by Jean Sandre, Staff Writer

There is tension in the air, as students keep their focus on the monitor in front of them. Studying their opponent, competitors do not dare to take their eyes off the screen even for a second. Because even if one second of focus is lost, the chance of failure increases immediately. Every Monday, at 6:30 p.m., many students meet at the Student Activities Center for the Super Smash Brothers Ultimate Weekly Tournament. Beforehand, students set up their play areas and practice with other people competing in the tournament. The tournament runs until 10 p.m. and is affiliated with Project Playhem, a club for all people who love playing games at Schoolcraft. Kyle Smith and Ariana Watson, President and Vice-president of Project Playhem.
The event is considered both Esports and for fun. Students will be able to meet friendly players or players who are fully competitive. “It gives our e-Sports members a chance to practice, and the rest of us a chance to get a little competitive!” said Watson. Besides following Schoolcraft’s Code of Conduct as well as the Project Playhem rules, the tournament has separate rules for matches.  Three Stock (lives), 8 Minutes, no items, on stages that are deemed legal and best out of three matches total. Once the matches are over, an official put players into their respective brackets. Students are encouraged to pick whoever they feel the most comfortable with and remember to act positive.
There is a catch, of course, a $10 fee. When participants sign up, they give one of the officials their cash, username and are put onto a bracket and are scrambled. Depending on how many people are participating in the tournament, players might be placed one bracket ahead and will face someone from a bracket before them.
If the player loses their first match, they will be put into losers bracket. From here, players have a chance to still win a prize at the end, so long as they defeat everyone else in the losers bracket. Before the event, many students set up their monitors and switches. This allows for many matches to be completed in the short span of 3 hours and 30 minutes.

Players should bring their own controllers, but are not required to bring a monitor or Nintendo Switch. For more focus, bring a pair of headphones. And players do not want to forget their game faces.
All skill levels are accepted in the tournament but despite that, students should know that people are playing to win. However, students should not feel discouraged if they lose.
All tiers are welcome, as the winner is decided by skill, not the character. “Forget those tier lists because at the end of the day it’s all about skills and staying on top of your game,” said Kyle. Although tiers do not matter compared to skill.
“The tiers are definitely representative of the power of the characters,” said Watson.
The scene is not for everyone, but casuals should still play for the fun of it. As mentioned before this event runs on Mondays each week. It goes from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.. Later down the line, Ariana hopes “to keep it as a weekly tournament, and the length of time will vary based on the number of participants each week!”. There are plans to host other fighting game tournaments as well.
Students interested in this event should stop by and ask officials or other players about more information. They should also consider joining the club known as Project Playhem to learn more about other students who play games. Overall, the tournament is for both people who like the competitive scene of games and for people who enjoy Super Smash Brothers. It is a friendly community and anyone is welcome to join in on the fun. Students with a free Monday night who are interested might want to check this one out, even if they are not competing, to experience the atmosphere and decide for themselves if the tournament is worth Smashing for.