Marvel Rivals secures second seeding for regional finals with a series of close calls 

By Balen Allain 

Last night, Cedarville University’s Marvel Rivals team had closer game than they are accustomed to this season when they faced Tarleton State University. 

“They’re gonna be tougher than most of our games,” Logan “log_hoffman” Hoffman said. “We’ve played relatively lax competition this season. They’ve beaten up most of the teams they’ve played against.” 

On the other hand, Hoffman was confident in the team, explaining that the six-man team had improved in their communication and mechanics. 

“I think we have better skilled players and team chemistry than them,” he said. “It’s about if we’re using that or not.” 

After a quick prayer, the game began. 

Cedarville got off to a rough start with the first Domination match, losing the first round. On the second round, Ryan “D3VX1SE” Mitchell had to step away in the middle of the second round, forcing the Yellow Jackets’ team lead Ben “Fsyx” Jones to pause the round. 

In a show of good sportsmanship, Tarleton sent well wishes to Cedarville after Jones explained what was going on over in-game text chat. 

Mitchell came back after a few minutes, feeling better, and the match resumed. Cedarville won the next two rounds of the Domination match and earned a point, putting them 1-0. 

“I don’t know, I just felt really sick for a minute,” Mitchell said. 

He was ready to keep going. 

“After that last round, I don’t think my gameplay suffered,” he said. 

Hoffman felt that the first round suffered from positioning. 

“I don’t think we are used to taking that position on high ground, so it was really awkward,” he said. “That’s something we need to work on.” 

To Hoffman, their ult management led to their victory. 

“I’m hoping that with this round we’re a little more awake and not going to fall into the same mistakes we were making,” he said. “I think the biggest thing, if they run the same characters, is denying their dps value.” 

Convoy didn’t go so well. Tarleton maintained the upper hand in both rounds, holding Cedarville at 2-3.  

“They [Tarleton] have gotten out the early leads in both of the two rounds,” said Andrew Heath, head coach. “We were able to come back in the last one, and I expect we’ll do similarly in this one.” 

Unfortunately, Cedarville couldn’t beat Tarleton in the next round, though Jones pulled off a 10-K.O. streak. After Convoy, Cedarville tied 1-1 with Tarleton. 

“We struggled in full-team fights,” Chris “hotheadskull” Jones said after the match. “They banned Magneto, which is Ryan’s best character. We don’t play too often when he’s not on Magneto.” 

“I think that’s a map we’re not really good at – I’m not saying that’s an excuse,” Hoffman said. “There were some bright spots there, but we didn’t end up doing it. We’ll bounce back on this one.” 

Once again, Tarleton gained the upper hand at the start of Convergence, escorting the payload to the second point, putting Cedarville at a disadvantage. Cedarville managed to squeak out two points on their turn to escort, and with less than thirty seconds left, pushed the payload to the third point, securing the match for Cedarville. 

“Our spawn hold wasn’t as good as it usually is,” Hoffman said. “I think we played offense a little bit better, positionally, on that last point. They held up really far, and by the time we had killed them they staggered themselves so they couldn’t hold up the same corner as us, so they had to make a contest that wasn’t advantageous to them.”  

Now at 2-1, the next Domination match could decide the game. Cedarville and Tarleton traded rounds, leaving one round for the Yellow Jackets to prevent the game from continuing into another match of Convoy. Tarleton pushed their control of the plate to 99%, but at the last moment, Cedarville contested the plate and recaptured it, also getting it to 99%. 

Fighting through Tarleton contesting them, Cedarville held the plate through overtime and won the match, winning the game for Cedarville. 

“That was very close, very intense, but the guys got it done like they always do,” Heath said. “I think we can keep working on timing ults and communication.” 

Mitchell was still lost on his earlier mishap. 

“I don’t know what hit me,” he said. “I just didn’t feel well. I think I was focused a lot more, but not in the ways I usually am.” 

The team was happy with their success but saw room for improvement. 

“They were not a bad team,” Hoffman said. “I feel like there’s still a lot we could work on, especially with that being so close. I’m proud of how we did.” 

“I thought the team played really well,” Jones said. “Our support ults were a lot better than normal, our dps and tanks were great, and comms were really good.” 

The single-elimination regional finals will start next week, and the Yellow Jackets will face the third-seated team in the region come Tuesday night. 

Cedarville Marvel Rivals streams every Tuesday at 8 p.m. on YouTube and Twitch, at Cedarville Esports Team. 

Balen Allain is a junior Broadcasting, Digital Media and Journalism major focusing on Audio and Journalism. He enjoys gaming, writing fiction and making music, and is working on a book.