Smash Bros Club held their first tournament of the year on Friday, Nov. 19 in Room 112, where matches ended with fist bumps between competitors amid a whimsical atmosphere.

“We like to hold tournaments because we think it helps our club become closer,” junior and Smash Bros Club President Jacob Chung said. 

Twenty students participated in the double elimination bracket tournament. Club officers set up eight stations, each equipped with a monitor, a Nintendo Switch and a docking station. The monitors were provided by the club, and club members lent their personal switches and docking stations. As the tournament progressed, stations devolved from competitive to friendly matches. Most players brought their own controllers, but players without one could borrow controllers from other players.

A double elimination bracket consists of a winning and a losing bracket. Players who lost once moved to the losing bracket, in which they continued to play until they lost again, at which point they were eliminated. Matches were determined by the best of three rounds, and each round had a time limit of seven minutes. 

Starting with the semifinals round in the winning bracket and the finals round in the losing bracket, matches were the best of five rounds. Senior and Smash Bros Club Treasurer Saadhan Pittala was the victor of the losing bracket’s finals, and he moved on to the grand finals against junior and Smash Bros Club Secretary Darian Liu, the victor of the winning bracket. 

Pittala beat Liu in a best of five match, and the players battled a second time as Liu was moved into the losing bracket. Pittala again won the second matchup, winning the tournament. 

This tournament marked the first time the club had streamed their events. Chung commentated on the Twitch livestream using his personal equipment, and participants also commentated when they wanted to. Monta Vista’s Smash Bros Club President Max Hu also attended the event, commentating alongside Chung and playing a few friendly matches.

The event also attracted alumni officers Wei Chong and Vamsi Mannava. They participated in the tournament, and their match against each other attracted a small crowd. Although the club has held tournaments since 2019, when Chong founded the club, Chong and Mannava were impressed by how the tournaments have evolved. 

“It’s really cool to see that people are continuing my legacy and the club that I co-founded,” Chong said. 

The club is considering holding another tournament in December 2021, and there are plans for more tournaments starting in the second semester and new activities during regular club meetings. 

“The best part about being able to hold a tournament in person again is just the atmosphere,” senior and Smash Bros Club Vice President Raymond Chi said. “We’re really a club that lives or dies based on the atmosphere and the feeling that the members have.”