Following its predecessors, the French Smash community thought SmashDown World was gonna be just another French "semi-national", if you will. Hosted by Gameline, the six previous editions mostly featured the best players from Paris, like Glutonny, Elexiao or the Phogos/Deimos brothers. Nothing out of the ordinary, right?
How wrong we were...
More and more top players were announced, and things just got out of hand. Now SmashDown World is looking like the most stacked Smash 4 tournament Europe has ever known, with most of the continent in attendance, as well as some heavy-hitters from the US and Japan. If you like Smash 4 and you have access to the internet on November 26-27th, you have no excuses to miss this!
THE TITANS!
Since he has yet to win a major, I think a lot of people don't give Mr.R the credit he deserves. Along with Dabuz, this champion from the Netherlands remains probably the most consistent player to this day. So consistent in fact, that he's actually won EVERY. SINGLE. TOURNAMENT he's entered in Europe, with only a handful of people being able to even take a set from him. However, since his return from the US he's had more competition, with iStudying, Sodrek, S1 and a few others stepping it up and making him work for those wins. And of course, with how many international threats will be at this tournament, keeping that spotless record is going to be anything but easy.
How do you go from not even being included in the Panda Global's Top 50 to almost winning EVO? I don't know, ask Kameme I suppose. While his performance at The Big House 6 wasn't as impressive as some would've hoped, losing fairly early to Marss, then Salem in Losers, Kameme continues to strive in Japan. His latest antics consist of only using Sheik at big tournaments, yet still breezing through most of Japan, and placing very high, with a technical mastery of the character only rivaled by VoiD, if you ask me. Of course he's still known mostly for his Mega Man, but with a very wide variety of characters at his disposal, Kameme probably has a lot of surprises in store for us.
Sporting an even WIDER variety of characters, ANTi will also be joining us for SmashDown World, on what I believe will be his very first trip to Europe for Smash. Some people doubted him after a few disappointing results following his CEO win, but he recently silenced his critics by getting 2nd at The Big House 6, taking a very convincing set over ZeRo in the process. While Europe knows most of the characters ANTi plays pretty well (even Charizard!), it's clear that this is one player who won't go down without a fight, regardless of the opponent.
"Best player in Japan" is a vague, highly contended title, but after months of unrivaled consistency in his home country, this title was given to Komorikiri. Indeed in the recently released Japanese PR, this Cloud/Sonic dual main earned the first place, above Ranai (2nd) and Kameme (3rd), and his very impressive 3rd place at The Big House 6 shows that it's well deserved. With Europe notoriously lacking good Sonics and two good wins over Mr.R and Nairo at The Big House 6, things are looking good for Komo, especially if he can adapt to ANTi's ZSS.
Unfortunately, Larry "Larry Lurr" Holland
and Nairoby "Nairo" Quezada had to cancel a few days ago. Larry should be back in Europe for PPT Winter (Germany) in early January however, so stay tuned for that!-----------------------
EUROPE'S FINEST!
Despite a recent lack of attendance and a surprising 9th place at the latest AGON (German national), cyve is still undoubtably the best player in Germany, and a strong contender for 2nd best in Europe. Like many German players, his technique and optimization are truly a sight to behold, and it's safe to say he's one of the best Diddies out there. With a brutal Bayonetta and Mewtwo also at his disposal, cyve has a dangerous combination that is able to deal with any matchup. Even the aforentioned titans should keep an eye out for him, because they're gonna have to earn their victory if they run into him.
Probably Europe's second most well-known player after Mr.R, and for good reason. With some very impressive wins at BEAST 6 and consistent top placings at European tournaments, iStudying is no slouch. The best part is that he does it all with style, using some of those Greninja "Vine combos" in actual sets, to great effect. Now he's got a lot of competition in Europe, and a few demons that aren't Mr.R in his home country of the Netherlands... However, iStudying rarely disappoints when it comes to European majors, and he's proven that he can compete with the best of the best. Who knows, we could have a repeat of BEAST 6, with iStudying taking some more BIG names.
