Editing Smasher:Acola

{{lowercase}}
:''Not to be confused with [[Smasher:Deer]] or [[Smasher:DEAR]]''
{{Infobox Smasher
|name             = acola
| image           = Acola.png
| alias           = Dear
| alias2          =  あcola
| alias3          = ディア
| mainssbu        = Steve
| otherssbu       = Kazuya
| 2ndotherssbu    = Pyra
| moreotherssbu   = {{SSBU|Mythra}}
| retiredssbu     = Luigi
| sponsor         = {{Team|ZETA DIVISION}}
| former sponsors = {{Team|flat-gaming}}
| crew            = SumaChuDoku
| skillssbu       = Top level
| rankingssbu     = [[LumiRank Mid-Year 2023]]: 1st
| realname        = Mashita Hayato
| birthday        = 19
| birthmonth      = 7
| birthyear       = 2006
| location        = Hyōgo Prefecture, Kansai
| country         = Japan
}}
'''acola''' ('''あcola''') is a ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'' {{SSBU|Steve}} player with a {{SSBU|Kazuya}} secondary from Japan who is considered to be the current best player in the world. acola has gained a worldwide spotlight due to his impressive consistency as a player, arguably on par with the likes of {{Sm|MkLeo}}; up until {{Trn|Maesuma Offline (Shikoku)}}, he had made grand finals at every offline tournament he attended, including winning his first major at {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 7}}, his first supermajor at {{Trn|Kagaribi 7}}, and his first invitational major and overseas tournament at {{Trn|The Gimvitational}}. His victory at Maesuma TOP 7 made him the youngest ''Ultimate'' player to win a major, at the age of 15 years old. He is also the only ''Ultimate'' player to win the first major and supermajor that they attended. 

He frequently enters single-elimination live tournaments on [[Smashmate]]. He was ranked 1st on the Smashmate SP ranking from the 15th season to the 20th season, and is the first player to achieve a 2,500 rating. He is currently ranked 1st on the [[LumiRank Mid-Year 2023]] as well as 39th on the [[Experimental Smash Player Rankings]].

==Tournament history==
===Smashmate beginnings===
acola began his ''Smash'' career during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] on the Japanese ladder [[Smashmate]] under the tag Dear (ディア), which he played under until mid-2021. He began playing characters such as {{SSBU|Luigi}} and {{SSBU|Donkey Kong}}, however he found greater success playing {{SSBU|Steve}}, debuting on the [[Smashmate Rankings]] at 7th for the 13th season with mostly Steve. Since then, he began dominating the ladder, reaching 1st by the 15th season and maintaining that placement for the next several seasons. Due to his dominance during this period, acola was considered one of the best players in Japan's online metagame, with him placing 4th on kenniky's [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN66zf8M644 Top 50 Smashmate Players of All Time], which ranked Smashmate players up to the 22nd season.

===Offline debut and meteoric rise===
Despite his strong results online, acola had little impact on the offline scene in his first year, with his only attendance being a [https://challonge.com/x0homigo small event in November]. That changed in 2022, when acola was invited to {{Trn|Maesuma Offline}}. Despite being his first offline event with top players in attendance, acola surprised everyone by placing 2nd, defeating several established players along the way including {{Sm|Hero|p=Japan}}, {{Sm|Kome}}, and most notably {{Sm|Shuton}}, whom he reset the bracket against. Following this event was {{Trn|Sumabato SP 24}}, acola's first notable open bracket event. Coming in as the 14th seed, acola once again shocked players by taking the tournament over even more established players such as {{Sm|Abadango}} and {{Sm|HIKARU}}, marking his first superregional victory. These two events established acola as Japan's premier rising star and marked the start of acola's dominance in Japan, with him placing no lower than 2nd at several events afterwards.

