The first match of the ESPN Collegiate Esports Championship saw Maryville face off with Carleton in the Overwatch quarterfinals.

(Image from ESPN CEC)

Maryville came into this match as the favorite, they came in undefeated, and they showed us why.

In her match preview, Nekkra noted that Carleton’s chances hinged on forcing Maryville into a less comfortable team comp. Maryville flipped that script and demonstrated their flexibility and command of the fundamentals over and over again.

Maryville couldn’t afford to go in overconfident, and they didn’t. In a post match interview, Aether said, “we knew we just had to play our fundamentals, play our own game, and we’d win.” Maryville looked at Carleton as one of their closest rivals in this competition, so they knew consistent, tight play would get them the win.

Carleton fielded a team of self-made players, which contrasts with Maryville’s more experienced roster. Many Maryville players have experience at the Contenders level. The ones that don’t are guided and mentored by those that do. That structured environment factors heavily into player development.

Carleton made it extremely far in this tournament, especially considering the lower level of institutional support and resources available to them, especially compared to a team like Maryville.

On the side of Maryville we had players Tonyb, Mac, Hypnott, Guru, Rat, and Aether.

For Carleton we had Diloxrocks, Kachow, Twitchy, Tyroan, Kip, and Jacklorf.

Map One – Illios

In round one, both teams leaned toward triple-tank, triple-support, GOATs compositions, with some variation. Maryville used Winston, while Carleton went with Reinhardt.

Maryville displayed some aggressive posturing in round one, taking the first engagement and capping the point. Mac put in work on Lucio as the Saints held it to a 99% lead before Carleton contested and capped. That cap was too expensive though, costing them all of their ults, and limiting their response to Maryville.

Going into round two, both sides again went with GOATs. Carleton picked off Maryville’s TonyB on Zenyatta early-on, denying the Saints crucial focus healing and damage boost from Orb of Discord.

Carleton did exactly what they needed to do this round, splitting up Maryville, isolating them, and picking them off. They eliminated Hypnott and Aether in quick succession, focusing them down. This left the Ravens with a 30% lead and an ult advantage.

Maryville took a while before reengaging, poking and building ults. Aether switched to Doomfist – a DPS hero – and carved through the entire Carleton team, sending the match to overtime. It wasn’t enough though, as Carleton came back, wiped up, and took the round win.

For round three, Maryville’s Hypnott switched to Orisa, to take advantage of the map layout. Right out of the gate, Maryville put enormous pressure on Carleton and took the point.

Carleton’s Diloxrocks on Zarya just wasn’t in charge there. Taking control first was huge for Maryville, because Orisa made their comp much more defensive, which they used to their advantage.

Carleton pushed back in without Lucio up, and committed to an unfavorable engagement. The Raven’s couldn’t get there and Maryville won without using any ults.

With that, Maryville took the round and the first map.

Carleton didn’t have a good plan for countering the Orisa. If it was a standard GOAT’s mirror, the teams would look more even.

Maryville’s flexibility and skill at playing comp variations gave them the edge here.

Map Two – King’s Row

Maryville started out defending on map two with Sombra GOATs, looking to get their EMP online as fast as possible. Maryville gave up the first to defend the second. They delivered a solid EMP – Earthshatter combo, and the timing of Carleton’s Transcendence was off.

Carleton came back with a Shatter of their own, but wasn’t in a position to capitalize on it. Marysville disengaged from that fight and started slowly grinding Carleton down. Carleton’s Tyroan swapped to Ana, but Maryville already had Grav and Rally online. Without a Zenyatta, Carleton couldn’t do much.

Aether farmed EMPs, which gave Maryville their win condition. They kept them rolling through the match, and Carleton couldn’t get there.

For round two, Carleton fielded a standard GOATs comp. They needed to steamroll Maryville and bully their frontline to win as many fights as possible early on.

In the first engagement, Carleton and Maryville traded kills, which worked out in Maryville’s favor. Tyroan switched to Ana again, and again Maryville landed an easy EMP – Shatter. Carleton couldn’t do much from that point as Maryville snowballed to a win.

We saw that Carleton’s main weakness is that they aren’t as versatile. Carleton had to play Ana perfectly to counter Sombra GOATs, but they couldn’t execute. Maryville went for pressure and speed. Carleton’s Tyroan didn’t know exactly how to position and respond. He and Jackolorf were crucial for the Ravens, but they really needed more consistency across their whole roster.

Map Three – Hanamura

Carleton needed a win here to have a shot at the reverse sweep, and again both teams stuck with the tried and true GOATs, with Maryville putting Hypnott on the Winston.

Hypnott wanted to build that Primal Rage ASAP, but Carleton forced Maryville to engage and took Hypnott out. Even before Hypnott was back to the team, Maryville committed to the engagement and went in with a Grav, which Tyroan answered with a Transcendence.

Carleton looked good here, but Hypnott made it back and used Primal Rage. Even though it wasn’t the ideal situation to use it, he took out Twitchy and pushed Carleton back.

Maryville held as Carleton was unable to isolate a target. Carleton regrouped and went in again, as Hypnott rotated toward the point before using Primal Rage and blocking Carleton into a corner as he got kill after kill.

With time for one more engagement, Carleton failed to dislodge Maryville, as the Saints took round one.

In round two, Diloxrocks got a quick pick off of Maryville’s TonyB. Maryville fielded a counter bunker comp, looking to use more shields for their Bastion. This seemed like a more defensive choice, but it paid off.

Maryville’s Mac got an early Amplification Matrix with Baptiste, which doubles the team’s damage. This set them up to quickly burn down Twitchy on Bastion.

This gave Maryville an opening to advance, and Guru followed it up by isolating and taking out Kip. They pushed forward and contested the point, Carleton had too many players down and lacked a response.

With that, Maryville took the round, the map, and the series.

Scouting the competition for tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/jjOxZDeCmd — Maryville Esports (@MaryvilleGG) May 10, 2019

Maryville demonstrated that it’s not just about your ability to win a team fight as an isolate engagement. You need to be able to re-contest, to come back. Maryville delayed and built back up ults if they were picked early. They knew how to hold back, investing just enough.

They knew how to get value for ults, and we saw that with how they set up Hypnott’s Primal. If they didn’t get that value they needed, they could’ve been snowballed. But they capitalized on it. On the other side of the equation, Carleton did have a response for it, with their Shatter, but Hypnott got a key pick and it was enough to force Carleton out.

Maryville remains undefeated, continuing an incredible run. They go on to face Harrisburg in the semifinals. We’ll see if the Storm can stop them, or if it’ll clear up by then.

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