By The Long Beach State Esports Association kicked off its spring semester Wednesday night with their first video game tournament for students to compete in the Hall of Science building.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a fighting game developed by Nintendo where players can fight against each other in an arena of up to eight players.
The Smash Ultimate tournament consisted of one-on-one, double elimination matches in a winners and losers bracket. Players that lost in the winners bracket have a second chance in the losers bracket.
Art major Andrew Potter plays as the character Duck Hunt with his skills in projectiles and combos which helped boost his composure in the tournament.
“I expect to get first. Anything less, I’ll be disappointed,” Potter said before the tournament began. “Sometimes there can be bad days, but even on my bad days, I’m confident.”
As Duck Hunt, Potter is afraid to go up against someone who plays as Meta Knight.
Psychology major Joseph Rodriguez is precise in air attacks and mobility in the game as Meta Knight.
Rodriguez says that he plays for fun so long as he does well in the tournament.
Potter and Rodriguez faced off in the winners final of the bracket. Both competitors played safe and waited for their right opportunity to attack.
Rodriguez was “confident” in beating Potter, looking out for his tricks and attacks as Duck Hunt, and eventually made his way to grand finals.
Despite Potter’s defeat against Rodriguez, he was able to climb his way back up from the losers bracket to make his way into the grand finals. Mathematics major Adan Valenzuela played Pac-Man against Potter in the losers final.
Valenzuela previously fought Potter in winners semi-final and lost to him 0-3.
“He’s a classic example of getting outplayed,” Potter said
In a battle between projectiles, Potter’s Duck Hunt beats Valenzuela’s Pac-Man, as both players tried to disadvantage each other with exploding cans and fire hydrants.
Valenzuela was comfortable finishing in third place at the tournament.
“Pretty much what I expected,” Valenzuela said. “I expected to lose to [Potter] and lose to, probably, Joseph, if I ever had to go against them so this is exactly where I thought I’d be.”
Potter and Rodriguez competed against each other in the grand finals of the tournament. Hoping to counter Rodriguez’s Meta Knight, Potter chose Roy instead of Duck Hunt to try and outmaneuver Rodriguez’s speed and air time.
Potter was not able to turn the tide with his Roy, getting swept by Rodriguez 0-3.
“It feels like [Rodriguez] is playing chess and I’m playing checkers,” Potter said. “Everything he does is so overwhelming. Great player, but next time I’ll get him.”
