COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on competitive Smash

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The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing pandemic of a disease called coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 for short, caused by a virus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (abbreviated to SARS-CoV-2). The outbreak was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019, and recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. COVID-19 has been reported in more than 200 countries and territories, with major outbreaks occurring in mainland China, Europe, Iran, Latin America (especially Brazil), and the United States. On March 13th, the WHO stated that Europe had become the new epicenter of the pandemic. Public health responses have included national pandemic preparedness and response plans, travel restrictions, quarantines, curfews, event postponements and cancelations, and facility closures.

Despite the pandemic forcing the employees of Nintendo into working from home, development of Fighters Pass Vol. 2 was still able to continue without many issues. However, this caused Masahiro Sakurai to have to present the fighters from his house instead of his studio (with the exception of Sephiroth).

This pandemic has also affected the competitive Super Smash Bros. community through numerous tournament cancelations and postponements for public health safety.

Coronavirus disease 2019

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a virus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Common symptoms include fever, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, and loss of smell and taste. While the majority of cases result in mild symptoms, some progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) possibly precipitated by cytokine storm, multi-organ failure, septic shock, and blood clots. The time from exposure to onset of symptoms is typically around five days, but may range from two to fourteen days.

The virus is primarily spread between people during close contact, most often via small droplets produced by coughing, sneezing, and talking. The droplets usually fall to the ground or onto surfaces rather than travelling through air over long distances. However, the transmission may also occur through smaller droplets that are able to stay suspended in the air for longer periods of time in enclosed spaces, as typical for airborne diseases. Less commonly, people may become infected by touching a contaminated surface and then touching their face. It is most contagious during the first three days after the onset of symptoms, although spread is possible before symptoms appear, and from people who do not show symptoms.

Impacts on the competitive scene

The 2020 MPGR and Spring 2020 PGRU were frozen on March 12th, 2020. No further events, including CEO Dreamland 2020, would count towards player ranking.

Likewise, the Smash World Tour 2020 circuit announced that there would not be any Platinum- or Gold-tier events in March and April 2020; a later update further extended the date to June 1, 2020. Silver events would continue as normal, however, it was recommended for sick people to stay home. Several events were canceled or postponed independently of Smash World Tour's rulings. Missed point opportunities were planned to be made up later. A TO relief fund shop was later opened on Smash.gg. With the pandemic shutting down offline tournaments for the rest of the year, the circuit was effectively cancelled. Two Silver events for Melee and three Silver events for Ultimate ended up being held. Afterwards, Smash World Tour 2021 was announced on February 20th, 2021, with online qualifiers, offline regional qualifiers, and an offline finale.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the evolution of the metagame in offline contexts has been largely unproven. This includes characters that received major changes during updates, but especially downloadable characters that were released shortly before or during the global pandemic, such as Terry, Byleth, Min Min, Steve, Sephiroth, Pyra, and Mythra. This also applies to the legality of the stages Small Battlefield, Minecraft World, and Northern Cave, which were added to the game during this time.

Online tournaments

While online tournaments had been a part of the scene for years, the cancellation of several high profile offline tournaments led many players to turn to online play for their tournament fixes. Many weeklies such as Xeno and Xanadu moved online, while tournaments such as the bunker down series and 2GG Crisis Core: Final Saga served as online fundraisers to help recoup losses. Several tournament series held online alternatives, including Pound Online, Collision Online, and Get On My Line 2020.

YouTubers Alpharad and Cr1tikal started hosting The Quarantine Series, a 4-month long circuit that has a prize pool ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 per tournament and a planned $50,000 for the finale. In the first tournament of the circuit, over 5,000 entrants registered to play, making it the largest known online Smash tournament without factoring in disqualifications, defeating Soaked Series Invitational's record from a month earlier. This record was later defeated by Hungrybox's tournament The Box, which had over 8,000 entrants. Due to lots of players attending online tournaments, this led Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v5 to make its rankings from 50 to 75 players.

As online play rewards different tactics from offline play, the new online tournaments differ somewhat from in-person tournaments; the added input delay and lag have allowed characters such as Sonic, Cloud, and Roy to see more success. Some controversy came about when players from distant regions such as Tarik participated in these tournaments, specifically Pound Online, with many players believing tournaments should be region-locked to reduce latency. As a result, all further tournaments in The Quarantine Series (and others such as The Box) were region-locked to the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and the prize pools were extended from the top 8 to top 16 to reduce the added stress with playing online. With many more players relying on online play, frustration with the game's online service grew to a peak; the hashtag "#FixUltimateOnline" became the number one gaming trend on Twitter on April 2, 2020. Possibly as a response to this outcry, in update 8.1.0 online play stability was slightly improved, by increasing the tick rate and slightly decreasing input delay.

After Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v5 rankings, subscriber tournaments were now included, making monthlies like The Box: Lunch Box, M-Kolosseum (series), and Frame Perfect Series: ONLINE titles ongoing. Despite including subscriber tournaments, decreased player attendance in online tournaments made its ranking from 75 to 50 players.

As Super Smash Bros. Melee does not have native online play, players have to use netplay mods for emulators in order to compete online. The Dolphin emulator mod Project Slippi is one of such mods, and since June 2020 it features rollback netcode for Melee, allowing for stable online play across even long distances. However, the use of this mod has sparked controversy following the cancellation of The Big House Online, in response of a cease and desist from Nintendo.

Reopening

In regions with relatively few cases of COVID-19, such as Japan, Taiwan, Australia, the Middle East, and New Zealand, or that have otherwise allowed large gatherings, such as France and Germany, offline play has resumed, although with smaller entrant numbers and safety precautions enforced.

List of tournaments affected by the pandemic

This page documents information about a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.

Below is a list of tournaments that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic through cancelations, postponements, or major players dropping out.

March 2020

Tournament	Original Dates	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status	Notes	Source
Umebura SP 8	March 7th, 2020	Japan	Ultimate	>800	Cancelled	PGRU A-tier prior to cancellation
Emerald City 9	March 7th, 2020	Washington	Melee, Ultimate, Project+	470	Cancelled	PGRU C-tier prior to cancellation. Project+ was still run.	[1]
CEO Dreamland 2020	March 13th-15th, 2020	Florida	64, Melee, Brawl, Smash 4, Ultimate	971	Affected	Several players dropped out; no longer Gold stop for SWT.
Poravaunu 9	March 14th-15th, 2020	Finland	Melee, Ultimate	~80	Cancelled	SWT Silver prior to cancellation.	[2]
Shack Smash Ultimate invitational	March 20th-21st, 2020	Texas	Ultimate	16	Postponed	Postponed to an unknown date.	[3]
Rock N' Roll	March 21st, 2020	Spain	Ultimate	144	Postponed	Postponed initially to May 16th, but current status unknown; PGRU C-tier prior to postponement.	[4]
Confluence	March 21st, 2020	Illinois	Melee, Ultimate, Project+	115	Cancelled	Postponed to an later date, ultimately cancelled.	[5]
Home Sweet Home	March 21st, 2020	Alabama	Melee, Ultimate	187	Cancelled	SWT Silver prior to cancellation.	[6]
PRESS LESS 2020	March 21st, 2020	Canada	Melee, Ultimate	231	Postponed	Postponed indefinitely. PGRU C-tier prior to PGRU hiatus; SWT Silver prior to cancellation.	[7]
Smashmania XIII	March 21st, 2020	Texas	Melee, Ultimate	???	Postponed	Postoponed to an unknown date; SWT Silver prior to postponement.	[8]
Smash 'n Warp 4	March 21st, 2020	France	Ultimate	???	Cancelled	SWT silver prior to cancellation	[9]
DAT BlastZone 31: Revival	March 21st, 2020	England	Ultimate	128	Postponed	Postponed indefinitely. PGRU C-tier prior to PGRU hiatus.	[10]
Sumabato SP 13	March 22nd, 2020	Japan	Ultimate	320	Postponed	Postponed twice, first to April 4th, then to July 24th; PGRU B-tier prior to postponement.	[11]
Final Round 2020	March 20th-22nd, 2020	Georgia	Ultimate	64	Cancelled	SWT Silver prior to cancellation	[12]
CT Gamercon 4	March 21st-22nd, 2020	Connecticut	Melee, Ultimate	157	Postponed	Postponed to September 12th-13th, 2020, then later March 13th-14th, 2021; PGRU C-tier prior to postponement.	[13][14]
WANTED Saison 3 - Chap 8: Invasion de l'Ouest II	March 21st-22nd, 2020	France	Ultimate	146	Cancelled	SWT Silver prior to cancellation.	[15]
NCS Major: Smashdown	March 21st-22nd, 2020	Colorado	Ultimate	80	Cancelled	SWT Silver prior to cancellation.	[16]
Smashdown 2020	March 21st-22nd, 2020	Colombia	Melee, Ultimate	149	Postponed	PGRU C-tier prior to PGRU hiatus; SWT Silver prior to postponement.	[17]
BIT MASTER MTY 10	March 27th-28th, 2020	Mexico	Ultimate	264	Postponed	Postponed to a later date; SWT Silver prior to cancellation, and PGRU B-tier prior to PGRU hiatus	[18]
Michigan M@sters 2020	March 27th-29th, 2020	Michigan	Ultimate	???	Cancelled	SWT Silver prior to cancellation	[19]
Full Bloom 6	March 28th-29th, 2020	Indiana	Melee, Ultimate	485	Cancelled	PGRU C-tier prior to cancellation.	[20]
CGN OPEN	March 28th, 2020	Germany	Ultimate	105	Postponed	Postponed to an unknown date. SWT Silver prior to initial cancellation. An online alternative was also created.	[21]
Seibugeki 5	March 28th, 2020	Japan	Ultimate	138	Cancelled		[22]
HFLAN Melee Edition 2020	March 28th-29th, 2020	France	Melee	193	Postponed	Initially postponed to an unknown fall date. Later postponed to March or April 2021. Originally first SWT Platinum event.	[23][24]
2GG: Final Saga	March 28th-29th, 2020	SoCal	Ultimate	732	Postponed	Postponed to an unknown date. PGRU S-tier prior to PGRU hiatus.	[25]
Union	March 28th-29th, 2020	England	Ultimate	128	Postponed	Postponed to an unknown date. PGRU C-tier prior to PGRU hiatus; SWT Silver prior to cancellation.	[26]

