Rogers Advances To SSBU Tier 1 Nationals; Cabrera Caps Perfect Regular Season; Taylor Wins Eight Out of Nine Matches
April 8, 2025 - - The Lorain County Community College Esports team delivered an impressive performance on Tuesday evening, April 8, as they competed in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Hearthstone matchups.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 1v1 – Tiers 1, 2, 3
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Tier 1 postseason play, Robert Rogers (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS), the No. 2 seed in the East 2 Region, went on a dominant run, defeating Kishwaukee College and Daytona State College in 3-0 sweeps, then knocked off No. 1 seeded Brookdale Community College 3-1. With these three victories, Rogers advances to the East 2 Regional Final on April 10 at 7 p.m., where he will face the winner of the elimination bracket finals between No. 1 Brookdale and No. 4 Muskegon. By reaching the regional final, Rogers has secured an automatic bid to the NJCAAE Tier 1 Nationals, where only the top 10 players in the country will compete.
In Tier 2 Smash play, Colby Cabrera (Amherst, Ohio/Marion L. Steele HS) wrapped up an undefeated regular season with a clean 4-0 sweep over Northwest Florida State College, finishing 7-0 overall and 28-3 in rounds played. Cabrera also earned another 4-0 win against Rose State College in Tier 3 play. Cabrera heads into the Tier 2 postseason next week as either the 1 or 2 seed.
James O'Reilly (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville HS) dropped two tough seven-round matches to Lackawanna College (Tier 2) and East Georgia State College (Tier 3) to close out the regular season. O'Reilly ends the spring Tier 2 regular season with a 3-4 record and a 6-1 record in Tier 3 play.
Heartstone – 1v1 – Tier 3
Meanwhile, in Hearthstone Tier 3 action, Xander Taylor (Elyria, Ohio/Huron HS) continued his hot streak with a 3-1 win over East Georgia State College, marking his eighth win in his last nine matches.
Next Up:
#CommodoreEsports will be back in action on Thursday with Rogers playoff match in Smash and with O'Reilly competing in Mario Kart 8. LCCC's live stream of the events begins at 6 p.m. at athletics.lorainccc.edu.
About CommodoreEsports:
LCCC's Esports team competes in the National Junior College Athletic Association Esports (NJCAAE), which is divided into three competition tiers:
Tier 1 – Premier Series (PS): The highest level of NJCAAE competition, featuring teams composed of eligible students.
Tier 2 – Contender Series (CS): The mid-level competition, also for teams of eligible students.
Tier 3 – Open Series (OS): The most accessible level, open to participants who do not have to meet student eligibility requirements but must be associated with LCCC.
The NJCAAE has two seasons: fall (September–December) and spring (February–April). Both seasons last seven weeks before the postseason begins. LCCC has players competing across all three tiers, and full-time students can choose to participate in any tier.
Games LCCC Esports Competes or has competed in:
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – A fighting game featuring characters from the Nintendo universe, played on the Nintendo Switch. Players can compete in 1v1 best-of-five matches or Crew Battle, a 3v3 elimination-style format.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – A racing game featuring Nintendo characters, also played on the Nintendo Switch.
Valorant – A PC first-person shooter where teams of five compete in a best-of-three format. One team attempts to plant and detonate a spike, while the opposing team tries to defuse it.
Overwatch 2 – Another first-person shooter, in which teams compete using unique hero characters.
Fortnite – LCCC began competing in this battle royale game in 2024.
Marvel Rivals – A 6v6 third-person shooter featuring characters from the Marvel Universe, with LCCC set to begin competition in spring 2025.
Madden – A football simulation game.
Tekken & Street Fighter – Both hand-to-hand combat fighting games.
Hearthstone - Building upon the existing lore of the Warcraft series, a turn-based card game between two opponents, using constructed decks of 30 cards along with a selected hero with a unique power.
Call of Duty: Warzone - Battle royale style first-person shooter game