This week has seen a pretty big event for Smash Bros in the form of Riptide. While the tournaments hosted events for Splatoon and Rivals of Aether, Smash Bros is definitely the main event here. Smash Bros in-person games have been gradually returning, and it has been fun to see just how the metagame for Smash Bros Ultimate has developed with players stock competing online. This is what’s happened at Smash Bros Riptide, both for Melee and for Ultimate.
The big takeaway from the weekend’s Smash bros action was MKLeo reclaiming his crown at Smash Ultimate. However, even outside of the top two players getting a rematch, there were great performances on show the whole way through the event. Both in Melee and Ultimate, the event showed top-tier Smash Bros in full gear, with a lot of interesting matchups and results.
The Ultimate singles bracket for Smash Bros Riptide saw more than 1,000 entrees begin the competition. Naturally, this made for a pretty crowded event. While a lot of players entered, only the best progressed their way through the bracket. The action was pretty exciting the whole way through. While things eventually lead to MKLeo and Tweek once again meeting, the buildup was pretty impressive too.
MKLeo’s journey through the bracket was pretty smooth in places. He specifically utilized a lot of Byleth on the way up, showing just how much the Smash Ultimate DLC has impacted the game’s balance. Tweak mainly played with Diddy Kong, utilizing a fun playstyle which was a lot of fun to watch in action. MKLeo’s smooth sailing through the bracket continued until the final against Tweek. He had lost to him at their last match-up at a major, the Smash Ultimate Summit a few weeks ago. However, MKLeo reclaimed his top spot in the final. The match was close, and it showed why Smash Bros is one of the top fighting games out there.
Won riptide 2021 over tweek in grands 3-1 considering i got destroyed at summit
Im super happy i was able to bring this back. Thank you so much everyone that cheered for me. ❤️
Gotta keep grinding!
Really happy i won with mostly byleth ❤️
He gives me marth vibes @T1 #T1WIN— LG | MkLeo (@Mkleosb) September 13, 2021
One interesting thing about Smash Ultimate competition is always the usage of characters. The game has an obnoxiously big roster, one that causes big problems for players looking to maximize their match-up potential. However, the usage of heroes follows some specific trends which show off how the meta is currently sat. We’re a long way off from when Joker saw heavier use than anything else.
At Smash Bros Riptide, the distribution of character usage was pretty interesting. Steve saw increased usage that really made the character stand out. While the hero didn’t make it too far up in the single’s bracket, the usage definitely shows a trend. R.O.B, Palutena, Falco, Young Link, and Snake all saw much bigger usage than normal.
Smash Ultimate wasn’t the only event at Riptide for the franchise. Alongside Ultimate, there were competitions running for Melee, although the ProjectM event was removed at Nintendo’s request. While Ultimate is the current incarnation, it is hard to get away from Melee as the most popular form of Smash Bros. The Melee event didn’t feature anything too revolutionary in gameplay but getting back to the old-fashioned fast and tight gameplay
The Melee bracket was eventually won by iBDW, this is the first major he’s taken home the top spot at. Many of the others in the top bracket are pretty well-established names in Melee. Pulp, Hungrybox, and Wizrobe all made appearances in the final bracket. Hungrybox lost out to iBDW, before he faced and beat SFAT in the finals. It is always impressive when a new player takes home his first Major win. While a few big players weren’t in attendance like Manang0 and Zain, iBDW still impressed.
Alexis “Goblin” Stennett earned himself a spot with Moist Esports as soon as the event concluded. After ending up in 5th place out of 1024 contestants, and only losing to Maister and Elegant he quickly announced the new signing. He is reuinited with former teammate Aaron on the roster, and paired with Kola, the trio is set to take the organization to the next level in the upcoming months.
Smash Bros Riptide was a fun event that has been one of the biggest during the return to in-person events so far. Smash Bros has had a difficult time with online matches and legal threats to the community, but tournaments like this show why it is still such a fun esport to follow and one of the top fighting games.
LOL
CS2
Dota 2
Valorant
Fortnite
Call of Duty
Mobile Games
Gaming
EN Global 
JP 日本語