Grabbing their controllers and packing their bags, Video Games Club members took their skills on the road for a Super Smash Brothers tournament where they competed against schools from all over New Hampshire.
After this past tournament on March 23, this club is now two-time champions of this Super Smash Bros tournament and four-time Esports champions. Senior Logan Boulanger was one of the six Lancers competing, and he said their success was due to their individual strengths.
“I believe we were above the other schools due to our skill and strategy,” Boulanger said. “Each of us countered a different playstyle.”
This “skill and strategy” is worked on by group members during their weekly meetings. Boulanger’s teammates, including freshman Fintan Cronin, work together during meetings to better their gameplay.
“To prepare for tournaments, we have more structured club meetings where the Smash team plays [Super Smash Brothers] the whole time in the format that the tournament is played in,” Cronin said. “We are also expected to practice the game a lot outside of school.”
Although this practice can be rigorous, Cronin thinks of these intense gaming sessions as an “experience of working towards a common goal with a group of like-minded people.” Another member, freshman Jackson Brizuela, feels the same way.
“Winning is fun and all, but playing the game alongside others who also love it is much more precious to me,” Brizuela said.
After all the time they put into playing Super Smash Bros, the team arrived at SNHU to show the other teams what they can do. According to freshman Nicholas Van Dyne, the team did extremely well in the rounds leading up to the finals.
“We did the elimination rounds and we kept winning by a good amount,” Van Dyne said. “One of the rounds, John, our best player, defeated all of the opponents, without losing a single life.”
Even though they were winning by a lot in the first couple of rounds, the final round was where it all mattered.
“Winning the tournament felt great,” Cronin said. “I played the last match in the finals, which was a very nerve wracking experience. This was a very important match, so my heart was practically beating out of my chest, but I pulled through. The moment that I landed the final move, I heard some of the most excitement I have ever heard in one room at once.”
Londonderry ended up beating Bow in the finals, the same team they went up against for the previous year’s title. Although the Video Games Club members beat Bow last year, it was nowhere near an easy fight.
“Ironically, the first match that we played, we lost, and it was against the team that we won against in the finals,” Cronin said.
Video Games Club gives students opportunities outside of competing in tournaments.
“This club has made me a lot more involved with the school,” Cronin said. “Prior to this, I never had any interest in joining any sports, as I am just not into sports. However, I am a very competitive person and love the sense of comradery which comes from being on a team, so the existence of a team which I am actually interested in is something I am very happy about.”
With all teams comes friendships, and being in this club is no exception.
“Everyone in the club is really nice, chill, and funny,” Van Dyne said. “It’s always fun to hang out with them. I became friends with the three members I didn’t know all because we liked to play Smash Bros.”
Even if a friendship is already made, the bond can only grow stronger when becoming teammates and playing together.
“I knew a lot of people in the club beforehand, but being in the club definitely cemented our friendship that much more,” Brizuela said.
