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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in competitive play: Difference between revisions
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in competitive play (edit)
Revision as of 02:07, December 31, 2024
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The slow return of offline competitive play was halted by a spike in COVID-19 cases in January 2021, which once again halted offline competitive play, especially in Japan where a surge of cases cancelled several notable events. However, by March, offline events once again began crawling back, and by the end of the month Japan had successfully ran {{Trn|Kagaribi 3}}, the first major tournament since the start of the pandemic. | The slow return of offline competitive play was halted by a spike in COVID-19 cases in January 2021, which once again halted offline competitive play, especially in Japan where a surge of cases cancelled several notable events. However, by March, offline events once again began crawling back, and by the end of the month Japan had successfully ran {{Trn|Kagaribi 3}}, the first major tournament since the start of the pandemic. | ||
==Post- | ==Post-pandemic metagame (2021-present)== | ||
===Return to offline play (June - December 2021)=== | ===Return to offline play (June - December 2021)=== | ||
The success of several offline events, as well as the pandemic winding down and the release of vaccines, led many players to believe it was finally time to restart offline competitive play. One of the first notable examples of this was {{Trn|InfinityCON Tally 2021}}, which was expected to be a small regional but quickly garnered attention from all across the country. By the time the tournament rolled around, over 400 players had registered for the event, making it the first tournament to surpass 200 entrants since {{Trn|CEO Dreamland 2020}}. Although many players remained cautious about offline events, by the end of June many regions have began hosting offline tournaments, kickstarting the post-pandemic metagame. | The success of several offline events, as well as the pandemic winding down and the release of vaccines, led many players to believe it was finally time to restart offline competitive play. One of the first notable examples of this was {{Trn|InfinityCON Tally 2021}}, which was expected to be a small regional but quickly garnered attention from all across the country. By the time the tournament rolled around, over 400 players had registered for the event, making it the first tournament to surpass 200 entrants since {{Trn|CEO Dreamland 2020}}. Although many players remained cautious about offline events, by the end of June many regions have began hosting offline tournaments, kickstarting the post-pandemic metagame. | ||
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With hopes that the pandemic would be over by the summer, VGBootCamp announced the {{Trn|Smash World Tour 2021}}, which would feature region-locked online tournaments for the first half of the year before moving offline for the second half. However, unlike the previous year, the reaction was more mixed; several top players such as MkLeo and Tweek noted how players were required to play in online tournaments just to qualify for the brackets with prize pools and questioned whether it would be safe enough to host offline tournaments by summertime.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/Mkleosb/status/1363264527878430722|title=MkLeo's opinion on SWT 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/TweekSsb/status/1363258144621740034|title=Tweek's opinion on SWT 2021}}</ref> Indeed, a variety of issues came up during the qualifiers, largely due to the game's poor online netcode. In addition, although all the regional final events were held offline, the {{Trn|SWT: South America Ultimate Regional Finals}} was held online due to the COVID-19's effects in South America, leading many South Americans to accuse VGBootCamp for sidelining a community often overlooked by the global scene. | With hopes that the pandemic would be over by the summer, VGBootCamp announced the {{Trn|Smash World Tour 2021}}, which would feature region-locked online tournaments for the first half of the year before moving offline for the second half. However, unlike the previous year, the reaction was more mixed; several top players such as MkLeo and Tweek noted how players were required to play in online tournaments just to qualify for the brackets with prize pools and questioned whether it would be safe enough to host offline tournaments by summertime.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/Mkleosb/status/1363264527878430722|title=MkLeo's opinion on SWT 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/TweekSsb/status/1363258144621740034|title=Tweek's opinion on SWT 2021}}</ref> Indeed, a variety of issues came up during the qualifiers, largely due to the game's poor online netcode. In addition, although all the regional final events were held offline, the {{Trn|SWT: South America Ultimate Regional Finals}} was held online due to the COVID-19's effects in South America, leading many South Americans to accuse VGBootCamp for sidelining a community often overlooked by the global scene. | ||
