Jacob “Alpharad” Rabon IV and Charles “Cr1TiKaL” White have announced The Quarantine Series of online Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournaments. The announcement came in the form of videos on Alpharad’s Twitter account and Cr1TiKaL’s YouTube channel on March 25.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, in-person Super Smash Bros. tournaments have gone on hold. This includes the Smash World Tour, a tournament circuit that was supposed to kick off earlier this month. However, The Quarantine Series will act as a substitute circuit until players can safely return to offline events.
This online circuit will consist of two types of events: minors and majors. Minors will be free-to-enter open brackets where competitors can earn points based on their performance. Cr1TiKaL will livestream minor tournaments on his Twitch channel. Majors are invitational events restricted to top players and those who have earned points through participation in minor tournaments. Cr1TiKaL will stream major tournaments via Twitch, while Alpharad will stream them via YouTube.
After three months of online competition, the series will conclude with a championship event. Like other majors, the championship will not feature an open bracket. Players can earn a spot in the grand finale by earning points at other tournaments in The Quarantine Series.
More about The Quarantine Series
The four-month Quarantine Series will feature a respectable amount of cash prizes. Every minor tournament will have a prize pool of about $5,000. In addition, majors will feature about $10,000 in prizes. The finale could feature as much as $50,000 in prizes, pending monetary input from sponsors.
Cr1TiKaL’s previous online tournament, the Soaked Series Invitational, had an issue with large-scale disqualifications. As a result, the organizers have established a rule to prevent such dropouts in this tournament series. Anyone who drops out during round one without a good reason cannot participate in subsequent tournaments in the circuit.
The Quarantine Series will kick off with its first major tournament on March 29. This invitational will feature some of the best players in the world. Among them are Leonardo “MkLeo” Lopez Perez, Ezra Samsora Morris, Nairoby “Nairo” Quezada, and Tyler “Marss” Martins. Some notable Melee players will also participate, including Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma, Justin “Plup” McGrath, and Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman.
