Smash Wii U at Genesis 4: The New Year's First Premier Event feat. ZeRo, MKLeo, Dabuz and more!

The time is finally here: on January 20-22, 2017, players from all over the world will gather at the San Jose Convention Center for one of the greatest Smash tournaments of all time! With nearly 3,500 entrants across all titles, Genesis 4 is close to becoming the largest Smash-focused tournament ever. But it's not just about the numbers: the legacy of California's greatest tournament series will be shared with a wider audience than ever. Those who make it as far as top 8 will get to compete at the City National Civic, one of San Jose's premier theaters. Sunday's finals will be a spectacle that no one will want to miss. Which players will be crowned champions at this one-of-a-kind event?

Previous Smashboards articles have taken a look at what to expect for Rivals of Aether, Super Smash Bros., Canada at Genesis 4 and Super Smash Bros. Melee. Today, we'll have a look at Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and its revolving ensemble of top players.

Stream and Schedule Information

This year, Smash Wii U will be streamed on a number of channels. The main stream for Friday and Saturday will be EvenMatchupGaming, while Sunday's top 8 will be streamed on VGBootCamp. In addition, 2GGaming will stream round 1 of Singles pools on Friday, while TukHouseSmash will be alternating between Wii U and Melee on Saturday. Below you can view the approximate run times for Wii U Singles, Doubles and Crew Battles:

Day 1 (Friday, January 20th)

Time (PT) | Event | Stream
10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. | Singles R1 Pools | 2GGaming
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. | Doubles R1 Pools | EvenMatchupGaming
2:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. | World Crews | EvenMatchupGaming
8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. | World Crews Finals | EvenMatchupGaming

Day 2 (Saturday, January 21st)

Time (PT) | Event | Stream
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | Doubles R2 Pools | EMG (main) / THS (side)
12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. | Doubles Top 8 | EMG (main) / THS (side)
2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. | Singles R2 Pools | EMG (main) / THS (side)
6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. | Singles Top 32 | EMG (main) / THS (side)

Day 3 (Sunday, January 22nd)

Time (PT) | Event | Stream
12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. | Singles Top 8 (Civic Center) | VGBootCamp
9:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. | Closing Ceremony | VGBootCamp

The Major Contenders

A tournament the size of Genesis 4 will inevitably attract the strongest talent from around the world. You can expect to see notable cross-continental rivalries play out long before finals have been settled. Below is a table of some players you can expect to make a strong impact. There are of course more threats that can possibly be listed here, some of which will break out on the national stage for the first time this weekend. For this reason, even the strongest players aren't safe in the early rounds of bracket.

