“A dark presence looms over the sanctity of a collegiate event.

In walks the top-ranked player, in walks the destroyer of worlds.

You asked for friendlies and you got a war; Syrup is in the building.”

Those were the words commentators uttered as Andew Mo ’29  took his place with his Syracuse teammates at Supernova 2025, the largest gaming competition for Super Smash Bros. in the world. The University competed at the August event, facing off in a best of three crew battle against Shenandoah University.

When it was his turn at the controller, Mo sat slouched slightly forward in the black folding chair, focused on the monitor before him, seemingly unshakable as onlookers and commentators reacted to his gameplay.

“This guy is crazy,” one of them said.

After one devastating blow to an opponent, the commentators let out squawks of delight while people in the crowd clasped their hands to their heads in amazement.

Mo deftly removed his headphones, offered his opponent a fist bump and turned forward again, waiting for the next player to take a seat beside him.

By the time the battle was over, the commentators labeled the “Syrup sweep” complete.

At the time, Mo was ranked eleventh globally for Super Smash Bros Ultimate. His Smash Bros. coach Nikita Bair, who is also the esports program manager in the Falk College of Sport, says Mo is now trending closer to the top five.

“He’s probably the fifth in the world right now,” Bair says.

What Makes Syrup So Good

Mo, an undeclared major in the College of Arts and Sciences, first picked up a controller when he was 5, playing Smash with his brother. He says what he loves about the game is how free form it can be.

“There’s a lot of room for creativity and your gameplay has personality in it,” he says. “Your gameplay is your own, and it’s unique.”

He began playing competitively in 2019 at the age of 12, starting with local tournaments in his home state of New Jersey.

Mo says when he was getting ready to compete in his first match, he forgot to create his “in-game” tag, or name. So he played with the moniker left behind by another player—Syrup.

“It was someone else’s, so I was just like, ‘OK, this is mine now,’” Mo says.

Now, it’s how he’s known around the world.

Why He Chose Syracuse University

Mo says he was drawn to Syracuse for its programs, but also for its investment in esports and new state-of-the-art facilities.

Esports started on campus in 2017 as a student club, but the University now has both an esports communications and management bachelor’s degree—offered jointly by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the David B. Falk College of Sport—and six varsity teams, meaning the squads are school-supported, under Student Experience. Thirty students field the six varsity teams playing Call of Duty, Counter-Strike 2, Overwatch 2, Rocket League, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Valorant.

Programs are run out of two gaming facilities on campus, at the Barnes Center at The Arch and the Schine Student Center. A third space is also being built in the Marley Building.

“Syracuse is probably the only school with two whole facilities,” Mo says. “And the facilities inside, they’re very advanced and modern looking. It’s literally the perfect place to play any competitive game.”

While the NCAA doesn’t currently support esports, the University’s varsity teams compete in the Power Esports Conference (PEC) against other Division I schools, such as Michigan State, Boise State and Ohio State, among others. With a fall and spring season, the University plays each school in the fall and then again in the spring, culminating with an in-person championship in April. Some of the varsity teams also compete in the PlayVS College League (PCL).

There are seven student-athletes on the varsity Smash team, including Mo. Bair said separate of his skill, Mo’s contributions as a person and teammate in the program have also been significant. He’s humble when Smash comes up in classes, a good student and hardworking member of the varsity team.

“He represents collegiate esports really well,” Bair says.

The Impact at Syracuse

To convey what it means to have a player of Mo’s caliber, Joey Gawrysiak, executive director of esports and professor of practice, brings up another Syracuse legend.

“The analogy we always use is that Andrew is the best recruit Syracuse has had since Carmelo Anthony,” he says. “He is not only just technically gifted, he is mentally gifted at the game and understands how somebody is going to react to his play style, so he can then counteract it really well and not have to react in real time as much as the average person might have to.”

Bair says Mo might be the most talented person at a single skill you could meet in your lifetime.

“I don’t know if I will meet someone better at something than Andrew is skilled at this video game,” he says.

Part of Mo’s talent is simply innate, Bair says.

But the coach stressed the time Mo puts in to develop his game is also huge.

Mo says he tries to play every day. And if he can’t pick up a controller, he is still thinking about the game.

“I think about Smash a lot,” he says. “A big way to improve once you reach a higher level is you have to start thinking of new situations and how to implement new ideas into your game.”

Mo says Syracuse is the “perfect place to go” if you’re interested in esports.

He’s learned in his own classes how esports can translate to other majors, like business, management or production.

“I want to lean toward learning how to make content and get into maybe the production side of things, which Syracuse can definitely help me with,” he says.