ChuDat "Chu"
Chudat.png
Character info
Smash 64 main Kirby
Other Smash 64 character Pikachu
Melee main Ice Climbers
Other Melee characters Jigglypuff, Fox
Retired Melee characters Pikachu, Young Link
Brawl main Kirby
Other Brawl character Ice Climbers
Smash 4 main Cloud
Other Smash 4 character Sheik
Ultimate mains Pokémon Trainer, Mii Gunner
Project M main Kirby
Other Project M character Ice Climbers
Team info
Sponsor(s) Team Liquid
Former crews H2YL, Power Underwhelming, Mortality eSports, Melee Hell, ROOT Gaming, VGBootCamp
Rankings and results info
Most recent ranking Super Smash Bros. Melee 2019 MPGR: 23rd
Winnings Super Smash Bros. Melee ~$44,779.07
Super Smash Bros. Brawl ~$1,194.11
Project M ~$1,513.51
Personal and other info
Real name Daniel Rodriguez
Birth date (age 37)
Location Falls Church, Virginia United States
Miscellaneous info
Skill Super Smash Bros. Professional (retired)
Super Smash Bros. Melee Top professional
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Top professional (semi-active)
Super Smash Bros. 4 Professional
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Semi-professional
Project M Top professional

ChuDat, also known as simply Chu, is an American professional smasher from Falls Church, Virginia who mains the Ice Climbers in Melee. He is widely considered to be the best Ice Climbers player in the world and the greatest Ice Climbers player of all time. His name originates from the phrase, 'true that,' as he stated in the Smash Brothers Documentary due to his obsession of the phrase. In the early times of the Melee scene, Chu joined the legendary crew H2YL, and regularly attended tournaments with them. He notably defeated top professional Jigglypuff main Hungrybox at Zenith 2012 to take 3rd place at the tournament. He is currently ranked 23rd on the 2019 MPGR and was formerly ranked 5th on the MD/VA Melee Power Rankings.

In Brawl, he is considered to be the best Kirby player, and also mains Kirby in Project M, and is considered one of the best Kirby players in said mod. ChuDat was ranked 4th on the final MD/VA Brawl Power Rankings, was formerly ranked 5th on the MD/VA Project M Power Rankings, and was formerly ranked 49th on the 2014 SSBBRank.

He also plays Smash 4 competitively (albeit not to the same extent as Melee), maining Cloud, and primarily enters doubles. His best performance in Smash 4 was 13th in The Big House 6 doubles where he teamed with Puppeh, notably defeating komorikiri and SuperGirlKels. ChuDat previously mained Sheik, and was formerly ranked 9th on the MD/VA Smash 4 Power Rankings when he mained her.

Tournament history

Earlier history

In addition to piquing the interests of the community at large about the Ice Climbers' metagame, Chu has also spearheaded the local community in Northern Virginia by hosting "NoVa Bi-weekliez !" at his parents' home. The tournaments have attracted a wide variety of top level competition including Mew2King, Chillin and Azen. His biggest original tournament placing in early smash was OC2 where he made an incredible loser's run.

He had been known to frequently visit Southern California to spend time with the Hoang family, which includes Ken and Manacloud. For several years ChuDat preferred to represent the West Coast due to his friendships and close ties to California but this put stress on his relationship with the other members of H2YL.

CEO and EVO

After a few years on the West Coast, (around when Brawl came out,) he moved back to MD/VA where he once again became one of the top smashers in the area and reestablished ties with the rest of the MD/VA scene. Chu Dat won a large number of the weekly S@X tournaments in Brawl, Project M, and Melee. In Brawl and Project M specifically, he became the top Kirby main. Due to his frequent results, he was sponsored by Mortality eSports along with Axe. However, Mortality dropped both sponsorships shortly before CEO 2015 which left Chu with little cash. For EVO specifically, a crowd fund was sponsored by Melee Hell (or MH) which sponsored enough cash for Chu Dat to be able to attend EVO 2015. He lost eventually in winners to Ice's Fox in round 2 pools. He then made an impressive loser's run, beating players including Silent Wolf and Westballz and winning a nail-biting set vs HugS to get top 8 before finally losing to Mango in losers, netting 7th at then the largest tournament in history.

