WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Missouri State University-West Plains (MSU-WP) Grizzly eSports program has a 20-15 record after four weeks of action during the NJCAAE’s spring season.
Grizzly eSports Head Coach Alex Pinnon says two rosters remain undefeated entering week five, March 13-17, and one roster has secured a playoff berth.
During week three, Feb. 27 through March 3, the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4v4 squad swept Garden City Community College of Garden City, Kansas, 3-0. The Grizzlies won the Hardpoint round 250-20, the Search and Destroy Round 6-2 and the Control round 3-0.
The Grizzlies picked up easy wins over Pueblo Community College, Pueblo, Colorado, in the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate contests and Salt Lake Community College, Salt Lake City, Utah, in the Hearthstone contest due to “competitive rulings” for no-show forfeits.
In the Call of Duty: Warzone contest, Brock DeWeese, West Plains, and Spencer Spreutels, Koshkonong, took a 2-1 decision over Tallahassee Community College, Tallahassee, Florida, in very close contests.
In Mario Kart, Dustin Johnson, Ava, fell to his competitor from Tallahassee 1-4. Abe Khan, West Plains, played a double header to accommodate a rescheduled game from week two. In the rescheduled game, he was swept by Hudson Valley Community College, Troy, New York, and dropped a 3-4 decision to Tallahassee in a heart-stopping seven-race competition.
The Grizzlies defeated Harrisburg Area Community College, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in a 3-0 sweep in Overwatch 2. Pinnon said the Grizzlies had a program record number of simultaneous views (almost 100 live views) and hit a new subscription record, which generates passive income for the program. So far, Overwatch 2 has had the most popular support from fans in the community, he added.
Week Four Action
During week four, March 6-10, the Grizzlies swept Dallas College-Mountain View, Dallas County, Texas, 3-0 in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4v4. In the Hardpoint round, the Grizzlies won 250-78. In the Search and Destroy round, they won 6-0, and in the Control round, they won 3-0. “While this roster has swept every game so far for the Grizzlies, what is really impressive is the win margins of each round,” Pinnon said.
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Grizzlies Summer Gabriel and Zahren Whited, both of West Plains, each lost to their Dallas College-Mountain View competitors, while Julian Proctor, Roach, won by competitive ruling against his opponent from Dallas College-North Lake.
In Hearthstone, Grizzly Jessica Bates lost to her competitor from Yavapai College, Prescott, Arizona, 0-3. “We continue to struggle against ‘Zerg’ decks,” Pinnon explained. “These decks are designed to output low-level cards at a quick rate, and then buff the cards to make them strong. We continue to recalculate our deck composition to adapt to this meta-strategy.”
In Call of Duty: Warzone, DeWeese and Spreutels suffered their first loss of the season against Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College. Even so, the Warzone team has guaranteed a playoff berth in the Invitational Playoffs and are now fighting for a higher seed. They still remain in the number one position for the upcoming playoffs, Pinnon said.
In Mario Kart, both Johnson and Khan struggled to find a victory. Johnson competed against the number one ranked roster from Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, and it all came down to a margin of inches in the seventh race. In the end, Johnson lost 3-4.
Khan also competed against Iowa Western but fell 1-4.
“Our players are in the highest tier of competition, and while they have accumulated more losses this season, every game has been extremely close,” Pinnon said. “I don’t think their records really represents their talent in comparison to other programs.”
In Overwatch 2, the Grizzlies competed against Region 16 rival Three Rivers College from Poplar Bluff. The Grizzlies came out with another dominant performance and swept the Raiders 3-0. “Much like our Call of Duty roster, the Overwatch roster hasn’t dropped a single round all season long,” Pinnon pointed out.
Grizzly fans can watch their favorite players compete in their favorite online games through the team’s Twitch account, Twitch.TV/WPGrizzlies.
For more information about the Grizzly eSports program, follow the team’s Facebook page, Facebook.com/MSUWPeSports, or visit the team’s website, MSUWPGrizzlies.com.