It's Time for Sumabato 10!
On May 29th (JST), the next big Japanese tournament will be hosted! Currently at 181 entrants, Sumabato 10 will feature some of Japan's greatest in another exciting competition! In order to prepare for this tournament, we've compiled everything you need to know about Sumabato 10 right here! Get ready because this is definitely one you wouldn't want to miss!
The Competition
First up, here's who to watch for at Sumabato 10, once again provided by our good friend,
Djent
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Komorikiri
is no stranger to Sumabato grand finals. He won Sumabatos 7 and 8, but finished in an uncharacteristic 13th place at number 9. His most recent event was a return to form. At KSB, he fought through a difficult bracket including Souther, Earth, You3, and KEN. Unfortunately, he lost a drawn-out series vs. Kamemushi, narrowly missing victory. He is arguably favored against every other player in attendance, but by no means does that guarantee him victory.SHIG|9B
won Sumabato 9 and came in 2nd at number 8. From this, you might expect to see him in the top spots along with Komorikiri, but it's not that simple. He's also had some comparatively poor performances, such as 9th at Umebura 22 and 7th at KSB. You should also consider that his main was recently nerfed; word has it that he's contemplating a switch to Mewtwo. Taken together, these factors make it difficult to predict how 9B will perform at Sumabato 10.Nasubi
has risen to become one of Kansai's strongest threats. At Sumabato 9, he placed 2nd and lost only to 9B. He should have beaten KEN at KSB, but an unfortunate SD landed him in 5th place instead. Impressive performances marred by narrow defeat are a consistent theme for Nasubi. In spite of his achievements, a big win still eludes him. This could change because of the Bayonetta nerfs. His least favorite matchup should be a bit easier now.Earth
is a recognizable veteran hailing from the city of Nagoya. His most recent results include 4th at Sumabato 9, 7th at KSB 2016, ...and 33rd at Umebura 23. One of these things is not like the others, but it's somewhat expected and forgivable due to the strength of his competition. Earth has an overall history of mostly strong placements with a few disappointing ones mixed in. If we catch him on a good day, few players will be able to stand in his way.Taiheita
came from relative obscurity to defeat a number of Japan's finest players. It seemed as if no one could stop his meteoric ascent. However, a disappointing 25th place finish at Sumabato 9 dashed people's hopes, and getting 13th place at Umebura 23 only partially rekindled them. Taiheita is clearly a very strong player, but he has not differentiated himself from the ever-widening pool of tough competition. May Sumabato 10 be the event where he does!Atelier
is arguably the strongest Rosalina player in all of Japan. There's also Kirihara, but he's been absent for the past few months. In the meantime, Atelier has been putting in work, including two top 4 Sumabato finishes and a respectable 9th place at KSB. Taiheita and Nasubi have proven difficult for him; he is 0-3 and 0-2 against them respectively. If he can conquer (or avoid) these obstacles in bracket, he'll be poised to finish top 8 once again.Sigma
is one of two Toon Link players to finish 2nd at a premier Japanese tournament. That was Sumabato 7, which was 3 months and 2 patches ago. At number 8, Gomamugitya and Taiheita kept him from top 8. Perhaps as a result of their strong showings, the three of them joined forces at Karisuma 7. Their 3v3 set against Kamemushi, Nietono, and Daiki is worth watching. Sigma hasn't been as active as Ri-ma, but he is arguably still the stronger of the two.Kie
had a rough period at the beginning of 2016, during which he lost early at several important events. Since then, he seems to have made a full recovery: he finished 7th at Sumabato 9, beat his fellow Peach main Umeki at Umebura 22, and is coming in off of a 5th place finish at Umebura 23. At this most recent showing, he defeated Eim, Taiheita, and YOC before getting double eliminated by Diddy Kong players. Since there aren't usually strong Diddy players at Sumabato, Kie is in good shape.HIKARU
is a fan favorite for his consistently solid heavyweight play. He recently beat YuriAIR, Masashi, and Kie on his way to 5th place at Sumabato 9. Unfortunately, he didn't make bracket at KSB. He has a tough time against Atelier's Rosalina, and would like to avoid Toon Link players as well. However, he also shows proficiency in other matchups considered very difficult for Donkey Kong.Gomamugitya