2017: Rise of ChuDat

ChuDat started the year off with an impressive run at GENESIS 4, where he defeated Shroomed in winners but lost to Hungrybox in a close game 5 set. In losers, he defeated Crush and Wizzrobe before losing to Leffen to finish at 9th place.

After his performance at GENESIS 4, he was voted into Smash Summit Spring 2017. He placed 7th at the tournament, notably upsetting Axe and 4-stocking Mango in the last game of their set.

ChuDat was later invited to Smash Rivalries, where he defeated Mango for a second time before being defeated by Wizzrobe and Druggedfox to place 5th.

Three weeks later, he travelled to DreamHack Austin 2017, where he had an impressive run. He notably beat Mango for the 3rd time in 2017 and strongly defeated Mew2King's Peach with Jigglypuff and Ice Climbers (the latter of which was a four-stock) and winning the set 3-1. ChuDat took Hungrybox to a game 5 in Grand Finals but ultimately lost to place 2nd. He then attended Battle of BC 2, where he won the entire event and double eliminated Mew2King. All these great performances lead him to be ranked at 7th on the Summer 2017 SSBMRank.

After ChuDat's performance during the first half of the year, he placed 17th at EVO 2017, 9th at DreamHack Atlanta 2017, and 13th at Super Smash Con 2017, taking sets off the likes of Ginger and HugS.

At Shine 2017, he earned his first top 8 performance of the second half of the year, defeating dizzkidboogie and Spark 3-0 and Westballz 3-1. In Loser's Top 8, he proceeded to defeat Leffen 3-2. However, a discrepancy in the use of UCF mandated that the set would be replayed. Leffen won the rematch 3-2, leaving ChuDat to place at 7th.

After Shine 2017, ChuDat continued his strong performances with 3rd at DreamHack Montreal 2017 and 4th at Syndicate 2017. At GameTyrant Expo 2017, ChuDat was eliminated by Syrox and aMSa, leaving him at his worst performance of the year at 17th place. ChuDat then placed 13th at The Big House 7 and 5th at DreamHack Denver 2017. ChuDat ended the year at 11th on the 2017 SSBMRank.

In 2019, the Melee community was considering to ban wobbling. He has stated that wobbling is definitely an unfair mechanic. However, he believes if it were ever to get banned, it should only be illegal against top tier characters. Although this controversy has been a huge debate over the years, to help Melee seem more interesting to watch, this has been heavily considered since the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Tournament placings

Super Smash Bros.

Tournament Date 1v1 placement 2v2 placement Partner
MELEE-FC Diamond July 12th-14th, 2007 17th
Apex 2010 August 6th-8th, 2010 13th
Apex 2014 January 17th-19th, 2014 25th
Apex 2015 January 31st-February 1st, 2015 17th Valoem

