This week’s community spotlight features one of the most prominent, yet under-the-radar Tournament Organizers (TO) in the Aether universe. Junior has been the head TO for Creatures of Aether since Open Beta began in August 2020 and one of the main TOs for official Rivals of Aether events since RCS Season 5 in September 2020. We recently reached out to Junior to learn more about him and his ability to balance responsibilities for several different communities both online and offline.
How did you first hear about the Aether universe and get into the scene as a competitor?
Junior: I found Rivals of Aether from YouTube content, the furthest back I can remember was when Absa and Etalus were just revealed. I purchased the game for myself around when Clairen and Ranno had been revealed. I remember seeing the Ranno Reveal live at Smash Con 2017; I was there for a vacation rather than for competing, it was my first tournament experience ever. I went on to play the game casually with friends for a few weeks then moving on to other games.
In August of 2020, SBS reached out to me about running events for the new mobile game Creatures of Aether. I was a part of the closed beta and played in a few events by that point, but I wasn’t too competitive with it. I enjoy running brackets and my local had been shut down due to COVID, so I accepted the offer!
I started to put time into Rivals around the same time. I was invited into AZCord for something relating to Creatures TO work and ended up just playing Rivals with Plastic Dinos and SBS instead. I loved getting my [butt] kicked, and I wanted to learn how to do the stupid stuff they did to me. So I guess I really wanted to get good at Rivals because the people around me were already amazing and I wanted to share in that interest. Fast forward to today and now I run Rivals at my own local.
How long have you been running events? How did you get started and what motivated you to get active in the community?
Junior: I was a part of a small Smash 4 community in Early 2018, I kept asking how I could help, and eventually I became their head TO. We transitioned to Ultimate when it was released in November and still run it now. I joined mainly due to a lack of friends at the time, I kinda was lost and just wanted regular human interaction every week. Now that I’m a community leader the dynamic is a bit different, but I’m really glad to have met some really cool people in my time with Smash.
I started to run events in both Rivals of Aether and Creatures during quarantine, I enjoyed running events and kept asking if there was anything else I could do to help. All of a sudden I’m running a Creatures event every week and helping with RCS and official offseason events every month.
What are some of the major differences between running a card game like Creatures and a platform fighter like Rivals?
Junior: Swiss. Card games run Swiss format primarily due to how long rounds are, in the case of Creatures I expect a best of three to last between twenty-five and thirty minutes. In a double-elimination style event with thirty-two players, there are only five rounds on the winners side, but the losers side has eight. It leads to long periods of waiting for both the player in Grand Finals and occasionally in Losers Semis if one vein is slower than the other. Swiss allows all players to play in uniform rounds to minimize wait times and gives players way more matches overall, assuming there are an “infinite” amount of setups so everyone plays at the same time. There’s a place for both formats but I prefer to play as much of the game as possible when I compete, so it’s always a treat to play in extended formats like Swiss and Round Robin.
As a primarily local TO before 2020, what was it like making the shift to online brackets? On a larger scale, what were the biggest differences between helping with online majors and local RCS events?
Junior: I surprisingly enjoyed some aspects of Online bracket management more than local play. I treat brackets like an RTS [Real Time Strategy]; I need to manage players and setups, record scores, and accept payments for main event signups at the same time. It gets a bit hectic at times but I really enjoy it. Online does all of that for me, so my focus is more on ping checks and player mistakes, like missing check-ins or changing scores on smash.gg. The one thing I missed the most was the face-to-face interactions. During Elemental Monthlies I would just be sitting at home listening to music and just wait for someone to ask for help. Now that local play is back I get to yell at people to stop playing friendlies on the tournament setups, so that’s pretty cool.
Photo by ESA | Alma.
With local tournaments slowly coming back in some capacity, have you had an opportunity to return LAN events to your region? What advice would you give to organizers looking to start something in a safe and organized manner?
Junior: My locals have returned! I tend to be more strict with my guidelines to make sure everyone is safe. We enforce proof of vaccination and require all participants to wear a mask for the duration of the event. I message every player directly for their vax info if I don’t already have it. It adds a ton of extra work before any event, but it’s very necessary to make sure everyone is safe. For organizers planning on starting LAN events, I would recommend having the same precautions. It really comes down to you to enforce your own rules, so stay diligent and be prepared to correct improper behavior.
You’ve been a major part of the Creatures community over its lifetime as a TO, Discord Moderator, Beta Tester, and even as a guest with Dan to show off upcoming content. What advice would you give to community members that want to get more involved with their passions?
Junior: Just keep asking to help! I originally was only asked to be a bracket runner, but I kept asking what else I could do to help and my role expanded from there. Now I’m in charge of advertisement, prize distribution, and league point management for the tournaments. My role there led me to become a Tester for the game, and I even had the privilege of showcasing Ranno and Elliana on my personal Twitch channel. If you are looking to be more involved in any aspect of your community, just ask to help and keep asking.
What are your interests outside of the Aether community?
Junior: I’m pretty big on Windjammers, a 1994 Arcade game for NeoGeo. I’ve played at a competitive level for a few years, I met SBS through the game and placed well in a few events including winning the side event at Heat Wave 3. I’m just waiting for the sequel to release so I can play it nonstop. I also stream occasionally on Twitch, you can find me HERE.
What’s the thing you’re looking forward to most this Summer?
Junior: I can’t wait for Riptide! I’m super looking forward to meeting the many people I’ve interacted with online as well as helping run the main event as a pool captain. I also am looking forward to Hodan’s inclusion in Rivals, I really like the monkey. 🙂
Is there anything you would like to say to the Rivals or Creatures community reading this feature?
Junior: Support your locals! Even if it’s once a month, try to make it out consistently. It goes a long way for event growth and shows the Organizers that you care about Rivals at their event. Also, please give Creatures a shot when it releases on Steam on August 2nd!
Love that you did one for Junior, very underrated TO and community member, he’s done a lot of great work!