Rogers Advances In NJCAAE Super Smash Bros. Tournament; Needs Four Wins On Wednesday For Tier 2 National Championship
April 23, 2024 - - The final rounds of the National Junior College Athletic Association Esports Playoffs kick off this week and Tuesday started with Robert Rogers (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS) competing in the 1v1 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (SSBU) Tier 2 Championship Tournament.
1v1 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – Tier 2 – Contender Series – Best-of-Five
Rogers wasted no time in dismantling his opponent from Hinds Community College in three rounds. He went with his usual character Yoshi against Hinds's choice of Pikachu.
In the first round, both players fought down to their final stock (life). Rogers absorbed heavy damage from Hinds but was able to escape and fight back with a combination of kicks off the fighting platform as his opponent desperately tried to reach the ledge to stay alive.
Rogers kept the momentum going in the second round as he got Hinds down to their final stock quickly and defeated them while still having two of his own stocks remaining.
Looking to change their fortune, Hinds switched characters mid-round, ditching Pikachu and going with Roy, of the Fire Emblem gaming universe, to see if it could throw Rogers off his game.
At first, Hinds strategy seemed to work as Rogers got down one stock. But he responded to even the match, and a few moments later both players were down to their final stock with Hinds trying to stay alive and Rogers looking to survive and advance.
With both players knotted at 60% damage, Rogers ended the match by inflicting another 60% damage while Hinds could only muster 10% more damage on Rogers. A hit with Yoshi's tail sent Hinds off the fighting platform and Rogers completed the sweep.
Rogers, who improved to 4-1 this postseason, advances to the elimination bracket semi-final against Heartland Community College. A win there will send him to the elimination bracket final where he will face Kirtland Community College who handed Rogers his only loss in the tournament thus far. If Rogers makes it through his next two matches unscathed, he will face another competitor from Hinds CC in the Tier 2 National Championship.
All matches will take place on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 starting at 6 p.m. live on LCCC's Twitch channel: CommodoreEsports.
After he finishes his play in the SSBU Tournament, Rogers will switch gears and continue play in the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Tier 2 Tournament where he needs three straight wins to claim a national title. Those matches will begin on Thursday at 7 p.m.
About CommodoreEsports:
LCCC's Esports team competes in the National Junior College Athletic Association Esports (NJCAAE) which is split into three tiers: Tier 1 - Premier Series, Tier 2 - Contender Series, and Tier 3 - Open Series. There is a fall season (September-December) and a spring season (February-April). LCCC has players that compete in Tier 2 and Tier 3. Tier 2 - Contender Series (CS) competition is the mid-level of NJCAAE competition for members with teams made up of eligible students while Tier 3 - Open Series (OS) competition is the open level of NJCAAE competition for members of that collegiate institution. In Tier 3, participants do not have to meet any Student Eligibility requirements.
Both tiers of competition run for seven weeks before the postseason begins.
Currently, LCCC competes in seven gaming titles/competitions:
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, a fighting game, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, a racing game, that feature characters from the Nintendo gaming universe on the Nintendo Switch. With Super Smash Bros. players can compete in individual competitions in a best-of-five match or in crew battle, an elimination style game in a 3v3 format.
Valorant, a PC first person shooting game where teams of five players compete in a best two-of-three match where the objective is for one team to place and detonate a spike while the other team tries to diffuse it. LCCC also competes in Overwatch 2, another first person shooting game.
Tekken and Street Fighter, both hand-to-hand combat fighting games.