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Tournament Date 1v1 placement 2v2 placement Partner
DCSS#1 July 12th, 2003 2nd
DCSS#2 September 20th, 2003 4th 2nd JTanic
Game Over January 10th, 2004 9th 4th JTanic
Tournament Go 6 August 21st-22nd, 2004 3rd
DCSS#3 September 25th, 2004 5th
Gettin' Schooled October 14th, 2004 1st(tie)
MLG DC 2005 January 29th-30th, 2005 3rd 5th Manacloud
BOMB 3 March 9th, 2005 1st
Gettin' Schooled 2 June 25th-26th, 2005 2nd 9th sheikssbm
MELEE-FC3 July 10th-12th, 2005 3rd 10th Manacloud
MLG Nashville 2005 August 27th-28th, 2005 1st 4th Oro
MLG Seattle 2005 September 10th-11th, 2005 3rd
SMYM 4 September 24th, 2005 2nd
MLG Los Angeles 2005 October 14th-16th, 2005 4th 2nd Azen
BOMB 4 November 12th, 2005 1st 7th Chillin
MLG Atlanta 2005 November 25th-27th, 2005 3rd 5th Mike G
MLG Chicago 2005 December 16th-18th, 2005 9th 2nd Ken
Pound January 28th, 2006 1st 1st Chillin
MLG New York 2005 February 25th-26th, 2006 2nd 3rd Manacloud
Champ Combo: Yayuhzzz Edition March 25th, 2006 2nd 2nd Manacloud
MLG New York Opener 2006 April 21st-23rd, 2006 3rd 9th Manacloud
MLG Dallas 2006 May 19th-21st, 2006 2nd 4th Manacloud
MLG Anaheim 2006 June 23rd-25th, 2006 3rd 4th Manacloud
MELEE-FC6 July 13th-15th, 2006 4th
MLG Chicago 2006 July 21st-23rd, 2006 2nd 9th Manacloud
Zero Challenge 2 August 15th-17th, 2006 2nd 2nd Manacloud
MLG Orlando 2006 August 25th-27th, 2006 2nd 9th Manacloud
MLG New York Playoffs 2006 October 13th-15th, 2006 3rd 7th Manacloud
SMASHTALITY 2 October 21st, 2006 1st 2nd Mew2King
NorCal Tournament 2 October 28th, 2006 5th Manacloud
MLG Las Vegas 2006 November 17th-19th, 2006 7th 2nd Manacloud
CAOTIC's Farewell Biweekly December 9th, 2006 2nd 1st Manacloud
EGL DC January 20th, 2007 3rd 2nd KM
C3 February February 3rd, 2007 7th 1st Azen
Cataclysm 3 March 3rd-4th, 2007 3rd 3rd Forward
San Diego Triweekly XII March 10th, 2007 2nd 2nd Manacloud
MLG Long Island 2007 May 5th-6th, 2007 5th 2nd Chillin
EVO East May 25th-27th, 2007 5th
Smashtality III June 2nd-3rd, 2007 1st (split) 1st Chillin
Pound 2 June 16th-17th, 2007 1st 13th Chillin
MELEE-FC Diamond July 12th-14th, 2007 3rd 2nd Chillin
Zero Challenge 3 July 20th-22nd, 2007 3rd 4th Mew2King
EVO West July 27th-29th, 2007 3rd
C3 August August 18th, 2007 3rd 2nd Tope
EVO World 2007 August 24th-26th, 2007 5th
C3 September September 22nd, 2007 9th 1st Azen
Super Champ Combo September 29th-30th, 2007 5th 7th Manacloud
C3 October October 20th, 2007 4th 1st Azen
Viva La Smashtaclysm November 10th-11th, 2007 2nd 3rd KoreanDJ
Pound 3 February 2nd-3rd, 2008 5th 4th Chillin
TGMTSBCO June 7th-8th, 2008 1st (split) 5th HAT
ChuDatz Final Biweekly August 3rd, 2008 2nd Mew2King
Revival of Melee March 7th-8th, 2009 5th 7th Azen
Apex 2009 May 9th-10th, 2009 3rd 4th Plank
HERB2 July 25th-26th, 2009 5th 1st Mew2King
Pound 4 January 16th-18th, 2010 25th 5th Vidjogamer
CEO 2010 June 5th-6th, 2010 4th 1st Hungrybox
Apex 2010 August 6th-8th, 2010 13th 17th Chillin
Shell Shocked X November 6th, 2010 2nd 1st Chillin
Pound V February 19th-21st, 2011 17th 5th Redd
Zenith 2011 May 28th-29th, 2011 7th 9th Nando
Shell Shocked XI October 28th, 2011 1st
Apex 2012 January 6th-8th, 2012 33rd 5th Kage
Shell Shocked XII February 11th, 2012 2nd 1st Boss
Shell Shocked XIII May 18th, 2012 1st 3rd Boss
Zenith 2012 May 26th-27th, 2012 3rd 9th Teczero
Bar Wars October 26th, 2013 2nd 2nd Chillin
Apex 2014 January 17th-19th, 2014 33rd 9th Chillin
Shell Shocked XIV March 8th, 2014 1st 1st Chillin
eSmashLANd March 22nd, 2014 1st 1st Chillin
Smash @ Clarendon 4/25/14 April 25th, 2014 1st
Squabbles May 3rd, 2014 5th
Smash @ Clarendon 5/23/14 May 23rd, 2014 1st
Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 5/27 May 27th, 2014 1st
SKTAR 3 May 31st-June 1st, 2014 9th 9th ZoSo
Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 6/3 June 3rd, 2014 3rd
Smash @ Clarendon 6/6/14 June 6th, 2014 1st
Thanks For Playing 7 June 7th, 2014 5th 2nd DP
MLG Anaheim 2014 June 20th-22nd, 2014 29th 4th Chillin
CEO 2014 June 27th-29th, 2014 9th 3rd Chillin
Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 6/17 June 17th, 2014 3rd
EVO 2014 July 11th-13th, 2014 17th 13th Chillin
Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 7/22 July 22nd, 2014 4th
Smash @ Clarendon 8/1/2014 August 1st, 2014 1st
Mortality eSports Tournament August 2nd, 2014 1st 2nd Level 9 Luigi
Smash @ Clarendon 8/29/2014 August 29th, 2014 7th
Shell Shocked XVI October 11th, 2014 2nd 2nd Chillin
Apex 2015 January 30th-February 1st, 2015 25th 4th Chillin
CEO 2015 June 26th-28th, 2015 25th 7th Ken
EVO 2015 July 17th-19th, 2015 7th
Super Smash Con August 6th-9th, 2015 17th
Paragon Los Angeles 2015 September 5th-6th, 2015 25th
Smash @ Xanadu Wednesdays 1/20 January 20th, 2016 1st
Smash @ Xanadu Wednesdays 2/17 February 17th, 2016 3rd
Midwest Mayhem March 19th, 2016 1st 3rd Scythe
Pound 2016 April 2nd-3rd, 2016 17th 7th Chillin
CEO 2016 June 24th-26th, 2016 7th 9th Chillin
EVO 2016 July 15th-17th, 2016 17th 5th Chillin
Super Smash Con 2016 August 11th-14th, 2016 17th 5th Chillin
Heir 3 August 19th-21st, 2016 3rd 4th Reaper
The Big House 6 October 7th-9th, 2016 17th 4th Chillin
UGC Smash Open December 2nd-4th, 2016 17th 9th Professor Pro
GENESIS 4 January 20th-22nd, 2017 9th 13th Chillin
Smash Summit Spring 2017 March 2nd-5th, 2017 7th 7th HugS
Smash Rivalries April 8th-9th, 2017 5th 7th Wizzrobe
HFLAN Melee Edition 2017 April 15th-16th, 2017 2nd 2nd Chillin
Inheritance April 22nd, 2017 1st 2nd r0cket_wizard
DreamHack Austin 2017 April 28th-30th, 2017 2nd 13th Chillin
Royal Flush May 12th-14th, 2017 13th 13th Chillin
Battle of BC 2 June 3rd-4th, 2017 1st 1st Ryan Ford
GENESIS: RED July 9th, 2017 9th 4th Chillin
EVO 2017 July 14th-16th, 2017 17th
DreamHack Atlanta 2017 July 21st-23rd, 2017 9th 5th Chillin
Alaska Smash Bash 2017 July 29th, 2017 1st
Super Smash Con 2017 August 10th-13th, 2017 13th 7th Chillin
Shine 2017 August 25th-27th, 2017 7th 17th Medz
DreamHack Montreal 2017 September 8th-10th, 2017 3rd 2nd Chillin
Syndicate 2017 September 23rd-24th, 2017 4th 2nd Wizzrobe
GameTyrant Expo 2017 September 29th-October 1st, 2017 17th 4th Hungrybox
The Big House 7 October 6th-8th, 2017 13th 4th Hungrybox
DreamHack Denver 2017 October 20th-22nd, 2017 5th 1st Hungrybox
MD/VA Melee Invitational November 25th, 2017 7th
GENESIS 5 January 19th-21st, 2018 33rd 2nd Hungrybox
Cave 02/5/18 February 5th, 2018 1st
Xanadu - End of an Era February 24th-25th, 2018 3rd 2nd Chillin
Full Bloom 4 March 24th-25th, 2018 25th 2nd Hungrybox
Respawn 6 March 31st-April 2nd, 2018 1st 1st Ice
Pound Underground May 12th-13th, 2018 13th 2nd HAT
Battle Arena Melbourne 10 May 18th-20th, 2018 2nd 1st Noxus
DreamHack Austin 2018 June 1st-3rd, 2018 4th 3rd Ka-Master
Lighthouse July 13th-15th, 2018 1st 3rd Xardov
EVO 2018 August 3rd-5th, 2018 25th
Super Smash Con 2018 August 9th-12th, 2018 65th 13th Rishi
Shine 2018 August 24th-26th, 2018 13th 4th Hungrybox
The Big House 8 October 5th-7th, 2018 13th 2nd Hungrybox
The Mang0: Homecoming November 10th-11th, 2018 13th 4th Westballz
DreamHack Atlanta 2018 November 16th-18th, 2018 3rd
GENESIS 6 February 1st-3rd, 2019 17th 2nd Hungrybox
Pound 2019 April 19th-21st, 2019 7th 3rd Hungrybox
Smash 'N' Splash 5 May 31st-June 2nd, 2019 13th 5th Hungrybox
The Kid, the Goat, and the Mang0 June 8th-9th, 2019 9th 1st Swedish Delight
EVO 2019 August 2nd-4th, 2019 2nd
Super Smash Con 2019 August 8th-11th, 2019 9th 3rd Hungrybox
Shine 2019 August 23rd-25th, 2019 4th 25th Level 9 Luigi
Mainstage September 20th-22nd, 2019 13th 4th Hungrybox
GENESIS 7 January 24th-26th, 2020 33rd 13th Westballz

