Official Competitive Character Impressions 2.0

[SKX31]

So, I'm just doing some searching up on the missing characters, but the following people main or secondary these characters and qualified:
: Poppt1 (qualified through Oceania and primarily used in qualifier)
: Yei (qualified through Central America LCQ but did win a game with Meta Knight in main bracket; it's iffy to consider this a secondary, so I leave the decision up to you)
: Yei (see above, but won 2 games)
: Tarik (secondary usage in European Qualifier, but mostly in phase 1 and 2 of pools), Yei (see comment on Meta Knight), and MKLeo (secondary use; won a set in top 32 and took 3 games from Sparg0)
: Exodia (used for 5th place tie breaker against Big D, but only won a game) and Junkyarddude (main; qualified through East Asia Qualifier)
: Nair^ (secondary usage in Mexico Qualifier top 32; won a set)

Yei mains Meta Knight offline (or at least did before the pandemic) so I'm willing to count him.

Okay, let's talk DK for a second. I've been noticing DK is placing quite well, relatively, quite often as of late. Is the character actually Low Tier? Or just a real flawed, polarizing Mid Tier?

Borderline between the two I'd say? He's kinda difficult to place since his flaws are well-documented and exploited, but his strengths (fast startup, range, grab game) are also well documented and practically central to his MUs. If anything, I do think the character would need some further tweaking before he's solidly in Mid because I'm not sure if he currently can gain much barring a sudden tech discovery or something like that.

That said, his placement is also dependent on how many characters are placed in the Low / Mid tiers to begin with.

 

[Rizen]

Okay, let's talk DK for a second. I've been noticing DK is placing quite well, relatively, quite often as of late. Is the character actually Low Tier? Or just a real flawed, polarizing Mid Tier?

I've always had a relatively high opinion of , thinking he's in mid tier. DK's better than other super heavyweights like Incineroar and Ganon largely because his mobility's good. But I also think DK gets a wifi boost and that's been contributing to his results lately.

 

[Thinkaman]

Between his recovery, grab game, and neutral, I would not be surprised if DK is one of the most polarized characters in the game. It's just way lower key than others.

 

[Ziodyne 21]

Between his recovery, grab game, and neutral, I would not be surprised if DK is one of the most polarized characters in the game. It's just way lower key than others.

Do not forget that his tilt attacks are unsafe ON HIT vs low % opponents. Seriously why has that not been addressed in some way. I think the only other example of that is landing Shadow Flare at point-blank range

 

[MrGameguycolor]

Do not forget that his tilt attacks are unsafe ON HIT vs low % opponents. Seriously why has that not been addressed in some way. I think the only other example of that is landing Shadow Flare at point-blank range

I'll just leave this here:

Spoiler: Doc's minus on hit moves

Up-Tilt:

Up-Smash:

Sour/Early N-Air:

Sweet N-Air

B-Air

Up-Air:

D-Air:

Up-B:
That move speaks for itself.

 

[Hydreigonfan01]

Reddit's new tier list

 

[Frihetsanka]

Surprisingly decent for a Reddit tier list. I do think Diddy Kong is underrated but maybe I overrate him, I can't tell with 100% certainty yet. I also think Sheik deserves to be higher and Lucina a bit lower.

 

[Gleam]

Okay, let's talk DK for a second. I've been noticing DK is placing quite well, relatively, quite often as of late. Is the character actually Low Tier? Or just a real flawed, polarizing Mid Tier?

I think it's really just an unfortunate perspective that the community has overall to characters who, really only see the characters in a singular light, usually based entirely upon the aspects of "Numbers" such as "frame data" or the actions of a singular player.


It was so easy to just point out the flaws of these characters and of course and utterly ignore what actually made the character good. This also meant utterly ignoring a lot of the impact Donkey Kong players made across tournament. I guess for some people, if they don't see someone in the Top 15 in a 1200 man tournament, than by virtue must be Low Tier.

Another major difference is that, unlike a forum such as us, players and the audience rather lack the extensive amount of information we have. I mean if the only thing I could go off was "frame data" and the few tournaments I might have seen, the perspective would be rather limited. But we've got Orion Stats, we've got the SSB World character usage, we've got the Tournament Data, and we've got the whole conversation that members can discuss.