These "several events" also included the Golden Week events, specifically the major {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 7}} and the supermajor {{Trn|Kagaribi 7}}. Both events featured many of Japan's best players, and both events also seeded acola outside of the top 8, with Kagaribi 7's algorithmic seeding notoriously seeding acola at 57th. Despite these challenges, acola blew both seeds out of the water by winning both events, defeating every single player that was in his path aside from a single set loss to {{Sm|Yoshidora}} at Maesuma. In addition, with his victory at Kagaribi, acola became the lowest-seeded player to ever win an ''Ultimate'' supermajor. These performances not only established acola as the new best player in Japan, but also made him known overseas, with players comparing his dominance to {{Sm|MkLeo}} and {{Sm|Sparg0}}, ''Ultimate''{{'}}s best two players at that time. Many players began anticipating a potential match between MkLeo and Sparg0, while other players dismissed acola as being yet another player in the wave of Steve players who saw strong performances that year. Nonetheless, many players began looking forward to how acola would fare against North America's best players.

acola would be given that chance in June: thanks to his victory at Kagaribi 7, he was given an invitation to {{Trn|The Gimvitational}}, an invitational that featured several of ''Ultimate''{{'}}s best players. acola's first notable match at the invitational was in his Round Robin pools, where he faced {{Sm|Kola}}. After a rather back-and-forth match, acola defeated Kola in the fifth game, claiming his first notable North American win. acola ultimately placed 1st in his Round Robin pools, sending him to the Winner's side of the final bracket, where he tore through the bracket, defeating {{Sm|Marss}} 3-0, fellow Japanese invitee {{Sm|Asimo}} 3-1, Canada's best player {{Sm|Riddles}} 3-1, and finally the United States's best player {{Sm|Light|p=Connecticut}} 3-1, winning his first international tournament. With that victory, acola became the first non-American player to win the first international major they attended since {{Sm|Otori}} at {{Trn|Apex 2012}}. The victory also established acola as one of the best players in the world, and he was ranked 4th on the [[OrionRank Mid-Year 2022]].

Due to his performance and sudden rise to the top, players also began wondering whether acola could be the definitive best player in the world, especially with MkLeo's declining results, Sparg0's hiatus following The Gimvitational, and Steve's perceived dominance in the metagame. In addition, acola continued to dominate the Japanese scene with several major titles and saw some strong performances in the United States, including winning the supermajor {{Trn|Let's Make Moves Miami}} despite losing to {{Sm|MuteAce}}; and his performance at the supermajor invitational {{Trn|Ludwig Smash Invitational}}, where despite losing to {{Sm|Zomba}} in the Swiss bracket and MkLeo twice in the main bracket, he notably defeated Sparg0 3-2 to place 2nd.

On the other hand, players also noted how acola had a few statistics that did not favor his case, especially a few questionable losses to unranked Japanese players such as {{Sm|Kashiya}} at {{Trn|Maesuma Offline (Shikoku)}} and {{Sm|Meido}} at {{Trn|Sumabato SP 29}}; acola's performance at the former tournament also notably broke his streak of top 2 finishes, as he placed 4th after losing to {{Sm|alice}}. Further hurting his case was his performances at {{Trn|Smash Ultimate Summit 5}} and {{Trn|Seibugeki 12}}. In the former tournament, it seemed like American players were beginning to adapt to his playstyle, as he barely made it out of his Round Robin pools due to his loss to {{Sm|Dabuz}} -- which led to a string of tiebreakers between him, Dabuz, and {{Sm|Cosmos}} that ultimately went to best of 1 stock -- before losing his runbacks against Kola and Light to place 4th. In the latter tournament, acola was upset by {{Sm|Repo}} and {{Sm|Kameme}} to place 9th, the first time acola placed outside of the top 8. Finally, his run at {{Trn|Scuffed World Tour}} was also relatively lukewarm: although he evened his record against Light, he fell to Sparg0 and Shuton for 4th, giving him yet another major where he finished outside the top 2.

These few statistics ultimately kept acola away from being the best player in the world, and he was ultimately ranked 2nd on the [[OrionRank 2022]] and the [[UltRank 2022]].