April 2020

Tournament	Original Dates	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status	Notes	Source
Pound 2020	April 3rd-5th, 2020	MD/VA	Melee, Ultimate	911	Cancelled	PGRU B-tier and SWT Platinum prior to cancellation. Later replaced by Pound Online.	[27]
Invasion	April 4th, 2020	England	Ultimate	192	Postponed	All Italians dropped out; renamed from "Invasion: Italy". Later postponed to November 14th. Later postponed again to June 26th, 2021.	[28][29]
Smash Clash Munich	April 4th, 2020	Germany	Ultimate	46	Cancelled	SWT Silver prior to cancellation.	[30]
HSTSP Extend	April 4th, 2020	Japan	Ultimate	192	Cancelled	PGRU C-tier prior to PGRU hiatus	[31]
Golden Flame	April 4th-5th, 2020	France	Ultimate	64	Postponed	Postponed to an unknown date.	[32]
NorCal Regionals 2020	April 10th-12th	NorCal	Ultimate	37	Cancelled	SWT Silver prior to cancellation	[33]
Smash Odyssey: Ghent 2	April 11th, 2020	Belgium	Ultimate	34	Postponed	Postponed to an unknown date, hopefully June or July.	[34]
Tech Republic V	April 11th-12th, 2020	Spain	Ultimate	218	Cancelled	PGRU B-tier prior to cancellation.	[35]
Atlantis	April 18th, 2020	Netherlands	Ultimate	66	Postponed	Postponed to an unknown date. SWT Silver prior to postponement.	[36]
Collision 2020	April 18th-19th, 2020	New Jersey	Ultimate	390	Cancelled	Initially postponed to August 22nd-23rd. PGRU A-tier prior to PGRU hiatus.	[37][38]
Boss Battle Remix	April 24th-25th, 2020	Indiana	64	31	Postponed	Postponed to an unknown date.	[39]
Nick Yingling Experience	April 25th, 2020	Arizona	Melee	70	Cancelled	SWT Silver prior to cancellation.	[40]
Karisuma SP 9	April 25th, 2020	Japan	Ultimate	160+	Cancelled	PGRU C-tier prior to PGRU hiatus.	[41]
OVERDRIVE	April 25th-26th, 2020	France	Ultimate	106	Cancelled	Solary Circuit frozen as well.	[42]
Polish Smash Phoenix 2	April 25th-26th, 2020	Poland	Melee, Ultimate	48	Postponed	Postponed to an unknown date. SWT Silver prior to postponement.	[43]