And for me, I don't care nearly as much about things like "Frame Data" or "Character Weakness" or whatever it is someone actually playing the character would look into. Honestly I just don't get into Smash as much these days. In this case, I'm more interested into see what the players do and how it effects characters status.

As far as I can tell, whatever the DK players are doing, it seems to be working and from my perspective, what Donkey Kong has achieved paints a good character.

 

[Ziodyne 21]

What good results has been getting recently. I mean he could of made some blips here and there in the online era. But nothing to consider ranking him in a higher tier than placed. I know many notable Smash 4 DK mains such as HIKARU abandoned him entirely.

A big problem is likely his recovery which is likely among the worst in the game aside from the comlon "worst 3". DK basically has no choice but to tey and recover high offtstage both due to the linearity and extreme vunerability from above meaning any character with a decent spike attack will send him to the abyss.

I mean when potentially has more ways to mixup his recovery options, you know you got big problems offstage

 

[Gleam]

Asking for results for Donkey Kong now is rather problematic, owing to the fact that he's currently doing better than 27 characters result wise including
but chances are, that has a lot less to do with character superiority and just plain lack of data we have. But it still goes to show that Donkey Kong is still capable of producing results even during these trying times. But I think it's a fair question to ask.

If Donkey Kong was as bad as people claimed, how was he able to produce the results he has gotten much less jump up 20+ spots and reach Top 30 Pre-COVID Orion? What Donkey Kong has produced in terms of his results and data, contrasts sharply with the ideology of a Low Tier character.

IMO, I think people are far more invested in what "SHOULD BE" and not what he "CURRENTLY IS."

Which then leads to a rather unfortunate "Lose/Lose" situation. If Donkey Kong is losing results and going nowhere, well obviously he's just not a good character, the numbers speak for themselves. But if he does do good, it's a lack of knowledge from the players and once players stop falling for the same tricks again and again, Donkey Kong will rightfully fall.

Well after 3 years, it seems people are still falling for those same tricks. Unfortunately I think a lot of people have just made up their minds due to perception. The same way that everyone and their dead grandfather from the 1420s has just decided that is the best character ever regardless of what his actual results are.

 

[RonNewcomb]

Yeah but how much of those results are from mains in big tourneys and not as a secondary.

DK has polarizing strengths and weaknesses, so I think he's a terrible character to main, but a great pocket. Little about him strikes me as technical or difficult, and not every character in the cast can ledgeguard or landtrap well. He seems he'd be easy to upkeep to cover a few bad MUs.

 

[Frihetsanka]

Dabuz seems to think Sephiroth is guaranteed top 10 or maybe even top 5 offline. Sounds very optimistic to me (top 5 is probably too optimistic, I think he's top 10, top 15, or top 20, not really sure).

 

[Hydreigonfan01]

Dabuz seems to think Sephiroth is guaranteed top 10 or maybe even top 5 offline. Sounds very optimistic to me (top 5 is probably too optimistic, I think he's top 10, top 15, or top 20, not really sure).

Tweek and Hazmatt also say he could be top 5.

In any case, new Juicebox results:

1. Sparg0
2. ShinyMark
3. Mr. E
4. Tilde
5. 8BitMan
5. Panda Bair
7. Sonix
7. LMan

 

[Hydreigonfan01]

It’s been over 24 hours, so double post.
Larry Lurr released his own podcast.

 

[SKX31]

Oh crud.

I missed some people in my previous post re: the SWT NA Southeast online qualifier, which is tomorrow and (streamed on) Sunday. The Top 32 seeds have just been released:

1. Epic_Gabriel ( ) [Florida]
2. Jake ( ) [Florida]
3. Panda | ESAM ( ) [Florida]
4. Kola ( , )[Georgia]
5. USAE | PvE | Yez ( ) [Missouri]
6. Myran ( ) [Florida]
7. Wrath ( ) [Georgia]
8. NVR | Rivers ( , ) [New Jersey, in Florida]
9. Aaron ( ) [Florida]
10. Pelupelu ( ) [Florida]
11. Fatality ( ) [Georgia]
12. ttv | JMxfia ( ) [Florida]
13. RBG | KirbyKid ( ) [Louisiana]
14. 8BitMan ( ) [Florida]
15. Goblin ( ) [Florida]
16. ApolloKage ( ) [Missouri]
17. Vendetta ( ) [Georgia]
18. Toast ( ) [North Carolina]
19. GoTE | Vinny G ( ) [Florida]
20. KN | BH | Jahzz0 ( ) [Georgia]
21. MuteAce ( , ) [Florida]
22. GRNT | Fluffy ( ) [Florida]
23. YoseFu ( ) [Mississippi]
24. Recity | WonderBread ( ) [Florida]
25. Uncivil ninja ( ) [Florida]
26. PHNM | Mage ( ) [South Carolina]
27. TR | theGOAT ( ) [Florida]
28. Ashton ( ) [North Carolina]
29. TE | IKON | BeastModePaul ( ) [Florida]
30. NVR | GoTE | Synergy ( ) [Florida]
31. TE | Bluxious ( ) [Florida]
32. Sidi | Namefireball ( ) [Georgia]

Notable names outside of Top 32:

• Mekos (33)
• Ryo (42)
• UR2SLOW (50)
• Dath (53)
• Nick Riddle (56)
• Hungrybox (64)
• Cagt (74)
• C.Falcon (78)
• Poltergust (82)
• Zie (83)

All in all, this is looking to be a metaphorical bloodbath - the upset potential looks pretty high. Not only due to the fickle nature of online, but also given that notable people like Goblin and MuteAce are seeded rather low. Also sidenote: If HBox somehow manages to qualify (that is, get Top 6 in this qualifier or Top 2 in the LCQ) that would cause tremors in the Ultimate and Melee scenes no matter what happens after.

 

[RonNewcomb]

All in all, this is looking to be a metaphorical bloodbath - the upset potential looks pretty high.

I'd say it kinda already has been, what with Dath and Nick Riddle both missing top 32.

 

[Hydreigonfan01]

Rivers showing some Diddy Kong tech

Don’t know if this is new or not but I have the personal opinion that Diddy is top of high tier. Also I thought Diddy Kong would like this.

 

[Krysco]

So that tech would be useful for all MUs involving whether you're playing as them (except K. Rool) or against them. Would have more niche use for either because of the limited time the item is even on the field for (any of the explosives with the most notable being Snake and possibly Jr.) or the odds of the item even being on the ground or in the air for the tech to be used (Belmont holy water, Paisy turnips, Villager wood chip, Sheik Burst Grenade, Robin discards). Could be wrong with Pacman since he does make quite a bit of use of his items and for at least some of them, he can follow up behind them and catch them to use this tech and unless I'm mistaken, with proper timing, this tech could be used against Pacman for all of them after Pac sends them out. Honestly not sure with Megaman. I'm pretty sure Metal Blade is almost only ever used by MM players to put into the ground to then hold as a regular item so it'd likely only be done when it's safe to do so, limiting the use any other character can have to use against MM and given Metal Blade flies in a straight line, it likely wouldn't even be that useful for MM himself to use.

Seems like it'd be most useful in any Diddy and R.O.B. MU, anytime going against K. Rool, maybe Link since bombs can stay out for quite a while for both him and his opponent to grab if the Link chooses to keep it on stage and possibly against Snake since he can leave grenades on the ground. Doesn't have the best aerials or air speed to make use of it himself. Also possibly Jr for what little time the Mechakoopa is out.

 

[Game7a1]

Rivers showing some Diddy Kong tech

Don’t know if this is new or not but I have the personal opinion that Diddy is top of high tier. Also I thought Diddy Kong would like this.

Dash Attack Cancel tech has been a thing since the launch of the game, but I have noticed lately that Rivers is giving it more attention. Considering most Attack Cancel tech has been through RAR use, maybe giving more attention to its other applications will help players use them more often.