===Claiming the throne===
With acola's strong performances in the previous year, all he needed was to clean up a few unfortunate statistics in order to take the throne. The [[LumiRank Mid-Year 2023|first half of LumiRank 2023]] saw just that, as acola saw a string of performances that many had compared to MkLeo's performances in early ''Ultimate''. During this period, acola won nearly every event he attended and placed no lower than 7th at any event considered for the ranking. Most notable among these events include the supermajors {{Trn|Umebura SP 9}} and {{Trn|Kagaribi 10}}, two of the largest events in Japan for the Mid-Year season, and the major {{Trn|Smash Ultimate Summit 6}}, where after losing to {{Sm|Big D}}, he tore through the entire tournament, defeating everyone in his path -- including dominating {{Sm|MkLeo}} 3-0 in the runback -- to claim his first Summit victory. Further helping him was his loss record: only six players managed to take a set over acola, and all of them were ranked in the top 30 for the Mid-Year season; conversely acola only had one negative record against a player outside the top 10: {{Sm|MuteAce}} (#16), who has a 0-1 record against acola. Finally, acola's overall record was impressive, as he held a 90-10 record against players who qualified for the rankings, which included a 64-10 record against the entire top 50.

However, there were a few things working against acola that challenged his path for #1, all of which was due to his new bracket demon, {{Sm|Sparg0}}. During this period, acola took a total of 2 games off of Sparg0, leaving acola with a 0-5 record against Sparg0. In addition, acola failed to win any tournament that was ranked premier on the LumiRank Mid-Year 2023 -- the highest tier on the rankings -- as at all three events he was ultimately eliminated by Sparg0. This was most notable at the premiers {{Trn|Kagaribi 10}} and {{Trn|Battle of BC 5}}, where despite making it to Grand Finals, acola lost to Sparg0 to place 2nd. Due to all of this, many players believed Sparg0 would come out on top for the Mid-Year ranking. However despite a close race, Sparg0's worse overall record and a couple of questionable major placements held him back, and acola was able to ascend to the throne, becoming the first Japanese player to be ranked #1 for a game released after ''Smash 64'' since {{Sm|9B}} on the [[SSBBRank 2014]]. In the following season, acola got rid of a major problem which could've prevented him from staying rank one. Notably, he claimed his first premiere victory soon after the ranking season commenced, at {{Trn|Super Smash Con 2023}} defeating players such as Riddles and Dabuz. The only set that was even marginally close was his set against Neo which went to last game, last stock, and last hit. Luckily for acola, his bracket demon Sparg0 was upset at 49th, which eroded any chance of Sparg0 taking acola's throne.