May 2020

Tournament	Original Dates	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status	Notes	Source
Kings of Hali 5	May 1st-3rd, 2020	Canada	Melee, Ultimate, Project+	201	Cancelled	PGRU C-tier prior to PGRU hiatus; SWT Silver prior to cancellation.	[44]
ICARUS VI	May 2nd-3rd, 2020	Italy	Ultimate	217	Postponed	Postponed to October 9th-10th.	[45]
Umebura Japan Major 2020	May 4th-6th, 2020	Japan	Ultimate	?	Cancelled	SWT Platinum then removed from SWT prior cancellation.	[46]
Crown II	May 9th-10th, 2020	Utah	Melee, Ultimate	117	Cancelled	SWT Silver prior to cancellation.	[47]
Stunfest 2020	May 15th-17th, 2020	France	Melee, Ultimate	156	Cancelled	PGRU C-tier prior to PGRU hiatus	[48]
Get On My Level 2020	May 15th-17th, 2020	Canada	Melee, Ultimate	N/A	Cancelled	Initially postponed indefinitely; every GOML North American Open tournament states that Get On My Level 2020 will not happen. PGRU S-tier prior to PGRU hiatus; SWT Platinum prior to SWT hiatus.	[49]
MomoCon 2020	May 21st-24th, 2020	Georgia	Melee, Ultimate	?	Cancelled	SWT Gold prior to cancellation.	[50]
Smash Contest: DoKomi 2020	May 23rd-24th, 2020	Germany	Ultimate	166	Postponed	Postponed to September 12th-13th, then again to September 26th-27th. PGRU C-tier prior to PGRU hiatus.	[51]
Battle Arena Melbourne 12	May 29th-31st, 2020	Australia	64, Melee, Ultimate, Project+	~100	Postponed	Postponed to 2nd Half 2020; SWT Platinum prior to postponement.	[52]

June 2020

Tournament	Original Dates	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status	Notes	Source
Double Down	June 5th-7th, 2020	Nevada	Melee, Ultimate	???	Postponed	Postponed until further notice. SWT Platinum prior to postponement.	[53]
COST 2020	June 7th	Ohio	Melee, Ultimate	173	Cancelled		[54]
Smash Ultimate Summit 3	June 11th-14th, 2020	SoCal	Ultimate	16	Cancelled	Initially postponed.	[55]
Battle of BC 4	June 19th-21st, 2020	Canada	Melee, Ultimate	158	Cancelled	SWT Gold prior to cancellation.	[56]
e-Caribana	June 21st, 2020	Switzerland	Ultimate	16	Cancelled	2020 iteration cancelled. PGRU B-tier prior to PGRU hiatus.
CEO 2020	June 26th-28th, 2020	Florida	Ultimate	???	Cancelled	Postponed to December 11th-13th, 2020 and later cancelled. SWT Gold prior to cancellation.	[57][58]

July 2020

Tournament	Original Dates	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status	Notes	Source
Low Tier City Expo 2020	July 10th-12th, 2020	Texas	64, Melee, Ultimate, Project+	330	Cancelled	2020 iteration cancelled. SWT Platinum prior to cancellation	[59]
COLOSSEL 2020	July 11th-12th, 2020	France	Ultimate	348	Cancelled	2020 iteration cancelled.	[60]
Fête 2020	July 23rd-26th, 2020	United Kingdom	Melee	N/A	Cancelled	SWT Gold prior to cancellation.	[61]
EVO 2020	July 31st-August 2nd, 2020	Nevada	Ultimate	N/A	Cancelled	Replaced with online event, but Smash Ultimate was cut from lineup. Online event was later cancelled due to sexual allegations.	[62][63]

August 2020

Tournament	Original Dates	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status	Notes	Source
Super Smash Con 2020	August 6th-9th, 2020	Virginia	64, Melee, Brawl, Smash 4, Ultimate, Project+	N/A	Cancelled	SWT Platinum prior to cancellation.	[64]
FESTA	August 16th-22nd, 2020	Sweden	Melee	N/A	Postponed	Postponed to 2021.	[65]
Biggie III	August 21st-23rd, 2020	New Zealand	Melee, Ultimate	87+	Postponed	Postponed to February 2021 due to confirmed community transmmission in New Zealand.	[66]
Shine 2020	August 28th-30th, 2020	Massachusetts	Melee, Ultimate	N/A	Cancelled		[67]

September 2020

Tournament	Original Dates	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status	Notes	Source
Standoff 2020	September 4th-6th, 2020	Texas	Ultimate, Project+	N/A	Cancelled		[68]
DreamHack Montreal 2020	September 11th-13th, 2020	Canada	Melee, Ultimate	N/A	Postponed	Postponed until 2021, will likely keep current name.	[69]
Riptide	September 11th-13th, 2020	Ohio	Melee, Ultimate, Project+	N/A	Cancelled		[70]
Smash Dream Cup	September 12th-13th, 2020	Mexico	Ultimate	48	Postponed	Postponed until March 13th-14th 2021.	[71]
Glitch: Infinite	September 19th-20th, 2020	MD/VA	Ultimate	N/A	Postponed	Postponed to an unknown date. SWT Gold prior to postponement	[72]