 

[SKX31]

SWT NA SouthEast's Top 32: (streamed tomorrow, starting at 6 PM EST - including the linked post's commentary)


WB:

Epic_Gabriel ( ) vs Vendetta ( )

Rivers ( , ) vs Aaron ( , )

Kola ( , ) vs KirbyKid ( )

Yez ( ) vs MuteAce ( , , )

Jake ( , ) vs Toast ( )

Wrath ( ) vs Pelupelu ( )

ESAM ( ) vs 8BitMan ( , )

Kylzim ( ) vs Blaze207 (seed 150, )

LB:

Uncivil Ninja ( ) vs Goblin ( , )

STR-d(-_-) (seed 561, , "and yes that is their name including the face, they have no known tourneys on record") vs YoseFu ( )

BeastModePaul ( ) vs Cass ( )

Jahzz0 ( ) vs Sinister (seed 248, )

Bluxious ( ) vs ZSOS ( )

UR2SLOW ( ) vs WonderBread ( , )

Fluffy ( ) vs Ashton ( )

Naz ( , seed 211) vs REM!!! ( , seed 205)


As promised, this has been a bloodbath so far - with 5 people having very low seeds. They also caused some notable upsets against some of those noted in the previous post:

• Str-D 2-1 NickRiddle
• REM!!! 2-1 JMxfia
• Sinister 2-1 Vinny G
• Naz 2-0 Zie
• Blaze207 2-1 Fluffy

Fatality and Myran have been sent to LCQ alongside JMxfia, Vinny, NickRiddle, HBox etc. In particular I kinda doubt that Fatality will even compete in the LCQ since he primarily plays Yuzu and might not be keen on doing another grind on Nintendo's online tomorrow.

 

[Aaron1997]

So that tech would be useful for all MUs involving whether you're playing as them (except K. Rool) or against them. Would have more niche use for either because of the limited time the item is even on the field for (any of the explosives with the most notable being Snake and possibly Jr.) or the odds of the item even being on the ground or in the air for the tech to be used (Belmont holy water, Paisy turnips, Villager wood chip, Sheik Burst Grenade, Robin discards). Could be wrong with Pacman since he does make quite a bit of use of his items and for at least some of them, he can follow up behind them and catch them to use this tech and unless I'm mistaken, with proper timing, this tech could be used against Pacman for all of them after Pac sends them out. Honestly not sure with Megaman. I'm pretty sure Metal Blade is almost only ever used by MM players to put into the ground to then hold as a regular item so it'd likely only be done when it's safe to do so, limiting the use any other character can have to use against MM and given Metal Blade flies in a straight line, it likely wouldn't even be that useful for MM himself to use.

Seems like it'd be most useful in any Diddy and R.O.B. MU, anytime going against K. Rool, maybe Link since bombs can stay out for quite a while for both him and his opponent to grab if the Link chooses to keep it on stage and possibly against Snake since he can leave grenades on the ground. Doesn't have the best aerials or air speed to make use of it himself. Also possibly Jr for what little time the Mechakoopa is out.

This Tech is useless for Pac/his opponent because he's forced to throw or Z-drop the item to DACIT. He can only use the fruit once when he gets it in his hand (Unless he recycles) so instantly having to throw his Galaga/Bell/whatever away is not what he wants.


Edit:

Actually nvm by pressing grab you can keep the item in hand. Now this is useful. Getting Galaga and Bell in hand is not going to be as risky now

 

[KirbySquad101]

Fatality and Myran have been sent to LCQ alongside JMxfia, Vinny, NickRiddle, HBox etc. In particular I kinda doubt that Fatality will even compete in the LCQ since he primarily plays Yuzu and might not be keen on doing another grind on Nintendo's online tomorrow.

Aaaaannndddd, you'd be right on that lol.

Based on his Twitter feed, Fatality's pretty much done with online, sticking only to offline locals and Yuzu from now on.

 

[Diddy Kong]

Rivers showing some Diddy Kong tech

Don’t know if this is new or not but I have the personal opinion that Diddy is top of high tier. Also I thought Diddy Kong would like this.

I've watched Rivers a lot recently, because his latest sets are just about the newest Smash Ultimate content, and he's steadily improving ! He held his own against ESAM quite well for example. Thanks for tagging me in this.

 

[Nobie]

Esam loses to Vendetta's Ryu in SWT SE grand finals. He's said before that he thinks Ryu is better than Ken (something I agree with), so it was the ultimate option select.

I think people see Ryu's speed and think he's inherently inferior to Ken. But the ability to play a range game with a superior Hadoken and a one-hit Tatsu that can KO means 1) he's not necessarily forced to approach 2) he can get more reliable damage off stray hits.

 

[blackghost]

Esam loses to Vendetta's Ryu in SWT SE grand finals. He's said before that he thinks Ryu is better than Ken (something I agree with), so it was the ultimate option select.

