Smasher:Acola: Difference between revisions

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:''Not to be confused with [[Smasher:Deer]] or [[Smasher:Kola]].''
:''"Smasher:Dear" redirects here. Not to be confused with [[Smasher:Deer]] or [[Smasher:DEAR]].''
{{Infobox Smasher
{{Infobox Smasher
|name            = acola
|name            = acola
| image          = Acola.png
| image          = Acola.png
| alias          = Dear
| alias          = あcola
| alias2          =  あcola
| alias3          = ディア
| mainssbu        = Steve
| mainssbu        = Steve
| otherssbu      = Kazuya
| otherssbu      = Pyra
| 2ndotherssbu    = Luigi
| 2ndotherssbu    = Mythra
| moreotherssbu  = {{SSBU|Donkey Kong}}
| retiredssbu    = Luigi
| 2ndretiredssbu  = Kazuya
| sponsor        = {{Team|ZETA DIVISION}}
| sponsor        = {{Team|ZETA DIVISION}}
| former sponsors = {{Team|flat-gaming}}
| former sponsors = {{Team|flat-gaming}}
| crew            = SumaChuDoku
| crew            = SumaChuDoku, Arpeggio
| skillssbu      = Top professional
| rankingssbu    = [[LumiRank 2024.1]]: 1st
| rankingssbu    = [[OrionRank Mid-Year 2022]]: 4th
| bestrankingssbu = [[LumiRank 2024.1]]: 1st
| bestresultssbu  = 1st / 2,607 at {{Trn|Super Smash Con 2023|g=SSBU}}
| former tags    = Dear, ディア
| realname        = Mashita Hayato
| realname        = Mashita Hayato
| birthday        = 19
| birthday        = 20
| birthmonth      = 7
| birthmonth      = 7
| birthyear      = 2006
| birthyear      = 2006
| location        = Kansai
| location        = Hyōgo Prefecture, Kansai
| country        = Japan
| country        = Japan
}}
}}
'''acola''' (あcola) is a ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'' {{SSBU|Steve}} player with a strong {{SSBU|Kazuya}} secondary from Japan who is considered to be the best Steve player in the world and currently the best player in Japan. 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}}. He also currently maintains a winning record on nearly every player that he has fought in bracket, including {{Sm|Shuton}}, {{Sm|ProtoBanham}}, {{Sm|Tea}}, {{Sm|Tweek}}, {{Sm|Cosmos}}, {{Sm|Riddles}}, {{Sm|Yoshidora}}, and {{Sm|Hero|p=Japan}}. 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.
'''acola''' ('''あcola''') is a ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'' {{SSBU|Steve}} player with an {{SSBU|Aegis}} secondary from Japan who is considered to be the best Steve player of all time and the second-best ''Ultimate'' player of all-time, having been the best player in the game since 2023. acola 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 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 one of the youngest ''Ultimate'' players to win a major alongside {{Sm|Doramigi}}, at the age of 15 years old. He is also the only ''Ultimate'' player to win the first major and supermajor that they attended, and is one of two players to be #1 in the world throughout ''Ultimate'' alongside MkLeo.


He frequently enters single-elimination live tournaments on [[Smashmate]]. He is ranked 1st on the 19th Smashmate SP ranking and is the first player to achieve a 2,500 rating on Smashmate. He is currently ranked 4th on [[OrionRank Mid-Year 2022]] and 39th on the [[Experimental Smash Player Rankings]].
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.
 
==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 9}}, 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]].
 
The rest of the year effectively solidified acola as the best player in the world, especially following his premier-tier victory at {{Trn|Super Smash Con 2023}}, which also saw Sparg0 drastically underperforming. acola continued to win almost every event he entered, and made top 4 at the events he did not win. He notably had only one loss to a player outside the top 10 during this half of the year -- {{Sm|Hurt}}. In addition, many players took note of how acola frequently won sets that went to game 5, with a statistic showing that acola had won 87% of game 5 sets that year, earning him the nickname "Game 5 acola".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/TMMythra/status/1729538095089889784|title=Game 5 acola statistics}}</ref>
 
On the other hand, this period was not completely spotless, as acola began to develop a few new problematic opponents. The first was fellow Smashmate rival {{Sm|Miya|p=Honshu}}, who at that point was also a contender for the best player in the world. Although acola had a strong record against Miya, this record began to shrink in the fall, notably after Miya blocked acola from winning another premier event by double-eliminating him at {{Trn|Kagaribi 11}}. The second was {{Sm|Sonix}}, who finally fought acola at {{Trn|Port Priority 8}} in a highly yet ironically anticipated matchup. The set ended in a devastating 3-0 from Sonix, and acola ultimately fell to Miya for 3rd, failing to win yet another premier event. Although these performances did little to hurt acola's overall standing, they also showcased how he was not as invincible as many players had assumed. This was the most apparent at acola's final event of the season, {{Trn|Watch The Throne}}, where he lost to Sparg0 and Sonix for 4th, albeit with better performances against both players. As such, although acola's record against almost everyone remained close to spotless, his record against the rest of the top 4, especially against Sparg0 and Sonix, was less than exemplary. Nonetheless, his dominant performances and impressive consistency was enough to help him maintain his #1 spot, being ranked 1st on the [[LumiRank 2023]].
 
