The Valorant and League of Legends divisions of the Esports club both succeeded in making the playoffs this season, with the League of Legends team making the finals.

On Thursday, May 12, the Valorant team beat the first seed in North Jersey, Ramapo High School, with a score of 2-0. This win allowed NVOT to move on to the playoffs, which take place the week of May 23. As one of the top performing North Jersey schools, NVOT will compete against schools from Central and South Jersey. The team has a current season record of 5-0-2.

Junior Phoenix Jones, who is ranked Immortal 1 in Valorant, attributes the recent success to the team members playing their roles correctly. He also said that “Brian Park really held the team together and when we were down he held us up.”

The League of Legends team headed into the playoffs with a season record of 7-0-1. In their first round of playoffs on May 18, the Golden Knights beat Hopatcong with a score of 2-0, improving their record to eight wins. Sophomore Wonjae Song, a member of the League of Legends division, represented the team for both Game 1 and Game 2. Song said the team’s recent success is because of their combat skills and teamwork. “We always try our best to win. We set several strategies to deal with the opposing team, and I guess that worked very well.”

NVOT is the number two seed for the season. This means NVOT may face number one seed, Cherry Hill, who is also their rival from last year as they lost to them in the finals. Esports club president Alice Liu competed against Cherry Hill last year. “I feel excited because I get to face [Cherry Hill] again and see the improvements I made with my team this year,”she said.

The League of Legends team will compete in the finals on June 4 at Rider University.

6/14/22 update: On June 4, the NVOT League of Legends and Valorant teams competed in their respective finals at Rider University in front of live audiences. The seed two League of Legends team lost to High Tech High School with a score of 0-2, putting NVOT in second place overall for the season. After an intense semifinals, the Valorant team beat Liberty High School with a score of 2-0, taking home first place. The team will receive a championship belt from Garden State Esports over the summer.