I think people see Ryu's speed and think he's inherently inferior to Ken. But the ability to play a range game with a superior Hadoken and a one-hit Tatsu that can KO means 1) he's not necessarily forced to approach 2) he can get more reliable damage off stray hits.

ryu legit plays like he's in sf which is botha plus and neg.

ryu is an uphill character to approach his fireball game is elite. and jumping at him is bad because he's ryu he is made to make you jump then anti-air you. in smash he gets a nice invincible uptilt, Shoryuken, and focus to eat a single hit. ryu neg is that he is not great at coming back in games. ken is far better at that. if ryu can sit back and STAY GROUNDED he is in his element and many players in smash arent used to cracking ryu when he's truly bunkered in.

to beat ryu you need to capitalize in some way (stage positioning, damage, or pressure) every time he jumps or is in the air.

on a side note ESAM playing samus into ryu was one of the worst switches I've seen in a while. that is not a smart move regardless of the outcome of the match.

 

[Ziodyne 21]

Wow this was some great diversity in this SWT with 39+ characters used in the top 32 alone. It was also a nice surprise to see take it

On the topic of Street Fighter if you are a player/follower of SFV scene things are kinda different. Long story short its a notable contrast where no one character is dominating SWT events as opposed to the the newest "season" of SFV's competitive meta where Cammy has won 3 of the 4 Capcom Pro Tour tournaments so far, lol

 

[Game7a1]

on a side note ESAM playing status into ryu was one of the worst switches I've seen in a while. that is not a smart move regardless of the outcome of the match.

For a while, I was confused as to what you meant playing status into Ryu was and thought, "Is that some kind of playstyle?", but did you actually mean Samus instead of status?

 

[The_Bookworm]

SWT: NA Southeast Ultimate Online Qualifiers (685 Entrants)

1st: Vendetta
2nd: ESAM
3rd: Kola
4th: Yez
5th: Wrath
5th: KirbyKid
7th: Jake
7th: Aaron
9th: kylzim (DQ'ed in loser's)
9th: Rivers
9th: Uncivil ninja
9th: cass
13th: 8BitMan
13th: Jahzz0
13th: MuteAce
13th: Naz
17th: Blaze207
17th: YoseFu
17th: Pelupelu
17th: Toast
17th: ZSOS
17th: WonderBread
17th: Fluffy
17th: Epic_Gabriel

*Fun fact: outside of losing to Vendetta in winner's and grand finals, ESAM never dropped a game to anyone else. He came out to play.


Last Chance Qualifier
1st: Epic_Gabriel
2nd: Rivers
3rd: Myran
4th: MuteAce
5th: Ashton
5th: Jahzz0
7th: YoseFu
7th: Naz
9th: cass
9th: Aaron (DQ'ed in loser's)
9th: Toast
9th: 8BitMan



Those moving on in the Smash World Tour:
Vendetta (1st)
ESAM (2nd)
Kola (3rd)
Yez (4th)
Wrath (5th)
KirbyKid (5th)
Epic_Gabriel (1st LCQ)
Rivers (2nd LCQ)


Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. We have a K. Rool making it in further in the SWT.
Between this and having a Ridley, two Dark Pits, two Miis, a Bayo (especially online), two ICs (especially online), a Dedede, a Puff, and a Belmont moving on in the SWT, this is going to be a super wacky shift to offline tournaments.

One more online qualifier before the shift back to offline.

Esam loses to Vendetta's Ryu in SWT SE grand finals. He's said before that he thinks Ryu is better than Ken (something I agree with), so it was the ultimate option select.

I think people see Ryu's speed and think he's inherently inferior to Ken. But the ability to play a range game with a superior Hadoken and a one-hit Tatsu that can KO means 1) he's not necessarily forced to approach 2) he can get more reliable damage off stray hits.

He played mostly Ken throughout the tournament. Outside of ESAM, he only used Ryu to close out the set against Aaron.

However, being the slower-paced, projectile throwing Shoto definitely proved invaluable for the Pikachu matchup.
If you remember back in SSB4, ESAM is pretty comfortable with the Ryu matchup (most of the time). Pikachu's toolkit heavily abuses Ryu's need to approach most of the time, and converts that to an edgeguard.

