Nearly a month after the upset-heavy Pound 2019 that saw Elliot “Ally” Carroza-Oyarce reclaim former glory, we’re sailing into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s first big Canadian event. While Saints Gaming Live & various smaller regionals have taken place, Get On My Level tends to be the gathering point for all of Canada’s best talent, and generally attracts nearby talent from Tristate & the Midwest.
This will be a test for all regions involved, as the status of regions like the Midwest have been left up in the air for the first few months of Smash Ultimate. Michigan’s top 3 players are all attending, as well as Garret “Smasher1001” Perks, meaning a significant chunk of one of the stronger subregions of the Midwest will be tested at this event. The Midwest has a titan’s legacy to uphold—for region rankings published for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U in 2017 and 2018, they were #1 and #3.
GOML 2019 will no doubt be the public’s first big exposure to denizens from several of their most notable regions. Players from British Columbia, the Prairies, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes will all be in attendance, with the best players from those regions ready to fight it out to prove Canada’s strength in the metagame.
These battles will play out in several high-profile matches in both Rounds 1 and 2 of pools, with a special set of challengers approaching…
MEXICO STRIKES
Leonardo “MKLeo” Perez isn’t the only player from Mexico attending. While MKLeo has a #1 ranking to uphold after a string of under-performances (including a particularly singeing 33rd at Umebura Japan Major), high-ranking players from CDMX like Abraham “BigBoss” Parra and Bryan “BryanZ” Medina are coming to prove Mexico’s depth. Alongside them is Sergio “Serge” Balderas, a Smash Wii U legend well known to be one of Mexico’s best players when he was active. This will be Serge’s first tournament in Smash Ultimate.
HIGH STAKES ROUND 1 POOLS SETS
POOL A3
One of the first matches that comes to mind is in Pool A3, where Samuel “Dabuz” Buzby will fight CDMX R.O.B. & Greninja BigBoss. He is currently ranked 4th in CDMX, behind Enrique “Maister” Solis, the famous Mr. Game & Watch player who has made waves at Midwestern tourneys this year. It stands to reason that BigBoss could prove to be a challenge, but Dabuz is one of the most consistent players in the world and among the least prone to early upsets in pools.
Upset Potential: Low
POOL A7
In a similar vein to the above, the event’s other big Olimar—Robert “Myran” Herrin—will fight CDMX’s 7th best player, a Smash Wii U Diddy-turned-Wolf main, BryanZ. Without much data to gauge Mexico’s strength beyond Maister’s impressive depth performances, it’s hard to know how much of a chance BryanZ stands, as he’s a mid-range power ranking player for the region. Myran is also quite consistent outside of his loss to Cesar “EKING” Rosa at Come to Papa 3, so I’d rank this as a set to watch but don’t expect much.
Upset Potential: Low
POOL B2
For the next match, we turn our eyes to Jordan “Raziek” McGee, a major Maritimes player who will be fighting Ally in Pool B2. Ally has come off two impressive runs—a 5th at Prime Saga and a win at Pound—but this was after months of struggle. If Ally retains his momentum from previous events, Raziek will likely have a hard time clinching it. If Raziek wins, this will surely put the Atlantic portion of Canada on the map.
Upset Potential: Low
POOL B6
Here, we see a full-Canadian set that may be overlooked—Medardo “Venom” Lopez versus Michael “Riddles” Kim. Riddles is an Ontario Richter (ranked 3rd in Southern Ontario) coming off of a close five game set versus Brian “Cosmos” Kalu at Saints Gaming Live. With Venom’s low attendance in mind, Riddles may be poised to upset his seed in this pool and advance to fight MKLeo in Round 2.
Upset Potential: High
POOL C4
Enis “Izaw” Al-Maatooq and Jonathan “Jw” Woldu appear as the two projected finalists. Izaw has hovered in the Top 16s of large scale EU events. Jw has come off of numerous good events, taking Ramin “Mr. R” Delshad the distance at Saints Gaming Live and notably beating MKLeo at Pound 2019. Jw is the #1 seed in this pool, but with the potential depth of EU skill as an unknown factor, Jw vs. Izaw could be a set to watch.
