It’s finally second semester, and seniors Tyler Bakke, Arush Shankar and Feargus MacFhionnlaoich are taking it in stride. The self-dubbed “Brawl Bros” have successfully planned and carried out one Super Smash Bros tournament and are looking forward to their next one, currently set for March 16.
The first tournament took place in Shankar’s house on Jan. 21: Six TVs were set up in his basement, and around 30 people participated.
“It was epic,” senior Parth Shah said. “The fact that there were so many TVs set up and games going allowed for a lot of matches, so people weren’t bored.”
Before the event, the Bros mapped out beginner, advanced and pro brackets for both Brawl and Melee.
“Setting the event up took a while, but everyone had fun,” Shankar said. “My house was a mess after, but my friends helped me clean up, so it was definitely worth it.”
In terms of organization, the Bros are considering a different approach for their next event.
“Instead of elimination like we did the first time, we might change to a sort of ‘round robin’ style with points,” Bakke said. “It would also be easier to plan than the 1v1 brackets were, so it might work better overall.”
Senior Cody Cai, who took home first place in the Melee Pro bracket, supports this change.
“It was hard to get to know and play everyone because there were so many people there, so a ‘round robin’ set-up allows everyone to play everyone at least once before the stronger players move on and compete in the bracket tournament,” he said.
Cai also enjoyed the tournament because it was an opportunity to meet new people.
“I wasn’t quite sure what to expect at first, since we were playing with friends as well as strangers, but it was as much a friendly, social event as it was a competitive one,” he said. “I played games with a variety of people I don’t usually talk to at school, and we were able to converse because we had this game in common.”
Next time, senior Matt Yee hopes to play free-for-all battles or team battles.
“They involve different kinds of fighting than 1v1, plus it’s always more exciting to play with more people,” he said.
Yee felt that the night was a success and plans to attend the next tournament as well.
“It was great getting with friends and just having some mindless fun,” Yee added.