May 21- June 2 2019
The big news of the week comes from Smash ‘N’ Splash 5, a Smash tournament held at the Kalahari Resort & Convention Center in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. We watched history in the making, as Justin Hallett (Wizzrobe) won his first Super Smash Bros. Melee Supermajor and placed top 8 in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in the same weekend. Additionally, Midwestern elder guardian Drew Scoles (Drephen) shocked the world with a 9th place finish, and earned himself an invitation to Smash Summit 8.
Smash ‘N’ Splash 5: Wizzrobe finally gets his moment
At Smash ‘N’ Splash 5 last weekend, Wizzrobe made history as the first Captain Falcon player to win a Melee Supermajor tournament in the modern era, and placed in the top 8 for Ultimate. Along with some great wins over the weekend, Wizzrobe has arguably proved himself to be the best overall Smash player in the world right now.
Hailing from the stacked region of Central Florida, Wizzrobe is currently known as the best Captain Falcon player in Melee and is ranked as the world’s 8th best Melee player. Wizzrobe is considered to have the most optimal Falcon gameplay with his sharp tech-chasing abilities and his deadly punish game.
Wizzrobe has been a rising star for years now and while he came close many times, he never had a huge tournament win. He’s had a few wins over Juan DeBiedma (Hungrybox) over the years and he’s placed in the top 4 at several majors, but he never got to first place—until last weekend.
Wizzrobe had a stellar run where he defeated William Hjelte (Leffen), Masaya Chikamota (aMSa), and double eliminated Hungrybox to win Smash ‘N’ Splash 5. As Bobby Scarnewman (Scar) pointed out on Twitter, his victory is “literally the most significant Falcon tourney win of all time.”
This marks the first time a Captain Falcon main has won such a stacked tournament since Joel Isai Alvarado (Isai) won MOAST 3 in 2005, which was documented in Episode 3 of The Smash Brothers. Strangely enough, Twitter user @DiplomaticTucan discovered that Drephen and Daniel Rodriguez (ChuDat) placed in the top 16 at both tournaments.
Top: the results of MOAST 3 in 2005. Bottom: the results of Smash ’N’ Splash 5 in 2019.
With his win, people are calling for Wizzrobe to finally be signed by a major esports organization. He’s bounced around some smaller sponsorships in the past, but Wizzrobe deserves to be picked up by a great team now more than ever. Though he’s quiet and not the biggest personality, he has an impressive resume and lots of supportive fans. Hopefully he finds a good home soon.
Smash ‘N’ Splash 5: Ultimate results
The same weekend, Wizzrobe had a surprising performance in Smash Ultimate. Wizzrobe defeated Gavin Dempsey (Tweek) and Andrew Huntley (ScAtt) to earn himself a spot in the top 8 for Ultimate. His win against Tweek was especially amazing, because he had just won Get On My Level 2019 two weeks before.
The only other player who made the top 8 for both Melee and another main game at a Smash major is Jason Zimmerman (Mew2King), who has done it in Brawl and Smash 4. Wizzrobe is the first to do so with Ultimate. It’s unlikely that anyone else will be able to do that, unless Leffen has a good Ultimate run someday.
Also worth mentioning is Leonardo Lopez Perez’s (MkLeo) victory with Joker in this tournament. MkLeo was the first player to win an Ultimate Major with the character since his release in April.
The tournament featured a bunch of notable upsets.. After losing to Wizzrobe, Tweek was eliminated by Marcus Culbert (The Great Gonzales), a Palutena player from New Jersey. Other highlights include David Leon (LeoN) beating Brian Kalu (Cosmos) and Tyrell Coleman (NAKAT) beating Nairoby Quezada (Nairo).
As Smash ‘N’ Splash is somewhat of a kickoff event for the summer season of Smash, it’s clear that MkLeo is the player to beat, and the competition is looking as stacked as ever. These next few months will be fun to watch.
The top 16 for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate singles at Smash ‘N’ Splash 5.
Smash ‘N’ Splash 5: Long live Drephen
Leading up to Smash Summit 8 later this month, the Summit staff announced that the highest placing non-invited player at Smash ‘N’ Splash 5 would earn a spot in the invitational event. Zac Cordoni (SFAT) earned it by placing 7th, but he announced that he would have to miss the event because he has a wedding to attend that weekend.
