UCLA League of Legends Premiere Team Wins First Match of Riot’s Collegiate Championship
- Cole Schwartz
- Jan 23, 2018
- 3 min read
The Bruins were victorious against UC Merced last Friday in their first match of the season. The League of Legends Premiere Team swiftly defeated their opponents in two games that were each under 25 minutes.
In game one, UCLA built a tanky team composition with Cho’Gath, Jarvan IV, Orianna, Ezreal, and Alistar, characters with great utility and engage. UC Merced drafted Malphite, Kayn, Xerath, Tristana, and Rakan.
The game started off neck-and-neck, with both teams trading kills on different sides of the map. Multiple summoner spells were blown in these skirmishes, including the flash of UC Merced’s mid laner, “Absolute Rosario”. With this information, Sufhan “sKILLSHOTz FIRED” Chowdhry roamed mid lane after an early purchase of mobility boots to secure a kill on the flashless Xerath.
Moments later, UC Merced’s jungler, “Sunkist299”, headed to the top of the map after hitting level 6 very early as Kayn. Sunkist299 solo-killed Curtis “ XcOuNtEr sTr1kE” Xuan with Kayn’s red smite and ultimate. Fortunately, this did not set Xuan very far behind, as he returned to lane with the same amount of farm as Malphite.
Chowdhry then surprised Merced’s bot lane with an incredible Hexflash-Pulverize combo from the bush. This allowed Austin “BestLucianAfrica” Quon to immediately secure a kill on Rakan. After defeating the support, Quon then killed the low health Tristana with an Ezreal ultimate.
With huge leads in both mid and bot lane, UCLA began to conquer the outer towers of each lane. Due to the team’s strong engage potential, the Bruins were able to secure kills on members of UC Merced who attempted to defend their towers. After taking down all of the outer towers, UCLA secured Rift Herald and Cloud Drake without resistance.
While pressuring the mid inhibitor, UCLA attacked UC Merced under the mid tower. Merced put up a close fight, but they were unable to defeat Xuan’s tanky Cho’Gath and were picked apart by Quon’s extremely fed Ezreal.
After taking the inhibitor, UCLA headed to the bot lane and caught members of UC Merced off guard. The tankiness of the Bruin’s team composition allowed them to relentlessly tower dive Merced. After the loss of four members in the dive, Merced surrendered the first game at 22 minutes.
UCLA’s team of Maokai, Rek’Sai, Vladimir, Tristana, and Lulu in round two proved to be a composition with strong damage and survivability. Merced drafted Lissandra, Lee Sin, Orianna, Twitch, and Janna.
In the first minute of the game, Merced’s Orianna mistakenly used her heal. UCLA was unaware of this, but her lack of heal allowed Mac “BlackChutney” Chandrahasan to secure a kill on her after an early gank.
At 4:20, the UCLA bot lane flashed onto Merced’s Janna from a bush, killing her instantly. Unfortunately, Lee Sin ganked after their all-in, taking out UCLA’s Tristana. Chandrahasan tried to countergank but was unable to kill Twitch. Lee Sin then finished off Lulu and turned onto Rek’Sai, causing UCLA to lose 3 members.
Minutes later, Lee Sin ambitiously dove onto UCLA’s Maokai in the top lane. Xuan responded by dodging Lee Sin’s Sonic Wave with Twisted Advance and locking him under the tower. This play ultimately killed Lee.
Lissandra then failed to kill Xuan with her ultimate. Meanwhile, UCLA’s Ryan “Rydragon” Ling flashed onto Orianna in the mid lane to secure a kill with an ultimate and ignite.
After taking down bot turret, UCLA grouped in mid lane to push down another turret. UC Merced tried to defend the turret, but Rydragon ripped UC Merced apart and scored a triple kill on the team’s defenders. UCLA was so far ahead by this point that UC Merced decided to surrender at the 15 minute mark.
The Bruins are off to a great start in Riot’s Collegiate Championship. UCLA will play against CU Boulder Esports on Saturday, January 27th. Be sure to stay tuned for the match recap and more League of Legends news.
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