Asher Gibbons
Southern Editor
Passions are found in many different outlets at FSC, whether that be exercising at the wellness center, reading books in your dorm or keying in on your future outside of college. For the members of the Florida Southern Smash Bros. club, it’s in the Snake Pit.
Every Saturday at 4 p.m., the Snake Pit has an average of 25 to 35 Super Smash Brothers Ultimate players from around the Central Florida region gather to compete in a tournament style bracket for the thrill of the fight. While the players mostly consist of FSC students, the club has expanded its reach to students of other colleges like Polk State, UCF and USF.
Players’ skills are extremely vast, ranging from new and casual players to top 15 players in Florida.
During the day, two different tournaments are played. The earlier of the two starting before 4 p.m. The intention of this is to be more casual by utilizing the in-game items or different game modes.
“You just pick it up. You play your favorite character. Like, oh, I know Mario. Or I know Donkey Kong and then if you want to take it more seriously, you have fun,” Club President Jared Kline said.
The main tournament is very in-depth and overseen by tournament operators, whose importance was greatly stressed. Those TOs not only manage the brackets going on, but oversee the games played as well as the twitch stream for the event.
“The issue is it’s a competitive outlet. As casual as you want to make it, as casual as it can be, the reason I’m interested and the reason most people are interested is the tournament,” Kline said. “You set milestones and those milestones are people. And they don’t stand still. They’re practicing as well. So when you beat someone you weren’t able to beat before, I mean, the feeling of triumph is intense.”
However, the club is about much more than just playing a video game. The people within the space have rooted themselves there, developing long lasting camaraderies. During the last event on Oct. 4, past FSC alumni returned to campus to compete and remain a part of the community.
“We all share a goal and I think that’s one of the most important parts of any community is sharing a goal,” founder and ex-president Isaac Wardyn said. “It’s this idea that we want to get better at this game, and by playing each other, we do. And whenever we see anyone do well or succeed, or beat someone they weren’t supposed to beat, or, you know, like, whatever, it’s awesome.”
As the founder, Wardyn was able to grow the club from the ground up alongside other members who helped him along the way. In 2021, the club started with a small group of 12 to 16 people who just wanted to play Super Smash Bros.
“I wanted to be in a space where people shared the same passion for this stupid little game as me. And I knew I was going to do whatever it took to get as many people as included and in the space as possible,” Wardyn said.
Through the years, astronomical development has taken place to the point where they now have a YouTube channel, a stream, announcers, Video on Demand and double to triple the amount of players showing up on average.
Wardyn said he’s carrying the skills gained from leading this club to his potential future career in the field of Esports.
“The most important thing that we have is the communities that we’re a part of and the people that we love,” Wardyn said. “And being able to create a space where that all converges, even if the fulcrum point is Super Smash Bros Ultimate, at the end of the day, you can make a phone call to any one of those Super Smash Bros players that kick your butt … and they’ll pick up and they’ll be like, what can I do to help you? What, what do you need from me? And that’s special.”