Upset Potential: Medium
POOL C6
This will probably the most competitive Round 1 pool, featuring Midwest player Chris “Blade” Muller vs. British Columbia legend Dawson “Big D” Perron on one side of winners semis, while the other side features Canada’s star Sonic Kelsy “SuperGirlKels” Medeiros taking on Maritime talent Bryan “Vapor” Zuniga. Big D and SGK are favored in their matches, but the resulting set in Winners Finals between the two could go either way. I’d rank this a top set to watch in round 1 pools, assuming it’s streamed.
Upset Potential: High
POOL D3
While I talked up the Raziek vs. Ally match, it should be noted that Nova Scotia’s #1 at the moment—a Fox/Wolf player who goes by the tag "Bailo"—is the second seed in this pool. He is projected to fight Mason “Locus” Charlton, a late registrant at the event hailing from British Columbia. This is an unpredictable match that depends largely on how good Nova Scotia’s new #1 is. As with Raziek vs. Ally, this is a prime opportunity for the Atlantic region to make a big statement.
Upset Potential: Medium
POOL D4
Adam “DKbill” Brooks is on the rise. Most well-known for his Donkey Kong, DKbill also has an Olimar in his arsenal that he was able to win an Ontario regional with. Going into the finals of this pool, he’ll be facing Tyrell “NAKAT” Coleman, who uses Pichu. With DKbill having experience versus the character from Aaron “Blacktwins13” Grandison-Vargas, he has a major opportunity. However, NAKAT is still favored.
Upset Potential: Medium
POOL D5
While potential for early upsets exist with "Blanc" and "Croi", the real feature of this pool is the projected Kenshi “Gomakenpi” Quist vs. Tamim “Tamin” Omary set. Gomakenpi is ranked 3rd in Michigan and recently performed well at C-Tier event Midwest Arena, while Tamim is coming off a short retirement. Tamim’s early Smash Ultimate results were all over the place, ranging from 65th at a frankly blood splattered Frostbite, to a 5th at Glitch 6 that may end up being the best solo-Bayonetta result the game ever sees.
This could end up being a climatic set, but it’s just as possible that Tamim’s lack of presence will bite him early in bracket, most likely vs. 3rd ranked Nova Scotia player Croi. We’ll just have to see how this plays out—it’s one of the more unpredictable pools in round one.
Upset Potential: Medium
POOL D6
Angelo “Smokk” Vera vs. Rick “Rickles” Aguayo has potential not only because it’s a likely Ganondorf ditto (though Smokk also has Wolf & Snake in his arsenal) but because both players have respectable results in this game. Smokk has the better peaks between performances at Let’s Make Moves and Collision, but Rickles has bumped up on the Chicago rankings since Smash Ultimate started.
Sparks could fly here. Assuming Rickles doesn’t fall to Sonic, this is a definite must-watch set. I would favor Smokk based on his late Smash Wii U performances combined with his strong early game in Smash Ultimate, but Rickles is on the rise and not to be underestimated.
Upset Potential: Medium
POOL D7
The last round one pool we’ll look at is also the most unpredictable of all. Eric “Daybreak” Ajluni has been on something of an uptick lately, with a win on Paris “Light” Ramirez, while Serge is best known for his legacy in the Mexican Smash Wii U scene.
Serge is teaming with MKLeo at this event, and with the ties Serge has to MKLeo and Javier “Javi” Perez, it’s pretty much a guarantee that Serge has had plenty of training despite having no attendance at tourneys. Assuming he doesn’t buckle under tournament pressure, we could witness Serge live up to his reputation and tear through bracket.
Upset Potential: Medium-High
TOP 96 EYE CATCHERS
Plenty of these exist this deep into bracket, as one would expect.