On the other hand, the [[Tournament:Smash World Tour 2021 Championships|circuit finale]], held from December 17th-19th, 2021, marked the first time in the post- | On the other hand, the [[Tournament:Smash World Tour 2021 Championships|circuit finale]], held from December 17th-19th, 2021, marked the first time in the post-pandemic metagame with many players from ''Ultimate''{{'}}s three superregions in attendance. As a result, it became one of the largest events of the year despite having only 40 entrants. Ultimately, MkLeo took the tournament, making him the first champion of the Smash World Tour. | ||
===Top level shakeups and the Summer of {{SSBU|Steve}} (2022)=== | ===Top level shakeups and the Summer of {{SSBU|Steve}} (2022)=== | ||
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The effects of the controversy was felt throughout the ''Ultimate'' community. The cancellations dampened any excitement going into the end of the year: although it was made up with the replacement event {{Trn|Scuffed World Tour}}, without the two major offline finales, many players believed MkLeo had already cemented himself as the #1 player due to his run at Ludwig Smash Invitational. In addition, Panda's implosion led to the uncertainty of Panda's properties, especially the [[PGRU]] and their database website [[PGStats.com]]. The former was later addressed with a collaboration between the creators of [[OrionRank]], [https://ssbdatarankings.wordpress.com/ EchoRank], and [https://omegarank.com/ ΩRank] to create [[UltRank]], which eventually evolved into the de-facto ranking used in subsequent years. Finally, the loss of Panda and {{Team|VGBootCamp}}'s decreased activity weakened North America's dominance in the ''Ultimate'' community, especially with an environment unfavorable to esports and the disbandment of {{Team|Beyond the Summit}} within the next few months, allowing Japan to eventually take its place as the center of competitive ''Ultimate''. | The effects of the controversy was felt throughout the ''Ultimate'' community. The cancellations dampened any excitement going into the end of the year: although it was made up with the replacement event {{Trn|Scuffed World Tour}}, without the two major offline finales, many players believed MkLeo had already cemented himself as the #1 player due to his run at Ludwig Smash Invitational. In addition, Panda's implosion led to the uncertainty of Panda's properties, especially the [[PGRU]] and their database website [[PGStats.com]]. The former was later addressed with a collaboration between the creators of [[OrionRank]], [https://ssbdatarankings.wordpress.com/ EchoRank], and [https://omegarank.com/ ΩRank] to create [[UltRank]], which eventually evolved into the de-facto ranking used in subsequent years. Finally, the loss of Panda and {{Team|VGBootCamp}}'s decreased activity weakened North America's dominance in the ''Ultimate'' community, especially with an environment unfavorable to esports and the disbandment of {{Team|Beyond the Summit}} within the next few months, allowing Japan to eventually take its place as the center of competitive ''Ultimate''. | ||
=== | ===Fall of MkLeo and the dominance of the Four Horsemen (2023-present)=== | ||
2023 marked the first year where MkLeo was not considered the unanimous best player in the world: although he won {{Trn|GENESIS 9}}, the entire year saw MkLeo's results slip further and further to the point where he was even having trouble placing top 8 at majors. With MkLeo no longer considered a top 5 player, let alone the best player in the world, many new candidates began competing for the throne. | 2023 marked the first year where MkLeo was not considered the unanimous best player in the world: although he won {{Trn|GENESIS 9}}, the entire year saw MkLeo's results slip further and further to the point where he was even having trouble placing top 8 at majors. With MkLeo no longer considered a top 5 player, let alone the best player in the world, many new candidates began competing for the throne. | ||
The earliest frontrunner was {{Sm|acola}}, who won many majors in the season's early months. Most notable among these was {{Trn|Smash Ultimate Summit 6}}, where after falling to losers early in the final bracket, he ran through the entire losers bracket to eventually win the tournament. With strong performances in both Japan and in North America, many players considered acola to be the new best player in the world within only a few months of the new season. However, later developments in the season cast doubt on these claims. Although he had a relatively weak start of the season, {{Sm|Sparg0}} quickly shot up to be a contender after his victories at {{Trn|Kagaribi 10}} and {{Trn|Battle of BC 5}}, which were not only two of the largest events of the first season, but also saw him easily defeat acola four times. This dominant record over acola led many other players, especially in North America, to argue that Sparg0 was the best player in the world. UltRank, now called [[LumiRank]] after their partnership with {{Team|Luminosity Gaming}}, ultimately ranked acola #1 on the [[LumiRank Mid-Year 2023]] due to Sparg0's weaker consistency at majors, making acola the first new #1 player in ''Ultimate''. acola eventually cemented himself