OC alumnus has smashing video gaming success

Post-graduation life is mostly fun and games for Oklahoma Christian University alumnus Dylan White.

White competes weekly at Super Smash Brothers tournaments across the state. He is currently the No. 1 ranked Smash Brothers Project M player in Oklahoma.

White played Smash Brothers as a hobby until 2006, when an afternoon at McDonald’s opened his eyes.

“I was playing Super Smash Brothers just for fun, and then I randomly found out about a tournament at McDonald’s, which sounded awesome,” White said. “I went there and found out I was really bad compared to people who were playing competitively. After that day, I learned about other tournaments going on and really started to get into it.”

The DZ Comics and Gaming store in Moore, Oklahoma hosts a tournament for Super Smash Brothers on Sundays and Tuesdays. Soon the store will be changing the weekly tournaments to Saturdays and Tuesdays.

“How it works is we have a $5 venue fee that everyone pays one time and a $5 per event fee for prize support,” Chris Diaz, DZ Comics and Gaming store event organizer, said. “We are moving to a new, larger location soon in the same building we are currently in. With our new location, we will not only continue doing Smash Brothers, but also Call of Duty, League of Legends, Battlefield and StarCraft II.”

For Oklahoma players such as White, rankings are calculated using a program created by a competitor with the tag UTDZac. The calculations are based on the legitimacy and eligibility of the player and the tournaments they have competed in.

The official rankings are for Oklahoma competitors only. Therefore, tournaments with out-of-state entrants do not count toward the rankings.

As far as national rankings are concerned, White said no Oklahoman has ever come close to making the list.

White said he does not practice before tournaments.

“It’s kind of boring to play by myself, it really is a community game,” White said. “There are a lot of people who practice at home and really refine their skills, but I can’t do it.”

Although White does not play Smash Brothers on his off days, he stays busy on tournament weekends.

“Major tournaments are generally on Saturdays and last all day,” White said. “We start brackets around noon and finish around 1 a.m.”

Other students on campus enjoy the Smash Brother tournament scene. Oklahoma Christian student Andrew Poteet said he enjoys competing in tournaments across Oklahoma and Texas.

“Well it is kind of just a hobby right now, I just think it’s really cool to hang out with people that enjoy playing the same game,” Poteet said. “Most recently I went to a 320-player tournament held at the University of Texas campus with other guys from Edmond.”

Poteet once played against White.

“Back in high school at Memorial Road [Church of Christ] we played Smash Brothers in the lounge,” Poteet said. “Daniel Griffin and I would each play Dylan and get destroyed. We would even team up and play against Dylan, and he would destroy both of us at the same time.”

Griffin, a senior Oklahoma Christian computer engineering student, said he remembers playing White in high school as well.

“There was one time where we played three on one versus Dylan, and he still beat all of us,” Griffin said. “And I thought we were all pretty good.”

Although Griffin has never played competitively, he said he is aware of tournaments offered through a website called Twitch.

“Twitch is an internet service that streams live video games,” Griffin said. “This summer I watched the finals for Smash Brothers.”

Super Smash Brothers has around 30 professional players, a significantly lesser number compared to professionals of other games. These professional gamers have made a living from competing in Smash Brothers tournaments across the United States.

White said he encourages non-competitive players who love the game to take the first step and join the Oklahoma Smash Scene Facebook group.

“Find out where the tournaments are, and go to a tournament,” White said. “They may lose badly but many times that just motivates people to get better. Then they’ll start coming out and getting really interested.”

White said his favorite aspects of playing Super Smash Brothers competitively are the community and making new friends.

“We don’t really hang outside of playing Smash Brothers, but we have that common interest and that’s what we want to do when we’re together,” White said.

More information on local competitive Super Smash Brothers events is viewable at the Oklahoma Smash Scene Facebook group.