Player | Team(s) | Character(s) | Notable Results | 2v2 Partner
Gonzalo " ZeRo " Barrios | TSM | | 1st place at 2GGC: Genesis Saga , UGC Smash Open , The Big House 6 and 2GGT: Abadango Saga | Nairo
Leonardo " MKLeo " Perez | FOX MVG | | 1st place at 2GGT: ZeRo Saga , Showdown: Battle Royale and Canada Cup 2016 | Ally
Elliot " Ally " Carroza-Oyarce | C9 | | 1st place at Evo 2016 and Rio de Janeiro eGames Showcase ; 4th place at 2GGT: Abadango Saga | MKLeo
Larry " Larry Lurr " Holland | MSF | | 1st at PPT Winter and Hero to ZeRo Offline Qualifier ; 2nd place at 2GGT: ZeRo Saga | Rich Brown
komorikiri | 2GG | | 1st place at Smashdown World ; 2nd place at 2GGC: Genesis Saga ; 3rd place at The Big House 6 | Ranai
Nairoby " Nairo " Quezada | NRG | | 1st place at Super Smash Con 2016 ; 3rd place at 2GGT: Abadango Saga and Umebura S.A.T. | ZeRo
James " VoiD " Makekau-Tyson | CLG | | 1st place at 2GG: Pay it Forward ; 3rd place at 2GGC: Genesis Saga and 2GGT: ZeRo Saga | Tyrell " NAKAT " Coleman
Yuta " Abadango " Kawamura | LG | | 1st place at Hirosuma Tokaigi Qualifiers and TUS Tournament 6 ; 2nd place at UGC Smash Open | Kameme
Samuel " Dabuz " Buzby | RNG | | 1st place at Kumite in Tennessee 2017 ; 2nd place at Umebura S.A.T. and Super Smash Con 2016 | Samsora
Saleem " Salem " Young | MVG | | 1st place at Smash Conference LXIX , Olympus , Little Big House 2 and Collision XIV | ANTi
Kameme | DNG | | 1st place at Umebura 25 ; 2nd place at Sumabato Tokaigi Qualifiers and Evo 2016 | Abadango
Jason " ANTi " Bates | IMT | | 2nd place at Smashdown World and The Big House 6 | Salem
Ramin " Mr.R " Delshad | free agent | | 1st place at NH Smash 3 and Syndicate 2016 ; 4th place at The Big House 6 | Bart " S1 " Ploegmakers
Julian " Zinoto " Carrington | free agent | | 1st place at Midwest Mayhem 6 , Midwest Mayhem 5 and Rebirth IX | Nicholas " Ned " Dovel
Gavin " Tweek " Dempsey | free agent | | 1st place at MSM 81 ; 4th place at 2GGC: Genesis Saga | Corey " False " Shin
Eric " ESAM " Lew | PG | | 1st place at Smash the Record 2016 ; 2nd place at Shine 2016 ; 3rd place at UGC Smash Open | Jestise " MVD " Negron
Earth | free agent | | 1st place at Umebura BenQ ZOWIE Cup and PSG Classic 2016 | Umeki
Jamaal " Samsora " Morris Jr. | free agent | | 2nd place at Smash Conference LXIX and Clutch City Clash | Dabuz
Ranai | 2GG | | 1st place at Karisuma Tokaigi Qualifiers and Sumabato 14 | komorikiri
Tyler " Marss " Martins | DNL | | 1st place at GUTS 4 ; 2nd place at 2GGT: KTAR Saga | Alex " Pugwest " Martins
Marcus " Pink Fresh " Wilson | VGBC | | 1st place at 2GGT: KTAR Saga ; 2nd place at Glitch 2 | CaptainZack
Eric " Mr.E " Weber | SS | | 1st place at Glitch 2 ; 5th place at UGC Smash Open | Mew2King
Thomas " Ito " Gonda | free agent | | 2nd place at Hero to ZeRo Offline Qualifier ; 4th place at 2GG: Pay It Forward | Chris " falln " Rugg
Eric " Tyrant " Legesse | free agent | | 3rd place at 2GG: Pay It Forward ; 4th place at Midwest Mayhem 6 | Thomas " Shaky " Salzar
Wesley " 6WX " Alexander | Circa | | 1st place at Midwest Mayhem 4 ; 7th place at 2GGC: Genesis Saga | John " Rango " Rinyu
Nietono | DNG | | 1st place at DNG Kanto Invitational and Toryumon 1 | Nyanko
Griffin " Fatality " Miller | Fly | | 1st place at Battlegrounds 3 and Gwinnet Brawl October 2016 | Aaron " dyr " Wilhite
Rich Brown | PG | | 2nd place at MSM 79 and Syndicate 2016 | Larry Lurr
Zack " CaptainZack " Lauth | DMG | | 1st place at Ignition #64 ; 2nd place at Aftershock 2016 | Pink Fresh
Dustin " Zenyou " Rice | eM | | 1st place at True Combo Thursday ; 5th place at 2GGC: Genesis Saga | Julian " Jtails " Martinez
Jacob " JK " Johnson | Yatta | | 2nd place at 2GG: Pay It Forward ; 7th place at 2GGC: Genesis Saga | Jordan " Lycan " Aguda
Austin " Dath " Brown | free agent | | 1st place at VSGC Weekly 1/5 ; 3rd place at Shine 2016 | Justin " NickRiddle " Lew
William " DKwill " Walsh | free agent | | 1st at Don't Park on the Grass ; 3rd at Smash the Record 2016 | Irene " Ms. Saiyan " O'Leary
Jason " Mew2King " Zimmerman | FOX MVG | | 1st place at Come to Papa 2 ; 2nd place at Endgame | Mr.E
9B | SHIG | | 1st place at Dubai Dojo ; 2nd place at SGC 2017 | FILIP

You can find a full list of Genesis 4 entrants here.

