Suffolk University Student Games Lounge’s Super Smash Bros tournament returned for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, organized by SGL Vice President Dawson Mendik and Suffolk sophomore Calvin DelVecchio.
The tournament, named Suffolk Ultimate Scramble, or SUS, is non-specific to Suffolk students and welcomes players of all ages. Originally hosted by Suffolk alum Andrew Tham, SGL had trouble finding people to bring it back, but long-time Smash fan Mendik eventually took it on himself.
“Suffolk had Super Smash Bros tournaments every Sunday before the pandemic, but when it ended, everyone who’d organized it had graduated,” Mendik said. “When I asked about bringing it back, someone else said they’d do it but they didn’t realize the logistics of inviting players outside of Suffolk. Eventually, I told them I’ll just do it and Calvin wanted to help.”
Week one of tournaments brought in a total of 36 entrants, where DelVecchio expected “only 20 or 25 to show up.” Week two only had one less entrant and week three brought in 32.
“I’m psyched about it,” DelVecchio said. “I think a big reason for the turnout here is that Boston has a really big Smash scene in general.”
Suffolk alum and SUS competitor Michael Semenza, who mainly competes with the character Roy, has attended all three tournaments so far, and noted the “vibe” of the tournament was great.
“One of the best things you can have at a Smash Bros local [tournament] is a good ambiance or vibe, and this definitely has it,” Semenza said.
Derek Hamad, a sophomore at UMass Boston, attended SUS for the first time during the week three tournament.
“We have Smash events coming up at UMB,” he said. “But they usually only allow players who attend UMB due to the school’s policy.”
Hamad has been playing Smash casually since 2012 but has just recently started playing competitively. Hamad was surprised by the turnout.
“It’s not a huge community, but it’s a fun one. I heard about the event through my friends, and it sounded cool so me and some friends came out to play,” Hamad said. This high turnout did not come without the efforts of its organizers.
“I’ve been doing what I can for advertising, reaching out to get my flyers on TVs around campus and collaborating with different schools,” Mendik said. “The first event, we had prizes for the top five finishers: a copy of Super Mario 3D World and Bowser’s Fury, a couple Amazon gift cards and a Nintendo eShop gift card. We thought entrants would fall off after not having prizes, but the decrease in numbers has stayed pretty small.”
After emailing back and forth with different people, Mendik eventually was allowed two extra monitors for the bracket to run smoother with the number of participants.”
“A lot of the Nintendo Switches are brought in by people who just love the game, with two belonging to the SGL and one belonging to Dawson,” DelVecchio said. “It’s awesome to see all these people who want to contribute to the success of the tournament.” SUS meetings take place every Wednesday in Samia room 217 at 6 p.m. More info can be found on X @SuffolkSSB and tournaments are streamed live on twitch.tv/yungcloutgod at 7 p.m.