Now in Ultimate, Ken pretty much plays like SSB4 Ryu, so a lot of the same stuff still applies here. Ryu now plays a slower-paced projectile game (similar to how he functions in the home series). Now Pika has to play Ryu's game more often, which helps out in the matchup quite a bit.

 

[Game7a1]

Between this and having a Ridley, two Dark Pits, two Miis, a Bayo (especially online), two ICs (especially online), a Dedede, a Puff, and a Belmont moving on in the SWT, this is going to be a super wacky shift to offline tournaments.

One more online qualifier before the shift back to offline.

Three Mii mains, in which all three Miis are represented.
: Capitancito (Central America)
: Danklin (Oceania)
: Ghost (Oceania)
I would have mentioned this in another post, but of all the popular characters used in the meta, no Yoshi player has qualified yet. That might change in the Northeast qualifier with the likes of Myles and Suarez, but at this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if no Yoshi is present in the second phase.

 

[Emblem Lord]

The grand finals of SWT Southeast ESAM vs Vendetta.

 

[blackghost]

Yeah

For a while, I was confused as to what you meant playing status into Ryu was and thought, "Is that some kind of playstyle?", but did you actually mean Samus instead of status?

Auto correct continues to hate lesser known character names.

 

[blackghost]

The grand finals of SWT Southeast ESAM vs Vendetta.

I know you have thoughts on these games. I'm sure many people would like to hear them.

 

[SKX31]

I would have mentioned this in another post, but of all the popular characters used in the meta, no Yoshi player has qualified yet. That might change in the Northeast qualifier with the likes of Myles and Suarez, but at this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if no Yoshi is present in the second phase.

Then again the Northeast is very likely going to be one of the most hotly contested if not the most contested / stacked one - a proverbial slaughterhouse like Larry said in Tweek's podcast. To writ, this is mainly to show how stacked the qualifier could be (those active currently IIRC, up to Area 51):

PGR Fall 2019:

• Tweek
• Marss
• Dabuz
• Light
• WaDi
• Dark Wizzy
• LeoN
• Salem
• Nicko
• Ned
• (Cosmos? He did participate in a recent Wi-Fi tournament, but I'm doubting that he'll participate in the qualifier, Still, worth looking out if he does get involved.)

Wi-Fi Warrior rank v6:

• Sharp
• Riddles
• Angel
• Pokelam
• Mr. E
• Sinji
• IcyMist
• RavenKing
• Mabel
• Atomsk
• LingLing
• Enhanchedpv
• SupergirlKels
• TheMightyDialga
• Loaf

No, not everyone of those listed are going to register for this weekend. But chances are pretty good that the majority will. This is not to knock on Myles or Suarez, but they have a ginormous mountain to climb here. They not only have to go through those players, but also players not listed on either list but still really good in their own right (like Mystearica, Gen and Peanut) and avoiding the random Wi-Fi loss (while LarryLurr survived that, he had to go for the run of his life practically to qualify).

It's saying something when Tweek dreaded this qualifier in the podcast. There's only 8 slots - and getting Top 6 in the main qualifier / Top 2 in the LCQ is going to be a tough task for practically anyone. It's not impossible for Myles or Suarez, but again, it's going to be extremely difficult.

 

[Rocketjay8]

Welp looks like you can tech Lucario's back throw now.

It might only work on joker, but there are characters similar to him.

 

[ARISTOS]

Then again the Northeast is very likely going to be one of the most hotly contested if not the most contested / stacked one - a proverbial slaughterhouse like Larry said in Tweek's podcast. To writ, this is mainly to show how stacked the qualifier could be (those active currently IIRC, up to Area 51):

PGR Fall 2019:

• Tweek
• Marss
• Dabuz
• Light
• WaDi
• Dark Wizzy
• LeoN
• Salem
• Nicko
• Ned
• (Cosmos? He did participate in a recent Wi-Fi tournament, but I'm doubting that he'll participate in the qualifier, Still, worth looking out if he does get involved.)

Wi-Fi Warrior rank v6:

• Sharp
• Riddles
• Angel
• Pokelam
• Mr. E
• Sinji
• IcyMist
• RavenKing
• Mabel
• Atomsk
• LingLing
• Enhanchedpv
• SupergirlKels
• TheMightyDialga
• Loaf

No, not everyone of those listed are going to register for this weekend. But chances are pretty good that the majority will. This is not to knock on Myles or Suarez, but they have a ginormous mountain to climb here. They not only have to go through those players, but also players not listed on either list but still really good in their own right (like Mystearica, Gen and Peanut) and avoiding the random Wi-Fi loss (while LarryLurr survived that, he had to go for the run of his life practically to qualify).

