Blue once more but only obtained second place in the end.
Bronco Black was composed and kept a high energy in the gaming room when they faced any opponent, no matter the result.
Bronco Black team member and Chamber main Eric Castaneda pointed out the importance of control in all aspects.
“You need control somewhere, and you need to take control constantly,” said Castaneda.
Control is vital on and off the game, especially in a game like Valorant, which is a team-based shooter that prioritizes headshots and information. The team with the better aim and knowledge comes out on top in most games.
Bronco Esports Black seemed to be in sync with each other and their coach. They understood and acknowledged each other’s mistakes that made for a better team and they knew that; they never put any of their teammates down for a mistake but instead encouraged them to be better next round.
For coach Cameron Lam, one of his goals was to keep his players on and off the field. He was the root and fire starter of the explosive energy of the team in the gaming arena.
“When the rounds are ending and we’ve already won, you go off,” said Lam. “When the round starts, we are quiet and focused every time.
Bronco Esports Black teammate Kyle Eldert explained the importance of this game’s orb farming, kills, and information compared to other first-person shooters with a simar playstyle.
Old-school PC gamers and video game critics usually compare Valorant to Counter-Strike Global Offense, also known as CS: GO, which can be considered a reskin of the same game but with the addition of abilities.
“An ‘ultimate’ is a very important structure of this game,” said Eldert.
Each Agent in Valorant has a set of exclusive skills known as ultimates, which they may unlock by collecting Ultimate Orbs during each round. Players can make an effect by utilizing these special skills once the required Orbs have been farmed.
Of course, like any modern FPS, or first-person shooter video game, players should prioritize kills and the win overall. Eldert explained that the game should be played to prioritize orbs farming and obtaining information about the opponent. These prioritizations are the keys to winning rounds and winning the game.
“We are a team that prioritizes ‘ults,’ and if we have ults, we can get a lot of value from it,” said Eldert.
The Red Bull Campus Clutch was an essential competition for university students. Valorant players from all around the world were invited to form teams of five and fight for the title of best student Valorant team in 2022. This tournament catered to more than 50,000 students and 400 events worldwide, taking place in 50 different countries.
The team that won in Dallas in the national qualifiers earned a seat in the World Final set Red Bull Campus Clutch competition in Brazil.
Red Bull will pay for the Dallas team’s hotel, transportation and food expenses. This will allow the team to concentrate only on their match, arrive the day before the event and remain an extra day after it to reduce travel stress.
The World Final takes place Dec. 13-16 in São Paulo, Brazil. In this final tournament, 50 national finalist teams face off against one another. These university student teams represent the top 5,000 teams from across the world that competed in the event, and each one of them will be vying for the title of Red Bull Campus Clutch 2022 champions and the 20,000 euros award. It will also be available to be watched live on Twitch.
Cal Poly Pomona’s Bronco Esports Black is preparing for their next challenge and tournament to come. Bronco Esports Black and the other two separate lower teams, Bronco Esports White and Bronco Esports Gold, will be holding tryouts for those who are interested to joining the team.
Bronco Esports Black is considered more of CPP’s varsity Valorant team, with Gold and White being the subsequent teams. CPP also has a massive selection of Esports teams involved in multiple games like Call of Duty, Rocket League, Apex, and many more. Join the Bronco Esports discord or the Bronco Esports Valorant discord for more information.
Feature image by Luis Olguin