By Lesly Velasco Guerra, Nov. 16, 2021
ASI Campus Recreation hosted an Esports tournament featuring Super Smash Bros. on Friday Nov. 12. The event consisted of a single player competition featuring a total number of 13 participants.
For computer engineering student Caleb Jala-Guinto, having the opportunity to play in CPP esports tournaments once again was a refreshing, much needed experience.
“It feels good. It feels like these people are actually real instead of playing against or with people who you completely don’t know,” said Jala-Guinto. “You just can’t see their facial expression or anything like here.”
The tournament was open to all CPP students and hosted at the BRIC television lounge on the first floor. From those 13 players who participated, seven moved on to the next round.
Forming part of the “loser’s bracket,” the players eliminated in the first round competed against each other, giving them a chance to reserve a spot in the final round.
Single rounds were played up until the semifinal round, which left four players remaining. Playing the best two out of three winning games, the group moved on to the final round.
From the original bracket, Emanuel Zaragoza and Darien Fakouri were finalists with Fakouri ultimately winning the final round.In the “loser’s bracket,” Adrian Dominguez and Mathew Luna went head-to-head in an attempt to win the lead. As a result, Dominguez took the win and faced Fakouri for the championship title.
Fakouri won the last two out of three rounds of the final competition, earning the championship title and a $25 Bronco Bucks card.
Despite losing the semifinal round of the tournament, first year student and tournament finalist Emanual Zaragoza explained he has been playing Super Smash Bros. since a young age and, despite his competitive attitude, he hopes to have created long-lasting friendships through the tournament.
“Making friends is part of it because aside from competition, it is also important to have connections and talk to people who share the same interest as you, in this case Super Smash Bros.,” said Zaragoza. “You can then make friends and practice and they can teach you a thing or two that they might know and you don’t, so it’s good to do that as well.”
Before the construction of the BRIC, the Bronco Fitness Center was the recreation center in the Bronco Student Center and was the usual location where esports tournaments were hosted. As esports grows in popularity, the BRIC and Campus Recreation hope to continue providing these types of tournaments.
Kaycee Martin, associate director of campus recreation programs, explained that games are chosen directly based on student feedback. The most popular games include FIFA, Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart. ASI Campus Recreation provides tournaments, as well as the consoles and games utilized, at no cost to students.
“ASI and Campus Recreation provide as many different types of opportunities to participate in recreation as possible,” said Martin. “That included active recreation opportunities but also some more passive opportunities such as this esports tournament.”
Additionally, Martin explained there are plans for intramural sports leagues on campus to collaborate with the Games Room for future esports tournaments.
For more information visit Campus Recreation on Instagram @cppcampusrec.
Feature image by Lesly Velasco Guerra