Marvel has often been the inspiration for video games, but now a newly introduced game has entered the high school esports community.
“The newly released game Marvel Rivals has caught the attention of other esports teams and quickly established a big following,” Coach Nathan Elias said. “Many of our players from the fall were clamoring for a league to compete in.”
For the spring season, Marvel Rivals is one of two new games that Baldwin’s esports teams will compete in.
Marvel Rivals is a team-based shooting game inspired by the Marvel movies. Each person gets to choose their own character from the Marvel franchise.
To prepare for the spring season, the team has been competing in a Marvel Rivals tournament called PIEA. They are undefeated, having won their first three games.
Sophomore Luke Linden feels confident about what is to come for the Marvel Rivals team.
“We won our first (Marvel Rivals) games against one of the best teams in the state for Overwatch, which is a game similar to Marvel Rivals. Our morale is high right now, and I feel like that’s a big factor,” Linden said.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is another newly introduced game for this season.
“This has been a long-established esports title that many surrounding schools have competed in and had success in,” Elias said. “We had some calls for this from students who have participated in our other games.”
Super Smash Bros is a team-based game focusing on Nintendo characters such as Mario, Donkey Kong, and Yoshi.
Junior Zach Czapko already has experience with competitive Super Smash Bros outside of school and he is a standout on the team. He is looking forward to teaching underclassmen on the team how to play.
“I play in actual competitive scenes, so I’ve had a lot of prior experience with both new games. I definitely feel like some of the newer guys are excited for both the games” Czapko said. “My goal is really just to help them out.”
In previous years, the team participated in Rocket League and Valorant for both fall and spring seasons. Competing in two new games this spring season has brought in new team members.
“We have also had some students interested that did not participate before, so I am very happy we are reaching a wider audience by offering these new titles,” Elias said.
The final game of the Marvel Rivals PIEA tournament is on Feb. 16 against Hollidaysburgh.
The Super Smash Bros. tryouts were held Jan. 30. The first match will take place on Feb. 15.
