Gamers of all kinds came together at the Cradle of Aviation in Long Island, New York to celebrate the College Pro Tour, hosted by Mid Tier Summit Gaming. Five tournaments, Tekken 7, Super Smash Bros 4, Street Fighter V, Super Smash Bros Melee, and Dragon Ball FigherZ, were taking place throughout the day and the action was non-stop. Gigamax Games was on location, speaking with competitors and the MT Summit crew to see what these tournaments mean to the gaming community and the individuals that put it all together.
The first thing that becomes absolutely clear when walking around to the different tournament stations is that these competitors are extremely supportive of one another. No judgments and incredibly accepting, MT Summit Gaming did an amazing job creating an environment where gamers of all skill levels can thrive.
“It’s incredible actually,” said Vinny, who was competing in the Super Smash Bros 4 tournament. He went on to explain, “It feels like there’s a lot at stake even though it’s a smaller tournament.”
Gamers from all over the island couldn’t wait for their chance to get a piece of the over $1000 in prize support, including a brand new Nintendo Switch. With such an amazing first prize, there was actually a lot at stake. However, even with the massive prize pool, the competition floor was still anything but cutthroat. Toxicity that is so often associated with the gaming community was nowhere to be found. A friendly atmosphere and gamers building other gamers up was the common theme of the event.
When speaking to SoulArts, the second place winner of the Super Smash Bros tournament, he stated, “The community has a lot of intertwined bonds” and after this weekend, that is evident.
Even with all the good vibes throughout the tournament, people were still there to compete and have a good time.
Whan (Chibi Whan), who was competing in the Street Fighter V tournament is new to the competitive scene and was excited to find out about MT Summits latest event. “I’ve been waiting for a Street Fighter V tournament for like, ever.” He goes on to say, “[I’m] trying to get a little more competitive with this kind of thing – I know more than I did a couple months ago, but I still have a way to go.” It’s great to see those new to the competitive gaming scene get involved and with the atmosphere MT Summit created, it’s a perfect first step into eSports as a whole.
Another gamer Gigamax Games had a chance to meet was Synchronaizah. It was his first time at an MT Summit tournament and he seemed excited. “I’m ready for it,” he said. After hearing about how close MT Summits College Pro Tour was to his house, it was clear he wanted to get involved, “I should just go and do this.”
Not only where there new faces, Gigs, and Mack met up with some people that attended previous MT Summit tournaments. The crew first met Tony (SolidTony), formally from Crossfire gaming, at one of MT Summits first events last year. He’s a bit of a veteran of the competitive gaming scene. “About when Smash 4 came out, I played it religiously and I’ve traveled, I went through a lot of tournaments.” It was incredible having the chance to get some perspective from a seasoned gamer. Tony continued, “We used to run our own events [on Long Island] and we kinda just stopped and real life happened. I took a pretty big hiatus with competing. I love gaming, I love competing.”
The tournament spanned all day. Gigs and Mack made so many new friends and learned so much about the Long Island gaming community. There were contributors selling incredible handmade and 3D printed gaming gear and there was always a place open for a free play with some great people. One of those new faces the Gigamax crew had the chance to meet was RickyG, the winner of the Super Smash Bros 4 tournament.
RickyG left the MT Summit tournament with a brand new Nintendo Switch and even though his tournament ended halfway through the event, he stuck around all the way until the end. Catching up with RickyG after his big win, we found out a little bit about this talented gamer. “I only just kinda sorta started getting back into [the competitive scene]”. He definitely knew the Long Island Smash scene well, “At one point I would say I was one of the best players on Long Island but nowadays you have a lot of great players. There is some really rising talent. There’s a deep bond within the community. What brought me back is that I made a lot of friends in the scene.” Ricky also had some amazing advice for any future or currently competing gamers, “Don’t be afraid to talk to gamers at a higher level than you.”
Mike (Face), owner of Aion Gaming and Super Smash Bros Melee competitor who took home first place had another bit of important information for any gamer, “You can’t control how good your opponent is at all, spending any time on that is fruitless.” He went on to explain how focusing on practicing and improving yourself is the only thing that a person can do to keep getting better.
There were so many gamers attending that are working hard every day trying to find their own space within the massive industry. Trevor, a Stream Technician from GenGaming and Aion Gaming, shared a few words of wisdom for anyone trying to get involved in the gaming industry. “There are so many ways you can get into [the gaming industry]. When you think about eSports and regular sports, there’s a lot of common allies.” He explained, “You can write, you can podcast, you can live stream, you can run tournaments like the guys at Mid Tier Summit are doing and what we’re doing over at Aion gaming, you can be a stream technician.”
Not only was the College Pro Tour an exciting tournament, it was an amazing overall experience. Getting a chance to meet like-minded gamers, all from diverse backgrounds and at different stages in their competitive gaming journey was inspirational. It was fantastic to see top-tier gamers were giving advice to the newer competitors. MT Summit Gaming and the tournaments they host are the embodiment of what the Gigamax crew believes in, gamers can build each other up and thrive together.
Be sure to stop by again on Friday to check out the exclusive interview with some of the core members from Mid Tier Summit Gaming!
July 27, 2021
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