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Tournament Date 1v1 placement 2v2 placement Partner
Critical Hit 3 July 5th, 2008 17th 3rd Forte
ChuDatz Final Biweekly August 3rd, 2008 7th 3rd Forte
Clash of the Titans IV February 7th-8th, 2009 7th 4th Azen
Apex 2009 May 9th-10th, 2009 33rd 13th Plank
C3 August Assault August 15th, 2009 5th 1st Azen
Pound 4 January 16th-18th, 2010 13th 5th Candy
VGBootCamp Indianapolis February 20th-21st, 2010 9th 2nd Ally
MLG Orlando 2010 April 16th-18th, 2010 17th 17th Candy
CEO 2010 June 5th-6th, 2010 1st (split) 1st Candy
Omni Presents: Xanadu Games July 17th, 2010 3rd 4th Candy
Apex 2010 August 6th-8th, 2010 17th 2nd Junebug
MLG DC 2010 October 15th-17th, 2010 33rd 17th Junebug
Baltimore Brawl November 27th, 2010 3rd 1st Takeover
Pound V February 19th-21st, 2011 13th 7th Atomsk
Apex 2012 January 6th-8th, 2012 65th 5th Fatal
IMPULSE June 30th-July 1st, 2012 7th 3rd Tin Man
Apex 2013 January 11th-13th, 2013 33rd 17th Anti
Apex 2014 January 17th-19th, 2014 33rd 17th Will
SKTAR 3 May 31st-June 1st, 2014 33rd 5th DEHF
Apex 2015 January 30th-February 1st, 2015 5th Chibo
Glitch 2 September 24th-25th, 2016 1st
Super Smash Con 2017 August 10th-13th, 2017 17th

