At long last, Smash Ultimate Summit Three is set to kick off this weekend after extensive delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Originally scheduled for June 2020, Summit Three is finally set to get underway after a 14-month delay. And with 16 of the best players from across the world able to travel safely into one spot, the competition at Summit is set to be as important as it once was before to the pandemic.
This weekend’s tournament features players ranging from local legends to full-blown superstars. Some of them qualified for Summit by way of their on-stage performances, while others were voted into the event by members of the Smash community. Regardless of how they reached the apex of competitive Smash, each has a chance at capturing glory at the first major Smash Ultimate tournament in well over a year. Here are our power rankings of all 16 players ahead of the tournament.
16) Aaron
No player at Summit Three benefited more from WiFi tournaments than Aaron, who placed in the top eight of dozens of events throughout the course of the last year, raising his stock immensely throughout 2020. He’s only attended 10 in-person majors before this weekend, but he placed in the top eight at four of those tournaments, cementing him as a dark horse at Summit.
15) Atomsk
Atomsk, a King Dedede player from the Tristate area, is best known for his high-placing results in Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournaments. He’s also been known to place in the top 128 or top 64 of Ultimate events in recent memory as well. A 13th-place finish at last month’s “The Comeback” tournament in Maryland earned him enough notoriety to snag a crowdfunded berth in the Summit Three lineup.
14) Charliedaking
A high-octane Wolf player from southern California, Charliedaking is coming into Ultimate Summit Three on fire. This summer, he’s been competing in local tournaments up and down the Golden State, placing in the top eight at 24 of the 26 events he’s competed in since the Smash scene returned to offline events. Last year, Charliedaking barely missed out on the top eight at Genesis Seven, losing a heartbreaking five-game set to fellow Summit attendee Maister.
13) Riddles
Riddles consistently placed in the top 64 at each of the PGR tournaments he attended before the COVID-19 pandemic. The last time he competed at a major of this caliber was Frostbite 2020, where he earned a share of 33rd place. With an expert-level grasp of a crafty character like Terry, though, Riddles should be considered a sneaky contender for the top eight at Summit.
12) Sparg0
Spargo is still the “young gun” of the Smash Ultimate scene, but with a relatively high ceiling, he could crack the top half of the standings by the time Ultimate Summit Three comes to a close. Considering Sparg0 won the last offline PGR tournament he entered back in February 2020, it’s clear that he has the chops to play with the scene’s biggest contenders. Granted, Sparg0 has never beaten another player attending Summit in a major setting before, which could very well work against him this weekend.
11) Kola
Kola has been securing first and second place finishes at local tournaments in Atlanta for the better part of four months, but has yet to compete with Summit-level talent since February 2020. That month alone, Kola earned wins against fellow Summit Three attendees Dabuz, Riddles, and Cosmos while finishing in the top 32 at Frostbite and winning Clash of the Carolinas III outright.
10) Void
It’s stunning to think that a veteran of the scene like VoiD has been in the scene for nearly a decade, but is only attending his first Smash Summit this weekend. Regardless of his experience, though, VoiD is still facing an uphill battle going into this edition of Summit considering he placed outside of the top eight in seven of the last eight majors that he competed in ahead of the transition to online play. Raw results aside, VoiD has some really impressive wins under his belt, as he’s beaten fellow Summit competitors Zackray, Light, and Dabuz at major tournaments before in his career.
9) Cosmos
After spending nearly two years trying to find his place in the professional scene as the world’s best Inkling player, Cosmos has reinvented himself since the release of Pyra and Mythra. He’s picked up the tandem character and used the duo to great extents, even recently winning this past week’s 348-entry Mega Smash Monday tournament that featured huge names such as Light, Ned, Elegant, and Larry Lurr.
8) Ken
One of the most hyped players to emerge from Japan, Ken has racked up countless solid results overseas. The last time he competed in the United States, though, was in December 2019 at Kongo Saga, where his hype train derailed into a share of 65th place. This weekend, he’ll be looking to turn his recent top-tier results in Japan into a solid finish against the best from the West.
7) Dark Wizzy
Dark Wizzy was just starting to heat up at the beginning of 2020, as he had reached the top eight in nine of the last ten offline PGR-level tournaments he participated in prior to the professional scene’s transition to online play. In fact, his last in-person tournament win was at Phantom 2020, the tournament that earned him his ticket to Summit. With his solid track record in mind, it wouldn’t be too far out of the realm of possibility for Dark Wizzy to secure yet another top eight finish at Ultimate Summit Three.
6) Dabuz
Dabuz’s passive playstyle has drawn criticism in the past, but no one in the world is able to do more with relatively methodical, micromanagement-intensive characters like Olimar and Rosalina than him. Since the professional scene has returned to offline play, Dabuz has won every tournament he’s appeared in. He’s a cool three-for-three in 2021, and has not missed the top eight of an offline major since Genesis Seven back at the start of 2020.
5) Zackray
The last time Zackray competed in the United States, he finished seventh at Frostbite 2020. Since that point, he’s gone back to Japan to absolutely light up the competition. Zackray has finished in the top eight at 16 consecutive tournaments, and with a character pool deeper than most players at Summit combined, Zackray has all of the tools necessary to finish among the best at Summit.
4) Maister
It’s easy to forget just how persistent of a player Maister was towards the beginning of 2020, but with top five finishes at Kongo Saga, Genesis Seven, and Frostbite 2020, Maister was certainly establishing himself as one of the scene’s most prevalent forces just before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, as Maister returns to the competitive eye after competing in 136 online tournaments over the last year—the most among any player at Summit—he’s out to prove that he’s still sharp as ever.
3) Marss
Marss, the King of New England, was just starting to rev up prior to the pandemic, but his meteoric rise was cut short. Before the scene’s online phase, Marss won Genesis Seven, picking up perhaps the biggest victory any professional Smash player had captured during the game’s pre-pandemic age. It would be hard to imagine that one of the game’s best has lost a step then. Marss should be considered a top-tier favorite at Ultimate Summit Three this weekend.
2) Tweek
Perhaps the most mechanically gifted player in the Smash Ultimate scene, Tweek has managed to reinvent himself since the last time he competed in-person on a regular basis. During the pre-COVID era of Smash, Tweek was known mainly for his strong play on characters like Wario and Pokemon Trainer. Now, though, Tweek has emerged from the age of WiFi tournaments as the world’s best with Sephiroth—a character that was released during the pandemic. He’s taken the character into offline play, and has won four straight offline tournaments since the scene transitioned back to in-person events. Dating back to August 2020, Tweek has appeared in the grand finals of 12 consecutive tournaments.
1) MkLeo
It’s impossible to argue against MkLeo at the top spot coming into Ultimate Summit 3. Even despite a full year away from the game in a live setting, MkLeo is still the king of Smash Ultimate. Don’t think for a second that he’s lost a step since his last offline major, Frostbite 2020, where he placed first out of over 1,200 competitors. He currently rides a three-tourney winning streak coming into Summit, and has not placed outside of the top eight at an offline major since May 2019. As Smash’s most consistent and dominant force, MkLeo should be considered the odds-on favorite to walk away from Ultimate Summit Three with a first-place trophy under his arm.
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Source: https://dotesports.com/fgc/news/smash-ultimate-summit-3-power-rankings