Tournament-Defining Matchups

With so many threatening players vying for the title of champion, almost anything can happen. Fortunately, pools and brackets have been mostly finalized and can be viewed here. We therefore have a faint idea of what to expect. There are a number of projected early matchups that could significantly alter the course of the tournament. Let's take a look at some of those here:

As the defending Genesis champion and strongest Smash Wii U player, TSM|ZeRo has the best chance out of anyone to take the event. That being said, his bracket is still fraught with peril. In Round 2 pools, he projects to fight Echo Fox MVG|Mew2King, one of the players who has historically given him trouble. Mew2King is one of a handful of players to boast a 3-0 victory over ZeRo. Though their last meeting at Endgame ultimately went in ZeRo's favor, Mew2King still managed to knock ZeRo into losers' bracket. If ZeRo drops another set to him, then several other players could have a much easier winners' side path.

On the other side of the bracket, 2nd seed Echo Fox MVG|MKLeo faces some early challenges of his own. His first match in top 32 winners' will likely be fellow MVG player Salem. Salem has been gaining notoriety as one of the East Coast's strongest competitors, not to mention the strongest Bayonetta player in the world. At KTAR XIX, Salem managed to defeat MKLeo 3-1 in losers' finals before succumbing to ZeRo and finishing 2nd.

Salem's peak performances are exceptionally strong. Will he meet Leo in bracket again?​

There are other notable rematches that could play a large part in determining who we see on the Civic Center stage on Sunday. Fan favorite and SoCal Sheik main CLG|VoiD may boast a 2-1 record over MKLeo, but unfortunately he projects to play the man who took him out of winners' at Evo 2016 instead. DNG|Kameme has floundered a bit in his placings since that notable 2nd place finish, but still continues to perform exceptionally well against top Sheiks. That said, VoiD is a player who continues to improve, so this match is really a toss-up.

Coming in hot off of a 2nd place finish at 2GGC: Genesis Cup, 2GG|komorikiri is in an interesting position bracket-wise. He projects to play PG|ESAM in Round 2 of pools. Though the two have never met in bracket before, ESAM certainly has the upper hand in terms of matchup experience. komorikiri is probably safer picking Sonic than Cloud, but ESAM hasn't struggled much against either character as of late. If he can pull out a win, komorikiri will likely find himself squaring off with RNG|Dabuz in top 32.

Speaking of Dabuz, an early matchup between him and Japanese Peach main Umeki could prove very important. Dabuz has previously expressed concern over the Peach matchup thanks to difficult sets vs. Samsora. He will likely come in heavily prepared, so Umeki will still have to play his best if he wants to come out victorious.

Dabuz's sets with Samsora always come down to the wire; the latter came out on top at KTAR XIX.​

Other early matchups to watch are C9|Ally vs. 2GG|Ranai, NRG|Nairo vs. Mr.R and IMT|ANTi vs. Circa|6WX. These head-to-head matchups have proven difficult for the higher seeded player in the past, so be sure to catch them if they happen again. Whatever happens, the losers' bracket at Genesis 4 will be a terrifying place that even the strongest players will want to avoid for as long as possible.

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Hopefully you're excited for one of the most important Smash tournaments of the year. Let us know who you think will win Smash Wii U at Genesis 4, and don't forget that you can create a free Smash.gg fantasy bracket for the chance to win prizes. Also, be sure to stay tuned for more premier tournament content!

 

My hope is that either a TriState or SoCal player wins!

 

bruh, S1 will win this.