Going into 2024, acola had a lot to prove after receiving somewhat disappointing results towards the end of 2023, with Miya being regarded by some players as the best player for the second half of 2023. He almost immediately fired back after an impressive run at {{Trn|Umebura SP 10}}, a Premier tier event, repeating victories against fellow top 5 player Glutonny and notably claiming victory over Miya in grand finals, the first time he had beat one of the other horsemen since {{Trn|DELTA 5}}. However, the next couple of months would see Acola not attending many events of note, but during this time acola saw a spotless record on every player he fought, and remained the only top player without a loss going into April. In addition, acola began to work more on his Aegis, using it to defeat Doramigi in two games in grands of {{Trn|Kamisuma 22}}, as well as defeating Asimo using Aegis in the final game of grand finals at {{Trn|KOWLOON 10}}. He notably reached a Smashmate rating of 2,500 with just Aegis, one of the few players to reach that rating with more than one character.
 
The rest of Acola's season was marked as strong for him. Despite still not attending many events, Acola managed to perform well at both Golden week events, Placing 1st at the premiere DELTA #8 tournament, giving him two premiere wins, while also placing 3rd at Kagaribi, the only event he attended and did not win. Additionally, he ended up losing sets to only three players that season; Miya, Doramigi, and Hurt, while also having positive records against the former two. Acola's season was helped even further by some horrible performances in the final week of the season for two of his biggest contenders in Japan, Hurt and Miya, who both fell short of making top 8 at their final majors of the season, as well as Sparg0 having bad performances at both golden week events. With this, the only player who matched his consistency was Sonix, but because he had no major win under his belt, acola consistency and high wins easily made him the frontrunner for the best player in the world for the first half of 2024, and that would ultimately be reflected on the [[LumiRank 2024.1]] where he placed 1st, retaining his #1 spot once again.
 
Moving on to the second half of 2024, and after coming out of the first half of 2024 with great success, acola would continue his success in his next supermajor {{Trn|Kowloon 12 with Kagaribi}}, where acola would sweep through his bracket near flawlessly before losing to Miya 1-3 in Winners Finals. He would be sent down to losers to face his next opponent. Unfortunately, after an insane losers run, Sparg0 would make it to losers finals, this meant that acola would once again face off against his biggest bracket demon. However, in a shocking upset that surprised many, acola finally overcame his bracket demon and defeated Sparg0 3-1 with his Aegis, a victory that left him popping off like he never did before and caused the Japenese commentators and some of the audience in the venue to cry. He would then win the runback against Miya 3-0 in grands but would not win the tournament as Miya would clutch it in a close game 5 set. Despite finishing 2nd, this was still a remarkable run for acola because of his victory over Sparg0, as this was a player that had constantly stood in his way and denied him massive supermajor wins in the past two years that would've made him the definitive best player in the world. This further convinced players that acola showed no signs of giving up and would take this ranking under his belt as well. However, this is where things started to take a turn for the worse with his next supermajor presence, {{Trn|Supernova 2024}}; His first North American tournament since {{Trn|Watch The Throne}}. Despite high expectations for acola given his decisive victory last year, he would be upsetted by {{Sm|Yoshidora}} 2-3 right outside of Top 24 winners, acola would then be sent to losers and would just barely make it to top 8 after surviving close game 5 sets against {{Sm|Marss}}, {{Sm|Dabuz}} and {{Sm|MkLeo}}, with acola notably taking his mask off in the latter set after being down 2-0. Once in top 8, acola would lose to Sonix 0-3 to finish 7th, his worst placement of the year and an underwhelming loss at an important event that could spell disastrous for acola's number 1 spot.
 
However, there was still hope left with acola's next tournament, {{Trn|Umebura SP 11}}, where despite falling into losers early yet again after losing to {{Sm|Snow}} 2-3, he would make it to grands after a clean losers run including winning the runback to Snow in losers finals. Unfortunately, acola would once again fall short to Miya after winning the bracket reset, giving Miya yet another supermajor win. Later at {{Trn|Sumabato SP 51}}, acola would suffer a devastating blow right outside of top 8 after losing to {{Sm|Akakikusu}} 1-3, giving acola his first sub-top 30 loss in over a year, and despite another clean losers run and winning the runback to both Yoshidora and Akakikusu, acola would be upsetted once again in grands after losing to Asimo 2-3 to finish 2nd, yet another major slipping away from acola. To make matters worse, acola's number 1 position was once again threatened by his former bracket demon, Sparg0, as his results began to improve dramatically as he started to win big supermajors with minimum games dropped, and with [[LumiRank 2024.2]] no longer factoring in the first half year rankings. Acola didn't even manage to get a single major win until {{Trn|Sumabato SP 52}}, and with Miya and Sparg0 having won multiple supermajors and P-tiers, players wrote off Acola as a contender, instead perceiving the race to be between Sparg0 and Miya.
 
