The University of Plymouth SwitchUp Society have been busy this academic year taking part in a number of tournaments!
From Mario Kart to Wii Sports, to inter-university competitions with Sheffield and Liverpool, SwitchUp share an update on all the tournaments they have taken part in so far in term 1 and 2...
SwitchUp Mario Kart Tournament - 4th October 2024 | Rolle
SwitchUP’s first tournament of the year, a crowd favourite: Mario Kart.
SwitchUP had 3 Rolle rooms packed with 40 contestants, and both familiar and new faces turned up to take part. With 12 monitors being used, it is definitely the most organisationally complex tournament of the year. The tournament began with the heats stage, this was 4 short races to determine the position of all the racers in the next stage. This next is the bracket stage, and the 40 contestants were split into 3 groups, with each vying for the 4 spots in the finals. Our finalists were John Pork, Ellie, Harrison, Noah, Charlie, Ned, Ollie, Ben, Mr. Fish, Rocky, Georgie and Josh. With John Pork taking 1st, Ellie taking 2nd and Harrison taking 3rd.
Esther, Social Media Manager, said the tournament was “thrilling and exciting” and Ben, a member and participant, said “I felt like I made friends with everyone I played with, it was a great tournament!”
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SwitchUp Wii Sports Olympic Tournament - 1st Novemebr 2024 | Rolle
SwitchUP’s second tournament, Wii Sports, is a new tournament to the year long tournament league, with its motion controls testing a whole new range of skills as well as being a great opportunity for different members to thrive in the competition.
Four Wii Sports events were ran: Wakeboarding, Archery, Skydiving and Frisbee Dog. Competitors earned points by playing in the four different sports, the better they perform the more points they earn. In true Olympics fashion the top three competitors in each sport gets a bronze, silver or gold medal.
The top three in Archery were: Em in first, Rocky in second and Ned in third. The top three in Skydiving were: Rocky in first, Emily O in second and Jack in third. The top three in Wakeboarding were: Rocky in first, Emily O in second and Ned in third. The top three in Frisbee Dog were: Austin in first, Rocky in second and Bradley in third. This ended with our overall top podium winners being: Rocky in first, Emily O in second and a three-way tie for third with Austin, Jack and Ned. To decide who got the trophy in the three-way tie there was a tie breaker in which Ned came out victorious.
Jake, Kit Manager, said “the tournament felt like the actual Olympics, the ceremony and medals at the end were really fun, and the commentating and news bar on Twitch was great.”
SwitchUp Boomerange Fu Tournament - 29th November 2024 | Rolle
A SwitchUP classic, Boomerang-Fu, was the third tournament of the year, and it’s a favourite from last year’s tournament spread.
23 contestants were pitted in a number of 4-person free-for-alls, with the top 2 scorers advancing to the next bracket, and the bottom two dropping down to the loser's side in double elimination style. Our finalists were Zac; who made it into the semifinals last year, Bradley; who swept through the whole of the loser’s bracket, Ben; a newcomer to the society who hadn’t taken part in a tournament yet, and Jesse; the underdog of the finalists. The final positions were Zac in first, Bradley in second, Ben in third and Jesse in fourth.
Benny C, a member, said it was “competitive but respectful” and Ellie, chair, said “it was really intense, especially towards the end of the tournament”
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SwitchUp Smash Bros Tournament - 31st January 2025 | Rolle
Super Smash Bros, Ultimate, the peak of Nintendo 1v1s and SwitchUPs fourth tournament of the year.
With the introduction of the first Smash Bros teams this year everyone knew that competition was going to be at an all-time high, and this tournament proved it.
With 5 out of the top 7 competitors being in the Smash teams, the practise paid off. In first place the captain of team 1 who went undefeated the whole tournament; Jesus, in second; Yuji, and in third place; the fish lover, Dinish.
Jesus, winner of the tournament, said “If you lose to Sephiroth just learn the matchup bro."
SwitchUp Overcooked Tournament - 28th February 2025 | Rolle
Overcooked is normally a cooperative group game, but for the SwitchUP tournament players it was a 2v2 cooking showdown.
This is the last game in the year long tournament league so the points are a must have for anyone looking to get into the tournament finals. With 9 teams of two, the competition was full on.
Returning from their win last year, Ellie and Ned storm through the winner’s bracket and make it to the Grand finals without dropping a game, another notable was Em and Sasha, with Em making it to grand finals last year with another partner. The final results were; Ellie and Ned first, Em and Sasha second and Jesse and CJ third.
Simon and Esther, one the teams who took part said “I had a lot of fun, but never want to cook burgers in a balloon again”, and Ned and Ellie, another team said “watermelon strat for the win.”
Plymouth vs Sheffield - (inter-university tournament vs Sheffield Gaming soc) - 3rd March 2025
The Mario Kart team competed across 2 duo matches for a total of 16 races, with Harrison and Jake winning the first match, and Ned and Ellie claiming victory for the second one, winning 2-0 overall!
The Smash team also won their match, with Jesus, Dinish, Yuji and Emily winning 12 rounds and losing 4 for a brilliant overall victory.
It was a great match and they were all really lovely! I’m looking forward to playing against them again! - Ellie, Chair of SwitchUp.
SwitchUp Playoffs (Year-Long Tournament League Playoffs) - 7th March 2025 | Rolle
The tournament play-offs are an opportunity for members who didn’t earn quite enough points to secure themselves a spot in the finals.
Eight competitors entered to battle for the only two spots left in the finals. In the first round – Runbow – Emily and Josh are knocked out. Round two – Boomerang-Fu Hide and Seek – Rocky and Oliver are knocked out. Final round – Tower of Babel – Simon and Ben are knocked out after 45 long minutes, leaving Dinish and Jack to promote to the legendary SwitchUP Finals.
Plymouth vs Liverpool (inter-university tournament vs Liverpool Gaming soc) - 10th March 2025
The Mario Kart team won their “free for all” match after 12 intense races, with Ellie claiming 1st place, Harrison 2nd, Jake 4th, Noah 5th, Ned 7th and Ben 8th. It was a close match and the competition was great!
The Pokemon team unfortunately didn’t win their 3 round 1v1 matches, however it was close and they’re hoping for a rematch in future! They lost 2-1 overall.
Ned, Tournament Manager, who played both matches said “it was nice to see a more serious side of our members while taking on the competition, and it was also great to see some members take part who don’t attend our regular hangouts every Friday."
Everyone had fun and it was great to see new friendships form! - Ned, Tournament Manager.
SwitchUp Finals - 21st March 2025 | Rolle
The SwitchUP Finalists consisted of the top 6 year-long tournament league scorers and the two winners of the play-offs.
The first round was Baron: Fur is gonna fly, a chaotic 2D plane shooter, score enough points and you advance to the next game, Jesse and Dinish didn’t make it through. The second round, Super Bomberman R, was fast paced and stressful, and everyone taking part openly hated this round, Ben and Emily didn’t make it through. The third round was Wii Party minigames, this randomly selected mini games tested many different aspects of the four remaining finalists, sadly Jack and Em didn’t have what it took to make it through.
The champion deciding round, Wii Play 1v1, pitted Ned and Ellie against each other. Ned, the reigning champion, lost, making Ellie the new SwitchUP tournament league champion.
Ellie, the overall winner, said “When I reeled in the King of the Pond it was nuts, the whole room started cheering so loud I’m sure you could hear it all throughout Rolle!”
