Illinois State University hosted the first super smash brothers tournament in Illinois history this past Saturday. There was over two hundred and fifty participants from all around the world competing against each other for the hefty prize, which was twenty five hundred dollars.
Luke Sherman who is an organizer and apart of the staff said “one of the reasons tournaments like this are becoming more and more important because they’re happening less and less in the United States. As they become more popular over seas like in Japan, historically the Midwest is not known to host very many major premier events. So not just that its happening in the US, not just that its happening in the Midwest, it is also happening right here in Normal, Illinois”.
The participants showed how much this event meant to them by how many people showed up. There were so many participants that showed up to play, there was not enough monitors.
Cami Miles an ISU student who was at the event says ” I’m here mostly just to support my friends, we’ve got a couple of them flying in from out of state and because I live here, they’re staying with me, and I am just here to support them, watch, and cheer for them. My favorite thing about the game is that there is always a way to improve. It’s like chess, like if you lose, its usually on you, so theres always a way to improve on that”.
The ISU Redbirds have a super smash bros club that is available to newcomers. The club meets every Thursday at six, you can visit the clubs page on redbird life for more information.