It's saying something when Tweek dreaded this qualifier in the podcast. There's only 8 slots - and getting Top 6 in the main qualifier / Top 2 in the LCQ is going to be a tough task for practically anyone. It's not impossible for Myles or Suarez, but again, it's going to be extremely difficult.

Yeah, the Northeast Qualifier will be an absolute bloodbath. It's wild how much stronger NE is in Ultimate compared to SW, when in Smash 4 the two regions were much more equal.

 

[MrGameguycolor]

Welp looks like you can tech Lucario's back throw now.

It might only work on joker, but there are characters similar to him.

It is a very quick B-Throw and has a tight tech window, so this shouldn't hurt him.

 

[DougEfresh]

It is a very quick B-Throw and has a tight tech window, so this shouldn't hurt him.

This, and I also followed up about it in Luc cord and apparently it's only a thing at the very end of the ledge, so even if it were to apply to more than just Joker, it's extremely situational. Not to mention, if you're shielding at such high percents, you could just explode from FPG instead.

 

[Rocketjay8]

This, and I also followed up about it in Luc cord and apparently it's only a thing at the very end of the ledge, so even if it were to apply to more than just Joker, it's extremely situational. Not to mention, if you're shielding at such high percents, you could just explode from FPG instead.

Thank goodness. I thought this was yet again, a case of smash jank ruining another character.

 

[RonNewcomb]

He played mostly Ken throughout the tournament. Outside of ESAM, he only used Ryu to close out the set against Aaron

I was super interested in that pick. The commentary was not so hot on Ryu, even on the next game, but it totally made a difference. I don't know if that was a player counterpick or a character counterpick, but it seemed Vendetta didn't have many problems getting opportunities to do low short combos on Aaron's Diddy, despite the disparity in movement speeds. And say what you will about Ken's better speed, crazy kicks, and corner-carry back throw, but Ryu's simple utility off of low shorts made it all back with interest. Shakunetsu fireball does like double the damage of Ken's fireball, which isn't exactly a slouch in the damage department itself, and low shorts into a killing tatsu, wow. I think half of vendetta's kills came from that tatsu. The increased shieldstun and shield damage from shakunetsu was also notable. It helps keep the opponent stuck longer so Ryu could get in.

 

[Rizen]

SWT: NA Southeast Ultimate Online Qualifiers (685 Entrants)

1st: Vendetta
2nd: ESAM
3rd: Kola
4th: Yez
5th: Wrath
5th: KirbyKid
7th: Jake
7th: Aaron
9th: kylzim (DQ'ed in loser's)
9th: Rivers
9th: Uncivil ninja
9th: cass
13th: 8BitMan
13th: Jahzz0
13th: MuteAce
13th: Naz
17th: Blaze207
17th: YoseFu
17th: Pelupelu
17th: Toast
17th: ZSOS
17th: WonderBread
17th: Fluffy
17th: Epic_Gabriel

*Fun fact: outside of losing to Vendetta in winner's and grand finals, ESAM never dropped a game to anyone else. He came out to play.


Last Chance Qualifier
1st: Epic_Gabriel
2nd: Rivers
3rd: Myran
4th: MuteAce
5th: Ashton
5th: Jahzz0
7th: YoseFu
7th: Naz
9th: cass
9th: Aaron (DQ'ed in loser's)
9th: Toast
9th: 8BitMan



Those moving on in the Smash World Tour:
Vendetta (1st)
ESAM (2nd)
Kola (3rd)
Yez (4th)
Wrath (5th)
KirbyKid (5th)
Epic_Gabriel (1st LCQ)
Rivers (2nd LCQ)


Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. We have a K. Rool making it in further in the SWT.

K.Rool gets results; they're not great but I hope these will lift people's impression of him out of low tier.

The issue with this regional format is for this phase all regions are being treated equally, even though some are significantly more stacked than others. Players who live in the stacked regions like tristate have it rough.

PS
Sad to see no s advancing.