Insomnia esports coverage powered by AGON by AOC
The NSE finals are finally back at LAN this year at Insomnia 68. With the return of grassroots university esports there was plenty of action to get through – including DMU T1 (pictured) winning the LoL finals.
Here’s a recap by Jack ‘Jackelbat’ Freeman.
NSE Day 1 finals at i68
Dota 2: UCL Instant Reflex vs Warwick Ducks
The show began a little later than usual on Saturday morning due to University College London (UCL’s) car breaking down, but the Dota 2 finals e got underway, with esports host Giniro kicking off the day.
Which Insomnia68 esports casters will be attending – and what’s the tournament schedule?
UCL started strongly as they took the first game in convincing fashion. The momentum continued as they took the second game as well, but not without issue. A change in Warwick’s draft, alongside a strong defence, created enough of a problem for UCL to be concerned. However, in the end UCL triumphed and took the series with a clean 3-0 despite Warwick’s best attempts.
Overwatch: Warwick Angels vs Portsmouth Paladins
The next match on the schedule was the Overwatch finals which saw the Warwick Angels against the Portsmouth Paladins. The latter fielded a strong team, which had already won the previous two splits.
Portsmouth took games one and two – but Warwick made their presence known. In the second round of game one, Warwick snatched the point back in overtime as Rosden’s Roadhog ultimate forced Portsmouth off the point. It was clear that Warwick weren’t going down without a fight – and won the next two games in a row.
With a reverse sweep on the table, it was all to play for in the final map. Much like the rest of the match, Portsmouth had a strong start but Warwick fought back and forced the match to go to the very last round. In the end, Portsmouth secured the victory in one spectacular end to the series.
League of Legends: Grey Warwick vs De Montfort University T1
To round off the day, it was Grey Warwick playing against De Montfort University T1 in League of Legends. This was the University of Warwick’s last chance of the day to win a final, while DMU T1 were looking fearless in the face of a strong opponent.
Game one kicked off with a bang as DMU selected a Taric/Pyke bot lane that had seen a few rumblings in scrims. This seemed to have caught Warwick off guard as DMU took the first game. In spite of that, Warwick kicked back with their own unorthodox strategy of Brand APC. But it was not enough as DIDOL MY QUEEN‘s epic baron steal closed game two in favour of DMU. In game three, Warwick gave their fans a bit of hopium as they took the win, bringing the score to 2-1. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough as DMU took the series 3-1 to close out the day.
At the end of day one, UCL, Portsmouth and DMU were crowned champions.
SamJ of DMU T1 told Giniro after the match: “You might not be the highest skill level player, but you know, [university esports leagues like NSE] accommodate for everyone.”
A hard day for Warwick then, with three losses in a row.
NSE Day 2 finals at i68
As day two – the final day – of the NSE finals at Insomnia 68 gets underway today (April 17th 2022), Warwick will be hoping for at least one win in Rainbow Six Siege following their three losses on day one.
Altogether, today we’ll see finals in Rocket League, Rainbow Six, Valorant and CSGO. We’ll update this article with those results later on.
We’ve got a pretty schedule for our games today showing which universities are playing today as well 😀 pic.twitter.com/PMnf3yKjqH
— National Student Esports @ i68 (@nse_gg) April 17, 2022
Rocket League: Portsmouth vs Keele Krakens
Portsmouth picked up their second win in the NSE finals on day two, after defeating Keele Krakens 5-3 in the Rocket League finals.
Ahead of this match, both Portsmouth and Keele had recently qualified for the European University Rocketeers’ Championship (EURC). As anticipated, it was a close back and forth throughout the best of nine series. Portsmouth had the advantage, coming from the upper bracket and gaining that extra game from the start.
Keele won the next two games in convincing fashion. However, Portsmouth hit back hard as they took the following two games, but it wasn’t easy – they only took game five in a last minute overtime goal.
The results continued to swing in favour of both teams as Keele won game six, only for Portsmouth to take the next with a sensational last-minute goal from Mercy, with 13 seconds to spare as the only goal of the game. In the end there could only be one winner as Portsmouth closed it out to win the championship.
Rainbow Six Siege: Warwick Blue Charm Collectors vs Swansea Storm
After that thrilling Rocket League series, it would be a tough act for the Rainbow Six Siege finals to follow. This was also the University of Warwick’s last chance to win an NSE final this split. Even with a substitute to their main roster, they were hungry for a win at I68.
From the start it was promising for Warwick as the first two maps of the match looked favourable for them. This seemed to be true as Warwick took the first game on Club House without much hassle. There was hope for Swansea in game two though as they won the first two rounds on the attacking side. But Warwick looked too strong as they positioned themselves on match point 6-2.
There was a shadow of doubt as what felt like a sure win became less certain in the following rounds. In spite of that, Warwick managed to pull through and win the championship which the University of Warwick was craving so much. Warwick also secured a win in the separate i68 LoL BYOC Open today, giving them two sorely needed victories after yesterday’s trio of defeats.
Valorant: Clark Kent vs UCL Team S
Next up on the schedule was the Valorant finals as Clark Kent from the University of Kent faced off against University College London’s Team S. Both teams were looking strong since they had good playoff runs, despite not ranking highly in the previous splits.
The first game was set on the map Beeze, as chosen by Clark Kent. In theory they would have the advantage, however this was not the case as it was a real tug of war between the two. In the end it was actually UCL that won game one with Kent trailing behind.
Moving onto game two, UCL had chosen the map Ascent with the momentum to potentially close out the series. UCL gained a commanding lead. By the time the teams swapped sides, it was 10-2 in favour of UCL. Unfortunately for Kent, during the match, one of their players felt unwell and an emergency substitution had to be made.
Awake came in as Kent’s last glimmer of hope. In the beginning this seemed to have worked as the Awake effect was potent – they began to make a comeback. However, UCL had too much of an advantage and eventually won the series 13-6.
CSGO: Rush Bee vs Team Four
The final match saw Rush Bee from the University of Manchester against Team Four from the University of Southampton to close out the weekend. It was set to be a close one, as their record between each other before the match sat at 2-2.
The first game was on Inferno and it was a tight affair between the teams. It was neck and neck right to the end as they called for a pause in round 29, with the score tied at 14-14. Southampton had the advantage as they had won the previous rounds, which was all that was needed as they won the first game.
Game two looked very compelling for Southampton as they built up a large lead against Manchester. This was exemplified by Hanno, when they ended the round with an unbelievable no scope through smoke while blinded. Even the caster SnailJuice later remarked: “Surely that’s against the rules”.
Once again, Manchester attempted to make one last comeback but it wasn’t enough as Southampton ended the day as champions of CSGO.
That wrapped up day two and a weekend full of action at the NSE finals. Portsmouth, UCL, De Montford and finally Warwick managed to secure victories as well as some shiny medallions to go alongside them.
Overall, it was a great experience for the crowd and the players. It was great to be back at LAN and the fans certainly appreciated it by showing up in droves throughout the weekend, leaving everyone wanting more.
Insomnia esports coverage powered by AGON by AOC – see the AGON League of Legends monitor here and more i68 esports news here
