The best events and tournaments at Localhost in September

Nerd Street’s owned and operated gaming venues, known as Localhosts, are not only places where you can stop by to play your favorite games on high-quality gaming PCs and consoles. Localhosts also are the site of LAN tournaments, private events, camps, activations and watch parties. Every month, we’ll be spotlighting some of the best events that have happened at Localhosts around the country, from Philadelphia to Fullerton and everywhere in between. Here’s a look back at some of the fun things that happened at Localhost over the past month.

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Another busy month in Philly

With school back in session for the Fall, Localhost in Philly was proud to host another event in partnership with Drexel University. In collaboration with Drexel Esports and the Drexel Gaming Association, incoming first-year students got to visit the facility and enjoy a few hours of gameplay, watch the Dragons' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team play a showmatch on stage and participate in a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament. Competitors in the Smash tournament even got a chance to beat a pro! This year's pro was Smash Ultimate veteran and former Dignitas player Hugo "HugS" Gonzalez.

Brotherly Love Esports, best known for their "Creed" Smash Bros. Melee and Ultimate regional series, returned to Localhost on Sept. 21 to kick off their "General Admission" series. Inspired by the big top traveling circuses of old, Philadelphia tournament operator Jean "Jeandolla" Jimenez, is running a series of one-night only pop-up locals hosted at different venues throughout the region. With a focus on fun, friendship and GGs, BLE continues to showcase some of the finest Melee talent and rising stars the area has to offer. With over 40 people in the house for General Admission, the Brotherly Love crew got off to a strong start on Broad St.

Read more: 10 best places to play games in Philadelphia

A few days after Brotherly Love Esports’ event, store associate Roberto Cruz organized Philly’s first Local Frontier event, a Pokemon VGC tournament. Braving the rainy weather that weekend, 12 players competed in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet on Nintendo Switch in a Swiss-style tournament that progressed to a four-player single-elimination playoff. We're super proud to announce that Local Frontier was officially recognized by the Pokemon VGC circuit, and our subsequent Local Frontier events will have ranking points available for participating players! In addition to the cash prize, our partners at Temple University provided some swag for both the winner of the event (BLiinD Prodigy) and all of our participants.

Getting down to business at Rowan

Localhost at Rowan was the site of the Glassboro Quarterly Meeting last month. Local businesses gathered at Localhost to discuss upcoming events and new directions for the Rowan/Glassboro community. Our own Pete Powell was in attendance to express Nerd Street’s goals too.

Read more: Why esports and gaming is leading more students toward STEM education and careers

It’s been six months since the soft opening of Localhost at Rowan, Nerd Street’s newest venue, but the location will have an even bigger grand opening bash on Oct. 13. There will be live music with a DJ and band as well as raffles and giveaways.

Campus Collaborations

Our Denver location collaborated with a couple of local universities last month. Localhost sent 24 PCs to the University of Colorado for CU Press To Start, the yearly kickoff event for esports and gaming culture at CU Boulder. About 150 students came out throughout the evening to participate in all facets of gaming culture and watched a showmatch between CU and Colorado State University the day after their rivalry football game!

Localhost was on campus for Metropolitan State University of Denver’s Fall Fling. About 150 booths were set up, and Localhost was invited to introduce ourselves to the students in conjunction with 5280 Esports.

Moving time

Nerd Street’s other Localhost venues had relatively quiet Septembers as they prepared to move locations. Localhost in Fullerton will get a new address early next year, while St. Louis’ and North Brunswick’s Localhosts began their moves last month.

North Brunswick still hosted a couple of FGC and Smash meetups. Both PowerSurge and Center Stage brought in over 30 competitors to bid adieu to the old location.

Lead photo credit: Drexel Esports