Despite a “minimal marketing” effort, 225 people attended the Winthrop Coliseum’s first esports event on Sept. 17. In what was meant to be a test event “to learn if the Coliseum could handle the capacity (bandwidth and power – which I’m still anxious about),” Sheila Burkhalter said. But, the event has now become the largest Ultimate Event in South Carolina history.
According to Winthrop Esports on Twitter, Winthrop student, Matthew Scott a.k.a. NoTag placed first in the competition, taking home “the inaugural Rock The Hill title after an incredible three sets” against Christian Londono a.k.a. Peabnut.
Players from all over were in attendance; including students from Clemson University, University of North Carolina Charlotte, University of South Carolina, College of Charleston, and Lander University.
Business administration major Chadric Wiley said, “So we have setups around the entire octagon, the entire octagon. … And we also have set ups down here [ court] and then round inside [coliseum hallways]. We have a lot of setups.”
Winthrop Graduate and Competitive gaming club founder, Jahiym Staten, is one of the leaders of the Winthrop Competitive gaming club. He helped implement initiatives to acquire the space, set the rules, meet with the athletic department and partner with the Winthrop athletics and esports team.
Staten said, “What makes a gaming tournament is that anyone can join. There’s no requirements, you got to be part of a team, anything like that, you register for the event, you pay a registration fee, you enter. So it’s kinda like, it’s like, like a sports tournament, like March Madness and things that … except for you’re pretty much paying for your registration for your team, you’re representing yourself, as a chance to win.”
As the player amount grows, “the more money, you’re going to have a chance to win, but you’re betting on yourself.” Staten said.
While players are betting on their skills against other people, there is a double elimination structure which means players lose twice in order to be eliminated. Players were able to progress further until they were the last person standing.
Anyone is allowed to play as long as you bring your own controller, show up and register to play. Many esports events like Rock The Hill have attendance numbers that reach thousands.
“So that’s how the structure, those things generally work. And this has been in the works for months. So we had 200 plus people signed up today. And it’s just been a really good vibe, a lot of people, a lot of matches, they’re still going to go on all day,” Staten said.
Two competitors, Rafael Alfaro and Johnathan Lopez from Triad, NC near Greensboro heard about the tournament and decided to travel and compete.
Alfaro said, “Specifically with Smash, it started for me back when I was a kid, I played brawl. I didn’t do too much with that, because I was like a baby. In high school, my friends, and I used to bring our 3DS’s and play Smash 4, and then eventually, the new Smash came out from the switch and I just had a lot of fun with it, saw that there was a scene and just went from there.”
After just competing in Smash Ultimate tournaments, the two sat in the seats of the coliseum, chatted, and observed competition goers.
“I understand that in some aspects, people take it very seriously like it is a daytime job. For me, however, I just enjoy competing just for the fun of it, just interacting with people who have the same interest as me and [being] able to grow a pretty strong relationship with them. Overall, I just really enjoy competing and just really enjoy playing the game.” Lopez said.
UNC Alumni Makky Kalaser from Charlotte who plays Smash Ultimate brought their hamster along for the tournament.
“So, I started going to tournaments in 2019 when I was still a UNC student. And I had gotten interested in the game after my brother had already become a PR (power ranking) player and was like, beyond practicing with me for fun because the skill gap was too big and I was determined to become as good as him,” Kalaser said. “So I had a previous hamster named Pants. When I started competing it was 2019. … And, UNC had Smashfest which was like a free bracket that was like casual and low stakes in the student union. … So, I started going to the Smash brother events. And, I had a hamster. And I was like ‘I could bring my hamster. Nobody would stop me. I could just show my hamster to people at the low stakes Smashfest.’ So I started doing that. And, my hamsters are always really calm and well behaved.”
In the hallway, you can find Perler beads seller Kayla Hieser at her stand, pressing her designs. “So you take the bead, and you have pegboards to have the little pegs on them. And that’s where the round little piece goes. And then after you’re done with everything, you take a piece of parchment paper, put it on top and you melt them together.”
At approximately 5 p.m. that evening, Hieser said she’d been working the stand since 9 a.m. that morning.
“Most of the time, it’s a 12-hour shift, depending on how long the tournament goes and kind of how big the event is. But I’ve done two-day events, I’ve done this event. So it varies on what you can take and how long you can take it,” Hieser said.
The tournament streamed from the Winthrop Coliseum to viewers at home.