==Rankings==
===''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''===
====[[Panda Global Rankings Ultimate]]====
{|class="wikitable"
!Ranking!!Time period!!Rank!!Character(s)!!Notes
|-
|[[PGRU v3#Japan Top 50 Players to Watch|PGRU v3: Japan Top 50 Players to Watch]]||March 1st - June 13th, 2022||Featured Player (Top 10)||{{Head|Steve|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|Kazuya|g=SSBU|s=20px}}||
|}
 
====[[LumiRank]]====
{|class="wikitable"
!Ranking!!Time period!!Rank!!Character(s)!!Notes
|-
|[[UltRank 2022]]||June 18th - December 18th, 2022||2nd||{{Head|Steve|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|Kazuya|g=SSBU|s=20px}}||
|-
|[[LumiRank Mid-Year 2023]]||December 19th, 2022 - July 23rd, 2023||1st||{{Head|Steve|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|Kazuya|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|PyraMythra|g=SSBU|s=20px}}||
|-
|[[LumiRank 2023]]||December 19th, 2022 - December 17th, 2023||1st||{{Head|Steve|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|PyraMythra|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|Kazuya|g=SSBU|s=20px}}||
|-
|[[LumiRank 2024.1]]||December 18th, 2023 - July 15th, 2024||1st||{{Head|Steve|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|PyraMythra|g=SSBU|s=20px}}||
|}
 
====[[OrionRank|OrionRank Ultimate]]====
{|class="wikitable"
!Ranking!!Time period!!Rank!!Character(s)!!Notes
|-
|[[OrionRank Mid-Year 2022]]||December 22nd, 2021 - June 26th, 2022||4th||{{Head|Steve|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|Kazuya|g=SSBU|s=20px}}||
|-
|[[OrionRank 2022]]||December 22nd, 2021 - December 18th, 2022||2nd||{{Head|Steve|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|Kazuya|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|Donkey Kong|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|PyraMythra|g=SSBU|s=20px}}||
|}
 
====OrionRank Japan====
{|class="wikitable"
!Ranking!!Time period!!Rank!!Character(s)!!Notes
|-
|[[OrionRank 2022/Japan|OrionRank 2022 Japan]]||December 22nd, 2021 - December 18th, 2022||1st||{{Head|Steve|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|Kazuya|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|Donkey Kong|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|PyraMythra|g=SSBU|s=20px}}||
|}
 
====[[Smashmate]]====
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!Season!!Ranking!!Rating!!Notes
|-
|13||7th||2,485||
|-
|14||2nd||2,304||
|-
|16||1st||2,400||
|-
|17||1st||2,404||
|-
|18||1st||2,420||
|-
|20||1st||2,502||
|-
|21||3rd||2,485||
|}


