Field of Frames Fest, a large esports tournament with prize pools in the thousands, garnered 700 participants at Midland’s Dow Diamond on the weekend of Sept. 26.
Among the competitive brackets were Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, Magic: The Gathering, Rocket League, and Valorant. The ‘side events’ included a Mario Kart tournament and a youth Fortnite tournament, presented by SVSU. The tournaments offered scholarships to various winners, totaling $25,000 between cash prizes and individual scholarships.
SVSU’s Valorant placed sixth out of eight teams. SVSU’s Rocket League team placed 12th out of 12. Casey Goodman, senior electrical engineering major and captain of the Super Smash Brothers esports team, finished in the top 24. A player going by the tag Onin won first place.
Prior to the event, Goodman noted the level of competition at the event. Attending were players and teams from Davenport, Ferris, and Grand Valley universities. “[We’re] all going to be trying to outplace each other,” he stated.
“Most of Michigan’s players were there,” noted junior communication major and esports team member Peyton Lees. Lees placed top 32 in the Super Smash Brothers Ultimate bracket.
Lees mentioned that he was impressed with the event and its handling. “It was a good environment … definitely would go back.”
Lees also noted that this was the cleanest event he’s ever attended.
“There was a lot to do,” Lees mentioned. He also participated in the Mario Kart World side event. “It was everyone together trying to hang out and have a good time,” he stated.
The side tournaments were enjoyed by attendees with a less competitive background as well. “I think it’s a good experience for just going casually” said Zoey Leffler, a sophomore education major who participated in the Mario Kart World event.
“Watching a ton of people play Smash Bros [was my favorite part of the tournament]. Just seeing the amount of people that came for it was kind of cool,” Leffler said.
Senior education major and esports intern Philip Hilmon was involved in the production of the event. “This feels like the largest esports tournament we’ve had,” he said.
Despite the tournament’s 700 participants, Hilmon believes the event could have been larger. “There were less [spectators] than expected … a lot of people were there for the side events … If the tournament happens again, we’ll advertise it more.”
