In the upcoming “Super Smash Bros.” event starting on Nov. 17 during lunch, staff and students will be able to compete against each other for a grand prize. Grand prize? No one knows yet, as it has yet to be announced.
Both competing and setting up the tournament can be stressful.
“I wanna make sure it’s successful, so I’m trying to get a large number of people to sign up, so I kinda overplan things and get stressed about things, and it tends to go well,” eSports advisor Trevor Wood said.
Wood isn’t the only one having a hard time, though, as other organizers are also putting work into making this tournament possible.
“It’s gonna be annoying and tedious with all the preparations, but I hope the payout will be fun,” senior organizer Akira Moss said.
The Battle for the Banana started as a result of a student’s suggestion.
With the large number of participants comes a lot of nostalgia. Students like senior Maddox Arellano are super excited for this tournament because of their nostalgic ties to the series as well as people who are excited for the final game at the assembly.
“It’s always fun to watch, even though you have no idea what’s going on, you just know something is happening,” senior Dylan Powell said.
Many teachers also enjoy this tournament.
“One of the things that I really like about Smash is that even if you haven’t played the game or don’t play games, Smash is pretty easy to follow. It’s pretty obvious when someone gets thrown off the side of the map and explodes in a ball of fire that something bad happened to them, and it’s also pretty easy to tell when one person hits the other. So I like how easy it is for an entire audience to follow, and now for two years the assembly has been the highlight for me,” Wood said.
Since it’s so easy to understand, more students will play. Many high-level competitors state that stress can build up when they face tough competitors; if they make a single mistake, they may lose their match and no longer be able to compete in the tournament.
“Knowledge of the characters is really helpful,” teacher and competitor Joseph Bywater said.
Students also experience trouble with the characters they play and go up against. Most players choose characters they recognise or like from other franchises, but more competitive players choose characters that are more complex yet powerful. Many competitors also don’t like certain characters.
“I don’t like any DLC characters,” Bywater said.
DLC stands for downloadable content, and is where people have to buy a character separately from the base game; the cost is $5.99. Many players despise DLC characters. A DLC character that many players hate is Steve because they think that he is relatively easy to play and breaks the fundamentals of the game.
The winner of the 2024 tournament, senior Ness Rodriguez, also dislikes the DLC characters.
Most importantly, the tournament brings in the school spirit and excitement for everyone.
“It brings good school spirit… I think it’s absolutely fabulous that it’s happening at school since I am a big eSports fan,” teacher Willow Kosbab said.
Students outside of the Video Game Club are also looking forward to the tournament.
“I am excited! I like eSports,” DECA president Isabel Tibbets said.