==Tournament placings==
==Tournament placings==
Line 38: Line 130:
|[https://smashmate.net/tournament/4180/ Tamisuma SP #229]{{OnlineIcon}}||February 16th, 2021||3rd||&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;
|{{Trn|Tamisuma Championship 1|g=SSBU}}{{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/4235/ Tamisuma SP #233]{{OnlineIcon}}||February 27th, 2021||3rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
Line 54: Line 146:
|[https://smashmate.net/tournament/4508/ Tamisuma SP #242]{{OnlineIcon}}||March 25th, 2021||17th||&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|Maesuma Champion Series 3|g=SSBU}}{{OnlineIcon}}||April 10th, 2021||4th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|Tamisuma Championship 3}}{{OnlineIcon}}||April 22nd, 2021||9th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|Tamisuma Championship 3|g=SSBU}}{{OnlineIcon}}||April 22nd, 2021||9th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma Champion Series 4}}{{OnlineIcon}}||May 8th, 2021||7th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|Maesuma Champion Series 4|g=SSBU}}{{OnlineIcon}}||May 8th, 2021||7th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|Tamisuma Championship 5}}{{OnlineIcon}}||July 29th, 2021||3rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|Tamisuma Championship 5|g=SSBU}}{{OnlineIcon}}||July 29th, 2021||3rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|MaeTami Summer Festival Qualifier A}}{{OnlineIcon}}||August 14th, 2021||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|MaeTami Summer Festival Qualifier A|g=SSBU}}{{OnlineIcon}}||August 14th, 2021||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|MaeTami Summer Festival}}{{OnlineIcon}}||August 15th, 2021||3rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|MaeTami Summer Festival|g=SSBU}}{{OnlineIcon}}||August 15th, 2021||3rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma Champion Series 9}}{{OnlineIcon}}||October 9th, 2021||2nd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|Maesuma Champion Series 9|g=SSBU}}{{OnlineIcon}}||October 9th, 2021||2nd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|[https://challonge.com/x0homigo SenjinByakko Mononofu Cup #52]||November 13th, 2021||1st||&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;
|{{Trn|Maesuma Champion Series 11|g=SSBU}}{{OnlineIcon}}||December 15th, 2021||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|[https://smashmate.net/tournament/9021/ Tamisuma SP #351]{{OnlineIcon}}||January 3rd, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|[https://smashmate.net/tournament/9021/ Tamisuma SP #351]{{OnlineIcon}}||January 3rd, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
Line 76: Line 168:
|[https://challonge.com/5uadj2at Hozuki #5]||January 10th, 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|Maesuma Offline|g=SSBU}}||February 26th, 2022||2nd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|Sumabato SP 24}}||March 20th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|Sumabato SP 24|g=SSBU}}||March 20th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|[https://smashmate.net/tournament/10408/ Maesuma #316]{{OnlineIcon}}||March 22nd, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|[https://smashmate.net/tournament/10408/ Maesuma #316]{{OnlineIcon}}||March 22nd, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
Line 84: Line 176:
|[https://challonge.com/ja/shinosuma124 Shinosuma #124]||March 26th, 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|Ignite 1|g=SSBU}}||March 27th, 2022||&mdash;||3rd||{{Sm|Sunea}}
|-
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma Champion Series 15}}{{OnlineIcon}}||April 6th, 2022||3rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|Maesuma Champion Series 15|g=SSBU}}{{OnlineIcon}}||April 6th, 2022||3rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma Offline 2}}||April 16th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|Maesuma Offline 2|g=SSBU}}||April 16th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|Hozuki × acOlaSia 2}}||April 29th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|Hozuki × acOlaSia 2|g=SSBU}}||April 29th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma TOP 7}}||May 1st, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|Maesuma TOP 7|g=SSBU}}||May 1st, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|Kagaribi 7}}||May 4th-5th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|Kagaribi 7|g=SSBU}}||May 4th-5th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|Sumabato SP 26}}||May 29th, 2022||2nd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|Sumabato SP 26|g=SSBU}}||May 29th, 2022||2nd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|Kamisuma 13}}||June 5th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|Kamisuma 13|g=SSBU}}||June 5th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|The Gimvitational}}||June 19th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|The Gimvitational|g=SSBU}}||June 19th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma Offline (Shikoku)}}||July 9th, 2022||4th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|Maesuma Offline (Shikoku)|g=SSBU}}||July 9th, 2022||4th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|[https://challonge.com/ja/xwq8ugv2 SenjinByakko -RAN- #58]||July 21st, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|[https://challonge.com/ja/xwq8ugv2 SenjinByakko -RAN- #58]||July 21st, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
Line 108: Line 200:
|[https://www.start.gg/tournament/hit-28-maesumahit-28/event/singles-tournament/brackets/1167606/1809565 MaesumaHIT #28]||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|MaesumaHIT Champion Series 2|g=SSBU}}||July 23rd, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|Sumabato SP 28}}||July 24th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|Sumabato SP 28|g=SSBU}}||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;
|[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|Sumabato SP 29|g=SSBU}}||August 14th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|MaeTami Summer Festival 2022}}{{OnlineIcon}}||August 19th, 2022||3rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|MaeTami Summer Festival 2022|g=SSBU}}{{OnlineIcon}}||August 19th, 2022||3rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma TOP 9}}||August 27th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|Maesuma TOP 9|g=SSBU}}||August 27th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|Smash Ultimate Summit 5}}||September 15th-18th, 2022||4th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|Smash Ultimate Summit 5|g=SSBU}}||September 15th-18th, 2022||4th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma Champion Series 19}}{{OnlineIcon}}||September 28th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|Maesuma Champion Series 19|g=SSBU}}{{OnlineIcon}}||September 28th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma TOP 10}}||October 15th-16th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|{{Trn|Maesuma TOP 10|g=SSBU}}||October 15th-16th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Ludwig Smash Invitational|g=SSBU}}||October 21st-23rd, 2022||2nd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Let's Make Moves Miami|g=SSBU}}||October 28th-30th, 2022||1st||1st||{{Sm|Onin}}
|-
|{{Trn|MaesumaHIT Champion Series 3|g=SSBU}}||November 12th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Seibugeki 12|g=SSBU}}||December 3rd, 2022||9th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Scuffed World Tour|g=SSBU}}||December 18th, 2022||4th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|JAPAN 24|g=SSBU}}||December 24th-25th, 2022||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Umebura SP 9|g=SSBU}}||January 7th-8th, 2023||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|GENESIS 9|g=SSBU}}||January 20th-22nd, 2023||7th||65th||{{Sm|fuku|p=Kansai}}
|-
|{{Trn|Kagaribi 9|g=SSBU}}||February 4th-5th, 2023||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|MaesumaHIT Champion Series 4|g=SSBU}}||February 25th, 2023||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma TOP 11|g=SSBU}}||March 5th, 2023||3rd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Karisuma SP 15|g=SSBU}}||March 18th, 2023||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Smash Ultimate Summit 6|g=SSBU}}||March 23rd-26th, 2023||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|tamasuma kyokkan 2|g=SSBU}}||April 15th, 2023||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma TOP 12|g=SSBU}}||April 30th, 2023||1st||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|TOKYO SMASH BOOT CAMP|g=SSBU}}||May 3rd, 2023||9th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Kagaribi 10|g=SSBU}}||May 6th-7th, 2023||2nd||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|MaesumaHIT Champion Series 5|g=SSBU}}||May 13th, 2023||5th||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Battle of BC 5|g=SSBU}}||May 19th-21st, 2023||2nd||4th||{{Sm|Miya|p=Honshu}}
|-
|{{Trn|Seibugeki 14|g=SSBU}}||July 1st, 2023||1st / 272||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Super Smash Con 2023|g=SSBU}}||August 10th-13th, 2023||1st / 2,607||1st / 567||{{Sm|Miya|p=Honshu}}
|-
|{{Trn|Sumabato SP Ultimate|g=SSBU}}||September 16th-17th, 2023||1st / 291||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|DELTA 5|g=SSBU}}||September 23rd-24th, 2023||1st / 292||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Kagaribi 11|g=SSBU}}||October 7th-8th, 2023||2nd / 1,472||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Maesuma TOP 14.5 "in Hyogo"|g=SSBU}}||October 29th, 2023||1st / 284||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Port Priority 8|g=SSBU}}||November 11th-12th, 2023||3rd / 710||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Watch The Throne|g=SSBU}}||December 8th-10th, 2023||4th / 16||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|JOHSUMA 18|g=SSBU}}||December 16th, 2023||1st / 60||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Umebura SP 10|g=SSBU}}||January 6th-8th, 2024||1st / 1,275||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Kamisuma 22|g=SSBU}}||February 18th, 2024||1st / 72||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|ITSUKUSHIMA 3|g=SSBU}}||March 16th-17th, 2024||1st / 202||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|KOWLOON 10|g=SSBU}}||March 30th, 2024||1st / 312||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|DELTA 8|g=SSBU}}||May 3rd, 2024||1st / 516||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Kagaribi 12|g=SSBU}}||May 5th-6th, 2024||3rd / 2,030||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Kamisuma 24|g=SSBU}}||June 9th, 2024||1st / 64||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Kowloon 12 with Kagaribi|g=SSBU}}||July 27th-28th, 2024||2nd / 1,428||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|SMFN Invitational|g=SSBU}}||August 8th, 2024||1st / 20||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Supernova 2024|g=SSBU}}||August 8th-11th, 2024||7th / 2,281||5th / 497||{{Sm|Raru}}
|-
|{{Trn|Umebura SP 11|g=SSBU}}||September 14th-15th, 2024||2nd / 1,023||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Sumabato SP 51|g=SSBU}}||September 22nd, 2024||2nd / 375||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|Sumabato SP 52|g=SSBU}}||October 20th, 2024||1st / 337||&mdash;||&mdash;
|-
|{{Trn|UltCore Fourth|g=SSBU}}||November 24th, 2024||4th / 367||&mdash;||&mdash;
|}
|}