in this position following his continued consistency throughout the year, placing top 8 at every event he attended and winning {{Trn|Super Smash Con 2023}}, while further underperformances from Sparg0, especially after his devastating run at Super Smash Con, knocked him out of contention. | The earliest frontrunner was {{Sm|acola}}, who won many majors in the season's early months. Most notable among these was {{Trn|Smash Ultimate Summit 6}}, where after falling to losers early in the final bracket, he ran through the entire losers bracket to eventually win the tournament. With strong performances in both Japan and in North America, many players considered acola to be the new best player in the world within only a few months of the new season. However, later developments in the season cast doubt on these claims. Although he had a relatively weak start of the season, {{Sm|Sparg0}} quickly shot up to be a contender after his victories at {{Trn|Kagaribi 10}} and {{Trn|Battle of BC 5}}, which were not only two of the largest events of the first season, but also saw him easily defeat acola four times. This dominant record over acola led many other players, especially in North America, to argue that Sparg0 was the best player in the world. UltRank, now called [[LumiRank]] after their partnership with {{Team|Luminosity Gaming}}, ultimately ranked acola #1 on the [[LumiRank Mid-Year 2023]] due to Sparg0's weaker consistency at majors, making acola the first new #1 player in ''Ultimate''. acola eventually cemented himself in this position following his continued consistency throughout the year, placing top 8 at every event he attended and winning {{Trn|Super Smash Con 2023}}, while further underperformances from Sparg0, especially after his devastating run at Super Smash Con, knocked him out of contention. | ||
Aside from acola and Sparg0, two other players also began dominating their respective | Aside from acola and Sparg0, two other players also began dominating their respective regions. Despite having a weak start to his season, {{Sm|Miya|p=Honshu}} ended the year with the most major wins out of anyone, winning a total of 11 majors and supermajors. His performances especially took off in the latter half of the year, where he won most of his majors, including his biggest win {{Trn|Kagaribi 11}}, and even became a bracket demon for acola. In North America, {{Sm|Sonix}} emerged as a contender for best player in North America after defeating Sparg0 at {{Trn|Get On My Level 2023}}, and regularly made it to Grand Finals at majors in second half of the year, eventually winning {{Trn|Port Priority 8}}. Collectively, these four players won a combined 30/37 majors (81.08%) throughout the [[LumiRank 2023]] season, winning all but one major in the second half of the season with at least one of them in attendance, and winning all but one of the year's "premier-tier" events. This dominance culminated in their performances at the final supermajor of the season, {{Trn|Watch The Throne}}, where the four of them took the top 4 places. Recognizing their dominance in the metagame, players began calling the four players the '''Four Horsemen''', with the term taking off after Watch The Throne. This is reflected on the [[LumiRank 2023]], where the four players were ranked top 4 and had a score above 95, with the next highest being {{Sm|Glutonny}} with a score of 84.78. | ||
However, their newfound label came under scrutiny in the following two half-year seasons. The Horsemen won a total of 20 majors, less than half the total number of majors that took place across the two seasons. In the first season, only Miya had more than 2 major wins that season, as acola's lower activity, Sparg0's inconsistency, and Sonix's "second-place curse" meant that the number of Four Horsemen major wins that season were largely carried by one player. This trend remained in the [[LumiRank 2024.2|following season]], where only Miya and Sparg0 were regularly winning majors and therefore competing for the throne, while on the other hand, acola was only able to win a single major and Sonix remained cursed to place 2nd at best. As such, both were not contenders for #1. Conversely, 2024 saw a variety of other major winners, with no repeat major winners outside of Miya between [[Tournament:DELTA 7|DELTA 7 [FAT]]] in December 2023 and {{Trn|Sumabato SP 46}} in April 2024. In fact, the season saw many new majors winners, most notably {{Sm|SHADIC}} at {{Trn|Cirque Du CFL 3}} and {{Sm|Hurt}} at {{Trn|Battle of BC 6}}, two players who were not only top 10 at one point in the year, but also had multiple wins on the Four Horsemen. Though the four players remained ranked at the top, often next to each other, many players questioned whether the community was too hasty in labeling the four players, especially if their dominance did not even last for a full year. | |||
====Steve bans==== | ====Steve bans==== | ||
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==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
{{General competitive smash history}} | |||
[[Category:Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]] | [[Category:Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]] | ||
[[Category:Competitive play]] | [[Category:Competitive play]] | ||