Isami “T” Ikeda has joined UYU as the organization’s first Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player. The announcement came from UYU’s Twitter account on Feb. 20.
UYU’s foray into competitive Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with T came less than 12 hours after Maister joined Spacestation Gaming. Between Melee and Ultimate, T is the fifth top-level Smasher to join an esports team since the beginning of February.
UYU enters the SSBU arena w/ the world’s best Link: UYU | T
ついに、UYUも、世界最強のリンクプレイヤー、UYU| T. と共に究極のアリーナに参戦することとなりました！
最高のスマッシュアルティメットプレイヤーの1人と日本のスマッシュコミュニティをサポートできることを楽しみにしています。 pic.twitter.com/aTQf5u4tXc
— UYU (@UYU) February 20, 2020
UYU entered the field of competitive Super Smash Bros. by signing Edgard “n0ne” Sheleby on Feb. 13. Shortly thereafter, n0ne placed 9th at Smash Summit 9, defeating Nico “Ryobeat” Rodriguez, Zaid “Spark” Ali, and Cody “iBDW” Schwab.
More about UYU | T
UYU’s T first rose to prominence back in Super Smash Bros for Wii U. Though Link was considered to be a low tier in that game, T still found great success with the character. He was the best Smash 4 Link main in the world, finishing as No. 46 on the PGR 100.
T maintained his status as the world’s best Link player going into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He finished at No. 47 on the Spring 2019 PGRU, Ultimate’s first global ranking. However, T ended up making a huge leap up the rankings during the Fall 2019 season.
T is currently ranked No. 15 in the world. He notably placed 5th at 2GG: Kongo Saga, along with other solid results in Japan. T boasted wins over Sota “Zackray” Okada, Samuel “Dabuz” Buzby, Takuto “Kameme” Ono, and Shuto “Shuton” Moriya.
Despite being No. 15 in the world, T is only ranked No. 11 on the Japan Player Rankings. This is a testament to Japan’s overall strength in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Though he finished outside of the top 10, T has still proven his ability to compete with the best in what is arguably the strongest region in the world.
