For the past three years, Southeast E-sports coach Micah Smith has been sponsoring smash tournaments in the library. Smith says it’s a great recruiting tool for E-sports.

“We like to have fun, and I like to play Super Smash Bros., and running tournaments and playing in tournaments is a lot of fun for the students, but it is a good recruiter for esports, because we do compete in Super Smash Brothers ultimate,” he said.

The club has expanded with many more students joining, creating a community. All these students share similar interests and have found this to be a great way to connect.

“This is my first tournament, so what I did like was meeting new people and, you know, just competing against them, seeing how good they are,” competitor Julian Rivera (9) said.

This year, the format changed, offering additional opportunities for players who lose in the first round. Rather than losing and being done, if you lose there’s a bracket for another opportunity.

“This year, we do have a loser’s bracket, so if you lose, it’s not just one match that you’ve lost and you’re done. So that way, there’s at least a little bit of redemption there, and you can maybe find your groove and burn through the losers bracket and win,” Smith said.

Even those who lose have a chance to learn how they handle it and that’s a skill Smith looks for when recruiting.

“Some of it is learning how tournaments work and how these events actually go, because certain things happen that you don’t expect,” Smith said. “And you know, sometimes you win and how you handle that, but a lot of people, of course, lose and how you handle that too, because there’s a whole bunch of differences there.”

Smash tournaments will continue in the library during lunch next semester. If they continue expanding maybe even a new bracket format that allows more matches will be involved.