October 2020

Tournament	Original Dates	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status	Notes	Source
The Big House 10	October 2020	Michigan	N/A	N/A	Cancelled	Scheduled for October prior to cancellation. It was then replaced by The Big House Online. The Big House Online was then canceled by Nintendo of America, due to the usage of Project Slippi. This caused heavy backlash towards the cease and desist from Nintendo, with the trending use of #FreeMelee.	[73][74]
Ultimate Fighting Arena 2020	October 4th-6th, 2020	France	Ultimate	N/A	Cancelled		[75]
Phoenix Revengeance	October 10th-11th, 2020	Chile	Ultimate	40	Postponed	Postponed to October 9th-10th, 2021, SWT Silver prior to postponement	[76]
The Script Trilogy	October 10th-11th, 2020	Maryland	Melee	N/A	Postponed	Postponed indefintely, SWT Gold prior to postponement	[77]
DreamHack Rotterdam 2020	October 16th-18th, 2020	Netherlands	Melee, Ultimate	N/A	Postponed	Postponed to 2021	[78]
Overlords of Orlando: OCTOBERLORDS 2	October 16th-18th, 2020	Florida	Melee, Ultimate	N/A	Cancelled		[79]
Blacklisted 6	October 17th-18th, 2020	Massachusetts	Project+	N/A	Postponed	Postponed to April 24th-25th, 2021.	[80]
Revival: A SmashUK Invitational	October 17th-18th, 2020	United Kingdom	Ultimate	16	Postponed	The tournament, which was to feature some of the United Kingdom's best players, was announced hours before the United Kingdom government restricted social gatherings to 6 people. The decision to postpone indefinitely was announced the next day.	[81]
Mainstage 2	October 23rd-25th, 2020	SoCal	Melee, Ultimate	N/A	Cancelled		[82]
United LAN 2020	October 23rd-27th, 2020	Germany	Ultimate	52	Postponed	Postponed to Summer 2021.	[83]
First Attack 2020	Octoer 24th-25th, 2020	Puerto Rico	Ultimate	N/A	Cancelled	Replaced by Online event of the same name.	[84]
Port Priority 6	October 31st-November 1st, 2020	Washington	Ultimate	N/A	Postponed	Postponed to October 2nd-3rd, 2021, SWT Gold prior to postponement	[85]

November 2020

Tournament	Original Dates	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status	Notes	Source
DreamHack Atlanta 2020	November 13th-15th, 2020	Georgia	Melee, Ultimate	N/A	Cancelled	2020 iteration cancelled and moved to 2021	[86]
Apex 2020	November 20th-22nd, 2020	New Jersey	Melee, Ultimate	N/A	Postponed	Postponed to 2021. SWT Gold prior to postponement.	[87]

December 2020

Tournament	Original Dates	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status	Notes	Source
2GG 5th Anniversary Saga	December 5th-6th, 2020	SoCal	Ultimate	N/A	Postponed	Postponed to an unknown date.	[88]
Crossover Summit	December 10th-13th, 2020	SoCal	Melee, Ultimate	32	Cancelled		[89]

January 2021

Tournament	Original Dates	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status	Notes	Source
Sumabato SP 17	January 9th, 2021	Japan	Ultimate	N/A	Postponed	Initially cancelled due to a state of emergency from a surge of infections. Later held on March 7th.	[90]
Kagaribi 1.5	January 10th, 2021	Japan	Ultimate	N/A	Cancelled	Cancelled due to a state of emergency from a surge of infections.	[91]
Kagaribi 2	January 24th, 2021	Japan	Ultimate	N/A	Cancelled	Cancelled due to a state of emergency from a surge of infections.	[92]

April 2021

Tournament	Original Dates	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status	Notes	Source
Sumabato SP 18	April 24th, 2021	Japan	Ultimate	N/A	Postponed	Postponed to May 29th.	[93]
Kagaribi 4	April 25th, 2021	Japan	Ultimate	N/A	Postponed	Postponed to May 22nd.	[94]

May 2021

Tournament	Original Dates	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status	Notes	Source
15th Kanto	May 2nd, 2021	Japan	64	N/A	Cancelled	Cancelled due to an emergency declaration in Tokyo. Now planned to be held in summer or autumn.	[95]