The Long County Blue Tide esports team is in its inaugural season, but they have already made history. The Super Smash Bros. team advanced to the state playoffs, but fell in the first round on Monday, April 18.
Splash Smash took on Forsyth Central’s Dawg Dynasty, a team that made the state championship game during the Fall 2021 season. The Bulldogs entered the game 7-0 and ranked fourth in the state while Splash Smash was 4-3 and ranked 61st in the state.
Freshman Patrick McClennon has been a consistent piece for Splash Smash this year, starting in the first position for the final seven games of the season. He started in the first roundand gave his team the early 1-0 advantage.
Using his Ludwig main, McClennon took the first two games from the Bulldogs, beating Ike from the Fire Emblem franchise.
Ike got off to a good start, getting in 61 damage before Ludwig was able to get a hit in. Ike took the first stock, but the score was evened at 2-2 just seconds later as Ludwig took the first stock not long after respawning into the fight.
McClennon made a near-crucial mistake as he committed a self-destruct by mistiming a jump and falling off the map to give Ike the 2-1 advantage. He was able to get back into the game as he evened the score up, but not before taking 75 damage.
He began an epic comeback to take Ike’s final stock to win the first game 1-0.
The second game of the first series was back and forth again and Ludwig went down 3-1 after losing his first stock with Ike having 83 damage and committing another self-destruct at 112.
Ludwig zero deathed Ike to make the score 2-1 and a self-destruct from Ike made the score 1-1. McClennon was able to complete the comeback and take the second game 1-0 and give Splash Smash the 1-0 set lead.
Jimmy Barreto took the sticks and faced off against a Joker main. This same player defeated McClennon earlier in the season, but Barreto was eager to avoid the same fate.
Joker took the early, getting in 79 damage before taking any himself. However, Barreto, using his Isabelle main, went on a 71-5 run to bring the damage score to almost even.
Joker took Isabelle’s first stock before the score was tied up again with Isabelle at 102 damage. Joker took the second stock with only 63 damage and was in a good spot to get the win.
He was able to do so, winning the first game 2-0. However, the second game was much more competitive as Isabelle took the early lead with 101 damage.
Joker tied the score with just 34 damage before taking the 2-1 lead at 93 damage. Isabelle was able to even the score at just two damage and the fight for the last stock was on.
Isabelle learned from mistakes made earlier in the match, keeping his feet on the ground and avoiding aerial battle. He took the last stock to even the game score at 1-1.
It was another close third game as they traded stocks back and forth before the score was even with Isabelle at 53 damage. He was not able to pull out the win as Joker won 1-0 to secure the 2-1 set victory and even the match score at 1-1.
Ben Stokes used his Steve main to take on a Roy main, also from Fire Emblem. Stokes quickly found out that their last player was their best as he was not able to get much done offensively.
He had to rely on a defensive game and guarded as much as possible, but lost both games two stocks to none.
Splash Smash lost the match 2-1 with a game score of 4-3. They will look to the next season with all members of the team returning.
With hopes of the school offering a Fall 2022 season, Splash Smash will look to make a big splash in the standings next year on the sticks.