By Kailee Walsh
Correspondent
All that could be heard echoing throughout the Business Building Room 105 were the ear-shattering yells of participants chanting, “Get him with the down smash! Now the dodge roll!”
No, this isn’t a scene from David Fincher’s “Fight Club.” It’s actually the third annual Big Blue and Gold Tournament, which was held on Friday, March 8 by the Competitive Gaming Club.
Out the 23 people who entered the tournament this week, one player, Chris, also known by his gamer name “Strawhat,” who does not attend the College, became the Triple Crown winner of the tournament.
The Competitive Gaming Club hosts the tournament, where students from the College and the general public compete against each other in Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Players have the option to play in teams for the doubles portion of the tournament or fight one-on-one.
At last Friday’s tournament, the turnout was lower than usual.
“The last two we had about 55 people in here,” said Jacob Johnson, a senior public health major and former vice president of the club. “Last semester, it could get up to 100 people in this room.”
To kick off the evening, Shaun Cardone, a junior computer science major and current vice president of the club, began by laying some ground rules. One of the rules was that players couldn’t use echo fighters during the games, which is a pair of characters in Super Smash Bros Ultimate that use the same basic moves, such as Peach and Daisy, who are echo players of each other.
Throughout the event, matches were broadcasted on the TCNJ Lions Gaming YouTube Channel. The broadcast had almost 50,000 views.
Gamers also had the opportunity to watch players across the country play through a live-stream video that was projected on a screen in the front of the room. The video featured two people playing along while both cheering and sighing throughout each round.
“People like to use (the tournament) for practice for other competitions,” Cardone said. “It’s free so anyone can play.”
Cardone said that those who didn’t win shouldn’t be discouraged in trying their hand at the tournament again in the future.