==Tournament placings==
===''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''===
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!Tournament!!Date!!1v1 Placement!!2v2 Placement!!Partner
|-
|[https://smashmate.net/tournament/3978/ Tamisuma SP #219]{{OnlineIcon}}||January 18th, 2021||9th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|[https://smashmate.net/tournament/4073/ Maesuma #190]{{OnlineIcon}}||February 7th, 2021||2nd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|[https://smashmate.net/tournament/4180/ Tamisuma SP #229]{{OnlineIcon}}||February 16th, 2021||3rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Tamisuma Championship 1}}{{OnlineIcon}}||February 17th, 2021||33rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|[https://smashmate.net/tournament/4235/ Tamisuma SP #233]{{OnlineIcon}}||February 27th, 2021||3rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|[https://smashmate.net/tournament/4294/ Maesuma #198]{{OnlineIcon}}||March 7th, 2021||9th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|[https://smashmate.net/tournament/4296/ Maesuma #200]{{OnlineIcon}}||March 14th, 2021||3rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|[https://smashmate.net/tournament/4318/ Tamisuma SP #238]{{OnlineIcon}}||March 13th, 2021||5th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|[https://smashmate.net/tournament/4297/ Maesuma #201]{{OnlineIcon}}||March 19th, 2021||3rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|[https://smashmate.net/tournament/4506/ Tamisuma SP #241]{{OnlineIcon}}||March 22nd, 2021||9th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|[https://smashmate.net/tournament/4508/ Tamisuma SP #242]{{OnlineIcon}}||March 25th, 2021||17th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma Champion Series 3}}{{OnlineIcon}}||April 10th, 2021||4th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Tamisuma Championship 3}}{{OnlineIcon}}||April 22nd, 2021||9th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma Champion Series 4}}{{OnlineIcon}}||May 8th, 2021||7th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Tamisuma Championship 5}}{{OnlineIcon}}||July 29th, 2021||3rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|MaeTami Summer Festival Qualifier A}}{{OnlineIcon}}||August 14th, 2021||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|MaeTami Summer Festival}}{{OnlineIcon}}||August 15th, 2021||3rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma Champion Series 9}}{{OnlineIcon}}||October 9th, 2021||2nd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|[https://challonge.com/x0homigo SenjinByakko Mononofu Cup #52]||November 13th, 2021||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma Champion Series 11}}{{OnlineIcon}}||December 15th, 2021||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|[https://smashmate.net/tournament/9021/ Tamisuma SP #351]{{OnlineIcon}}||January 3rd, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|[https://challonge.com/5uadj2at Hozuki #5]||January 10th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma Offline}}||February 26th, 2022||2nd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Sumabato SP 24}}||March 20th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|[https://smashmate.net/tournament/10408/ Maesuma #316]{{OnlineIcon}}||March 22nd, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|[https://challonge.com/ja/shinosuma124 Shinosuma #124]||March 26th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Ignite 1}}||March 27th, 2022||&mdash;||3rd||{{Sm|Sunea}}
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma Champion Series 15}}{{OnlineIcon}}||April 6th, 2022||3rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma Offline 2}}||April 16th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Hozuki × acOlaSia 2}}||April 29th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''{{Trn|Maesuma TOP 7}}'''||May 1st, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''''{{Trn|Kagaribi 7}}'''''||May 4th-5th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Sumabato SP 26}}||May 29th, 2022||2nd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Kamisuma 13}}||June 5th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''{{Trn|The Gimvitational}}'''||June 19th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma Offline (Shikoku)}}||July 9th, 2022||4th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|[https://challonge.com/ja/xwq8ugv2 SenjinByakko -RAN- #58]||July 21st, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|[https://www.start.gg/tournament/hit-28-maesumahit-28/event/singles-tournament/brackets/1167606/1809565 MaesumaHIT #28]||July 21st, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|MaesumaHIT Champion Series 2}}||July 23rd, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Sumabato SP 28}}||July 24th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|[https://www.start.gg/tournament/hit-30-maesumahit-30/event/singles-tournament/brackets/1180326/1826884 MaesumaHIT #30]||August 11th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Sumabato SP 29}}||August 14th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|MaeTami Summer Festival 2022}}{{OnlineIcon}}||August 19th, 2022||3rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''{{Trn|Maesuma TOP 9}}'''||August 27th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''{{Trn|Smash Ultimate Summit 5}}'''||September 15th-18th, 2022||4th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma Champion Series 19}}{{OnlineIcon}}||September 28th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''''{{Trn|Maesuma TOP 10}}'''''||October 15th-16th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''''{{Trn|Ludwig Smash Invitational}}'''''||October 21st-23rd, 2022||2nd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''''{{Trn|Let's Make Moves Miami}}'''''||October 28th-30th, 2022||1st||1st||{{Sm|Onin}}
|-
|{{Trn|MaesumaHIT Champion Series 3}}||November 12th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''{{Trn|Seibugeki 12}}'''||December 3rd, 2022||9th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''{{Trn|Scuffed World Tour}}'''||December 18th, 2022||4th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''{{Trn|JAPAN 24}}'''||December 24th-25th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''''{{Trn|Umebura SP 9}}'''''||January 7th-8th, 2023||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''''{{Trn|GENESIS 9}}'''''||January 20th-22nd, 2023||7th||65th||{{Sm|fuku}}
|-
|'''''{{Trn|Kagaribi 9}}'''''||February 4th-5th, 2023||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|MaesumaHIT Champion Series 4}}||February 25th, 2023||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''''{{Trn|Maesuma TOP 11}}'''''||March 5th, 2023||3rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Karisuma SP 15}}||March 18th, 2023||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''{{Trn|Smash Ultimate Summit 6}}'''||March 23rd-26th, 2023||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|tamasuma kyokkan 2}}||April 15th, 2023||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''''{{Trn|Maesuma TOP 12}}'''''||April 30th, 2023||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|TOKYO SMASH BOOT CAMP}}||May 3rd, 2023||9th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''''{{Trn|Kagaribi 10}}'''''||May 6th-7th, 2023||2nd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|MaesumaHIT Champion Series 5}}||May 13th, 2023||5th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''''{{Trn|Battle of BC 5}}'''''||May 19th-21st, 2023||2nd||4th||{{Sm|Miya|p=Honshu}}
|-
|'''{{Trn|Seibugeki 14}}'''||July 1st, 2023||1st / 272||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''''{{Trn|Super Smash Con 2023}}'''''||August 10th-13th, 2023||1st / 2,607||1st / 567||{{Sm|Miya|p=Honshu}}
|-
|'''{{Trn|Sumabato SP Ultimate}}'''||September 16th-17th, 2023||1st / 291||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''''{{Trn|DELTA 5}}'''''||September 23rd-24th, 2023||1st / 292||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''''{{Trn|Kagaribi 11}}'''''||October 7th-8th, 2023||2nd / 1,472||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|'''{{Trn|Maesuma TOP 14.5 "in Hyogo"}}'''||October 29th, 2023||1st / 284||&mdash;||&mdash;
|}

