SUNY Plattsburgh Student Among System E-Sports Champions

A SUNY Plattsburgh junior sociology and anthropology major was among the winners who placed first in statewide e-sports league play this fall.

Adam Farber of Huntington, Long Island, was among more the than 500 students competing in the SUNY system 2020-2021 e-sports league. Farber’s skill at Super Smash Bros. Ultimate earned him his place alongside students from six other campuses.

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic restricting sports activity this year, SUNY partnered with Extreme Networks to launch the first-ever system-wide e-sports league to connect students safely for socially distant competition against varsity and club teams system wide.

“I’ve been involved in e-sports on campus since my first weeks at Plattsburgh,” Farber said. “I originally started out by playing on the League of Legends team where we went to Burlington to compete against a few Vermont colleges.”

He also competed on Long Island. But COVID smashed that. However, it gave virtual play a boost.

“COVID has given the e-sports club more outlets to play in,” said Mas Tompkins, student president of the e-sports league, a branch of the recreation department on campus. “We are continually trying to add more teams here. When e-sports moved over to the recreation department this fall, they tripled in popularity.”

Plattsburgh fielded 25 students in the SUNY tourney, competing as individuals rather than as teams. Farber, who competed under the handle, “Visceral,” entered the 73-person, single-elimination game as the No. 52 seed. He beat Westchester Community College’s Gabriel Escobar 4-2 in the championship match Nov. 17.

“We are proud of the success of our growing e-sports club and the opportunities this competition gave our students this semester,” said SUNY Plattsburgh President Alexander Enyedi. “I am particularly proud of Adam Faber, who started as the No. 52 seed and was able to win the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate competition. Go Cardinals.”

“I went into the SUNY-wide tournament expecting to just have some fun, but I did want to win as I was under the school's name,” Farber said. “I also wanted to use this opportunity as a means to show others interested in the game how amazing the competitive scene can be. Overall, the tournament was a lot of fun, and fighting against other dedicated players representing their own schools was a great time.”

“E-sports has kept competition alive for so many of us at SUNY, connecting our students and providing them with an entertaining venue to cheer on their teams,” said SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras. “It is a growing sport that has an opportunity to expand across SUNY, lifting our spirits as we patiently wait to enter all sports arenas and stadiums in what we hope is the near future.” He added his congratulations to the winning colleges, “their e-sports teams and the fans who support them.”

Thirty-six SUNY campuses consisting of 218 teams participated in the fall league. A similar eight-week season will run in the spring semester. For more information on e-sports at SUNY Plattsburgh, contact Tompkins at [email protected].