This resulted in a 3 way tie for that spot among the players who placed 9th—not including Cody Schwab (iBDW) who had already been voted in. It came down to Dajuan McDaniel (Shroomed), Kalindi Henderson (KJH), and Drephen, who was the outlier that got here as a result of some major upsets.
Drephen is a Sheik player from Columbus, Ohio, and he’s currently ranked at #60 on the 2018 Melee Panda Global Rankings (MPGR). He has been playing this game for almost 15 years now and is regarded as one of the all-time great, midwestern Melee players. He is also the star of one of the best classic Melee combo videos ever. With his solid consistency over the years and his dominance over his region, Drephen is seen as the silent protector of the midwest.
Drephen placed 9th at Smash ‘N’ Splash 5, after getting two back-to-back upset wins on Edgard Sheleby (n0ne) and Weston Dennis (Westballz). Once he was in that 3-way tie for the Summit spot, the Summit team’s solution was to play a “Round-Robin” to see which player would earn the invitation. Drephen defeated KJH 3-2, with an impressive reverse sweep. After then defeating Shroomed 3-1, there was no need to play out the KJH vs Shroomed set, because he had earned it right then and there.
Drephen is eternal. His Sheik will be tech-chasing and down smashing many poor souls for years to come. You do not face him in the midwest and leave intact. He is always watching, waiting to pounce. He now sets his sights on his next target: Smash Summit 8.
DreamHack Dallas 2019: Underdogs rise
Dreamhack Dallas held Smash tournaments last weekend, which were unfortunately overshadowed by Smash ‘N’ Splash 5. Despite this, they did attract some talented players from the south for both Melee and Ultimate.
Veteran Samus player Hugo Gonzalez (HugS) took Melee singles after defeating some of the south’s highly respected up-and-coming Melee players. In the grand final, he defeated Louisiana’s rising star Falco player Magi 3-1 to take the tournament. Magi did pretty well too, out-placing players like Andrew Vo (Tai), Uncle Mojo, and Albert. Magi has had a stellar year so far and I imagine that it will only get better from here.
The Ultimate bracket was more stacked with players like Eric Lew (ESAM), Jason Bates (ANTi), Anthony Hoo (MuteAce), and Griffin Miller (Fatality). MuteAce won in the end, making this his most notable tournament performance to date. He also entered top 8 from the losers bracket, making this even more impressive.
Left: the top 16 for Melee singles at Dreamhack Dallas. Right: the top 16 for Ultimate at Dreamhack Dallas.
The H-Files: A Hungrybox conspiracy
I’ve seen some weird tweets lately implying that Hungrybox might have intentionally lost Smash ‘N’ Splash 5 as well as other recent tournaments to boost his image. He’s been at the top for years now and admittedly it’s not that fun to watch him win all the time.
There have even been a few incidents about it this year, beginning with obscene chants at Genesis 6 and recently with Hungrybox having a crab thrown at him after winning Pound. So, is Hungrybox so bothered by his negative perception that he’s now intentionally throwing sets to make himself look more like an underdog?
Of course not. Why would he do that? He’d be losing hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars for that just by missing out on the prizes for placing higher. The only counterpoint I could see is that he wants to be more favorable for a long-term streaming career. But that’s a risky bet to take.
It’s weird that Hungrybox isn’t winning everything, but these Hungrybox truthers need to take off their tinfoil headbands and accept that maybe it’s not that deep.
Right: If I could, I’d definitely put up this poster above my desk just like Mulder. It wouldn’t be the weirdest Hungrybox-related thing I own.
Closing remarks: Smash Summit 8
Coming up this month, we have The Mang0 and Smash Summit 8. Summit looks to be especially interesting with players like Te Tuhi Kelly (Spud), Álvaro García (Trif), and iBDW being voted in. June will be a fantastic month for spectators and competitors alike. With E3 also right around the corner, fans anticipate a first glimpse at the next Ultimate DLC character! I’m betting on either Banjo and Kazooie or Minecraft Steve. In any case, I think we’re all nervously looking forward to it!
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