==Trivia==
*The only players that acola holds negative records against in offline ''[[Ultimate]]'' tournaments are {{Sm|Sparg0}} (1-6), {{Sm|MkLeo}} (1-2), {{Sm|MuteAce}} (1-2), {{Sm|TamaPDaifuku}} (1-2), {{Sm|Kameme}} (0-1), and {{Sm|Kashiya}} (0-1).<!--Please do not add Zomba's win at TOKYO SMASH BOOT CAMP here.-->
*acola is one of five players to win an ''Ultimate'' major while being seeded outside of the top 16, alongside {{Sm|ProtoBanham}} (won {{Trn|Kagaribi 4}} as the 25th seed), {{Sm|Quidd}} (won {{Trn|Let's Make Big Moves 2022}} as the 32nd seed), {{Sm|Kuro}} (won {{Trn|Umebura SP 6}} as the 37th seed) and {{Sm|Miya|p=Honshu}} (won {{Trn|Kagaribi 8}} as the 17th seed).
*acola holds the known record for the longest [[Elite Smash]] win streak without rematching opponents at 740 wins, beating {{Sm|Yoshidora}}'s record of 638 wins.<ref>[https://clips.twitch.tv/AliveMoralHamKappaClaus-sgfZpYJheWQa7e8m acola breaks the longest Elite Smash win streak record]</ref><ref>[https://clips.twitch.tv/ToughOpenRabbitOSsloth-XPRy7rQGt1gby98k acola's record Elite Smash win streak ends]</ref>
*acola's signature look is his white disposable face mask that he wears at all tournaments. He is often depicted with it on fanarts of him.

==External links==
*[https://smashmate.net/user/74512/ Smashmate profile]
*[https://smashmate.net/user/83226/ 2nd Smashmate profile]
*[https://smashmate.net/user/85214/ 3rd Smashmate profile]
*[https://twitter.com/acola_lui Twitter account]
*[https://youtube.com/channel/UCe50pIZ-0F_6Sz3KYkVzR1g YouTube channel]
*[https://www.twitch.tv/acola_lui Twitch channel]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Kansai smashers]]
[[Category:Steve players (SSBU)]]
[[Category:Kazuya players (SSBU)]]
[[Category:Wi-Fi Warriors]]
[[Category:VIP players]]
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