Blacktwins vs. Dabuz
Blacktwins is Ontario’s best player by PR ranking. Although Jw has better accomplishments due to his run at Pound, Blacktwins unmistakably dominates Ontario as a region and thus may be another major threat for Dabuz. With DKbill’s Olimar seeing play, Blacktwins may have a way to practice the match-up in advance.
Upset Potential: Medium
Mr. R vs. Serge
While Daybreak vs. Mr. R could be interesting all on its own, let’s go with the hypothetical where Serge upsets Daybreak in his round one pool. Mr. R and Serge would duke it out for the first time in years, fighting previously at Smash Factor or Pre Smash Factor events in Mexico, one of which was a five game set.
This could be explosive and would likely determine Serge’s trajectory. If he steps up and beats both Daybreak and Mr. R, expect a deep run in bracket.
Upset Potential: Medium
Eric “Mr E” Weber vs. Julian “Zinoto” Carrington
This is a match you’d generally see deeper into a bracket in Smash Wii U, and both players seem to be gaining traction recently. As a result, we get a highly volatile set that could go either way.
Upset Potential: High
Tyler “Marss” Martins vs. Jason “ANTi” Bates
While Marss is the favorite, it’s impossible to deny that ANTi has a real chance here. Smash Wii U legends have been going off the last month or so as people find their footing, and with ANTi’s recent sponsorship and moderately good performance at Pound we could be in for a real doozy of a set. Watch this one closely.
Upset Potential: Medium
Anthony “MuteAce” H. vs. Jw
I did comment on the possibility of Izaw making the upset, but assuming he doesn’t, we could be in for something big. Jw seems to have great things ahead and has recently made a name for himself as a top level Greninja. It’s very plausible we’ll see him take home another big upset for the frog team, and that’ll put him in line to take on Tweek.
Upset Potential: Medium
James “Shoyo James” Wade vs. Larry “Larry Lurr” Holland
Larry Lurr has visibly struggled at points in Smash Ultimate, but he seems to be climbing brick-by-brick as his spectrum of Spacies characters develops. Given his legendary status in both Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Smash Wii U and his high attendance, it’s only a matter of time before he goes off. The New Jersey Chrom, Shoyo James, could be his first victim.
Shoyo James will likely put up a great fight, however, with numerous top level sets under his belt. Most notably, he went on a lengthy Frostbite run that peaked with a win on VoiD.
Upset Potential: Medium
Eric “ESAM” Lew vs. Big D
Big D has been posed for a breakout for ages. After a strong performance at Battle of B.C. 2, the Dedede/Ice Climbers main will have a fantastic opportunity to take the spotlight for B.C. if he can manage to defeat ESAM. To feed into the memes, Big D at the very least had a good Peach in Smash Wii U, so he might have a viable one in this game if he feels neither Dedede nor Ice Climbers will cut it.
Upset Potential: Medium
CONCLUSION
That’s my basic look over of several matches from Rounds 1 and 2 of pools at GOML. I glossed over several pools and potential sets with less likely upsets, but this is Smash—tons of things could happen that flip the script on the whole event. It’s a big opportunity for numerous parties involved that should provide something of a compelling narrative. After all:
-Several regions in Canada will want to prove themselves, including regions that historically struggled.
-Mexico is sending out some of its best active depth talent from one of their best regions.
-MKLeo & Gavin “Tweek” Dempsey both have something to prove after a few moderately weak events.
-Character narratives are on the line, per usual, with the potential to usher in more Snake/Olimar results that would undoubtedly cause controversy. Just as easily, a character like Snake—who’s had inconsistent results before the last month—could falter if players have adapted.
-This is traditionally seen as the kickoff to the Summer of Smash, making this a likely tone setting event for things going forward into the late PGR season and big events like EVO and Super Smash Con.
While a lot of the greater narrative in Smash Ultimate has been focused on Japan in recent months, they’ll be taking a backseat as the U.S.’s neighbors try to stand on their own merits and make big upsets.
Thanks for reading! Hopefully we have an exciting event on our hands.
