Super Smash Bros. Melee fans voted Sasha “Magi” Sullivan and Nico “Ryobeat” Rodriguez into Smash Summit 9 on Feb. 4. The final vote-in day is Feb. 6, when two more players will make it into Summit.
Magi finished the second Smash Summit 9 voting period with 67,675 votes, while Ryobeat finished with 43,436 votes. Interestingly, Ryobeat had even less votes than Zaid “Spark” Ali had when he made it into Summit on Feb. 2. Spark finished with 43,562 votes.
Four more players remain in the running: “bobby big ballz,” Tommy “Pricent” Lindås, Kurtis “moky” Pratt, and Kashan “Chillindude” Khan. Notably, a glitch initially made it seem as though bobby big ballz made the cut, while everyone else was eliminated. However, he will have to wait until Friday to see if he actually makes it into Smash Summit 9.
Meet Magi and Ryobeat, the next Smash Summit 9 vote-ins
Magi made her first top 100 appearance in 2018, sneaking onto the global rankings at No. 97 in the world. However, beating Joseph “Mang0” Marquez at Genesis 6 catapulted her up to No. 48 on the Summer 2019 MPGR. By the end of 2019, Magi finished as No. 43 in the world. She had additional wins over the likes of Charlie “AbsentPage” McKinley, Connor “Bananas” Lamb, and Albert Luu.
Genesis 7 marked a rough start to the year for Magi. She finished in 129th place, dropping sets to Angel “FLiiNcHy” Cruz and Luis “Crunch” Rosias. However, Smash Summit will undoubtedly give Magi the opportunity to improve, and perhaps to secure more solid wins.
Ryobeat joins Magi as another one of Smash Summit 9’s vote-ins. Though he has competed since 2012, Ryobeat is a newer member of Melee’s elite. He debuted at No. 73 on the 2019 MPGR. In 2019, Ryobeat boasted wins against Aziz “Hax” Al-Yami, Weston “Westballz” Dennis, Aaron “Professor Pro” Thomas, and Toussaint “2saint” Turnier.
While his 2019 was respectable, Ryobeat is already off to an even better 2020. He made a remarkable run to 17th place at Genesis 7. Along the way, he defeated Luis “TheSWOOPER” Olivo, Umar “Umarth” Sohi, Justin “Wizzrobe” Hallett, and moky. In addition, he has put up consistently solid results at New York’s stacked Hax’s Nightclub locals.
Magi, Ryobeat, and others will compete as Smash Summit 9 in Los Angeles, California from Feb. 13 – 16.
