On February 11, 2017, 16 of the best Super Smash Bros for Wii U players will gather in Chiba, Japan to compete in Tokaigi 2017. Organized by streaming platform Niconico and hosted yearly, the Tokaigi series features a multitude of games crossing many genres. Smash Wii U at Tokaigi is an elite tournament, with competitors needing to qualify through one of a number of regional qualifying events or receive a special invitation. Every player in bracket is capable of winning tournaments, but only one of them can become champion.
At Tokaigi 2016, Kanto's Yuta "Abadango" Kawamura and New Jersey's Nairoby "Nairo" Quezada clashed in grand finals, with Abadango and his Meta Knight emerging victorious. Both competitors will be returning this year along with a host of new faces. Last year's event also featured an appearance by none other than Masahiro Sakurai, who watched finals in person and presented a sneak peak of Smash Wii U's final batch of DLC content. Though no official announcement has been made with regards to Smash at this time, Nintendo has confirmed their presence to promote the upcoming release of the Nintendo Switch.
Stream Information
While many Japanese Smashers stream on Twitch, Tokaigi and its qualifiers are streamed exclusively on Niconico. You will be able to watch the Tokaigi 2017 finals here. The stream is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. JST (UTC+09:00). This puts it 14 to 17 hours ahead of most locations in the continental United States. Be sure to account for these time zone differences when tuning in. Also note that while you don't need to subscribe to Niconico in order to view the broadcast, watching the replays may require a subscription. In the past, several Twitch streamers have been kind enough to rebroadcast the tournament on later dates.
Qualified Players
Spot
|
Player
|
Method
|
Character(s)
1 | Yuta " LG.Abadango " Kawamura | Hirosuma Qualifier (1st place) |
2 | Kare~ | TSC Qualifier (1st place) |
3 | ikep | Sumabato Qualifier (1st place) |
4 | DNG Kameme | Sumabato Qualifier (2nd place) |
5 | Shuton | Sumabato Qualifier (3rd place) |
6 | Ranai | Karisuma Qualifier (1st place) |
7 | Hiro | Shulla-bra Qualifier (1st place) |
8 | Eliott " C9 Ally " Carroza | Invitation |
9 | Samuel " RNG Dabuz " Buzby | Invitation |
10 | Ramin " Elevate Mr.R " Delshad | Invitation |
11 | Eric " PG ESAM " Lew | Invitation |
12 | Nairoby " NRG Nairo " Quezada | Umebura Qualifier (1st place) |
13 | KEN | Umebura Qualifier (2nd place) |
14 | SHIG 9B | Umebura Qualifier (3rd place) |
15 | TBD (02/11/17) | Last Chance Qualifier (1st place) |
16 | TBD (02/11/17) | Last Chance Qualifier (2nd place) |The Path to Tokaigi
1 | Yuta " LG.Abadango " Kawamura | Hirosuma Qualifier (1st place) |
2 | Kare~ | TSC Qualifier (1st place) |
3 | ikep | Sumabato Qualifier (1st place) |
4 | DNG Kameme | Sumabato Qualifier (2nd place) |
5 | Shuton | Sumabato Qualifier (3rd place) |
6 | Ranai | Karisuma Qualifier (1st place) |
7 | Hiro | Shulla-bra Qualifier (1st place) |
8 | Eliott " C9 Ally " Carroza | Invitation |
9 | Samuel " RNG Dabuz " Buzby | Invitation |
10 | Ramin " Elevate Mr.R " Delshad | Invitation |
11 | Eric " PG ESAM " Lew | Invitation |
12 | Nairoby " NRG Nairo " Quezada | Umebura Qualifier (1st place) |
13 | KEN | Umebura Qualifier (2nd place) |
14 | SHIG 9B | Umebura Qualifier (3rd place) |
15 | TBD (02/11/17) | Last Chance Qualifier (1st place) |
16 | TBD (02/11/17) | Last Chance Qualifier (2nd place) |
Tokaigi 2016 featured two qualifying events: one in Kanto in conjuction with the Umebura series and one held in Kansai with Sumabato. The top 3 players from each of these tournaments got to compete along with Nairo, who was given a special invitation. This year, there have been six qualifiers so far, and there's still one more taking place the day of the final bracket. There were also more invitations: Elliot "Ally" Carroza, Samuel "Dabuz" Buzby, Ramin "Mr.R" Delshad and Eric "ESAM" Lew will be joining the fray.
The two largest qualifiers (Umebura and Sumabato) once again advanced the top 3 competitors to finals. There were also a number of smaller events held as part of the Hirosuma, TSC, Karisuma and Shulla-bra series for which 1st place was given a spot. This was done to ensure that most people wouldn't have to travel far for a chance at making the cut. Once a player qualified, they were barred from entering any further qualifiers so that those remaining wouldn't miss out.
It's only fitting that the 2016 champion was the first person to qualify for Tokaigi 2017. Abadango won the Hirosuma qualifier without much of an issue, beating Mario Bros. master Ron, Shulk prodigy Kome and renowned R.O.B. main OCEAN along the way. Shortly thereafter, Falcon main Kare~ surprised a lot of people by winning TSC's qualifier over more familiar names such as Earth and Shogun. These two could rest assured they wouldn't have to scramble to one of the later events, only to potentially come up short and miss out on qualifying.
It's not unreasonable to expect that as more players made it into Tokaigi, the level of competition at the later qualifiers would drop. In reality, the exact opposite thing happened. Sumabato had the largest entrant total yet, with several notable players from outside of Kansai in attendance. In the end, the Bayonetta specialist ikep put on quite the show, winning the event without dropping a set. His warpath included tournament favorites Kameme and Shuton, who fortunately managed to qualify in 2nd and 3rd place, respectively. By winning Sumabato, ikep ensured himself an excellent seed in the final bracket.
After a notable underperformance at Sumabato, the world's best Villager managed to redeem himself at Karisuma. Ranai only dropped 2 games the entire tournament, which secured him his second consecutive invitation. Next, at Shulla-bra, the Kyushu locals were terrorized by Hiro and his Bayonetta. One year after Bayonetta was first demo'd to the public, it appears the character is still as potent a tournament pick as ever.
The most recent qualifier to date was Umebura, and it was quite special. Last year's runner-up Nairo made an appearance to secure a runback. Though every bit as capable as the four invited players, the tournament organizers decided to prioritize foreigners who hadn't had a chance to compete at Tokaigi before. This meant Nairo would have to earn his spot just like anyone else. And earn it he did: after a shaky performance in pools, Nairo tore through the final bracket in spite of being a 3rd seed. Japan's strongest solo Sonic main, KEN, finished 2nd while giving Nairo quite the scare in grand finals. And finally, the 3rd place qualifier was 9B, another elite Bayonetta player who narrowly missed the cutoff at other events.
There is still one more "last chance" qualifier: it will be held at Tokaigi 2017 the morning of the main tournament. Though many contenders still want to make it in, only the top 2 spots will advance to the final bracket. If playing against other highly-determined top players wasn't mentally taxing enough, these people will effectively play two tournaments in one day! The path to victory at Tokaigi is always grueling.
Who Will Win?
Hopefully you're excited for what could be the fiercest invitational tournament of 2017! Though small in size, Tokaigi is arguably as competitive as other premier events. And with Nintendo likely watching, the stakes are as high as ever. You can view the final bracket (minus the two last chance qualifiers) here. Let us know who you think will win, and stay tuned to Smashboards for more tournament coverage!
