When Luke Dahlgren, sophomore, heard about the Gateway Legends, a national major tournament hosting Super Smash Bros. Ultimate events in St. Louis on Memorial Day weekend at Ballpark Village, he was excited to compete.

“I participated because there were lots of people coming to St. Louis who are from outside of the region like Kansas City and Columbia, and I was able to meet my friends from those surrounding areas,” Dahlgren said.

Dahlgren has been playing competitive Smash Bros. since 2021, after joining the MHS Esports team for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Gateway Legends was his first major tournament, thus giving him good practice.

“There were over 300 people at this tournament, and I was so happy being able to be in the same room with people who play the game I love,” Dahlgren said.

Dahlgren placed 193rd out of 373 players at the tournament. He said he learned a lot from his opponents who beat him and he ultimately wants to further his goals of becoming the best player he can possibly be.

“Instead of being the player who gets exploited for their weaknesses during tournament matches, I want to learn to see the game differently in that I start exploiting others for their weaknesses in-game,” Dahlgren said.  

Nicholas Chiu, Saint Louis University Esports Director, was the head tournament organizer of Gateway Legends in conjunction with the Fair Saint Louis. The event was largely held to connect to members of the younger generation, like Dahlgren, through science and technology activities.

“The Fair is trying to attract the younger audience by investing in STEM and technology, the fore-front of that is esports,” Chiu said. 

Prior to this year’s Gateway Legends, the tournament was a collegiate esports event that only had League of Legends, a game the St. Louis community responds very well to as opposed to Super Smash Bros, according to Chiu.

Chiu said he was extremely happy with the turnout of the tournament, with it exceeding more than 300 entrants, a lot of whom consisted of some of the best players in the world for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

“I feel very blessed to have the resources to attract top-level talent. We’re also an event that conflicted with two other major events, yet we had so much depth in our bracket,” Chiu said. “It’s absolutely crazy to me. I know that in the future that this event will only go up and skyrocket.”

Gateway Legends also attracted many out of state players, like Gabriel Cruz, a competitor from Wisconsin.

“I came to St. Louis because I have a lot of friends in the smash community here,” Cruz said.

Like Dahlgren, this was Cruz’s first major Super Smash Bros. tournament.

“It was nice. It’s very unique being held in Ballpark Village,” Cruz said. “Being in the environment for a few days, you get into the mode and even if you’re having a bad time, you can just practice and improve.”