==Trivia==
==Trivia==
*The only players that acola holds negative records against in offline ''[[Ultimate]]'' tournaments are {{Sm|Kashiya}} (0-1) and {{Sm|Meido}} (0-1).
*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 is the lowest-seeded player to ever win an ''Ultimate'' supermajor, being seeded 57th before going on to place first at {{Trn|Kagaribi 7}}.
*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>
**He 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'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.
*acola is a fan of the indie game ''[[wikipedia:Omori (video game)|Omori]]'', and regularly uses in-game tags that reference the game, including "Whitespace" and "Miserable". The latter raised some concern online when acola used it at {{Trn|Port Priority 8}}.
*acola is a fan of the Japanese pop group Tuyu, and many fanart often depict him together with one of the female characters in the group's MVs.


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


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

Latest revision as of 14:07, November 25, 2024

"Smasher:Dear" redirects here. Not to be confused with Smasher:Deer or Smasher:DEAR.
acola "あcola"
Acola.png
Character info
Ultimate main Steve
Other Ultimate characters Pyra, Mythra
Retired Ultimate characters Luigi, Kazuya
Team info
Sponsor(s) ZETA DIVISION
Former sponsor(s) flat-gaming
Crew(s) SumaChuDoku, Arpeggio
Rankings and results info
Most recent ranking Super Smash Bros. Ultimate LumiRank 2024.1: 1st
Best historical ranking Super Smash Bros. Ultimate LumiRank 2024.1: 1st
Best tournament result Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 1st / 2,607 at Super Smash Con 2023
Personal and other info
Real name Mashita Hayato
Former tags Dear, ディア
Birth date (age 18)
Location Hyōgo Prefecture, Kansai Japan

acola (あcola) is a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Steve player with an Aegis secondary from Japan who is considered to be the best Steve player of all time and the second-best Ultimate player of all-time, having been the best player in the game since 2023. acola gained a worldwide spotlight due to his impressive consistency as a player, arguably on par with the likes of MkLeo; up until Maesuma Offline (Shikoku), he made grand finals at every offline tournament he attended, including winning his first major at Maesuma TOP 7, his first supermajor at Kagaribi 7, and his first invitational major and overseas tournament at The Gimvitational. His victory at Maesuma TOP 7 made him one of the youngest Ultimate players to win a major alongside Doramigi, at the age of 15 years old. He is also the only Ultimate player to win the first major and supermajor that they attended, and is one of two players to be #1 in the world throughout Ultimate alongside MkLeo.

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.

Tournament history[edit]

Smashmate beginnings[edit]

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 Luigi and Donkey Kong, however he found greater success playing 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 Top 50 Smashmate Players of All Time, which ranked Smashmate players up to the 22nd season.

Offline debut and meteoric rise[edit]

Despite his strong results online, acola had little impact on the offline scene in his first year, with his only attendance being a small event in November. That changed in 2022, when acola was invited to 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 Hero, Kome, and most notably Shuton, whom he reset the bracket against. Following this event was 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 Abadango and 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 Maesuma TOP 7 and the supermajor 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 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 MkLeo and 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 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 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 Marss 3-0, fellow Japanese invitee Asimo 3-1, Canada's best player Riddles 3-1, and finally the United States's best player Light 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 Otori at 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 Let's Make Moves Miami despite losing to MuteAce; and his performance at the supermajor invitational Ludwig Smash Invitational, where despite losing to 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 Kashiya at Maesuma Offline (Shikoku) and Meido at 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 alice. Further hurting his case was his performances at Smash Ultimate Summit 5 and 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 Dabuz -- which led to a string of tiebreakers between him, Dabuz, and 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 Repo and Kameme to place 9th, the first time acola placed outside of the top 8. Finally, his run at 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[edit]

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 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 Umebura SP 9 and Kagaribi 9, two of the largest events in Japan for the Mid-Year season, and the major Smash Ultimate Summit 6, where after losing to Big D, he tore through the entire tournament, defeating everyone in his path -- including dominating 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: 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, 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 Kagaribi 10 and 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 9B on the SSBBRank 2014.

