With the help of theSSB64 League and the rest of the Super Smash Bros. 64 community, a 150 person international Smash 64 only tournament is happening this weekend known as known as Let's Go! A Baltimore 64 Major, or "Let's Go!" for short. With housing included in the price of the tournament and the continued use of of the Waterfall Bracket for a large major, which had previously been used with great success at Keystoned, the biggest question now is who is going to win?
Mexico And South America, The Presumed Favorites?
Mexico and South America are both bringing along many major players this time. With a strikingly similar range to the entrants at Genesis 4, with the sole exception of JaimeHR, Alvin "Alvin" Haro, Arturo "Mariguas" Hernández, Yoshua "Dext3r" Castillo, Juan "Shalaka" Munoz and Joshi "Joshi" Monroy are all showing up and are all very strong competitors.
Photo by Jason Mani/Preston Kwan of the SSB64 League
Alvin: Alvin is known in the 64 community as the king of Peru and is commonly considered to be one of the top 5 players in the entire world. His Pikachu and Captain Falcon are both incredibly strong, while his secondaries are good enough to win against the mains of a good percentage of even the top 50 players. He is also a premier master of the Pikachu ditto and is overall incredibly strong vs. all the top tier characters. With the notable absence of Dan "SuPeRbOoMfAn" Hoyt, whom at this point isn't even a guaranteed win vs. Alvin, the biggest question on many people's minds is who is going to stand up to this titan? One of those people is Mariguas, listed below. He is currently ranked 4th on the SSB64 League rankings but due to his more recent consistent wins, it's hard to argue with him being even higher.
Photo by Jason Mani/Preston Kwan of the SSB64 League
Photo Posted by Dext3r on SSBWiki
Dext3r: The current 2nd best in Mexico, Dext3r is one of the top Pikachu mains in the world. He recently got an outstanding placement of 4th at Genesis 4 showcasing his vast improvement, as he was named "Most Improved" in 2016. His current rank of 9th on the SSB64 League is sure to rise due to this and other placings.
There is also Shalaka, a top Pikachu main from Chile who is ranked 28th on the rankings, and Joshi, a Pikachu/Captain Falcon main from Peru who is known for being a very strong doubles player.
The Kings of Canada
With SuPeRbOoMfAn's absence, people are looking at the other top threats from Canada to take it instead. There are several players from Canada going, most notably Marco "TR3GTheZ" Jardak, and Thomas “Revan” Dykes.
Revan (Left) and TheZ (Right) by Jason Mani/Preston Kwan of the SSB64 League
SSBMTL | "TR3GTheZ": The top player in Montreal, SSBMTL | TR3GTheZ is known for his mastery of multiple characters including a highly technical Fox, Falcon and Pikachu. Along with his speed, his spacing has gotten even better and he is a major threat to anyone. TheZ is also known for his doubles prowess with tacos as "Team Luv" and is seen as a clear favorite for the doubles tournament with the absence of Boom/Jaime. He is currently ranked 1st in Montreal and 11th on the SSB64 League Rankings.
GODS| "Revan": When people think of North American Kirby solo mains, Revan is the immediate answer along with the recent upstart DTan. With immaculate spacing, Revan has shown his expertise in a variety of matchups such as Yoshi where he has won consistent sets over the likes of Justin "Wizzrobe" Hallett and bonobono, making the matchup look almost impossible for Yoshi. Along with his incredible DI, his spacing is among the best as he knows how to outmaneuver almost every opponent due to his cerebral play. He is currently ranked 1st in Ottawa and 15th on the SSB64 League Rankings.
Other notable players from Canada include Justin "Janco" Cahoon, a Pikachu/Kirby/Fox, Abraham "Captain Fabulous" Da, a Captain Falcon/Donkey Kong player who has among other things won against the author KoRoBeNiKI at SuperBoomed and Preston "Preston" Kwan, a strong Kirby main who has taken several photos that are featured in this article.
