Super Smash Con 2023: the largest event of the year and the third-largest Smash Ultimate tournament of all time. With 2,607 entrants for Ultimate alone, some vital storylines were bound to be woven. Here are some of the biggest takeaways of this past weekend from one of the most hyped tournaments ever.
The Unstoppable Force Leads Japanese Invasion
Coming off the heels of the official LumiRank rankings release on Friday, there was a lot of discourse regarding the selection of the top spot. The panelists chose Japanese Steve main, Acola, as the No. 1 over Mexican Cloud main, Sparg0. Despite people arguing against Acola’s selection, the kid proved them all wrong.
Acola swept through the entire bracket without losing a single set, culminating with a swift 3-0 sweep in Grand Finals to win the tournament. Acola has been unstoppable, with this win marking his seventh major victory of 2023. However, Acola was not the only Japanese representative to make waves.
Out of the top eight finishers, four of them were from Japan. Mr. Game and Watch main Miya finished fourth, along with Sonic main KEN and Corrin main Neo finishing fifth, truly emphasizing just how strong Japan is compared to the rest of the world.
The King of New York
Team Liquid’s very own Dabuz has been a fan -favorite for years, dating back to the Smash 4 days. His fans raided the Twitch chat with supportive messages, proclaiming him as the “King of New York.” Riding highs of top placings at recent major tournaments like CEO and Kagaribi, Dabuz’s run of a lifetime at Smash Con was like adding fuel to a fire.
After winning multiple Game 5s in a row with his iconic Rosalina and Luma, Dabuz finished in second, only losing twice to Acola. He continuously awed fans with his clutch gameplay in multiple sets and brought unrivaled excitement to the venue with his electric celebrations.
Upset Central
The buzz on Saturday afternoon centered around the number one seed and No. 2 in the world, Sparg0. In a matchup with the 64th -seed, Ly, Sparg0 was sent to the loser’s bracket by the Corrin main in a tense Game 5, perhaps feeling the pressure of the rankings mounting.
Many spectators expected Sparg0 to bounce back, though — he is the second-best player for a reason. But just two sets later against Diddy Kong main Aaron, Sparg0 fell in another Game 5, knocking him out of the tournament at 49th place, his lowest placing since January 2020.
Sparg0 wasn’t the only highly seeded Latin American to be knocked out early. His new rival, Sonix, had an unfortunate ending, too. After losing to Samus main IcyMist, Sonix found himself in the losers’ bracket going up against Georgia teenage prodigy DDee. After five hard-fought games, Sonix fell out of Smash Con at 25th.
Beyond Sparg0, Sonix, Acola and Miya, four other players ranked in the top ten on LumiRank were in attendance to make it a total of eight out of the top ten. Outside of Acola and Miya, though, they all placed below expectations as Tweek and Riddles placed ninth, Light placed 13th and Shuton placed 17th.
Attack of the Corrin’s
Smash Ultimate has its fair share of popular characters: Steve, R.O.B, Pyra/Mythra, etc. Corrin, on the other hand, is one of the least popular characters. The Fire Emblem Fates protagonist saw very little top level play up until late 2022. Smash Con showed off their true power, though.
Led by the aforementioned Neo, three Corrin mains placed highly, with SHADIC finishing ninth and Ly placing 17th. These three players finishing within the top 32 meant that Corrin’s sudden jump in popularity tied them for the second-most represented character at Smash Con.
Super Smash Con 2023 was a display of top-tier Smash from players from across the world. As the second half of the 2023 season unfolds, the community will continue to watch and see who can stay consistent and make leaps in the final rankings.
