Join me, Hanny, as I sat down with IGN’s Benas Alcauskas, also known as Twig! Read more to find out more about Twig and their involvement with esports.
1.) Tell me more about yourself, what do you do outside of Esports?
I am currently a junior and majoring in Engineering Physics. I’m also part of UIUC’s jazz acapella group called No Strings Attached.
2.) Ah so classy! But I’m sure the readers want to know; how and why did you get into Esports in the first place?
I started playing competitively because I wanted to be better than my friends. I was a freshman in high school when Smash 4 came out. When I first saw the game I was like, “Woah this is cool.” As I mentioned, I started out playing withmy friends as friendly competition, but then I started to look further onto YouTube like Pit vs. Metaknight because these were characters that my friends and I played often as. It then led down the rabbit hole of tournament videos and vods. From there I started to watch live streams and practiced a lot. I wasn’t good at first and only knew combos. By the time I was a senior in high school, I dropped it for a little bit due to a busy schedule. However, when they announced Smash Bro Ultimate, I got super excited. I started to love the game again by watching tournaments and streams online. By the time I was in college I went to the Smash Club for a tournament. I was asking around for games, but then saw this guy sitting alone by a table with a controller on his lap. I asked him to play to which he agreed to. When we played, he destroyed me! He later told me that he was ranked 39th in the world for Smash. I was shocked. It made me realize how much practice I had to do. So, when Smash Bros came out, my goal was to be on the power ranking list at UIUC. I made that goal and debuted at 9th place. Over the summer that year I started going to more local events in Chicago. I started to enter these tournaments and beating people who were ranked in the Chicago area. It felt good. I just kept grinding the game by practicing combos and going to tournaments. By sophomore year I went up 2 spots in the power rankings here. I now place at 7th.
3.) What a neat story! Who did you start out as and do you still play as that character now?
I started out playing as Bowser Jr. just because I thought he was cool. Duck hunt was second, but I didn’t really vibe with the character. I then switched to Pikachu because I thought he was strong, but not overpowering. Since then I’ve been playing as Pikachu.
4.) How has playing Smash during a pandemic differ than the norm?
When COVID-19 hit, we kept playing online even though the net code for the game sucks. Prior to the pandemic, after a tournament for the Smash Club, we’d like to go down to the green to get food and stuff. A lot of my friends I have made were through Smash, so to not really see them as much is weird.
5.) Aside from Smash, are there other games you enjoy?
My first favorite game was Pokémon. It then led to Smash Bros Brawl at my friend’s house. Nowadays I play mostly Smash, some strategy games, and Minecraft.
Thank you so much again to Twig for taking the time to interview with Illini Esports!
If you want to keep up with Twig go follow @Twig___
If you want to follow the author, Hanny, follow her on Instagram @hannykinz20
Keep following Illini Esports on all social media platforms to see what is next!