On Thursday night, over a dozen students participated in a video game tournament, centered around the game “BlazeBlue Tag Team Battle.” Many others were there, taking a backseat to witness the spectacle.

For those unfamiliar with the name, “BlazeBlue Tag Team Battle” is a stylish fighting game developed by Arc System Works.  It is available for play on Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Players choose characters from popular franchises, like Persona and RWBY, to battle it out in a tag team match. The game’s primary focus is a mix of flashy combos, smart defense, and careful use of their character’s more powerful moves.

After an enjoyable first few rounds, the remaining players entered a high-octane semifinals. Here, players went head to head in a ‘best of five’ matchup to determine who would move on to the final championship round.

The first match pitted Dwayne Bryant against Michael McGorary. After two strong early wins, Dwayne lost his third match in a close defeat. However, he came back in the fourth match allowing him to secure a spot in the championship match.

The next set of competitors, Dylan Dancel and Sandeep Reji, put on quite a show. After a comeback in the first match, and a dominant second, it seemed that Dylan was set to move on right into the finals. However, Sandeep managed to pull out a close victory in the third match and had a great fourth game.

This led to a fifth round to determine who would go up against Dwayne in the championship bout. After putting up a worthy final match, Dylan successfully managed to defeat Sandeep and earn his spot in the final game.

While setting up for the final match, I asked Dylan a couple of questions about himself and the game. He described how he was able to become such a skilled player by stating that it mainly came down to the fundamentals.

Most fighting games have a similar set of requirements that need to be met in order to get anywhere competitively. Focusing on a singular character and understanding how they work, both defensively and offensively, is a good place to start.

When questioned about some other fighting franchise he recommends, games such as “Dragon Ball Fighters” and “Guilty Gear” are a few of his favorites. For anyone interested in these titles “Guilty Gear” can be played on both PS4 and PC, while “Dragon Ball Fighters” is available on
Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Once the final match was set up, the players picked their characters while the crowd debated on who would ultimately pull through. Apparently, this was not the first time these two friends have gone head to head in a finals match, as a few called back to their earlier clash at the Street Fighter tournament.

The first match went to Dylan, after a nail-biting finish that saw both players dealing with low health bars in the final moments of play. Dwayne secured the second game after an even matchup, only to scoop up the third game after an extremely commanding match.

All of this led to a final match up where Dwayne was able to show off some truly skillful moves that ultimately allowed him to take his spot as champion.

Overall, the reception was positive, with fans cheering over big combos, and opponents respectfully shaking hands after each match. Few attendees stayed to witness the final rounds, but those who did were treated to an impressive show that led to a well deserved victory for Dwayne Bryant.

Anyone interested in participating in upcoming friendly competitions should check out The Game Room’s Jenga Tournament on September 20 at 7:30 p.m.

I would like to thank the tournament competitors, and the staff at the Game Room for their assistance in putting together this article. Be sure to check out future Game Room activities and stay tuned for more coverage on all campus events.

For questions/comments about this story, email arts@thewhitonline.com or tweet @TheWhitOnline.