On Thursday, November 21st, 2024, the University's Varsity Super Smash Bros team faced off against the University of Mary Washington in the NACE East 9 Division Championship.

NACE utilizes a "Crew Battle" format, in which the two teams face off in a series of one-on-one battles, the first to knock out all their opponents' players wins. Each player starts a total of three "stocks" or lives that can be lost before they are eliminated from the match, this number of lives carrying over through each set, or rounds of play, onto the next. 

In the first match, Brendan "Breb" Straut who uses Mii Brawler stepped up to lead the set. In what was a neck and neck battle, Breb was able to knock out his opponent with one life remaining. In his second set, the UNH player fought hard and managed to take a stock off his opponent before he was ultimately knocked out.

Logan "fart" Starr who mains Ganondorf was next up to play. Initially, things proved tricky for fart as his enemy managed to dodge him quite well and even take a stock off him. However, Logan wasted no time responding with proof of his ability, knocking out the UMW player's final two lives in a quick display of strength. He went blow for blow with his next opponent in a tight set and ended up being eliminated but not without taking two lives.

Benjamin "Kuranosuke" Port who plays Falcon was third up to play, making quick work of his opponent's last stock with only one of his own lost. Kuranosuke battled hard in his next set, eliminating a life from the opposing player before losing his remaining two.

Last up was Alex "Deception" Fishler who played Ike with a big responsibility on his shoulders. He made quick work of the UMW player's first life but faced fierce pushback, leading to the players battling it out with their final stocks remaining. Well fought and earned, Alex proved himself the stronger challenger and clutched up the match, giving UNH a 1-0 lead over Mary Washington.

Fired up after the match win, the championship victory was close within the UNH team's grasp. In the second game, led by Kuranosuke, the first set was an even battle where things got close but he pulled through victorious with a stock remaining to eliminate the first of four players standing between them and the title. With his last life, Port made a valiant effort to take down another UMW player but was defeated. 

Next up, fart returned to fight another close battle, the opposing players locked in a close match until Logan was able to gain the upper hand and knock out his opponent. While eliminated in the next set, he still claimed a life from his enemy.

Breb was met with a tough challenge as he fought in another near set, but his quick skill allowed him to claim the win with one life remaining. In an impressive display of ability, Straut was ruthless to his next opponent, who was Mary Washington's last player and the final hurdle to a championship victory, taking two stocks with him before being knocked out.

Once more, Deception was the one to bring it home in a dominant manner, hardly giving his opponent a chance as he swiftly defeated his last opponent and claimed a 2-0 victory for UNH. 

Congratulations to the New Haven SSBU Varsity team for proving the indomitable might of a charger and becoming the NACE East 9 Divisional Champions!

Though they did not play in the matches, the team also consists of Team Captain Noah "SnowCone" Iott and Sean "se" Green, who have also proved just as skilled team members in previous SSBU games.

If you'd like to try and catch one of these games or rewatch highlights from old streams, they can be found on the University of New Haven's Twitch channel. VODS of the games, for those who aren't able to catch them live, can be found on the University of New Haven's YouTube channel.