Westminster Esports competes in their second match on Monday, September 30, 2024. As a team they performed well despite the top two players being off their usual game on match day.
Gideon Schwamb, Westminster senior and top Esports player, describes his performance this week:
“[…] sub-par, especially compared to last week’s competitions. I did not respond properly to the opponents actions, and that resulted in a disappointing showing.”
However, Gideon also expressed his feelings on his teammates’ performances:
“My most recent match was against one of our own team members and I was really impressed by his timing and skill.”
While the usual star gamers were struggling this week, there were some great performances by their teammates. The team has been doing well and the players are only getting better.
However, Super Smash Bros.(SSB) matches do not operate as many might think. The way the players are as a team does not work as traditional sports do.
The head coach of Esports, Josh Leary, describes the format of the matches:
The 1 vs. 1s on match day are best of three games to take the win for the record. For example, think of a match as a two hour period of time where players will participate in sets against other players. A set is made up of three games and the first to win two games takes the victory from the set. The players seemed to play anything from ten to fourteen sets per match day. These sets can be against anyone in the region, including their own teammates, since their scores are individual, but the environment was anything but individual in the esports room on match day. Everyone is communicating and every win or loss was shared by the team as everyone congratulated and supported their fellow gamers together.
Leary then goes on to explain how the season format works beyond match day:
“After seven weeks they take everyone’s individual win percentage from the season and set up for playoffs accordingly… Playoffs are double elimination and the top four from the region will move onto the state final.”
Regional playoffs will be decided by the win rates of the students after seven weeks of matches and then the top players from regional playoffs go on to compete in the state finals competition.
So if you ever are free on a Monday afternoon consider tuning in to the team’s youtube livestream and support your classmates as they continue to smash through the competition.
