There have been some weird stories to come out about Super Smash Bros. players and their hotel experiences during tournaments over the past few years, but those stories have never involved an entire hotel being evacuated on the final day of a big event.
Earlier this morning, the fire alarm at the Marriott Oakland City Center was pulled and the entire building was evacuated, putting a large portion of the Smash players staying at that hotel out in the parking lot at around 5am PT, or 7am CT.
With it being so early in the morning, most players were asleep in preparation for the final day of one of the biggest Smash tournaments of the year. But after the alarm was pulled, players quickly posted to social media in confusion.
Everything ended up being fine after a search by the local fire department showed that there was no actual issue and the all-clear was given for everyone to file back into the hotel. But that didn’t change the fact that more than 100 Smash players had to go through the experience on the final day of Genesis, with some being much less prepared than others.
And while pro player Jestise “MVD” Negron might have not had time to put on his shoes and others only made sure to grab their phones and wallets, some true Smash players grabbed what was truly important—their GameCubes. It’s actually surprising that there wasn’t a full Melee setup outside while people were waiting, because most players probably brought down their controllers too.
It was also a good thing that it was a false alarm and not a real fire breaking out within the hotel because there were a handful of people that didn’t wake up to the fire alarm and slept through the entire ordeal.
Obviously this wasn’t ideal for the players who were trying to rest up for top eight later today, but safety always comes first in these situations. But the frustration is clear considering Genesis is a Super Major and will set the tone for the rest of the season for Melee and Ultimate.
Top eight for Melee begins at 3pm CT with Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma playing Zain Naghmi, while Ultimate top eight will kick off at 8pm CT as Leonardo “MKLeo” Lopez takes on Ezra “Samsora” Morris
