Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is, more than any other title in the franchise, an international game. The game is largely viewed as American centered, but many regions have seen substantial growth. The extent of this can be seen in most areas of the world and may be the subject of a more extensive article on the topic, but today, I want to feature five players, each from a different country.
This comes at a time when the potential of regions worldwide are exploding, with thirty six nations hosting events with 100+ attendees in less than a year. Not only that, but areas like Japan & Europe have seen an unprecedented number of major & regional events pop up, showing how much an effect Smash Ultimate has had on the Smash scene.
Seima “Eim” Tomonoh
Region: Kanto (Japan)
Eim exited Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as the 99th best player on the PGR 100. On OrionRank 2018, Eim accomplished the final placement of 29th across all of 2018. For this reason, he’s been a player to watch going into Smash Ultimate.
There is one issue, however. Transitions from one game to the next are uneasy and uncertain. Some players quit, others struggle to adapt, while many simply need a few months to return to their best.
Eim ended Smash for Wii U as arguably the third greatest Sheik, ending the game’s final competitive weekend with a win at Umebura Smash 4 Final, marking the second and final major win for Sheik after the March 2016 nerfs. While Sheik mains adapted to those nerfs, the transition from Wii U to Ultimate has been harder, largely met with initial character switches.
Eim’s first try was with Wolf, a very popular character for many players - including Sheik mains such as Shawn “K9sbruce” Bruce, Corey “False” Shin, and James “VoiD” Makekau-Tyson - in the opening months of Ultimate. This produced a strong 9th at the inaugural Umebura SP, but failed to hold up in the long run at various Kanto weeklies.
However, Eim’s fortunes began to turn around upon picking up Joker. Joker is another fairly popular character, especially after the success seen by Leonardo “MKLeo” Lopez. While Eim’s new results are not even remotely close to the ones seen by MKLeo, they have become increasingly consistent.
He’s since seen wins against Tetsuhia “Rain'' Kosako, “ZAKI”, Ishiguro “Raito” Tetsuya, “Rizeasu”, Seisuke “Kome” Komeda, Kengo “KEN” Suzuki, Isami “T” Ikeda, “Gackt”, and more.
With multiple ranked wins between the PGR and OrionRank, it seems that Eim may eventually ascend to become the same international threat he was by the end of his Smash Wii U career.
Jonathan “Venia” Grullon
Region: Tristate (USA)
Closer to home, we have a sleeper player and a candidate for the best Greninja in the states. Venia, like many players on this list, is fairly region confined, and has been since Smash Wii U. Despite this, he frequently stacks up as one of NYC’s best players.
Tristate - a region encompassing NYC and its greater metropolitan area - is likely the best region worldwide in 2019. Its depth is extensive and increasingly well-known as players like Alan “Gen” Soriano and Jake “Frozen” Samma made the Spring PGRU. However, Venia has stayed under the radar between Tristate’s lack of constant major events and confined attendance.
Nonetheless, he does very well at locals, has won multiple stacked regionals like ALPHA III and Xenosaga XVII, has taken sets off of PGR players in Tristate, and is ranked among PGR-level players in the NYC Power Rankings.
Venia likely has the potential to be one of the next PGR players and a constant in Greninja discussions, meaning each out-of-region performance could demonstrate why he deserves to be in public conversation. His next event is The Big House 9, so keep an eye out.
Mehrdad “Meru” Mehrafar
Region: Netherlands (Europe)
Europe in Smash Ultimate has developed into a formidable region with a variety of players who could make a list like this. My pick, however, is the most consistent unranked player on the continent.
Meru’s consistency in Europe is difficult to overstate. The Dutch Peach player’s only sub-top 4 placements at regional events this year were at United Kingdom major event Albion 4 (9th) and a Dutch regional event The Ultimate Performance (7th).
Even his losses seem to mostly scale well within the continent, with over a third of his 38 losses being to William “Glutonny” Belaid, and others being from top European players like Alain “Space” B., Sem “Supahsemmie” J., Viktor “Light” Strohmeier and other top Dutch, French, & German players.
Many of these players - especially the three I noted - could be the subject of future “Hidden boss” articles, meaning Meru is among the best.
While he was initially supposed to attend both EVO 2019 and Thunder Smash 3, he’s been hounded by visa issues that make attending events in the states - the best area to get exposure - difficult.
The good news is that the European smash scene is getting a kick with the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate European Circuit, meaning Meru - and many others - will get the chance to compete under a Nintendo-partnered spotlight that extends into the middle of next year. The starting event - Syndicate 2019 - is an upcoming A-Tiered major event for Europe, which will be the third of its kind after Albion 4 and the upcoming Ultimate Fighting Arena.
Jorge “Wonf” Martinez
Region: Monterrey, Nuevo Leon (Mexico)
I could probably dedicate a large article to the Mexican scene as a whole. It has a substantial number of players & hidden bosses that compete with well-known players at home, but rarely get recognition or spotlight. In Smash Ultimate, things are starting to change, but not without difficulty.
Wonf has been notable for a while. He was a top Sonic & Bayonetta player Smash Wii U that was one of very few to defeat MKLeo in-country, and Wonf got a bit of traction at Smash Factor 8 this year after a nail-biting rematch between the two.
He currently stands as one of the game’s best Inkling players, having found a way to transition after the huge nerfs delivered to Sonic & Bayonetta. Beyond his 17th at Smash Factor 8, he’s also a consistent presence at BIT MASTER MTY events, a regional series in Monterrey.
While players like Enrique “Maister” Solis, Arturo “Joker” Ochoa, and Hector “Meme” Ochoa have broken through the obscurity barrier in the last two years, many of Mexico’s players suffer from difficulty traveling to the U.S. due to visa issues.
Infrastructure in the Smash scene has grown greatly due to an uptick in attendance, meaning more and more Mexican events have received ranking credentials. Smash Factor 8 was an A-Tier this season, meaning the Mexican scene has hope to truly break out and show its full potential.
When he is able to travel to major events, Wonf is a top pick to cause havoc and shake up the rankings.
Jason “Yei” Valverde
Region: Costa Rica (Central America)
In a list of picks that span familiar areas, I’d like to end the article with perhaps the most potential-laden hidden boss in the entire world. Yei has been the best player in Costa Rica for years now, spanning an uncontested #1 in Smash Wii U in-country and so far retaining that status in Smash Ultimate.
He has long been a top Wifi player, but first got to show his talent in Smash Wii U at Smash Factor 7, where he had a close set with Jason “ANTI” Bates, and defeated Leonardo “Rox” Herrera on his best year.
At Smash Factor 8, he one upped this, by defeating the aforementioned Wonf, as well as top Mexican regional talent, before finally taking on and beating Eric “Mr E” Weber in a 3-2 set.
While his next set was a rather devastating reverse 3-0 from Yuta “Abadango” Kawamura, he proved that he was capable of taking sets from worldwide ranked players, top players in a hidden-boss dense region, and nearly take down major winners.
It’s likely his most limiting factor is his confinement to Costa Rica - otherwise, we’d be seeing a lot more of Yei’s tremendous potential in-tournament.
Conclusion
These are just five players that I felt were necessary to feature. I will likely feature more to look out for in the lead-up to 2020, as the next year promises to be as explosive as the game’s opening year, seeing successes that dwarf the series’ prior installment. I may also do articles dedicated to continents like Europe or super-regions like Japan, as certain areas are a hotbed of future potential.
Until then, thanks for reading!