Another strong contender for 2nd best in Europe is Ixis, the electrifying Sonic main from the UK. I already said that about him for Neokan Party 2 (that he then proceeded to win), and he's still just as good and consistent, usually only losing to the very best Europe has to offer... That is, when he doesn't SD. I guess with how technical and active he is, these things are prone to happen, but at least it makes for some of the most entertaining Sonic gameplay you'll find. If you're scared of the boring spin dash camping Sonic is infamous for, don't be, because Ixis will truly make you believe Sonic is "the fastest thing alive", that's for sure.
Coming fresh off a sponsorship with orKs esports, Elexiao has kinda been on a tear lately. He's won Neokan Party 3, Geneva Gaming Convention and TOAST, and I don't think he plans to stop there. While his Greninja is probably tied with iStudying as the best in Europe, his playstyle is very different, being more defensive, read based and reserved. As you might imagine, that translates into his Pac-Man very well, and it's not uncommon to see Elexiao switch if the frog isn't working. With a Roy and a Ryu also under his belt, this is quite the unique array of characters, and one that I think not a lot of people are ready for. Now, will that be enough against the best the world has to offer? We'll see!
Though he did not get very far at The Big House 6, running into Komorikiri very early in pools, Sodrek did take quite a lot of names at the US locals he attended for practice. He took sets from Rich Brown, 8BitMan, Ryuga and even Marss, among others, showing that he has what it takes to compete with some of the world's most fearsome players. Like cyve, his Fox is especially technical and optimized, with Larry Lurr himself saying that he was learning a lot from watching him. He's also notably the only person in Europe to have taken a set from Mr.R's Sheik... That's a lot of praise, but Sodrek is far from invincible, with many of the SDW attendants having beaten him before. That said, he took down two of his demons at Eclipse 2, by eliminating both iStudying and Ixis, so we'll see if he can make some magic happen again.
In the absence of FOW, a lot of people seem to think Ness mains are basically extinct, but that's because too few of them know about S1. With a nearly perfect record over iStudying for quite some time now, S1 sits comfortably as Netherland's second best player, behind Mr.R. Despite this, he doesn't seem to perform as well when out of country, with iStudying usually outplacing him, so hopefully he can break that curse at SmashDown World and show the world what he's got. Last I saw him, he beat Mr.R's Bayonetta very convincingly, and was even keeping up with his Sheik, so if you want some good Ness footage, this is one player you should definitely keep an eye on.
I think a good way to describe Glutonny would be "chaotic". Currently ranked 1st on the French Power Ranking, Glutonny's playstyle couldn't be more different from Elexiao's, ranked 2nd. Unpredictible, weird, ridiculously aggro, but at the same time extremely creative, Glutonny is a dangerous player, and one that you can't really prepare for. He's undeniably one of the best Warios out there (maybe THE best?), and let me tell you, he only gets more difficult to deal with when he has France rooting for him. It sometimes feels like he doesn't care too much at smaller events, but he always steps it up when he has to represent his country, even giving Mr.R a run for his money a few times.
It feels like forever since J.Miller won BEAST 5. For a while he was seen as the best Luigi, but I feel like he kinda fell into obscurity afterwards, and his short break from the Smash scene didn't help either. However, I'd say there's an argument to be made about him still being up there with Elegant, ConCon and Ron as one of the very best Luigis you can find. At the Rio eGames, Miller was able to not only defeat Sodrek, but also hold his own against Larry Lurr, keeping it very close all the way. Syndicate didn't go as well for him, but if he's on point, anything could happen, especially with Luigi becoming more and more rare outside of SoCal.
