Cheers of victory fill ECJ 1.204 every Sunday, where Alexander “Sasha” Makarovskiy plays competitively in what he said his mom felt slightly weary of when he was younger: video games. 

Makarovskiy, a computer science and mathematics senior, finds himself among the weekly players of Longhorn Smash, a competitive Super Smash Bros organization on campus. After playing Smash casually in high school, Makarovskiy said Longhorn Smash provided him the opportunity to go competitive during his freshman year of college. Now captain of the competitive team, Makarovskiy said he leads a group of gamers consistently ranked top 10 in the nation. 

“I don’t know if I would have kept playing the game if Longhorn Smash wasn’t here because it makes it so much more worth it,” Makarovskiy said. “I’m not just playing as a competitor. I have a group of friends that I can teach, that teach me and that support me.” 

Mechanical engineering junior Adam Ghanem works as Longhorn Smash’s social events coordinator and plays on the junior varsity team. Ghanem said he looks forward to the organization’s tournaments every Sunday. 

“The people here are super welcoming,” Ghanem said. “Even though I wasn’t a good player at the time (I joined), I feel like people were still willing to play with me and teach me things, and it was a learning experience.” 

Along with the competitive team, which participates in collegiate tournaments throughout the year, Longhorn Smash welcomes students of all skill levels to join the organization and their tournaments, whether to play casually or more seriously. 

Working as one of Longhorn Smash’s other social event coordinators, John Robertson said the organization hosts various events to encourage growth and bolster engagement, including high-skilled players facing off against low-skilled players to help them improve.

“There’s a common trope in Smash which is: the way you get hooked into this game competitively is that you get your ass handed to you,” said Robertson, an electrical and computer engineering junior. “You just get completely destroyed, and that will piss you off and make you want to play more.” 

Because online play does not offer ideal practice opportunities for players, Ghanem said the organization thrives on creating a friendly and hands-on environment for students interested in playing the game. 

“We really do just strive on having tight-knit and big communities for us to play in, because that’s really the best way for us to get better,” Ghanem said.

Most of Longhorn Smash’s equipment, such as game consoles and monitors, comes from its own members, Robertson said.

“We wouldn’t be doing any of this if we weren’t getting support from the community, especially starting off before we had our own monitors,” Robertson said. “When I first became an admin … we did not have monitors. We didn’t have anything like that. All of the people on the admin team would bring whatever they had to help.”

Providing gamers with the chance to connect and improve their skills, Ghanem said Longhorn Smash allows for both competition and community. 

“If you enjoy playing Smash and you’re looking to make new friends (and) new experiences, I feel like this is a great way to do that,” Ghanem said.