South Korea

South Korea is a country in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. Historically, South Korea's Smash scene was very niche, owing to the poor market standing of Nintendo in the country (notably, the Wii U and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U were never officially sold in South Korea); this started to change after the release of the Nintendo Switch, which granted newfound popularity to Nintendo in the country and allowed a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate South Korean competitive scene to begin blooming. Though still largely grassroots, the South Korean Smash scene now sees respectable attendance numbers. The first Ultimate and Melee Power Rankings were released in May of 2019, with Ultimate being headed by JJROCKETS, currently residing in the country. The return of Tanark to South Korea and the new wave of online warriors attending offline tournaments is causing rapid growth of the scene in both size and skill level.

South Korea was among the nations who participated in the SWT: East Asia South Ultimate Online Qualifier, with three Korean players qualifying for the regional finals in Japan. However, none of them were able to attend due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Notable players

• JJROCKETS : Ranked 4th on the South Korean Power Rankings, but has since moved back to Chicago.
• LynZle : Ranked 1st on the South Korean Power Rankings.
• Sejun : Better known as a Pokémon VGC player, but is a competent smasher. Ranked 6th on the South Korean Power Rankings.
• Tanark : Ranked 3rd on the South Korean Power Rankings.

Tournaments hosted

A list of significant Ultimate tournaments held in South Korea.

Name	Entrants	Date	Notes
Uprising 2019	126	August 31st-September 1st, 2019	The largest South Korean Smash tournament to date. Featured international smashers such as MkLeo and several top Japanese competitors.

The majority of the scene is based in the Seoul/Gyeonggi-do area, but with recent expansion into Daegu in Ultimate. Tournaments mostly consist of monthlies run on each weekend. Current consistent monthlies include:

• Seoul Smash at Retro Game Bar in Hongdae, Seoul (every 2nd Saturday of the month)
• Liquor Burger Monthly at Liquor Burger in Yeonsu-gu, Incheon (every 3rd Saturday of the month)
• Blackout at Blackmarket in Itaewon, Seoul (every 4th Saturday of the month)
• The Daegu bimonthly at Etoh's in Daegu

See also

• South Korean Power Rankings
• South Korean tournaments
• South Korean smashers

External links

• Scene/Stats Website: Hanguk Smash | 한국 스매시
• Facebook: Korea Smash | 한국 대난투 모임
• Twitter: @SmashinKorea