The Sleeper From Australia
For the first time in US history for SSB64, two players are coming from Australia. Simeon "Indefa" Kuhne-Martini is a Jigglypuff main known for his ridiculously good Smash DI and he is part of the R3$T Crew along with other many major Jigglypuff players. He is a TO from the Melbourne community and helped put together a fund to get SuPeRbOoMfAn to come to BAM 7.
Photo of Indefa (Left) and James (Right) at the Airport by Indefa
Also coming is James "James3927" Gilchrist, a technical DK/Ness main who is teaming with Indefa. Both of these players competed yesterday at a New York Nebulous monthly, known as Big Apple Smash 4, where they impressed all the players there.
Home Town Heroes: USA
With such a large international audience for Let's Go!, look out for these players to hold down the fort for the USA.
East Coast: MD/VA
As this tournament is being held in Baltimore, a large number of people from both Maryland and Virginia are coming to show how strong they are. From Maryland comes Josh "BarkSanchez" Brody, David "Shears" Shears and several other players. From Virginia comes multiple players including Ryan "Clubbadubba" Clubb and Maxim “Star King” Korobskiy.
Image of BarkSanchez by Jason Mani/Preston Kwan of the SSB64 League
BarkSanchez: Currently ranked 22nd on the SSB64 Rankings, BarkSanchez is one of the major tournament threats at Let's Go! With a two set dominating performance over his long term bracket nemesis Eduardo "tacos" Tovar at New Jersey Quarterly Report 4 (NJQR4) as well as one of the biggest upsets in recent memory with an unexpected set win over Alvin at CEO Dreamland, BarkSanchez is constantly improving and is seen as a likely top 10 player. Expect this Pikachu to make top 5 if not much higher.
Photo of David "Shears" Shears (Center) by Jason "Nardwell" Mani of The Smash Writers
Shears: Along with hosting virtually every major tournament on the East Coast, Shears, ranked 35th, is known for his opinions as well as being the gatekeeper of the SSB64 Rankings with many players showcasing a "notable win" over him. But don't let this fool you in regards to how strong Shears is. He has a very strong Yoshi and Pikachu and gets consistently high placings regardless of the stress of running a tournament.
Other players from MD include MasterHandJob, a strong Pikachu, GT, a strong Pikachu/Kirby with some notable recent wins, V, a flashy Fox/Falcon, The Protagonist, a strong Fox, Darkhorse, a strong Falcon/Jigglypuff, and Daniel, a strong Falcon with a close set vs. David "Firo" Eisenberg.
Image of Clubbadubba by Jason Mani/Preston Kwan of the SSB64 League
Clubbadubba: One of the old school faces of the 64 community. Clubbadubba is a strong Pikachu player with a Captain Falcon secondary. He is currently ranked 32nd on the SSB64 Rankings.
Star King: Currently ranked 34th on the SSB64 League Rankings, Star King is a bit of an enigma. He used to be a keyboard player but now switched over to Hori Minipad. He had a recent poor showing at Keystoned, losing to several unranked players but this was partially due to sandbagging. The question on many minds is “which” Star King is going to play this time.
Other players include the quickly improving and top USA Samus Andy "Mr. Sir" Vargas, who is also known for Enkko which produces new sticks for N64 controllers and Yobolight, a Yoshi/Ness.
East Coast: Tri_Force (PA/South NJ/DE)
PA/South NJ/DE Power Rankings by Moosh and Co.
The most notable players coming from Pennsylvania are Kyle "KD3" DiFrank and Dylan "HAMMERHEART" Platt. The former, KD3, is one of the rising stars of the scene. With recent strong placings such as at Keystoned, Big Apple Smash 3, and many other events, his Captain Falcon, Jigglypuff and Pikachu are all very strong. The latter, HAMMERHEART, happens to use many of the more unorthodox character, namely Samus, Donkey Kong and Jigglypuff.
