Photo By Tech. Sgt. Anthony Hyatt | Senior Airman Jesse McElhaney, from the 36th Intelligence Squadron, was recently named...... read more read more
One Airman from the 363d Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Wing pieced together an outstanding performance and helped the Air Force Gaming (AFG) Valorant team win the Warrior GMR Veterans Day Invitational LAN (Local Area Network) tournament at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va. on Nov. 10-11, 2022.
Senior Airman Jesse McElhaney, a fusion analyst with the 36th Intelligence Squadron, was named “Most Valuable Player” of the tournament as the AFG Valorant team beat the U.S. Army Esports team in the Grand Finals 2-1.
The two-day event centered around the Warrior GMR Valorant Esports Cup which was played on SU’s main campus. Active-duty Army, Navy, Space Force, Air Force and Coast Guards Esports teams challenged veterans’ teams as well as a team composed of Gold Star Gamers (teens that lost a military parent).
McElhaney, also known by his gamertag as “Stray,” has been playing Valorant for two and a half years. Valorant, the PC-only game, is a 5v5 multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) where one team attacks and the other defends. The main game mode, Search and Destroy, is very similar to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). The attacking team's goal is to plant a bomb (called a spike) and have it detonate, while the defending team tries to avoid that. Regardless of whether the spike is planted or not, if a squad is wiped out before any other victory condition is met, the opposing squad will win.
Additionally, matches are 25 rounds long, with each round lasting 100 seconds. The first team to win 13 rounds wins the match overall. At the beginning of the round, you’ll have 30 seconds to buy weapons and gear for that round. If you die in a round, you'll have to wait until the next round to respawn. This main game mode can be played in either unrated or ranked matches.
For the AFG Valorant team, Stray played the role of “sentinel” and “duelist.” The sentinel role is described as defensive experts who can lock down areas and watch flanks, both on attack and defender rounds. The duelists are the ones who push forward into conflicts with the enemy team. They are thought of as attackers.
“I am also the ‘In-Game Leader’ or ‘IGL,’ Stray said. “I’m the one that is calling all the strats (strategies)/plays for the rest of the team to make. My job is to also keep everyone grounded and positive, so the game doesn’t get to us.”
While Stray and his team put in a lot of hours practicing, he also puts in extra hours to watch his opponents play.
“I create strats and counter-strats to keep us a step ahead of the opposing team,” he said. “It can be a mentally taxing role. Especially when you play a one-day tournament that takes 10-plus hours to play.”
Stray who has been gaming since the age of six, got his name from his dad.
“When I was six, I was originally going to go with ‘Firefly1999’ and my dad said ‘Nope!’,”, McElhaney said. “My dad instead came up with the name ‘Straybullets99’ and as the years went on everyone started to call me ‘Stray’. “Honestly, it’s an important part of my life.”
McElhaney was extremely thankful to Air Force Gaming.
“The event was my first LAN-event I have ever been to and able to compete in, so it’s awesome to take home the W [Win],” said Stray. “I am also super thankful to the Air Force for the opportunity to be able to do this, as competitive Valorant is a huge passion of mine.”
Stray and his AF Gaming Valorant teammates are hoping to participate in future events in the National Capital Region (Washington metropolitan area). Outside of that, Stray is looking to create his own team with civilians and military to compete in bigger tournaments.
The Warrior GMR Foundation mission is to promote health, wellness, and community-ship through gaming. The foundation was founded to build a platform where gamers and the military come together to participate in meaningful play, community building and mutual learning and understanding.
For more information about Air Force Gaming and future tournaments, please visit https://airforcegaming.com.
| Date Taken: | 11.22.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 11.22.2022 11:25 |
| Story ID: | 433787 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 276 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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