is listed as "tentative" on this tournament's sign up sheet. Since I have a history of hyping people for Lucarios that don't show up, including him on this list is a bit risky. Against my better judgment, I'll say there's still a good chance Goma is coming. If he does show up, expect better than his 17th place finish at KSB. Notably, his team won the triples side tournament at Karisuma 7, and came the closest to beating Komorikiri's team in crews.Ri-ma
hails from Kyoto; I previously reported (incorrectly) that he is from Kyushu. It almost doesn't matter, because he attends events spread out across all of Japan. At KSB, he double-eliminated HIKARU in pools, but went 0-2 in the final bracket. His set vs. Kamemushi moved incredibly quickly for one between two projectile-based characters.Souther, Saiya, YuriAIR, and Tsu~
are all dangerous despite infrequent tournament attendance. Souther and Saiya were in the same pool at KSB, where Souther came from losers to eliminate his Falcon friend. YuriAIR returned from a months-long absence to eliminate Taiheita at Sumabato 9. Tsu~ was most recently seen at Karisuma 7, where his crew made bracket but was stopped by Ranai's.Masashi
is one of the oldest veterans in the Japanese Smash scene. His career extends back over a decade into the early days of Melee, and he was a formidable Pit player during the first few years of Brawl. His Smash 4 investment was initially minimal, but his interest seems to have piqued of late. After switching his main to Cloud, he eliminated Komorikiri last Sumabato, and only missed top 8 by one spot at KSB. Clearly there's still more this seasoned player can learn.SHIG|Shimitake
has struggled to replicate the success he attained at Sumabato 8. He missed out on top 16 at KSB, and last weekend he went 0-2 in bracket at Umebura 23. I've been told he's now using Diddy as a secondary, but this is unconfirmed. His patient play-style should carry him far, but in practice it hasn't helped his consistency issue. Hopefully he'll start performing as well as we all know he can.When life gives you lemons, you might have Nga or Kisha
in your bracket. Unlike Japan's best-known Mega Mains, these two use the character exclusively. Nga is best known for his victory over 9B back when he mained Ryu. His crew also managed to finish in the top 4 at Karisuma 7. In March, Kisha finished 3rd at eSR's bar tournament after fighting his way through 8 rounds of losers bracket.With Fuwa
, Rizeasu, and Nojinko all in attendance, you could easily mistake Sumabato 10 for an RPG convention. Fuwa has been improving at an impressive rate and now goes toe-to-toe with Japan's finest players. She and Rizeasu competed as part of an all-Marth crew at Karisuma 7. Nojinko is Sumabato staff and brings a setup to everything he attends. Unlike in Fire Emblem, a single loss won't spell the end for anyone in this squadron.Unlike most players, MASA
prefers to use the 3DS as his controller. He was relatively unknown before Sumabato 7, where victories over HIKARU and Shogun propelled him to 7th place. He even took a game from Atelier despite his character's abysmal Rosalina matchup! He has the best odds of any Ness main attending this event.There will be a number of strong mid- and low-tier players at Sumabato 10. Some of the most notable include Oisiitofu
, RIN, Tsumusuto, SHIG|JUN, and Hatsuyuki. Oisiitofu beat Ginko in winners finals of their pool at KSB, though he lost the rematch and didn't make top 16. Most of you will already be familiar with RIN for his strong showing at Genesis 3. The others also have good results, but no huge wins that stand out in particular.Because of the high level of competition, it's basically impossible to go into detail about all the strong contenders at this tournament. You should also be on the lookout for Mangalica
, Z~Tan, and Sylph; Lucia and Lickey ★, Tatsutsuyo and Chart-yatsu, Chiruchiru, Ruri, and Ako. Some of these folks have pulled of upsets in the past, and all are capable of doing so at Sumabato.Finally, there is a good chance that Double A Battery (Twitter) will provide bilingual English and Japanese commentary. He made his debut at Umebura 23 and was well-received by the stream. For those of us who normally rely on Google Translate to figure out what's going on, this is a welcome relief!
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Stream and Schedule
Next up is the timings and stream information.Here is the approximate schedule for the event:
10:30 am | Event start
10:45 am | Pool Block A
12:30 pm | Pool Block B
2:45 pm | Main Bracket (~96 people)
~ 7:00 pm | Tournament Wrap-up
As for the streaming, SHI-Gaming will once again be in charge.
Are you excited for the clash of titans at Sumabato 10? Who do you think will win it all? What are you predictions? Let us know in the comments below!
Note: This article was written in collaboration with @Gearface,
Djent
, @Jucchan, and @juddy96.
