Regionals fast approaching for Comets eSports

With two weeks left in the regular season, Western Iowa Tech eSports is vying for postseason competition.

Despite high turnover in the second year of the program's existence, three of the four eSports teams are currently qualified or within striking distance of playoff spots.

The Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, Overwatch and Valorant teams are all contending for regionals, which begin the week of November 18. All three of those teams are in their second full year at WIT.

Last year the Comets were boosted by the most sophomore-laden roster of the five inaugural WIT athletic programs. This year, however, that means head coach Cale Conner is incorporating a lot of new talent into the fold.

"Overall, the program has seen a whole new roster of players besides two players staying from last year," Conner said.

Those two players are Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player Jayden Axtell, and Valorant team captain Davy Tran.

Axtell is one of three Tier 1 SSBU players and is third in his group with an 8-3 record. Brandon Rempfer and Keondre Williams are both 6-5 and ranked seventh and eighth in their groups, respectively. The top eight players of each group qualify for regionals.

"Smash Bros. have been phenomenal this year, working very hard to try and secure their spots for regionals," Conner said. 

Tran leads a Valorant team that is 2-2 and ranked fifth out of eight teams. The Comets will need to jump at least one team to make the top four and play in the postseason. Valorant plays every Thursday, including tonight against Laredo College.

"Davy has been working very hard with his new teammates, trying to get each other comfortable with team comms and strategies," Conner said. 

Overwatch is composed of an entirely new roster, but one that remains in the regionals mix late into the regular season. The team lost a player early in the season, causing others to switch roles in order to cover the unexpected absence.

A 3-0 win last week against Grayson put Overwatch in sixth place out of eight teams and gave the team a boost it could use to climb further in the standings. 

"They have been working very hard (on) this adjustment and we have high hopes for the remainder of the season," Conner said.

The Comets Rocket League team (1-8) debuted this fall and is working to establish itself as a competitive program.

"We aren't too focused on this season's placement, but next season we are looking to perform," Conner said.

All Comets eSports matches can be watch on WIT's Twitch channel.