Mystik wins Smash-a-palooza, Hollow Knight takes cosplay gold

CYPRESS — The first eSports tournament in Cypress crowned its first champions in a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament and a cosplay competition at the Berry Center Saturday night.

Had fun at @beta_sports_net #smashapalooza. Here’s a short recap vlog. @ItsJustJordanTM pic.twitter.com/9CddsSbdKR

— Dope Gamer Brand (@theedopegamer) July 29, 2019

Editor’s note: Read our preview article about Smash-A-Palooza 1 here!

bEta Sports put on the event with 80 competitors of all ages battling it out across nine full rounds of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, plus the intermediary rounds for players with a 1-Up to get back into the competition, for the top three positions in Smash-A-Palooza.

Walker Keel’s Hollow Knight outfit was named as top cosplayer.

Matthew “Mystik” Stephens won the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament. Second place went to Dorien “Chrona” Corteze-Bournes, and Jake “Shaggyplayss” D’Eramo took the bronze.

Running 40 matches on four Nintendo Switch stations in just the first round of the tournament worked surprisingly well.

“The response has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Clay Ratcliff, the brains behind bEta Sports. “I’ve gotten messages every few hours since we closed expressing excitement about the next event. We found the Cypress gaming community to be very welcoming, supportive and friendly. It really felt like people were leaving more than satisfied with the experience and that made us feel proud to have delivered on our hype.”

What’s next for Cypress eSports?

The bEta Sports team is already working on its second Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament. In the meantime, the bEta Sports squad has hosted multiple small parties and birthday events.