Grab your controllers and kick the competition away. On Monday, Oct. 5, an Esports JV tournament was created to help new people get better at Super Smash Brothers Ultimate along with discovering skill level. The event took place at Lester Buresh Center (LBC) for about two hours. It was a single elimination bracket with 12 people in the tournament.

The tournament had a prize pool of $7. The winner of such fortune was none other than Eli Krob, who played the character called “Hero.” Krob ended up taking 25 stocks over the whole event.

The bracket was set up to have players with similar skill levels. The team could have valuable replays. “It was well organized,” said coach Noah Pisarik. “The bracket was thought out and went smoothly.” 

“It was fun! Had a great time,” senior Nathan Woods said. He placed third while playing the character Cloud Strife. Most people from the event haven’t played Woods, making him a wild card. Woods’ success was unexpected, people there thought that Woods would be eliminated early, but to everyone’s surprise, he pulled that upset.

Since the bracket was set up to have similar people battle, juniors Vance Arnold and Mark Liberko were pitted together for round one. They were both titans so the ending to this match was something to behold. Arnold ended up on top.

While the fighters of the tournament were playing, coaches Pisarik and Elijah Webster, walked around and watched the games, giving tips and advice to the players. “It went well. It was fun to watch!” Pisarik said.

 The players were required to save replays of the matches for later to review then help further improve the members. This year a majority of top players in varsity will be leaving soon because they are seniors. This event is one of the first steps in creating a powerful team for next year.