Preview: UCLA Overwatch A vs. UCSD Triton Gaming

With the walkover by California State University Los Angeles (CSULA), UCLA’s Overwatch A team advances to its next game against University of California San Diego (UCSD). Once again, the Bruins are looking to start strong in their first game this season, hoping to learn from their mistakes over the summer and come back stronger than ever before. As mentioned in the match preview against CSULA, it remains to be seen whether UCLA’s Overwatch A team will decide to stick to the strategy that they used in the Collegiate Starleague (CSL) Summer Season or pull out something different this season.

The starting team for the Bruins this game will be:

Harsha “Harsha” B.

Sehee “Kabosui” J.

Bradley “raxa” J.

Noah “AnotherDax” M.

Brian “Pip” S.

William “Tsang” T.

In CSL Summer Season, the Bruins centered their strategy around raxa’s Widowmaker and McCree, running a composition that focused on protecting raxa and disrupting the opposing team. This unorthodox style allowed their star player to play to his full potential. Though the team had some success with it, they agreed that there was still much to be desired from their performance. In the end, ‘dive’ compositions proved too difficult to deal with and the Bruins crumbled under pressure multiple times. Having said that, the Bruins' unique style of play is definitely not to be underestimated, especially after they have had time to polish up their skills and communication as a team.

UCSD will be fielding in:

Andy “Schooled” C.

Ernie “Jinora” L.

Jason “Murky” B.

Eric “huynhy” H.

Charles “WoodysRoudup” L.

Justin “jorstin” K.

UCSD’s eSports team, Triton Gaming, is considered to be one of the more established eSports communities at collegiate level and are no strangers to competitive, high level play. Triton Gaming's Overwatch squad is known to be adept at running ‘dive’ compositions. Their strength lies in their utilization of Tracer, arguably the strongest offensive character in the game with her unparalleled mobility. With Tracer flanking and attempting to sneak a kill or two onto the opposing team’s support characters, Triton Gaming pounces on the openings created by these flanks and systematically dismantle their opponents. However, they are not without weaknesses. Their support players’ inflexibility will not go unnoticed by the Bruins.

The key to victory lies in each team’s ability to execute strategies that play to their strengths. The Bruins’ mettle will be tested as they will need to adapt and communicate in order to dodge Triton Gaming’s coordinated dives. Triton Gaming will look to dictate the pace of the game and capitalize on the Bruins’ mistakes. However, the Bruins are also poised to take home a win if they manage to disrupt Triton Gaming’s flow. UCLA Overwatch A team’s manager, Timothy “MrBopnpop” M., has expressed confidence in achieving victory in this match.

This game between UCLA’s Overwatch A team and Triton Gaming will be one to watch as it’ll be a preview of what the teams’ identities will be and set the stage for bigger things to come.