Cedarville Smash Ultimate Team Beats Otterbein 2-0 in Best Game Yet 

By Balen Allain 

Thursday night, September 18, Cedarville University’s Varsity Super Smash Bros. Ultimate team flattened Otterbein University’s in a crew battle of two sets. 

A crew battle pits two teams of four against each other in a single set, where players fight 1v1 battles until one team is out of lives – officially called “stocks.” Each player has three lives and must play until they lose all three. Then, the next player is brought in to fight the same opponent. The match against Otterbein had two sets. 

Eli Konuch, maining Pokémon Trainer, started the set off against Otterbein’s Yoshi main. Konuch lost only one stock to his opponent, while taking all three of theirs. Otterbein sent in their King K. Rool main, and Konuch took all three of their stocks with one remaining. 

His reign of terror ended when the next opponent, a Pit main, took his last stock, leaving the stock count at 9-6. 

“I was able to adapt pretty well to them, and they didn’t adapt back as quickly,” Konuch said. “It felt good. I don’t feel like I do super well at official matches, and tonight I played well. It’s definitely the best I’ve done in an official match.” 

Mark Merchant, maining Corrin, subbed in for Konuch. He proceeded to handily dismantle the Pit player and the subsequent Fox main, taking their remaining six stocks while keeping two of his. 

“I could tell they didn’t know my character,” Merchant said. “They fell for moves that someone who knew the character would know.” 

Feeling confident, the team sent in Mathias Hahn to start the second set. Hahn, maining Joker, took out the Pit with one stock to spare, then did the same to the Fox main, retaining one stock. 

“I’m feeling great.” Hahn said. “I’m playing really patient and very safe, because I’m making sure I’m keeping my stocks and using them best I can. I’m trying not to be over-aggressive and over-commit.” 

His next opponent was the Yoshi. 

“With one stock left, I’m hoping to get at least one more, maybe two,” Hahn said before jumping into the next match. 

Hahn proceeded to strip the Yoshi of two stocks before losing his final stock, putting his final tally for stocks taken at eight. His last victory was noteworthy – he pressured the Yoshi off the edge of the arena, forcing him to fall to his death. The team cheered him as he swapped out with Isaac Luke. 

“He was really desperate to kill me,” Hahn said, reflecting on the rounds. “And I noticed it. I was able to punish some of his slower moves. I noticed he was jumping past the ledge a lot, so I capitalized off that too.” 

This feat marks the best performance for Hahn since starting official collegiate matches. 

Luke cleaned up Otterbein’s last four stocks, beating the Yoshi and K. Rool and winning the set 8-0. 

“I just got an easy character to play against,” Luke said, referring to K. Rool. “I’m glad to finish off the game for Cedarville.” 

Balen Allain is a junior Broadcasting, Digital Media and Journalism major focusing on Audio and Journalism. He enjoys gaming, writing fiction and making music.