Super Smash Con has only been around for two years, but the impact the event has made on the Smash community is jarring. It not only caters to Smash fans in general, but gives space to all of the individual Smash game fans to enjoy their favorite title. The Dulles Expo center was host to 2,224 Smash fans from all over the world for one of the most Smash Bros. filled weekends you can ask for.
The main organizers being Justin Wykowski alongside one of the most respect tournament organizers in the community, Rob “Juggleguy” Harn, and Michael “Nintendude” Brancato, the world famous Ice Climbers main has created the perfect environment for pure Smash Bros. fans and players. The four-day event gave ample time for every request the Smash community asked for.
First off, making the event a four day affair allowed the tournament organizers to be more lenient on their decision making. Deeper in brackets, the tournament turned to all best of fives in every single Smash game. The reason they went with the top 24 instead of a top 32 is too save time. Mostly because the best of fives extends sets by a significant amount of time.
The fact that every game gets an equal opportunity, is a great thing for the community. The convention aspect as well as the Smash 64 combo contest gave Smash Con a very special feel. The tournament future of Smash is not always clear but, with the Super Smash Con team running this type of event it insures Smash will always be loved.
Now let’s talk about results…
Super Smash Bros 64 Champion: SuPeRbOoMfAn
Believe it or not, this might have been the biggest non-surprise of the weekend. Daniel “Superboomfan” Hoyt was the clear favorite heading into this event with no Wario and the Japanese Pikachu staying home. Superboomfan has only not finished first at one other event in 2016, in Genesis 3.
The event itself was a huge success for the Smash 64 community. A resurgence is happening and the roots of a comeback, similar to the rise of Melee back in 2013, are forming. Super Smash Con was the largest Smash 64 of all time and local numbers are rising. If they make the game more tournament friendly, we could see it popping up more often.
The competition was unreal. A large percentage of the top 20 players showed up and the big names like Joel “sai”Alvarado, Wangera from Japan, and Arturo “Mariguas” Nunez from Mexico. In the end, it came down to SBF and the surprising (but not really suprising) Wizzrobe in Grand Finals using Yoshi.
The Melee pro rolled through winners by beating all the worlds top Yoshi’s in a Yoshi mirror. He took out Prince, in a fairly dominant set with a three-stock and a two-stock. He also took out Kurabba from Japan. His only loss coming to SBF in winners and grand finals with his Kirby counter-pick.
Outside of the two main storylines, the event provided a litany of major upsets. Canada also poured it on with three players in the top eight (Z, Revan, and SBF). The most exciting part of the weekend for any of the games, was Wangera’s time-out on game five against D3xter. A last second hit for the survive and advance buzzer beater
Super Smash Bros. Melee Champion: Mango
Joseph “Mango” Marquez looked broken a week before Super Smash Con at Clutch City Clash. His set against Zac “SFAT” Cordoni was some of the sloppier play we’ve seen from Mango all year. He didn’t have any answers then, but as he proved this weekend it was just an off weekend for him.
Mango’s run gave him a chance to get back on some players that ruined past events. His road in top 24 started with Justin “Wizzrobe” Hallett, who Mango absolutely dominated with his Fox play. His next match he got a shot at SFAT and promptly took the set 3-1, still using Falco, a character he struggled with last week.
Mango made it through winners bracket unscathed, but he now faced a player in Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma who’s had his number and the confidence all year round. The set count wasn’t close at all this time, Mango had every answer for every Hungrybox situation could be put in. It was a dominating Fox effort reminiscent of the past where Mango had a firm grasp on beating Hungrybox.
Mango’s now won his third major event in 2016, proving he’s still a major threat and could be considered the best in the world. He needs to show some consistency heading into events like The Big House 6 and Dreamhack. But it is good to see Mango back up on the trophy stand.
The rest of the event was filled with upsets and insane runs through losers bracket. Jeff “Axe” Williamson and Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman started Sunday off in the losers bracket. But, by the end of the day the two of them were fighting for third place. Axe went through (in order): Abate, MacD, Wizzrobe, PPU and Shroomed. We also got to see Misaya “aMSa” Chikomoto finish in the top 12 while taking out top ranked American players.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Champion: Vinnie
The biggest surprise of the entire weekend was undoubtedly Vincent “Vinnie” Cannino taking home the Brawl title. Vinnie was known as a top Brawl player, but never to the point that he’d win a major tournament. His Ice Climbers and his grab heavy neutral game carried him all the way through.
He took out the famous Diddy Kong Brawl main ADHD and the most practiced Brawl player at the tournament V115, who he beat twice in winners and grand finals. Vinnie showed how strong the Ice Climbers are in Brawl, considering how strong the grab game is. V115 and his Zero Suit Samus took him to the edge in both sets (losing 2-3, 2-3) but Vinnie was able to clutch out stocks.
The other interesting aspect of this tournament being no prominent Meta Knight mains, beside Jason “Anti” Bates, made top 8. M2K didn’t make an appearance because he wanted to focus on Melee, but we still got a chance to see an out-of-practice Nairoby “Nairo” Quezada and Elliot “Ally” Bastien. Formerly, the second and third best Brawl players in the world, take each other out.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Champion: Nairo
The final game of the weekend and for good reason. Smash for Wii U at Super Smash Con reached 1,200+ players. Making it the third largest Smash 4 tournament in history. Nairo came out on top, after a rather long losing streak for the widely regarded second best player in Smash 4.
Nairo had to play out of his mind to win this event. His run through winners consisted of James “Void” Mekaku-Tyson, who has been on a tear recently, beating him in 5 game series. Mr. R followed and then in Grand Finals he took out his toughest matchup in Samuel “Dabuz” Busby . The Zero Suit Samus reigned again.
Smash 4 saw a lot of early upsets, so Sunday was a bloodbath in loser’s bracket. Ally took out Abadanago in losers quarters, making the Clutch City Clash champion finish tied for 7th. As all the recent Smash 4 events, this one also provided many upsets.
Esam, like he did at Evo, made it further in Melee than he did in Smash 4. Nakat missed top 24, as well as many notable players. After a year of absolute dominance from one player, it feels good to see that the landscape for Smash 4 has completely opened up and it’s truly anyone’s game to win.