At AGON : New Era, the latest German tournament, we saw crazy upsets left and right. Cyve and BluB at 9th, Jbandrew at 17th, Eddy and Yikarur at 33rd... Maybe it was the 2 stock format they tried for the first time, but either way, it was messy. That didn't seem to phase LoNg0uw however, who convincingly took the tournament from Winner's side, securing his spot as most likely the best ROB in Europe, and one of Germany's best players. With his calm, smart, almost surgical playstyle and insane gyro control, LoNg0uw is a ROB I think a lot of people could learn from. Surprisingly though, pretty much every region in Europe has good ROB experience, so matchup inexperience isn't something he'll be able to rely on. Not that he needs it.
You know, at least I can just use the Substitute icon for ANTi because while he has a lot of characters, he's still mostly a Mario main. Griffith plays all of his characters equally, and he's somehow just as good with all of them. Just when you think he's finally dropping one of them, he takes some big name using said character, and suddenly you don't know what to think anymore. To say Griffith is ready for anything you can throw at him would be an understatement, and he's usually the only player in France to really contest Glutonny and Elexiao. His results out of region aren't too shabby either, with a 7th place at Syndicate, and wins over a lot of top EU players such as quiK, Ixis, Light, Meru, and more.
MORE THREATS!
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Pefo
- Ranked 5th in Spain, and probably the second best Sonic in Europe after Ixis. Keeps improving, too! Lots of strong results and good wins overall. -
BSD | vyQ
- Best player from Austria, and famous for being part of the Beefy Smash Doods. Mario main, but plays a lot of characters at high level. -
Phogos
- Formerly ranked 1st in France, but recently took a long hiatus. Hard to say how he'll perform at SDW since we haven't seen him in a while, but I doubt he'll disappoint.
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Meru
- Best Peach in Europe along with Khanage (UK). Went to Japan not too long ago, and took some names, placing 4th at Shulla-bra VII, beating Ri-ma and outplacing both him and Kie.
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BluB
- Best Bayonetta main from Germany, and a very dangerous player, with solid wins over Sodrek, Jbandrew, Purple~H, and very high placings overall.
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C.R.Z.
- The best Fox from the UK, having great, albeit sometimes a bit inconsistent results. When he's on point though, he can upset almost anyone, so stay on your toes.
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Neath
- Former Roy who recently went back to his Brawl main of Diddy. Extremely good results in the South, and one of France's most feared player. Currently ranked 7th in the country.
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PikaForLife
- One of Europe's best Pikachus, who's been improving more and more lately, even taking a set from iStudying at Avalon U-V. Better not sleep on him.
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Kesa
- The most technical Falcon you'll ever see. Stayed in California for a while, and got top placings at quite a few locals, beating players such as K9sbruce, Elegant, Angel Cortes, and more.
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Deimos
- Another French Diddy (yup), and brother of Phogos, who kinda went through a character crisis recently, playing a lot of Falcon. Excellent player.
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Death_Alex
- Brawl legend from Spain, sporting a vast quantity of top tier characters. Notably took down Neath at Syndicate; I'm curious to see him travel again.
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Badr
- One of the many contenders for best Bayonetta in Europe, still making waves post-patch. Got extremely close to beating Ixis at Eclipse 2 and usually performs well overall.
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SBIT | Chimera
- Ranked 5th in Italy. Chimera is notably one of the very, very few players to have taken a set from BlueLink (Ranked 1st), which is an accomplishment on its own.
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SevereCalamari
- Ex Bayo-main, who now mostly plays Sheik and Lucario, and still stands as one of UK's best, despite the switch.
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Eddy
- Wild and unpredictible playstyle, that can have varying degrees of success. Has wins over Sodrek or LoNg0uw, and recently accompanied cyve to the US for EVO.
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unK | Anragon
- A low tier hero from France, reaching top 5 placings regularly, and beating some of France's best with his incredibly technical Falco. If you play Falco, you NEED to check him out.