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Tournament Date 1v1 placement 2v2 placement Partner
Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 10/7 October 7th, 2014 9th

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Tournament Date 1v1 Placement 2v2 Placement Partner
Apex 2015 January 30th-February 1st, 2015 25th 25th Larry Lurr
Paragon Los Angeles 2015 September 5th-6th, 2015 49th
Midwest Mayhem March 19th, 2016 25th
CEO 2016 June 24th-26th, 2016 129th 49th DewDaDash
EVO 2016 July 15th-17th, 2016 385th
Glitch 2 September 24th-25th, 2016 49th 13th Logic
The Big House 6 October 7th-9th, 2016 257th 13th Puppeh
UGC Smash Open December 2nd-4th, 2016 49th
GENESIS 4 January 20th-22nd, 2017 257th 97th Atomsk
Alaska Smash Bash 2017 July 29th, 2017 13th 3rd POUND
Super Smash Con 2017 August 10th-13th, 2017 193rd
DreamHack Austin 2018 June 1st-3rd, 2018 65th 33rd (DQ) Sloth

Project M

Tournament Date 1v1 placement 2v2 placement Partner
Zenith 2012 May 26th-27th, 2012 2nd
Apex 2014 January 17th-19th, 2014 33rd
Squabbles May 3rd, 2014 3rd 1st Cactuar
Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 5/13 May 13th, 2014 3rd
Project M Showdown 3.02 May 17th, 2014 7th 1st ZeRo
Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 5/27 May 27th, 2014 5th
SKTAR 3 May 31st-June 1st, 2014 7th 17th Chillin
Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 6/3 June 3rd, 2014 5th
Thanks For Playing 7 June 7th, 2014 3rd 1st Chillin
Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 6/17 June 17th, 2014 2nd
Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 6/24 June 24th, 2014 2nd
CEO 2014 June 27th-29th, 2014 4th 3rd Chillin
EVO 2014 July 12th, 2014 2nd
Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 8/26 August 26th, 2014 3rd
Smash @ Xanadu Monthly 8/30 August 30th, 2014 4th 1st Boss
Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 9/9 September 9th, 2014 3rd
Shell Shocked XVI October 11th, 2014 7th
Paragon Los Angeles 2015 September 5th-6th, 2015 65th 33rd Big D
Smash @ Xanadu Wednesdays 1/20 January 20th, 2016 2nd
Smash @ Xanadu Wednesdays 2/17 February 17th, 2016 1st
Alaska Smash Bash 2017 July 29th, 2017 1st 1st Umbreon
Lighthouse July 13th-15th, 2018 4th 1st Poilu
Project+ at The Can December 10th, 2021 1st 1st Paradox

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Tournament Date 1v1 placement 2v2 placement Partner
GENESIS 6 February 1st-3rd, 2019 257th
Pound 2019 April 19th-21st, 2019 193rd
Smash 'N' Splash 5 May 31st-June 2nd, 2019 737th
EVO 2019 August 2nd-4th, 2019 385th
Shine 2019 August 23rd-25th, 2019 129th
Mainstage September 20th-22nd, 2019 65th
GENESIS 7 January 24th-26th, 2020 513th
The Box May 8th-10th, 2020 1025th
Juice Box 21 December 2nd, 2020 33rd

Trivia

  • ChuDat is the only Melee Ice Climbers player to make it to Top 8 at EVO thrice, EVO World 2007, EVO 2015 and EVO 2019, showing that he has stood the test of time. The other Ice Climbers to make it to Top 8 are Fly Amanita and Wobbles.
  • ChuDat is the first and only Ice Climbers player in Melee to ever take a game over Armada's Peach in tournament, doing so at Heir 3. He would take another game off of him at HFLAN Melee Edition 2017 and Battle Arena Melbourne 10.
  • ChuDat is the second voted-in player to make it to Top 8 at a Smash Summit, doing so at Smash Summit Spring 2017.
  • ChuDat is very well known for his signature pose, on which he either leans back or to one side a bit while smugly putting his index and thumb on his chin, as if thinking deeply. This is often accompanied by the catchphrase "YAYUHZZ!" (A saying he attributes to Lil Wayne). This can be frequently heard after Chu wins a match.
  • ChuDat is somewhat notorious for eating raw onions on stream, which started during his campaign for Smash Summit Spring 2017.
  • ChuDat was involved in a controversial incident at Shine 2017, in which Chu won 3-2 in losers' eighths over Leffen. However, UCF was turned off during the set, so it was ordered to be replayed; Chu lost the rematch 2-3 and was eliminated at 7th.

External links