How Smash Ultimate Made Me an Esports Fan

Oh, esports, you remain in your infancy, but you’ve come a long way already. The “E” in “esports” is much like the “E” in “email”, it stands for “electronic”! Esports are video games played on a professional and public level, much like traditional sports such as Baseball of Football. There are a variety of teams that are drafted and compete in a video game within different tournaments for the number-one spot. The top prize, sometimes in the million dollar range, is not a reward I would scoff at personally. This is great for getting the public to take video games more seriously and to provide video game exposure in general.

Why am I giving you this spiel you ask? It’s because I love watching professional Smash Ultimate. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has been my favorite esport to watch since shortly after the game released. I’ll be frank, esports were never really “my thing”. Years ago, every once in a while I’d watch a match or two of the Call of Duty championship and this one time I saw professional Halo on ESPN 3 in my college’s cafeteria! Wowzers. Then there was Overwatch League. This was during a time I was partially consumed by the colorful and smooth team-based shooter. I watched blips of Overwatch League matches and viewed videos about matches sparsely. I went out to a bar one night with a buddy and the Overwatch League championship’s final match was playing. I admit the bar was pretty dead at the time, but it was a cool surprise to see it playing. My pal and I were super into it as well, having a discussion over what was unfolding onscreen, while the few onlookers were perpetually perplexed. This was a step up from my old habits, but I wouldn't consider myself an esports fan at that time.

It wasn’t until Super Smash Bros Ultimate and more specifically when Smash Ultimate tournament clips started showing themselves on my YouTube feed that I was hooked and would consider myself an esports fan. I consider it to be an important factor to love and/or enjoy playing the game you are a fan of. You are watching some athletic celebrity play it while you remain a couch potato after all. Why watch the World Cup if you aren’t the least bit interested in Football (Soccer)? Super Smash Bros. has always been my favorite fighting game series right up there with Mortal Kombat. Aside from being a big fan and avid player of the game itself, I enjoy watching Smash Ultimate as an esport because it's wildly different from other esports.

A reappearing attribute of most esports is long matches. A single game between two teams can take quite a while with something like Overwatch for example, where each team receives a chance to attack and defend, plus the number rounds can multiply on certain occasions. With Smash Bros Ultimate, matches are often short and sweet in comparison and although rounds can multiply from good competition between players, these “longer” skirmishes are still nice bite-sized pieces of video.

Speaking of competitors Smash Ultimate is almost exclusively one on one battles which is a test of skill between TWO people and not a highly variable and harder to keep track of- group of players. There's also never a dull moment in a Smash Ultimate competitive match. Small stages keep combatants close and tension high, and there's always something happening on screen. When a player is knocked out they respawn quickly, with no “nothing happening” time when returning to the fight or grouping up with teammates. Competitors are also singular people instead of groups. I find it easier to grow an attachment to a favorite player and learn their play-style easier than other esport games. Another great strength for Smash Ultimate as a esport is the plethora of content it already has available. Search “Smash Ultimate Tournament” in YouTube and you will find hundreds of different tournament matches between dozens of different professional players.

The variety of characters in Smash Ultimate and the (subjective?) fact that its the closest the series has been to a “balanced” roster or meta gives both the series and its enjoyment as an esport a breath of fresh air. No more are the days of professional Smash Melee where all audiences would see were Sheik and Fox mains (No offense! Smash Melee competitive is still very alive, but it's not for me!). The game is still in its infancy which is a plus in itself, the sheer volume of characters and their viability have yet to be determined. In short: We haven't scratched the surface yet as to who will remain on top indefinitely (until an update…) and the number of options is as staggering as it is refreshing to see in professional play. Lastly, the absolute energy and great knowledge some of Smash Ultimate’s commentators bring is an absolute blast to have alongside competitive matches and elevates the experience and entertainment to a much higher degree.

Smash Ultimate has been a fun and wild ride for me in terms of playing with my friends on a couch or taking my abilities online and watching my confidence both rise and crumble. Although, watching unbelievably skilled players duke it out across countless tournaments has also been a massive highlight and one I never would have guessed would spark, before the game released. I think I’ll finally call myself an esports fan, thanks to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Hooray!

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What do you think of esports? What do you think of Smash Ultimate as an esport? Let me know down below!