JOHNSON CITY – (Jan. 25, 2021) East Tennessee State University’s varsity esports team won its season opener in League of Legends 2-0 against the College of Charleston on Saturday.
The Bucs came out strong in game one with an early engage at the three-minute mark from Aaron “l Know Who” Hayes on Galio, assisted by Caleb “50cal Taco” Marks to deliver a double kill over to Zachary “Elo Vertigo” Marks. Caleb “50cal Taco” Marks took top lane at 7:50 securing the third a kill for the Bucs. The College of Charleston responded with a fight in the bottom lane, trading 1 for 1 in kills and securing themselves the first dragon of the game.
A skirmish broke out on CofC’s side of the map, resulting in no kills for either squad, but the Bucs secured the second dragon of the game. At 16:20, fights broke out across the map, netting 3 free kills for the Bucs. Score at 17:00 7-1 in kills in favor of ETSU, ETSU led in gold gained by 6000, ETSU led 2 towers to 0. ETSU snowballed its 17-minute lead and starved CofC out of the game taking the game 1 win in 31 minutes.
Game one MVP honors went to Zachary “Elo Vertigo Marks” on Kaisa with a 16 Kills/Deaths/Assists (KDA) average, dealing 26% of the team’s total damage.
An early skirmish in the bottom lane river went in favor of ETSU, with the Bucs coming out on top of the trade two kills to one. The Bucs translated their advantage throughout the map with Shurui Tao assisting Chris “Homedog” Moser in a quick kill in the Mid lane while the rest of the Bucs secured the first dragon of the game at 6:55. Chris “Homedog” Moser roamed the bottom at 9:50, securing 2 kills for his team. Bucs lead 6-1 in kills and 18k-15k Gold at 10 minutes.
CofC answered back at 11 minutes, securing 2 kills on the bottom lane of ETSU with Chris “Homedog” Moser trading a kill back. CofC used the man advantage following their bottom lane play to secure themselves the second dragon of the game.
The Bucs took back to the map in a series of skirmishes that left them leading the CofC 18-6 in kills, 3-0 in towers, and 35.8k – 25.8k in gold following a full ace of the enemy team at the 18-minute mark. Another team fight win for the Bucs at 21 minutes grew the squad’s insurmountable lead, ending the game convincingly in 24 minutes and taking the series 2-0. Game two final score was 27-6 in kills, 9-0 in towers, 50.1k – 32.3k in gold.
The Game 2 MVP title again went to Zachary “Elo Vertigo” Marks on Jhin with 20 KDA dealing 28% of the team’s total damage.
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