Shuto “Shuton” Moriya won Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Singles at EVO Japan 2020 in Tokyo on Jan. 26. Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai attended the event and even presented the Ultimate top 8 finalists with their medals.
Shuton made his way through the third round of pools with a triad of flawless victories. He defeated “Manzoku,” “Munekin,” and Eric “Mr. E” Weber all without dropping a game. Shuton then advanced into top 8 on winners side after scoring a 2-0 win over Ishiguro “Raito” Tetsuya.
In Winners Semis, Shuton took a set off of Yutaro “Paseriman” Naguro, once again without dropping a game. Shuton’s first game loss of EVO Japan 2020 came in Winners Finals, as he beat Takuma “Tea” Hirooka 3-2. Still, Shuton finished the tournament in dominant fashion, beating Seisuke “Kome” Komeda 3-0 in Grand Finals.
EVO Japan 2020 marked Shuton’s first S-tier tournament victory in Smash Ultimate. It was also his first PGR-eligible tournament victory overall since Seoul Smash X in November. Shuton has displayed impressive consistency recently, placing in the top 3 of his past five tournaments.
Other results from Smash Ultimate at EVO Japan 2020
Kome had to score some upsets in order to become the EVO Japan 2020 runner-up. On his road to Winners Semis, Kome beat “Kie,” “Sigma,” and Sota “Zackray” Okada. After losing to Tea, Kome put on another solid showing in losers. He eliminated Raito and Paseriman and won his runback against Tea on his road to 2nd place.
Following his breakout performance at Sumabato SP 11, Paseriman had another strong showing here, placing 4th. Along the way, he defeated Yuki “Etsuji” Kajihara, “Jagaimo,” and Zackray.
Haoko “shky” Toshiki placed 7th at EVO Japan 2020, mirroring his Smash 4 breakout performance at EVO Japan 2018. His run started with an upset win over fellow Zero Suit Samus main Toshimasa “Choco” Hayakawa. Choco went on to lose to “takera” for 33rd, his first time missing top 32 since September 2016. Afterwards, shky continued his run with wins over Kaito “Shogun” Kawasaki, tk3, and Jagaimo.
Two notable American players, Mr. E and Jason “ANTi” Bates, attended this event, with both placing 17th. Mr. E took sets off of “kenkenpa” and Tomoki “kept” Ikeda. ANTi took sets off of Seima “Eim” Tomonoh, “AIR,” and takera.
