The Overwatch and Super Smash Bros esports teams have finished their 2022 season with a 4-4 record, and both teams have earned their spot in the top 32 in the Garden State Esports playoffs. The Esports club had its first official competitive team in the 2022-2023 school year.

The Smash Brothers team, led by captain Josue Pelaez Rodriguez ‘24, is currently undefeated with a score of 12–0 in competitions and is in first place in Division Four. Edison is also in fourth place in Division Eight for the Overwatch team.

Although Edison faced numerous successes this season, they still were met with pressure, especially by top schools such as East Brunswick.

“It was the general ambition of the Overwatch team to beat East Brunswick,” said Muhammad Aamir ‘24, Overwatch co-captain. “They were undefeated this season, and even though we lost to them, we still felt like we did well. We had contested them very well in the second game, and with more practice, we knew that we could beat them.”

In addition, the Valorant team is currently in the playoffs. Valorant is a 5v5 competitive shooter game, and one that, according to Syamantak Rout ‘24, involves a lot of strategic thinking. The team had their first day on April 10, in which they were leading 12–1. They were about to lose one of the rounds, but captain Wen Gao ‘24 saved the team with a 1v3, securing the win and taking the Valorant team to a 13–1, winning the first map. 

”Winning the first map is interchangeable with winning the first round/set,” said Roneel Shah ‘24. “The matches that the players have to play against the opposing teams consist of multiple sets, and each set is played on a different map.”

“Small clutches when the game’s score is 6–6 or any bizarre kill brightens the team’s mood and usually changes the tide of the game,” said Krish Shah ‘24.

The Overwatch and Smash teams held a 5–3 record in the championship season games and lost the first round of the Garden State playoffs. 

Aamir described game two during the playoffs as intense for the Overwatch team since it was against East Brunswick. Edison lost the last round, which was a mental low for many players due to it being their third loss of the season. Edison was able to tie up the score with East Brunswick during the overtime round but East Brunswick ultimately retook the lead and claimed victory. 

“It was a very hard-fought victory that led to the last attack being second away from the end of the game entirely,” said Aamir. “We could have played better in the first round, which led to our first loss, but our having that second chance allowed the team to fight tooth and nail till the last second to make up for our previous loss.” 

These losses gave the esports players a new determination to improve their skills and learn how to better coordinate more closely with one another as a team. 

“Dustin and Dalvin are star players because they were always practicing and Dustin can win team fights all by himself,” said Edwin Taba ‘24.

In “Overwatch,” teams of five are made up of three types of players, similar to positions on an athletic team. Two are support and are responsible for healing other damaged players. Two DPS (“damage per second”) characters deal as much damage as possible to the other team’s players. Finally, the tank: the character who can absorb the most damage. Usually, a tank is the In-Game Leader (IGL), and is responsible for the team’s overall composition and strategy. 

Dustin Chan ‘25 creates space to make plays and has constantly scored the first few kills of team fights. Kyle Scott ‘24 and Chan got the most “play of the game” worthy plays during the season. Chan, the team’s DPS, was able to always get entering picks good enough to push the entire team forward into the fight and completely sweep multiple enemies. Scott’s character, Hanzo, had a key role in one-shotting opponents and sending them back to spawn, buying them enough time to capture important points.

Aamir, the tank, had tremendously helped the Esports team by clearing ways in multiple games so that it could create an opening for Chan and Scott (DPS) to get entry kills allowing the whole team to prosper. Dalvin Hidalgo ‘24 (support) and Taba (support) played a major part as well in keeping the team alive to the best of their ability.

“It was often these plays from these players that opened a lot of areas for the team to reach victory,” said Aamir. 

“This is something that EHS should be proud of as, for the first year of official competitions,” he added. “We proved ourselves to reach the standard of the league to enter our respective tournament. Our achievements this year may lead the precedent for the years to come.”

As of the time of writing, only the Valorant Team is still in the playoffs.