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BSD | Izaw
- One of the best Links in Europe, well known for his "Art of" tutorials. Recently won a pretty stacked Swedish national, and usually performs well at European majors. -
orKs | Homika
- The best Rosalina from France, and one of the best in Europe. Had a disappointing performance at PPT Summer, but usually gets extremely solid placings.
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Yass
- Undeniably the best Fox in France and one of the best players in the South, with wins over basically everyone there. Very technical, creative player.
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HYP | Greil
- Another beast from the South, and yet another Mario main with a bajillion secondaries; I don't know what's up with that. Currently ranked 10th in France.
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Clade
- Most likely the best Lucas in Europe, getting 12th on the recent German Power Rankings. Great combos and conversions, don't be surprised if you see him in some oddshots!
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Lian
- Widely seen as one of the best Samus mains, and a good friend of YB, the best Samus in Japan (and perhaps the best Samus period). Definitely keep an eye out for him if you like Samus.
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BSD | cFive
- The one and only cFive from the Beefy Smash Doods, and also one of the best from Austria. With how much these guys lab, you can expect some interesting technology!
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Mana
- Excellent player from the South of France, and the reason most people here are salty over Toon Link. Currently ranked 8th in France, with great consistency and results.
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SilentDoom
- You might know him for his amazing Smash 4 skin mods, commentary, and tweets, but SilentDoom is also a great UK player, and one of the best Zards in Europe!
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SBIT | Dinamirer
- Mewtwo/Ness dual main from Italy that keeps improving. Currently sitting at 9th on the Italian PR. You might have run into him on Reddit!
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Nin'
- The french 8BitMan, using a combination of Diddy and ROB, to great effect. Recently upset Glutonny at Neokan Party 3, and is also very invested in the Sm4sh scene.
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Skarfelt
- Another very technical Fox main and one of Ireland's best. Has some impressive wins over a lot of UK players, such as PlasticPoptart, Khanage, SevereCalamari, or SmashBound.
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Fire
- Also known as "Silex", this not-so-hidden boss from Strasbourg is the other contender to the title of best Zard in Europe. Recently beat Homika, Glutonny and Mana.
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Hoe4u
- Not to be confused with "Ho", another top UK player. Hoe4u (also known as KatyB) is another very good Pikachu with strong results, notably beating quiK at PPT Summer.
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SBIT | Loci_AF
- SO
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Joey
- MANY
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Sabaca
- FALCONS
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UF | Ogey
- IN
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Dynastyle
- EUROPE
EVEN MORE THREATS
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Latzo
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Euk
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maXy
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KayJay
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SmashBound
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Tatuman
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OursOuzbek
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Deon
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unK | Pur Gars
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Scarhi
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Kakpu
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Abyss | Meutrich
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HYP | Purner
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XCloud
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Yiazmat Goth
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VinS
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Tru4
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Blubo
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Yosheroce
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Wolves | Kunai Kazekun
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unK | Volya
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nB | Yoren
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Quidam
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Marm
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Rendon
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ZHT
SCHEDULE
Saturday
9:30 - 11 AM | Check-in / Freeplay
11 AM - 10 PM | Smash 4 Singles - Top 64 until Top 8
1 PM - 7 PM | Melee Doubles
7 PM - 10 PM | Smash 4 Doubles / SmashDown Party
Sunday
11 AM - 4 PM | Brawl Singles
11 AM - 4 PM | Melee Singles
4 PM - 8 PM | Smash 4 Top 8
ADDITIONAL INFO
As you can tell from the schedule, SmashDown World will also feature a Brawl event, which might be interesting if you're into that. With so many Brawl legends in attendance, and with Germany regularly having Brawl tournaments... this might be fun as well.
The tournament should be streamed on Gameline's Twitch channel here.
The VODs will be uploaded to Youtube in the evening, after the stream is over. So no worries, if you miss it and you can't access the Twitch VODs, you'll get to see what you missed soon after.
If you have any questions, contact me on Twitter (@Tetra_76), or you can ask the TO directly (@GL_Lif3s).
-Tetra
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