By: Arturo Chafino-Marquez
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — NM State Esports hosted its 5th annual Invitational over the weekend on the New Mexico State University campus.
The two-day event took place on Saturday, March 7, and Sunday, March 8 inside the Corbett Center Student Union. The event saw a wide range of esports programs from the Southwest area come together to compete in a variety of games, with teams and players coming from the college, high school and even the middle school level.
There was a mix of new and returning players to this years competition. For many, it was a breath of fresh air, with many of these teams not having faced each other recently or even at all.
As event organizers and NM State Esports members took to the podium to set the stage, they reminded the competitors about the importance of more than just winning.
“This Invitational isn’t only about who gets first, its about teamwork, its about leadership, its about communication…and finding ways to win when things get tough,” NM State Esports chief of recruitment Kazei said.
Kazei emphasized to the players how this was a showcase of the community, and to bring the hype and energy.
“These next two days are about showing the Southwest what esports really looks like,” Kazei said.
The Invitational’s slate featured some of the largest titles in esports, with the lineup including League of Legends, Valorant, Super Smash Bros: Ultimate, Rocket League, Splatoon 3, Mario Kart 8, Chess, and Overwatch 2. This year also introduced two new games with both Marvel Rivals and Street Fighter 6 joining the fray.
The event had a mix of team competitions as well as individual tournaments, with some games like Super Smash Bros having both formats. Players could participate in both formats for the same game, and these would usually run simultaneous to one another in a turn-based fashion.
After some warm-up matches, the participants would begin their respective game tournaments, playing group stages and early brackets on Day 1, and elimination matches and finals on Day 2.
The event was done in a convention format, with different booths with screens being set up on the mainstage displaying gameplay, and different sections in the building containing most of the group play.
The event was also broadcasted online in some capacity through multiple NM State Esports channels, including their Twitch and YouTube channels. The YouTube broadcast mainly highlighted the two Super Smash Bros tournaments, while their Twitch stream jumped around into multiple different games.
The event saw a highly successful outing for the UTEP Honey Badgers. They saw a tournament win in the Super Smash Bros. singles, where NMSU player JMS finished in the top 8, as well as a win in the team format. They would also win a seven-game thriller against UNM in the Rocket League finals.
Some other notable performances would be UNM’s tournament win in Splatoon 3, along with an impressive second-place finish by La Cueva High School in the same game.
After UTEP’s tournament wins in Super Smash Bros., star player AKKO joined the commentating desk to discuss the event. He remarked how glad he was to be there, especially since missing the last time due to oversleeping. He also made sure to highlight the inclusion of the high school teams in the event.
“This year I saw so much improvement…they left an impact this year,” AKKO said.
He then proceeded to praise the experience, mentioning how many cool people he was able to meet and encouraging those who can to participate in the event. He also had a message for the event organizers.
“Please continue doing them,” AKKO said.
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