Comets clash with DFW's best smashers

And you said tryouts were still going on. What players are you still trying out for right now?

We still have two supports we’re choosing between, TreeKangaroo and CrazyKilla, so we’re wrapping up that decision right now.

And otherwise, everything else is pretty much locked in then. What tournaments are you guys going to be playing in?

So we’re currently playing in the Upsurge Secondary League, UAL, that’s the tournament you saw me playing in, and we’re fairly soon going to be starting in Riot’s CLoL fall tournaments and we’re going to be playing in that. And those are our main tournaments we’re going to be playing in this season, this semester. There might be more that crop up, but those would be weekly things. I doubt we’re playing a multi-week tournament other than those two [Upsurge and UAL].

How do you project you guys will do this semester with a few new teammates and trying to lock down all your fundamentals?

I’m not sure about the Riot CLoL fall tournament; I don’t know the format of that or anything, but for Upsurge, I think we’ll make it to playoffs. And I think we’ll go pretty far in playoffs. I’m pretty confident in our ability to improve and start winning at Upsurge fairly soon, so I think that if you just keep watching us at Upsurge, you’ll see us probably hit at least semi-finals if not win the whole tournament.

On-campus tournament returns, providing cheap competitive alternative to other local competitions

BEN NGUYEN Managing Editor

Comets can return to on-campus Smash Ultimate battles against top players in the DFW area with the return of Comet Clash to the SU on Sunday evenings.

The student-organized Comet Clash Smash tournament returns after waiting out the brunt of the pandemic. The on-campus local provides a cheap and easy way for students to compete against top-ranked players in the DFW area, as tournament organizers Chaynen “Sun” Casas and Kenny “Duallium” Gausserin have put together an event that pulls over 60 players per night. Duallium attributes the event size to its college-oriented entry fee.

“We exploit the poor college students (laughs jovially). Like we’ve always been catering to that because since the beginning, we’re always three dollars no matter what. We’ve turned down venues for that reason, basically that’s the one thing CC won’t budge on,” Duallium said. “It’s always going to be the affordable tournament, and because of that, everyone comes; and you get a mix of the top of the top with like Orex over there. And you have people who have never touched Smash or they’re just peering through the esports room watching them practice, and they’re wanting to see what they can do to get on that team.”

However, if you’ve seen the TV room at the SU, you may wonder how an event typically filled with so many people could fit there. The answer is in the initial pools stage, splitting the field into two pools of people that are seeded into matches against each other. They then rotate the groups of players through nine or 10 setups to knock out players and qualify the winners for a bracket stage.

“As soon as we get a match reported, we’re already sending in the next group to that setup that just finished. And then as soon as we finished that first round in the winners [bracket], one of us dips down into the losers bracket and starts already assigning those losers matches to get that one moving through,” Duallium said.

This ensures that the TV room is never too crowded and that they’re able to continue using the space to run the tournament. Some students might wonder why the esports room isn’t used, but Sun said that the SU provides a reliable space to play the game without being super crowded.

“Unfortunately, the esports room, it’s just too condensed, like we have that many people," Sun said. “In terms of being in the SU, like, she’s always been our fallback. ... it’s always reliable, it’s our home.”

The Blackstone Launchpad was previously used before COVID-19, but once the pandemic hit the Comet Clash organizers were forced to wait for the venue to reopen for use. Since Sun is close to graduation, new students in the UTD Smash community will have to step up to keep the event on campus. Student players like current team manager Zen “Fufa” Farris will have to keep the event going.

For Sun and Duallium, the event is more than just an opportunity to play. It’s a place for students to prove themselves and practice against top-tier players without having to pay venue fees which can go up to $12 on top of tournament fees.

“Comet Clash has always been there as a way to kind of, you know, instead of sending off the kids to the talent, bring the talent to the kids. And then they just get to play with the high-level players. Sun said. “The loyalty and respect that we have amongst each other, it’s like family. Because you talk to some of the people that started at Comet Clash and they would advocate that if it wasn’t for Comet Clash, they wouldn’t be where they’re at.

The best and worst of esports today

It’s a good day to be a fan of UTD esports. The Overwatch team is putting up undefeated scorelines, the Rocket League team is off to the races and the Smash team is showing results at Comet Clash, Freaks, Low Tide City and more. Let’s dive in!

Comets beat the Chads 2-0

In what could be a very funny analogy to the nerdy reputation of UTD, the Rocket League team took down a non-collegiate team named “The Chads” in a 2-0 series victory for the USO Invitational qualifier. While the Chads were able to get one point per game off the Comets, UTD held firm and repeated a 2-1 game score line to close out the series. This year’s Rocket League roster is super strong, so expect to see a deep run through both the qualifier and the tournament as the six-week event progresses.

LoL team loses opening UAL series 1-2

The League of Legends team unfortunately lost their opening series against USC for the UAL regular season. With starting midlaner GoodSir preoccupied, head coach Hemal had to sub in, and while the team was able to get one game on the board, USC ultimately outperformed the Comets in a close series. However, with their full starting lineup and plans to build up and run the upsurge tournament (see the Coach Check-in with head coach Hemal Salvi), the UTD LoL team will be going onwards and upwards.

GG EZ Café runs LANs for clubs

With the return of in-person activities comes the return of in-person club activities. And while you may not associate gaming clubs with in-person gatherings, the LAN competition is a long-lasting tradition in esports and local gaming organizations everywhere.

Recently, a VALORANT LAN and a Teamfight Tactics tournament have been run out of the GG EZ Café, with a large turnout and a great time to be had. Hopefully, these LANs will continue throughout the year.

Low Tide City brings in-person Smash in a tidal wave

Remember how LANs are back? Well, in Smash Ultimate they’re really back, with the first major regional happening in Austin this past weekend. Once again, I unfortunately have to write this column before the paper publishes and the event actually happens (darn you schedules!), but suffice to say, all the UTD and DFW participants ran the bracket for sure. If you didn’t watch one of the biggest tournaments in recent history, you missed out.

Pine and Jecse leave the Dallas Fuel

While this paper does not generally cover big tier 1 moves in esports, the loss of Pine and Jecse from the Dallas Fuel is one that hits close to home. With the impending release of Overwatch 2, it was natural that as the game turned into a 5v5 instead of a 6v6, cuts would be made. But Jecse in particular was a fan favorite player. You can read Sean Collin’s coverage about it in the Dallas Morning News, but here in this little column, I wanted to offer a moment of silence for the loss of some great players from the Fuel.