From April 7-9, 2017, Hawaii's finest Super Smash Bros. for Wii U players will gather in Honolulu, HI for Kawaii Kon 2017. As Hawaii's largest Smash tournament of the year, KKON will feature incredibly fierce competition from both in- and out-of-state. Read on to learn what's in store at this massive 3-day competition and exhibition!
KKON and Hawaiian Smash
Kawaii Kon is a yearly anime, manga and gaming convention held at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu, HI. KKON 2017 marks the 13th annual installment of this ever-growing phenomenon. Smash Wii U has enjoyed a place there since its release and is returning for its 3rd consecutive year. Though native Hawaiian Smashers have always put on a good show, the first two tournaments were won by Larry "Larry Lurr" Holland. However, this year will surely be different, as Larry is unable to attend this time. Instead, this year's guests of honor will be Luninosity's menacing Mewtwo, Yuta "Abadango" Kawamura, and Elevate's star Sheik, Corey "False" Shin. Also joining the fray from abroad is former Hawaiian resident and last year's runner-up James "VoiD" Makekau-Tyson. Finally, you can also see Arizonan Sheik Yuki "Saiki" Bunsai and 2GGaming's own Jourdan "Strides" Williams in action this weekend. Though a new champion will be crowned, Hawaii still has formidable competition standing in the way of a home team win.
Tournament Info
As is often the case for Hawaiian events, KKON 2017 will be streamed via TheOdoFaction's Twitch channel. Below you can view the three-day schedule for the tournament. All listed times are Hawaiian-Aleutian Standard Time (HAST), which is 10 hours behind Universal Coordinated Time (UTC-10). Please account for this when tuning in.
Day 1 (Friday, April 7)
Time (HAST)
|
Event
10:00 a.m. | Venue opens
12:00 p.m. | Exhibitions
4:00 p.m. | Hawaii Crews
10:00 p.m. | Venue closesDay 2 (Saturday, April 8)
Time (HAST)
|
Event
10:00 a.m. | Venue opens
12:00 p.m. | Doubles bracket
4:00 p.m. | Singles (to Top 8)
10:00 p.m. | Venue closesDay 3 (Sunday, April 9)
Time (HAST)
|
Event
10:00 a.m. | Venue opens
12:00 p.m. | Singles Top 8
3:00 p.m. | Event endsNotable Players
10:00 a.m. | Venue opens
12:00 p.m. | Exhibitions
4:00 p.m. | Hawaii Crews
10:00 p.m. | Venue closes
10:00 a.m. | Venue opens
12:00 p.m. | Doubles bracket
4:00 p.m. | Singles (to Top 8)
10:00 p.m. | Venue closes
10:00 a.m. | Venue opens
12:00 p.m. | Singles Top 8
3:00 p.m. | Event ends
James " VoiD " Makekau-Tyson | CLG |
| Kentaro "
Kennypu
" RoseYuta " Abadango " Kawamura | LG |
| Robert "
DarkM
" KurayaCorey " False " Shin | eLV |
| WARYuki " Saiki " Bunsai | SAK |
| N/AJourdan " Strides " Williams | 2GG |
| N/ACharles " K0rean " Thoren | Brult / GSM |
| RushDarren " Dren " Marzan | GSM |
| ClickWayne " WAR " Rivera | GSM |
| FalseTravis " Rush " Takamiya | Brult / GSM |
| K0reanSean " Brigade " Hernandez | GSM |
| N/ABailey " ZekkenB " Ofilas | TOG / KOA |
| N/AKevin " King " Zeng | FEK |
| N/AAndrew " AnD " Hernandez | GSM |
| N/APreston " FruitBasket " Sihavong | KOA |
| N/ATreyson " Daze " Luke | FEK |
| N/AIan " Click " James | GSM |
| DrenJordan-Alexander " Jalex " Acidera | free agent |
| unlistedDaryll " FSLink " David | TOG / HiD |
| N/ADefending Honolulu
Kawaii Kon presents a unique opportunity for the Hawaiian Smash community to prove that it can hang with international threats. This is something they're surely eager to do. As mentioned earlier, the past two KKON Smash Wii U tournaments were won by Larry Lurr. In addition, the top 3 finishers at GXPO 2017 last month all came from out-of-state. This is not to imply that the Hawaiian scene has no chance; after all, they already helped produce a top-ranked player in Counter Logic Gaming's VoiD. It just means that they'll be more eager than ever to defend their home turf.
The entire top 10 from Hawaii's January/February Power Rankings will be competing at KKON!
One of the strongest candidates to do so is Charles "K0rean" Thoren, a solid Fox player who is ranked 1st on Hawaii's current PR. K0rean finished 7th in Singles at GXPO and frequently takes 1st at Honolulu's weekly and monthly tournaments. He is also half of Hawaii's strongest static Doubles team with Travis "Rush" Takamiya, the 4th-ranked Cloud player who managed to eliminate him at the aforementioned GXPO. You can expect strong performances from both players in both formats, but do they have what it takes to contend with the strongest Mewtwo? How about some of the world's most consistent Sheik players?
At GXPO, longtime Smash player Wayne "WAR" Rivera made it all the way to 4th place, making him the highest placing Hawaiian native at the event. WAR was known for his flashy Snake combos in Brawl; in fact, False has credited him as his inspiration to start competing. WAR now mains Ryu and secondaries Falcon, two characters that fit his punish-heavy style excellently. He and False will be teaming in Doubles, so expect to see his devastating playstyle carried into that format as well. He is ranked 3rd on the Hawaiian PR.
Finally, one can't talk about top-level Hawaiian Smash without mentioning...Yoshi. Wait, what? You read correctly. Darren "Dren" Marzan is currently ranked 2nd on the bi-monthly PR and plays Yoshi exclusively. Though he underperformed at GXPO, this should not be taken as representative of his peak skill level. There's also Jason-Alexander "Jalex" Acidera, another Yoshi player responsible for knocking VoiD into losers' bracket at last year's Kawaii Kon! Jalex is not currently on the PR, but he typically performs well, as evidenced by his recent 9th place finish at GXPO.
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As you can see, even with the high skill level of foreign challengers, Hawaii still stands a good chance at this weekend's KKON. Do let us know who you think will win, as well as who you're rooting for. Stay tuned to Smashboards for more coverage of tournaments around the globe!
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