Gonzalo “ZeRo” Barrios won the Smash Masters side event at Super Smash Con 2019. Smash Masters is an event that rewards players who are skilled at every Super Smash Bros. game. Competitors play a best-of-five set where every “game” in the set is a best-of-three set on a different Smash game.
Four competitors were invited to compete in this year’s Smash Masters bracket. They were ZeRo, Saleem “Salem” Young, Leonardo “MkLeo” Perez, and Larry “Larry Lurr” Holland. This event was even commentated by Smashers from a variety of different Smash backgrounds. The commentators were Anthony “Logic” Moorman, Devin “reslived” Gajewski, Jason “Darkhorse” Brody, and Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman.
ZeRo won his first match against Salem 3-1. He won their Melee set 2-0, while Salem responded with a 2-0 win in Brawl. ZeRo finished the set with a 2-1 win in Smash 64 and a 2-0 win in Smash 4. Fortunately for ZeRo, he did not have to face Salem in Smash Ultimate, where Salem would have had the clear advantage.
In the Smash Masters Finals, ZeRo faced off against Larry Lurr. He secured a 3-0 sweep in rather dominant fashion. ZeRo’s victory included 2-0 wins in Smash 64, Melee, and Smash 4. Once again, ZeRo avoided Smash Ultimate, where he isn’t an active competitor and all the other Smash Masters entrants are.
Road to Smash Masters Finals
Larry Lurr’s appearance in the Smash Masters Finals came after a somewhat unexpected victory over MkLeo. The set started with a predictable 2-0 from Larry Lurr in Melee. Larry Lurr’s Smash 4 victory, however, was a bit more surprising. He won the set 2-1, defeating both MkLeo’s Cloud and his Bayonetta.
Larry Lurr concluded his Semifinals victory by beating MkLeo 2-1 in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He won a Wolf ditto game one but lost to MkLeo’s Wario game two. However, MkLeo switched to Hero for game three, which Larry Lurr was able to defeat rather handily.
ZeRo has now joined the ranks of those who have won a Smash Masters exhibition at Super Smash Con. Mew2King has been the most successful at these events, having won in both 2016 and 2018. Justin “Wizzrobe” Hallett won the event in 2017. As a result, ZeRo is the first person to win Smash Masters who was not primarily a Melee player. However, it is worth noting that no predominantly Melee players competed at this Smash Con’s exhibition.