Also coming from PA/DE/South NJ include Razz, a Luigi/Yoshi, Raychu, an upcoming Ness, and Sebula, a good Falcon.
East Coast: Tri-State (NY (North/Central) NJ/CT
After doing well at Keystoned, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut are all bringing several players to Let's Go! This includes old well known faces such as Javier "Fireblaster" Romero, and new school players such as Max "The Dark Gentlemen" Buckler, Kevin "Lowww Power" Batista and Hank "Horbie" Shorb.
Players from the New York/North New Jersey scene include Lowww Power a Fox/Falcon main who is listed as a "Hidden Boss" with wins over several players, JimmyJoe, ranked 55th and a strong Pikachu/Jigglypuff who is also known for his very good commentary, Time Machine (or DFX), a Falcon/Fox who recently moved to Vegas, The Dark Gentleman, a rising Jigglypuff, Horbie, a rising Kirby who recently got 9th at Keystoned, Jamie "JAMJAR" Jacobs, a strong Kirby, and your author KoRoBeNiKi, a Yoshi/Captain Falcon with moderately strong results.
Players from Upstate New York include Jay_Mute_$, a strong Captain Falcon, Robert, a Pikachu main who is ranked 47th, Czar, one of the strongest Mario/Luigi mains as well as the rest of the Koroshiyo clan including KeroKeroppi who is doing commentary primarily, Stranded who is playing in the doubles event, and Maliki.
Image of Fireblaster by Jason Mani/Preston Kwan of the SSB64 League
Fireblaster: One of the top Yoshi mains with an excellent Mario and Pikachu as well, Fireblaster, currently ranked 24th, is a major threat in this tournament. He has had very consistent placings such as recently at CEO Dreamland where he got 3rd.
Other players from Connecticut include Greeno, a Jigglypuff, Gildo, a Kirby, and SunVulcan, a Falcon.
The South and the West Coast: Texas, Florida, and Otherwise
Along with all of these East Coast players and many, many more, there are several people coming from the South as well as a handful from the West Coast and Midwest.
The primary forces from the South is Texas, with several players coming, most notably Eduardo "tacos" Tovar, Mateen "Zero" Emad and Dillon "CTG" Grandy.
Image of tacos by Jason Mani/Preston Kwan of the SSB64 League
Tacos: Known for his incredibly flashy play, tacos, a Yoshi, Falcon, Kirby, DK and everything else, is one of the favorites of the tournament and is seeded to win doubles with his long time partner, TheZ. Currently ranked 8th on the SSB64 Rankings, tacos is looking to improve on his recent second place showing at NJQR4, where he unexpectedly lost to BarkSanchez. Look forward to seeing the new twitch clips whenever he has a set, regardless of whom he is facing.
Image of Zero by Jason Mani/Preston Kwan of the SSB64 League
Otherwise from Texas comes CTG, a Jigglypuff main who travels all over who is a member of R3$T as well as SKG, a keyboard Kirby who recently attended his first offline tournament at CEO Dreamland.
From Florida comes Eric "Mr. Marbles" Brumley, a very strong Pikachu, Loto, a Falcon, deathcpo, a Pikachu/Kirby who recently got a strong placing at CEO Dreamland as well, and Griffith, a Falcon main.
From the West Coast and Midwest comes several strong players such as Dogs_Johnson, a Pikachu/Falcon, $$$ Jim $$$ a Fox, tr3g|hipstur, a Fox, Andykins, a Fox, tyhiggz, a Yoshi and MadRush21, a Falcon/Fox from Colorado.
There are other notable players not even mentioned here. Tune in to twitch.tv/SSB64 for the main stream this entire weekend starting tomorrow, Friday 4/28 at night for the Low Tier and Draft Crews event.
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Special thanks to Jamie "JAMJAR" of the Smash Writers for helping edit this article.
Who do you think will win Smash 64 at Let's Go? Let us know in the comments below.
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