The rest of the year effectively solidified acola as the best player in the world, especially following his premier-tier victory at Super Smash Con 2023, which also saw Sparg0 drastically underperforming. acola continued to win almost every event he entered, and made top 4 at the events he did not win. He notably had only one loss to a player outside the top 10 during this half of the year -- Hurt. In addition, many players took note of how acola frequently won sets that went to game 5, with a statistic showing that acola had won 87% of game 5 sets that year, earning him the nickname "Game 5 acola".[1]

On the other hand, this period was not completely spotless, as acola began to develop a few new problematic opponents. The first was fellow Smashmate rival Miya, who at that point was also a contender for the best player in the world. Although acola had a strong record against Miya, this record began to shrink in the fall, notably after Miya blocked acola from winning another premier event by double-eliminating him at Kagaribi 11. The second was Sonix, who finally fought acola at Port Priority 8 in a highly yet ironically anticipated matchup. The set ended in a devastating 3-0 from Sonix, and acola ultimately fell to Miya for 3rd, failing to win yet another premier event. Although these performances did little to hurt acola's overall standing, they also showcased how he was not as invincible as many players had assumed. This was the most apparent at acola's final event of the season, Watch The Throne, where he lost to Sparg0 and Sonix for 4th, albeit with better performances against both players. As such, although acola's record against almost everyone remained close to spotless, his record against the rest of the top 4, especially against Sparg0 and Sonix, was less than exemplary. Nonetheless, his dominant performances and impressive consistency was enough to help him maintain his #1 spot, being ranked 1st on the LumiRank 2023.

Going into 2024, acola had a lot to prove after receiving somewhat disappointing results towards the end of 2023, with Miya being regarded by some players as the best player for the second half of 2023. He almost immediately fired back after an impressive run at Umebura SP 10, a Premier tier event, repeating victories against fellow top 5 player Glutonny and notably claiming victory over Miya in grand finals, the first time he had beat one of the other horsemen since DELTA 5. However, the next couple of months would see Acola not attending many events of note, but during this time acola saw a spotless record on every player he fought, and remained the only top player without a loss going into April. In addition, acola began to work more on his Aegis, using it to defeat Doramigi in two games in grands of Kamisuma 22, as well as defeating Asimo using Aegis in the final game of grand finals at KOWLOON 10. He notably reached a Smashmate rating of 2,500 with just Aegis, one of the few players to reach that rating with more than one character.

The rest of Acola's season was marked as strong for him. Despite still not attending many events, Acola managed to perform well at both Golden week events, Placing 1st at the premiere DELTA #8 tournament, giving him two premiere wins, while also placing 3rd at Kagaribi, the only event he attended and did not win. Additionally, he ended up losing sets to only three players that season; Miya, Doramigi, and Hurt, while also having positive records against the former two. Acola's season was helped even further by some horrible performances in the final week of the season for two of his biggest contenders in Japan, Hurt and Miya, who both fell short of making top 8 at their final majors of the season, as well as Sparg0 having bad performances at both golden week events. With this, the only player who matched his consistency was Sonix, but because he had no major win under his belt, acola consistency and high wins easily made him the frontrunner for the best player in the world for the first half of 2024, and that would ultimately be reflected on the LumiRank 2024.1 where he placed 1st, retaining his #1 spot once again.

Moving on to the second half of 2024, and after coming out of the first half of 2024 with great success, acola would continue his success in his next supermajor Kowloon 12 with Kagaribi, where acola would sweep through his bracket near flawlessly before losing to Miya 1-3 in Winners Finals. He would be sent down to losers to face his next opponent. Unfortunately, after an insane losers run, Sparg0 would make it to losers finals, this meant that acola would once again face off against his biggest bracket demon. However, in a shocking upset that surprised many, acola finally overcame his bracket demon and defeated Sparg0 3-1 with his Aegis, a victory that left him popping off like he never did before and caused the Japenese commentators and some of the audience in the venue to cry. He would then win the runback against Miya 3-0 in grands but would not win the tournament as Miya would clutch it in a close game 5 set. Despite finishing 2nd, this was still a remarkable run for acola because of his victory over Sparg0, as this was a player that had constantly stood in his way and denied him massive supermajor wins in the past two years that would've made him the definitive best player in the world. This further convinced players that acola showed no signs of giving up and would take this ranking under his belt as well. However, this is where things started to take a turn for the worse with his next supermajor presence, Supernova 2024; His first North American tournament since Watch The Throne. Despite high expectations for acola given his decisive victory last year, he would be upsetted by Yoshidora 2-3 right outside of Top 24 winners, acola would then be sent to losers and would just barely make it to top 8 after surviving close game 5 sets against Marss, Dabuz and MkLeo, with acola notably taking his mask off in the latter set after being down 2-0. Once in top 8, acola would lose to Sonix 0-3 to finish 7th, his worst placement of the year and an underwhelming loss at an important event that could spell disastrous for acola's number 1 spot.

