During game 1, Samuel Heck keeps his eyes on the enemy King Dedede, even as his character King K Rool sails through the air. Photo by Vanessa Roudabush

The STC eSports Varsity team suffered a disheartening defeat against the 2020 State Champions Waterloo East High (WEH) on Tuesday, September 27th.

While hopes weren’t high to begin with, Roman Hill still used this match-up with WEH as a lesson for future games, “I came in not expecting much [since] this is a top state team. We started off [in Week 1] fighting [the] second in the state [and] that wasn’t very enjoyable. You’re not going to like losing, but you’re going to have to live with it. For me, I’ve never played Smash Bros. before, maybe once or twice with friends, and I’m just learning, so are a lot of other people.”

Kicking off the tournament with Game 1 in Pokemon Stadium, Caleb Cosgrove as Cloud took on WEH’s Joker. Fighting neck and neck, Cosgrove was able to knock out WEH twice before succumbing to defeat in match 1.

Corbin Bergmann busted out Lil Mac and, in a furry of blows, ultimately defeated Joker, resulting in a win for STC in match 2.

In match 3, Bergmann dealt with King Dedede, taking one of his lives. After respawning, WEH took to edge camping to help them land the KO on Bergmann, taking the match from STC.

Caleb Cosgrove keeps his focus as he plays a Cloud mirror match against Waterloo East High in Game 2. Photo by Vanessa Roudabush.

While the entire STC became frustrated with WEH’s edge camping strategy, Johna Houghton saw an opportunity for his team to improve their skills, “We’re trying to increase our ledge guarding as well as finding a way to get back on stage because these are the main departments we’re struggling in.”

Samuel Heck jumped into the arena in match 4, choosing King K. Rool to take on WEH, but was Jet Hammered out of the stadium twice by King Dedede. Heck later suffered an instadeath without taking one of his opponent’s lives.

In match 5, Roman Hill stepped up with Sephiroth, taking a notch off of WEH with a swift Blade Dash knock-up followed by another swing, sending King Dedede sailing out of the arena. With only one more life left for King Dedede, Hill felt the pressure and was batted out of the arena twice in a row, resulting in another win for WEH.

In match 6, Wade Cosgrove selected Kazuya, hoping the Tekken fighter would give him a leg up on King Dedede. At the beginning of the match, King Dedede idly used he inhale ability, but Cosgrove didn’t fall for these tactics. Cosgrove suffered a knock off the platform from King Dedede’s Gordo Throw but quickly recovered. Unfortunately, Cosgrove lost two lives to WEH before finally executing King Dedede, giving STC their second win of the first game.

In match 7, WEH pulled out Zelda against Cosgrove’s Kazuya with only one life remaining. Cosgrove landed a multi-combo hit boosting Zelda off the stage. WEH was able to get back to the platform just as Cosgrove slid into a Dash Attack, pushing WEH off the platform and taking Zelda’s first life. WEH respawned and quickly came back into the fight using her Naryu’s Love ability to knock out Kazuya, giving WEH the first game over STC, 5-2.

In Game 2, the teams took to the Small Battle Field, with Corbin Bergmann bringing out Lil Mac against WEH’s Kazuya. Bergmann landed some swift hits, taking two of WEH’s lives, but suffered a sore defeat.

Jonah Houghton felt the heat when he hopped into the arena as Joker in match 2. With only one life left, WEH kept Joker on the ledge throughout the match, but Houghton’s recovery skills kept him in the match a little while longer before Kazuya landed an execute followed by a body slam, taking two of Joker’s lives. With only one life left, Houghton continued to dodge and block WEH’s moves until Kazuya landed one solid punch sending Houghton sailing.

With two losses in Game 2 so far, Sam Heck came in clutch with King R Rool, landing blow after heavy blow on WEH and, within the first minute, defeated Kazuya, giving STC the victory with two lives remaining for King R Rool.

In match 4, WEH brought out Cloud against Heck’s King R Rool. The heavy hitter was no match for Cloud’s speed as he was swung off the screen twice with little damage done to Cloud in the exchange. With one life left, Heck dodged lunge after lunge by WEH and recovered twice from killing blows but was pushed out of the arena when Cloud followed him off the platform.

With only one win out of the four matches, Jerome Kapayou picked up Kirby, hoping to get the edge on Cloud. Kapayou was unable to land any damage on WEH for the first 30 seconds, but soon after, he landed Hammer Hit after Stone smash on Cloud getting the first death on his opponent. Kapayou tried to keep up the momentum by dodging and sliding out of Clouds grips, but he wasn’t fast enough for WEH and lost the matchup.

In the final match, Caleb Cosgrove tested his own Cloud skills against WEH. The twin fighters traded sword swipes and slams, each recovering blow for blow until WEH followed a kick with Blade Beam taking Cosgrove’s first life. With the match deaths tied 1 to 1, Cosgrove tried to pick it up in round two, but after a successful recovery, WEH quickly landed a Cross Slash execute. With one life left, Cosgrove felt the panic settle in as he frantically dodged and swiped at his opponent, landing several health blows and putting him into the red. WEH pushed back, landing another execute on Cosgrove, ending the second game 1-5.

Coach Mike Carnahan understands his players’ are feeling discouraged after the WEH tournament, “The game today was a little rough because it was another one of the best teams in Iowa. It makes it kind of tough, but we hang in there, and we enjoy playing the game. The other matches we’ve had [have] come down to the last players for both teams, so they’ve been really close. We just haven’t been fortunate enough to get over the hump yet.”

He plans to continue helping STC Varsity eSports improve their Smash skills in the best way he can, “We keep discussing different strategies. We watch how other teams play us. We’re at a disadvantage because we’re a little short-staffed. I, myself, don’t have a huge knowledge of Smash Bros., so we rely on each other, and the kids are learning. It’s just a matter of learning from experience at this point.”

Cheer on STC Varsity eSports in their next tournament against Spirit Lake Community Schools in STC High School Commons on October 4th at 4:00 pm.