After a two-month break, Umebura once again returns to the Ota City Industrial Plaza in Tokyo this Sunday, July 24th. This is the final installment before the highly-anticipated Second Anniversary Tournament hosted next month. It is set to be streamed by SHI Gaming. Perhaps because Kanto residents are eager to get their practice in, this event reached its 224-entrant capacity weeks in advance and features most of the region’s premier talent. Here are some of the players vying for 1st place:
Kamemushi
is Japan’s best overall player and the world’s finest Mega-main. After failing to make top 16 at two consecutive events and then finishing 7th at a Vegas local, many people were beginning to question if he was all he was cracked up to be. But at EVO 2016, Kameme silenced the doubters by climbing all the way to 2nd place, defeating Mr.R, Earth and VoiD before eliminating ZeRo in a convincing 3-0 victory. This impressive performance establishes that his prior streak of dominance was in no way a fluke.Kirihara, Atelier and Yuzu
make for one of the most threatening trios in Japanese Smash. When Kirihara came to the states for EVO, many people were saying his skill rivaled that of Dabuz, but unfortunately a 33rd place finish didn’t quite back those claims up. Atelier is still very young and so he doesn’t have many opportunities to travel abroad. However, he will be attending Super Smash Con, which conveniently aligns with a Japanese holiday. Yuzu is perhaps the least known of the 3, but a 4th place finish at the most recent Umebura is hard to argue with.Sigma, Ri-ma and Hayato.
prove that no continent is safe from the rising terror that is Toon Link. Sigma has the most impressive history of the 3, but didn’t do so well at his most recent tournament. Ri-ma has been on an upswing recently, finishing 4th at Karisuma 8 and 2nd in 9B’s round robin. Hayato. is seen less often than the other two, but he did go on a killing spree and place 2nd at Umebura 21. All 3 pose a significant threat to whomever might run into them in bracket, so expect to see a lot of projectiles thrown in its later stages.DNG|Nietono and SG|Rain
are legends in the Kanto scene, which they have dominated on-and-off since the early days of Brawl. Interestingly, they seemed to have settled into similar character usage patterns. Nietono gravitates more strongly to Diddy and Rain to Cloud, but both players frequently pull out the other character for bad matchups. They also came to America to compete at Apex, CEO, and EVO. Rain did not perform as well as he does in Japan, but Nietono made quite an impression at Apex and CEO.Brood and Raito
have both placed top 8 using a character Americans view as heavily flawed. Brood has a long-standing record of consistency, whereas Raito has emerged as a top threat only recently. However, with You3 finishing in an unprecedented 4th place at Sumabato 11, it’s not clear who’s currently the alpha in the Japanese dog pack. Odds are that position will be contested for some time to come.KEN
is always one of the favorites to make top 8 at Kanto events. He is one of the few players that can boast an Umebura win, though he only managed 17th place at the most recent one. However, he landed in an impressive 13th place at EVO 2016, making him the highest placing Sonic main in attendance. Before and during EVO, he played several exhibition matches that included decisive wins over ESAM and a narrow loss to Dabuz. Even with Sonic performing very well as of late, KEN has few rivals in terms of peak play or consistency.As the best Lucas in the world, Taiheita
is a fan favorite. He’s come very close to winning tournaments, but as of yet he hasn’t been able to clutch one out. At Umebura 23, he sent Earth to an early demise before losing to Kie and Rain. Given the caliber of talent in his section of the bracket, 13th place is very impressive. If all goes well for him, he could easily make top 8 this time around, but there are no guarantees in a region with such volatile results as Kanto.With Shu, Nyanko, and Eim
all signed up for Umebura, it looks like all of Japan’s top Sheik mains will be in attendance. Eim has the most consistent results at Umebura, but even so, 17th place at number 23 was a little less than what was expected of him. Shu finished in an impressive 2nd place at TUS Tournament 5, though YOC’s Sonic proved too much for him in the end. If usage patterns are any indication, Sheik is not perceived as top tier by many Japanese players. Regardless, these players’ peak performances are reason to think that she still might be.Pichi and YuriAIR
will be bringing the Falcon hype! Both players attained 9th at recent large events, suggesting they are both still in top form despite their infrequent attendance. So far the most Falcon-saturated tournament was Sumabato 10, where at one point Douglas Jay occupied 5 of 8 spots in winner's bracket! It’s unlikely that we’ll see such a complete takeover again, but it’s likely that at least one of these two will make it far in bracket.Motsunabe and Tsu-