However, there was still hope left with acola's next tournament, Umebura SP 11, where despite falling into losers early yet again after losing to Snow 2-3, he would make it to grands after a clean losers run including winning the runback to Snow in losers finals. Unfortunately, acola would once again fall short to Miya after winning the bracket reset, giving Miya yet another supermajor win. Later at Sumabato SP 51, acola would suffer a devastating blow right outside of top 8 after losing to Akakikusu 1-3, giving acola his first sub-top 30 loss in over a year, and despite another clean losers run and winning the runback to both Yoshidora and Akakikusu, acola would be upsetted once again in grands after losing to Asimo 2-3 to finish 2nd, yet another major slipping away from acola. To make matters worse, acola's number 1 position was once again threatened by his former bracket demon, Sparg0, as his results began to improve dramatically as he started to win big supermajors with minimum games dropped, and with LumiRank 2024.2 no longer factoring in the first half year rankings. Acola didn't even manage to get a single major win until Sumabato SP 52, and with Miya and Sparg0 having won multiple supermajors and P-tiers, players wrote off Acola as a contender, instead perceiving the race to be between Sparg0 and Miya.

Rankings[edit]

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]

Panda Global Rankings Ultimate[edit]

Ranking Time period Rank Character(s) Notes
PGRU v3: Japan Top 50 Players to Watch March 1st - June 13th, 2022 Featured Player (Top 10) Steve (SSBU)Kazuya (SSBU)

LumiRank[edit]

Ranking Time period Rank Character(s) Notes
UltRank 2022 June 18th - December 18th, 2022 2nd Steve (SSBU)Kazuya (SSBU)
LumiRank Mid-Year 2023 December 19th, 2022 - July 23rd, 2023 1st Steve (SSBU)Kazuya (SSBU)PyraMythra (SSBU)
LumiRank 2023 December 19th, 2022 - December 17th, 2023 1st Steve (SSBU)PyraMythra (SSBU)Kazuya (SSBU)
LumiRank 2024.1 December 18th, 2023 - July 15th, 2024 1st Steve (SSBU)PyraMythra (SSBU)

OrionRank Ultimate[edit]

Ranking Time period Rank Character(s) Notes
OrionRank Mid-Year 2022 December 22nd, 2021 - June 26th, 2022 4th Steve (SSBU)Kazuya (SSBU)
OrionRank 2022 December 22nd, 2021 - December 18th, 2022 2nd Steve (SSBU)Kazuya (SSBU)Donkey Kong (SSBU)PyraMythra (SSBU)

OrionRank Japan[edit]

Ranking Time period Rank Character(s) Notes
OrionRank 2022 Japan December 22nd, 2021 - December 18th, 2022 1st Steve (SSBU)Kazuya (SSBU)Donkey Kong (SSBU)PyraMythra (SSBU)

Smashmate[edit]

Season Ranking Rating Notes
13 7th 2,485
14 2nd 2,304
16 1st 2,400
17 1st 2,404
18 1st 2,420
20 1st 2,502
21 3rd 2,485

Tournament placings[edit]

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]

