Another division of esports at MSMS has just won their first match of the season, this time on the popular and unique soccer-esque game Rocket League. Rocket League is an online multiplayer game that pits two teams of cars fighting to score a giant soccer ball in a goal. It could be described as soccer with cars, which also have the ability to fly with enough boost.

The first match against Starkville High School on Thursday, Nov. 19, was set in a best of five format, in which MSMS won three games in a row: 9-1, 11-1 and 5-3. The match was played in three versus three fashion, in which Nathan Lechner, Yinshan Hung and Matthew Dunn represented MSMS. Senior Matthew Dunn described how the first game put the rest of the match in perspective.

“The first match that we did was not as expected,” Dunn said. “And it set the tone for the other two. I was expecting a really tough match, like the team we faced from California, but was surprised to go into the match with only two opponents.”

With the first match having passed, the MSMS Rocket League esports team must now evaluate their playing style in order to continue their win streak. Senior Yinshan Hung went into detail about the team’s synergy. 

“The team had some things we could work on such as communication and rotation, which is just switching between positions on the map,” Hung said. “Overall, I think we did well when we played together since we practiced before matches as well as this match being the fourth match we have played together, which isn’t very much. Both of my teammates are extremely good at rotations and communicating with one another.”

In Rocket League, players often rotate positions often in order to keep the tempo of the match going, constantly switching from defense to offense. 

Like Hung, Dunn also has high praise for his team’s rotational skills.

“Luckily for Rocket League, there is only one good way to play as a team, which is rotating,” Dunn said. “This type of play style for a team allows the ones prepared to go for the ball to go for the ball and those that are prepared to take that player’s part-time position, whether that’s a 2-top with 1-back or 1-top with 2-back, so that we are not restricted by the lack of boost cycling through our team, which is crucial. Usually, the team is always moving in a fluid motion, or as fluid as we can be.”

Just like any other sport, esports can be very nerve wracking, especially in a competitive setting. Hung described his nervousness towards competing.

“I am always nervous about my performance because I always vary in between matches,” Hung said. “There will be some matches where I would mess up and there would also be other matches where I would do extremely well. Overall, I think the team is playing well since we communicate better than when we started.”