are two premier Lucario players, both of whom appeared in the top 8 of TUS Tournament 5. Their current head-to-head record is 1-1, which could be a testament to their high skill or the inherent volatility of the Lucario ditto. The power of aura is a fickle friend, but both of these players are worthy of its blessings. There is no prediction when it comes to Japanese results, and Lucario only compounds this problem.RSZ|Umeki
is an exceptionally technical player with a large overseas fanbase. He recently attended CEO, where he placed 33rd. He was also supposed to compete at EVO, but unfortunately had to drop out. Though previously known as the best Peach in Japan, Kansai native Kie has recently overtaken him once again. Umebura will be his chance to prove that he’s still in the running for the title and that he could have done serious damage at EVO.YOC
recently won his first large event, TUS Tournament 5. While his Corrin has proven to be quite formidable (beating the likes of Rain and Choco), he seems to struggle in a few particular matchups. It seems the solution to this problem lies with Sonic, his old main, and the character he used to take grand finals against Shu. After a few sporadic top 8 appearances, he seems to have finally hit his stride.Once considered the 2nd best rep of his character, Choco
doesn’t play as seriously or attend many events anymore. This is a real shame; he is an extraordinarily talented player with a history that reaches back into the late years of Brawl. It will be tough for him to make top 8 without much practice, but that’s exactly what Ranai did at EVO against the odds. You can never count a player of Choco’s caliber out completely, even if he hasn’t shown much promise recently.bAhuto
came from nowhere to place 7th at Umebura 22, beating a number of top players along the way. However, he went home early in 33rd place at the very next installment, and was unable to do any better at TUS Tournament 5. Like many high-level Smash 4 players, bAhuto is somewhat inconsistent, which makes it difficult to predict exactly how well he’ll fare this time around.Daiki and Kisha
are sometimes forgotten in the hype surrounding Kamemushi, but it is worth recognizing that he is far from Japan’s only talented Mega Man player. In fact, Kisha managed to outplace him at TUS Tournament 5. Like Kameme, both of these players can play several characters at a high level. Kisha has been known to use Bowser, while Daiki has a formidable Mewtwo.kept
is best known for beating Abadango’s Mewtwo, a win which netted him his first top 8 finish at Umebura 22. Outside of that, his results have been solid, but not quite top caliber. At TUS Tournament 5, he narrowly missed top 16 thanks in part to an early loss to YOC. Though Ranai is currently quite secure in his title as best Villager, kept is one of the few players capable of playing the character at a high level.Songn
is frighteningly consistent with a character many people believe to be low tier. He has a number of top 8 finishes under his belt, which include wins against the likes of Choco and Nietono. Unfortunately, he struggles with Rosalina, and with 3 of her best players in attendance, Songn may have a tough time making it that far again. Perhaps he’ll have some new tricks up his sleeve?Fuwa
has improved tremendously since switching mains. Unfortunately, she usually falls just outside of top 8; this was her fate at Umebura 23 and Sumabatos 10 and 11. Much as her husband Earth seemed to plateau before finally winning large events, it seems Fuwa is on the verge of a truly stunning performance. It may not be this time, but at some point a player of her caliber will break the 9th place curse.There are too many good players attending Umebura for this article to cover everyone. You should also keep an eye out for Paseriman and Kuro
, Some and Shiki , Taranito , mow , Salena , Ke-ya , eSR|Rom , Onpu , Pon and Melee veteran Captain Jack . All of these players and more could perform well on any given day, so expect many upsets as usual._____________________________________________________________________________________________________
If you’re excited about this tournament and would like to tune in, check this schedule for approximate start times:
11:00 a.m. | Pools begin
1:00 p.m. | Lunch break
2:00 p.m. | Main tournament
8:00 p.m. | Event ends
Who are you rooting for? Who do you think will win? Let us know in the comments below!
Acknowledgements: Many thanks to @Jucchan for compiling a list of attendees for this event and to @A10theHero for serving as this article's editor.
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