Tournament Date 1v1 Placement 2v2 Placement Partner
Tamisuma SP #219Online January 18th, 2021 9th — —
Maesuma #190Online February 7th, 2021 2nd — —
Tamisuma SP #229Online February 16th, 2021 3rd — —
Tamisuma Championship 1Online February 17th, 2021 33rd — —
Tamisuma SP #233Online February 27th, 2021 3rd — —
Maesuma #198Online March 7th, 2021 9th — —
Maesuma #200Online March 14th, 2021 3rd — —
Tamisuma SP #238Online March 13th, 2021 5th — —
Maesuma #201Online March 19th, 2021 3rd — —
Tamisuma SP #241Online March 22nd, 2021 9th — —
Tamisuma SP #242Online March 25th, 2021 17th — —
Maesuma Champion Series 3Online April 10th, 2021 4th — —
Tamisuma Championship 3Online April 22nd, 2021 9th — —
Maesuma Champion Series 4Online May 8th, 2021 7th — —
Tamisuma Championship 5Online July 29th, 2021 3rd — —
MaeTami Summer Festival Qualifier AOnline August 14th, 2021 1st — —
MaeTami Summer FestivalOnline August 15th, 2021 3rd — —
Maesuma Champion Series 9Online October 9th, 2021 2nd — —
SenjinByakko Mononofu Cup #52 November 13th, 2021 1st — —
Maesuma Champion Series 11Online December 15th, 2021 1st — —
Tamisuma SP #351Online January 3rd, 2022 1st — —
Hozuki #5 January 10th, 2022 1st — —
Maesuma Offline February 26th, 2022 2nd — —
Sumabato SP 24 March 20th, 2022 1st — —
Maesuma #316Online March 22nd, 2022 1st — —
Shinosuma #124 March 26th, 2022 1st — —
Ignite 1 March 27th, 2022 — 3rd Sunea
Maesuma Champion Series 15Online April 6th, 2022 3rd — —
Maesuma Offline 2 April 16th, 2022 1st — —
Hozuki × acOlaSia 2 April 29th, 2022 1st — —
Maesuma TOP 7 May 1st, 2022 1st — —
Kagaribi 7 May 4th-5th, 2022 1st — —
Sumabato SP 26 May 29th, 2022 2nd — —
Kamisuma 13 June 5th, 2022 1st — —
The Gimvitational June 19th, 2022 1st — —
Maesuma Offline (Shikoku) July 9th, 2022 4th — —
SenjinByakko -RAN- #58 July 21st, 2022 1st — —
MaesumaHIT #28 July 21st, 2022 1st — —
MaesumaHIT Champion Series 2 July 23rd, 2022 1st — —
Sumabato SP 28 July 24th, 2022 1st — —
MaesumaHIT #30 August 11th, 2022 1st — —
Sumabato SP 29 August 14th, 2022 1st — —
MaeTami Summer Festival 2022Online August 19th, 2022 3rd — —
Maesuma TOP 9 August 27th, 2022 1st — —
Smash Ultimate Summit 5 September 15th-18th, 2022 4th — —
Maesuma Champion Series 19Online September 28th, 2022 1st — —
Maesuma TOP 10 October 15th-16th, 2022 1st — —
Ludwig Smash Invitational October 21st-23rd, 2022 2nd — —
Let's Make Moves Miami October 28th-30th, 2022 1st 1st Onin
MaesumaHIT Champion Series 3 November 12th, 2022 1st — —
Seibugeki 12 December 3rd, 2022 9th — —
Scuffed World Tour December 18th, 2022 4th — —
JAPAN 24 December 24th-25th, 2022 1st — —
Umebura SP 9 January 7th-8th, 2023 1st — —
GENESIS 9 January 20th-22nd, 2023 7th 65th fuku
Kagaribi 9 February 4th-5th, 2023 1st — —
MaesumaHIT Champion Series 4 February 25th, 2023 1st — —
Maesuma TOP 11 March 5th, 2023 3rd — —
Karisuma SP 15 March 18th, 2023 1st — —
Smash Ultimate Summit 6 March 23rd-26th, 2023 1st — —
tamasuma kyokkan 2 April 15th, 2023 1st — —
Maesuma TOP 12 April 30th, 2023 1st — —
TOKYO SMASH BOOT CAMP May 3rd, 2023 9th — —
Kagaribi 10 May 6th-7th, 2023 2nd — —
MaesumaHIT Champion Series 5 May 13th, 2023 5th — —
Battle of BC 5 May 19th-21st, 2023 2nd 4th Miya
Seibugeki 14 July 1st, 2023 1st / 272 — —
Super Smash Con 2023 August 10th-13th, 2023 1st / 2,607 1st / 567 Miya
Sumabato SP Ultimate September 16th-17th, 2023 1st / 291 — —
DELTA 5 September 23rd-24th, 2023 1st / 292 — —
Kagaribi 11 October 7th-8th, 2023 2nd / 1,472 — —
Maesuma TOP 14.5 "in Hyogo" October 29th, 2023 1st / 284 — —
Port Priority 8 November 11th-12th, 2023 3rd / 710 — —
Watch The Throne December 8th-10th, 2023 4th / 16 — —
JOHSUMA 18 December 16th, 2023 1st / 60 — —
Umebura SP 10 January 6th-8th, 2024 1st / 1,275 — —
Kamisuma 22 February 18th, 2024 1st / 72 — —
ITSUKUSHIMA 3 March 16th-17th, 2024 1st / 202 — —
KOWLOON 10 March 30th, 2024 1st / 312 — —
DELTA 8 May 3rd, 2024 1st / 516 — —
Kagaribi 12 May 5th-6th, 2024 3rd / 2,030 — —
Kamisuma 24 June 9th, 2024 1st / 64 — —
Kowloon 12 with Kagaribi July 27th-28th, 2024 2nd / 1,428 — —
SMFN Invitational August 8th, 2024 1st / 20 — —
Supernova 2024 August 8th-11th, 2024 7th / 2,281 5th / 497 Raru
Umebura SP 11 September 14th-15th, 2024 2nd / 1,023 — —
Sumabato SP 51 September 22nd, 2024 2nd / 375 — —
Sumabato SP 52 October 20th, 2024 1st / 337 — —
UltCore Fourth November 24th, 2024 4th / 367 — —

Trivia[edit]

  • acola is one of five players to win an Ultimate major while being seeded outside of the top 16, alongside ProtoBanham (won Kagaribi 4 as the 25th seed), Quidd (won Let's Make Big Moves 2022 as the 32nd seed), Kuro (won Umebura SP 6 as the 37th seed) and Miya (won 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 Yoshidora's record of 638 wins.[2][3]
  • 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.
  • acola is a fan of the indie game Omori, and regularly uses in-game tags that reference the game, including "Whitespace" and "Miserable". The latter raised some concern online when acola used it at Port Priority 8.
  • acola is a fan of the Japanese pop group Tuyu, and many fanart often depict him together with one of the female characters in the group's MVs.

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Game 5 acola statistics.
  2. ^ acola breaks the longest Elite Smash win streak record
  3. ^ acola's record Elite Smash win streak ends
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