In an environment as volatile as online Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, merely meeting expectations can be a daunting task for highly rated players. Even so, the three highest-seeded players have all managed to place their seeds at the SWT NA Northwest Ultimate Online Qualifier.
Here are more details about Tanner “SKITTLES!!” Jordan’s road to first place and other major takeaways from the tournament.
SKITTLES!! wins the SWT NA Northwest Ultimate Online Qualifier with few hiccups
The fact that SKITTLES!! won the SWT NA Northwest Qualifier isn’t exactly surprising. After all, he’s a seasoned online veteran, currently ranked No. 12 on the Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v6. Still, SKITTLES!! managed to win with few hiccups along the way, despite the high level of competition he faced.
SKITTLES!! had a comfortable run to top six even though he had to deal with unusual match-ups. The Young Link main defeated Jose “JDV” Gallegos’ Pac-Man 3-0, Jessie “JeJaJeJa” Valdez’ Kirby 3-1 and Dawson “Big D” Perron’s Ice Climbers 3-1.
In winners finals, SKITTLES!! tried using Toon Link against Eric “Pandarian” Lund’s Wolf. After Pandarian won the first two games, SKITTLES!! switched to Dr. Mario while Pandarian gave Toon Link a try. The counterpick war worked in Pandarian’s favor as they secured a 3-0 victory and sent SKITTLES!! to the losers bracket.
SKITTLES!! beat Jaiden “Middy” Vong 3-1 in a losers finals set. In grand finals, SKITTLES!! and Pandarian set all counterpicks aside and played Young Link versus Wolf for every single game. SKITTLES!! made masterful use of Young Link’s Bombs to stall during his offstage recoveries, while also using his projectiles to both wall out Pandarian and set up for his own combos and kill options. As a result, SKITTLES!! won both grand finals sets 3-0 and claimed first place at the SWT NA Northwest Qualifier.
won northwest SWT who want me
— SKITTLES!! (@Skittles_YL) May 10, 2021
Pandarian shows off multiple characters en route to second place
Pandarian is best known for their Pokémon Trainer, which they’d previously used to become a top 50 player offline. Although Squirtle is worse online, Pandarian still made use of the hard hitting Ivysaur and Charizard in order to qualify for the Regional Finals at the SWT NA Northwest Qualifier.
With Pokémon Trainer, Pandarian earned 3-1 wins over both Connor “SpamCop” Vooys and Renton “rm8” McGlashan. After confirming their spot in the top six, Pandarian then decided to give their Wolf a chance to shine.
Even as their Wolf struggled to find combos, Pandarian’s strong neutral game with the character led them to a 3-2 victory over Dor “Exodia” Goldreich in winners semis. In addition, Pandarian used both Wolf and Toon Link to win a single set over SKITTLES!!, the tournament’s eventual champion.
wifi young link is too powerful i cant whiff punish anything
wp to skittles and ggs all
finally done playing for today, felt like my wolf did pretty well but its hard to look good with no combos (delay xd)
time to root for my boy ludo to make it in the lcq 😈
— Clarity | Pandarian 💫 (@Pandarianssb) May 10, 2021
Middy runs through the losers bracket to finish in third place
Unlike the top two seeds, number three seed Middy dipped into the losers bracket relatively early as she lost a five-game set to Exodia in winners quarters. However, she still managed to make a losers run to finish in third place. She qualified for the Regional Finals by defeating Bryan “Opsine” Jhutti 3-2 and Reyhan “Ludo” Ticehurst 3-0.
Middy’s best win came in top six, where her Pac-Man narrowly defeated number four seed Big D 3-2. Afterward, Middy opted to rely on secondary characters for the remainder of the tournament. She faced Dom “Domnique” Williams’ R.O.B. using characters like Enderman, Yoshi and Chrom.
In Game 5 of that set, Domnique picked Jigglypuff against Middy’s Ganondorf. After Domnique looped a pair of Sings into a Rest that failed to kill, Middy punished with a Warlock Punch that ended the game and the set altogether unexpectedly. Middy ultimately lost to SKITTLES!! in losers finals but not before showing off her Falco, Mr. Game & Watch, Banjo & Kazooie and Dark Samus.
Alright for real though, I made it all the way to 3rd in the Northwest SWT event and I had a lot of fun.
I'm happy not only because I qualified but also bc I was able to show what I'm capable of too (with a sprinkle of my random fundies thrown in too hehe). https://t.co/iYjqpqLBMR
— 💜 Clarity | Middy 💜 (@MiddyRibbon) May 10, 2021
Looking ahead
The following players have qualified for the NA West Ultimate Regional Finals, where they will join the eight players from the NA Southwest Qualifier:
- SKITTLES!!
- Pandarian
- Middy
- Domnique
- Big D
- Exodia
- Andrew “Silver” Doschak
- Justice “Justice” Cappalonga
The Smash World Tour will resume with the NA Southeast Ultimate Online Qualifier on May 15.
