Shuto “Shuton” Moriya won Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Singles at Umebura SP 5 in Tokyo, Japan on Sept 28. This was his first significant tournament victory in Japan since Sumabato SP 5 in June. This also makes the tournament Shuton’s first tournament win of this PGRU season.
Shuton swept through the first two rounds of pools without dropping any games. Along the way, he beat strong opponents like “Gackt” and Seima “Eim” Tomonoh. Then, in Winners Quarters, Shuton defeated Toshimasa “Choco” Hayakawa using one of his secondary characters, Shulk.
Shuton won his set against “ProtoBanham” in Winners Semis of Umebura SP 5. He then earned a close 3-2 victory over Sota “Zackray” Okada’s R.O.B. in Winners Finals. However, Zackray retaliated with a 3-2 win over Shuton in Grand Finals after switching to Wolf. The second set of Grands similarly went to game five, but Shuton was able to earn the victory in their final set.
The top 3 from Umebura SP 5
Zackray had a strong 2nd place showing at Umebura SP 5. In round 2 pools, he won sets over Noriyuki Kirihara and Tsubasa “Tsu” Takuma. Notably, Zackray used both R.O.B. and Ridley in his set against Tsu. He then advanced into top 8 on winners side by beating Tomoki “kept” Ikeda.
Zackray defeated Takuto “Kameme” Ono 2-0 in Winners Semis. In Losers Finals, he earned a 3-0 win against Choco. Zackray played as Joker in both of those top 8 sets. This tournament marked a strong comeback for Zackray, considering he placed 33rd at Mainstage using Joker and R.O.B.
Choco placed 3rd at this event, his first top 3 finish at a Japanese major since Umebura SP in December. He defeated players like Tetsuhisa “Rain” Kosaka, Takuma “Tea” Hirooka, and “Sigma” to reach top 8 on losers side. Then, in top 8, Choco defeated “DIO”, Kameme, and Kirihara. All the while, he only dropped sets to the top 2 finishers at Umebura SP 5.
Other results
Kirihara had an incredibly strong run to 4th at Umebura SP 5. After losing to Zackray in round 2 pools, he was forced to go on a long losers run. Kirihara reached top 8 with wins over Kengo “KEN” Suzuki, Yuta “Nietono” Uejima, and “Jagaimo”. He then defeated kept and ProtoBanham to advance into top 4.
ProtoBanham placed 5th at this event, defeating “Somé”, KEN, and DIO. It is only his second PGR event of this season, following EVO 2019, where he also placed 5th. There, he defeated Luis “Lui$” Oceguera, Justin “Plup” McGrath, Eita “HIKARU” Hoshi, Ramin “Mr. R” Delshad, Kameme, and Paris “Light” Ramirez.
Jagaimo, a little-known Japanese Palutena player, made an unexpected run to Winners Quarters at this tournament. He advanced out of pools with upset victories over “YOC” and Naru “Lunamado” Doma. Jagaimo’s streak continued in round 2 pools, where he upset “Hayato.” and Yuki “Etsuji” Kajihara.
Interestingly, Mr. R attended Umebura SP 5 and placed 65th, suffering two upset losses. He lost his second match of the tournament to “Beji”, a Pac-Man player. Mr. R managed to make it into round 2 pools on losers side. However, he was ultimately eliminated by a R.O.B. main known as “Somo”.
