Spring Season - Esports Week One
Ihor challenged me a month or so ago: "You only ever write about the teams doing well," he remarked. "You don't talk about it when we lose." Well, frankly, that's not my fault—the team doesn’t lose all that often. But last week, we suffered two losses, so I guess...challenge accepted.
Valorant is a game played in rounds of 100 seconds each, and the first to 13 rounds wins. There's no pretty way to say it: A Team was getting steamrolled. At one point, they were 10-1 down. To be honest, my first thought when looking at the screen was, "Well, guess I'll be going home early, at least." But I didn’t. Instead, the team kept fighting. Their heads didn’t drop, their morale didn’t falter, their spirit stayed strong.
The next round ended with Samuel in a 1v3 situation—which he won. Everyone cheered. And they just kept on winning.
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Unfortunately, the damage was done. In the end, they lost. They lost 13-11. But that’s not as bad as it looks. Some of you may recall me mentioning before that the number of rounds won in the game counts for a lot in Valorant. We need the team to finish in the top 8 to progress. Had they folded at 10-1, they’d be dead last. As it is, we sit in 7th place. And they got there through sheer grit and determination. |
At the end, they were disappointed.
But they showed character. They showed fight. They became role models for many of our younger Q-Esports stars. "When I write about this," I said to Ihor and Peter at the end, "I can make you look like heroes—because that's what you are."
That’s what they are.
B Team's Inspiring Team Morale
B Team’s game was even more heartbreaking. They were ahead the whole game. Every single round, they came up with new ideas and plays. Then they reached 12 rounds to their opponents’ 8. The opposition called for a 30-second timeout.
"They're trying to halt your momentum," I said. "Don't let it work. Take a breather, have a drink of water, then keep doing exactly what you're doing."
I admit, it must have been poor advice—because we failed to win another round. Time and again, our opponents out-thought and out-fought us, and eventually, they beat us.
The final round ended in a Wild West-style shootout between Selim and the best player from the opposing team. Selim lost, and his head fell into his hands. Carrie, usually the face of energy and enthusiasm, couldn't hold back her tears. She had stepped away from a gruelling day of rehearsing for the Collegiate’s talismanic annual performance, Gym & Dance, in order to play. James, for once, was completely lost for words, just staring open-mouthed. Nobody could believe it.
In that moment, they found solace in each other. Both teams looked to the other for something to cheer about and, finding nothing, consoled and supported one another. A lot of arms went over shoulders. A small joke from Ki Kwong got everyone laughing again.
James actually stayed back to apologise for the loss, and what I said to him, I’ll repeat here to finish things off:
When someone sits down to play for Q-Esports and gives me everything, never gives up, and then gives their teammates everything, win or lose, I don’t care about results. I never have. I care about people wanting to be a part of #TeamQE and working together. That’s what put Q-Esports on the map, and that’s what keeps us there.
Between a soulless win and a loss that bonds a team even closer and has them ready to bounce back to winning ways—I’ll pick the latter every time.
If you are interested in joining Q-Esports, join us at our next Open Day or book a private tour of the QE Faculty. Fill out the contact form to learn more.
