Smasher:ChuDat
ChuDat, also known as simply Chu, is an American smasher from Falls Church, Virginia who mains the Ice Climbers in Melee. He is widely considered to be the greatest Ice Climbers player of all time. His name originates from the phrase, 'true that,' as he stated in The Smash Brothers documentary, due to his obsession of the phrase. In the early times of the Melee scene, Chu joined the legendary crew H2YL, and regularly attended tournaments with them. ChuDat is notably the only Ice Climbers player to have won a major Melee tournament, with his win at Pound 2 in 2007 over Mew2King in grand finals. He also notably defeated top player and Jigglypuff main Hungrybox at Zenith 2012 to take 3rd place at the tournament. He was formerly ranked 5th on the MD/VA Melee Power Rankings in 2018 and 63rd on SSBMRank 2022. He was previously 2nd on the RetroSSBMRank.
In Brawl, he is considered to be the best Kirby player and was ranked 4th on the final MD/VA Brawl Power Rankings and 49th on the SSBBRank 2014. He also played Kirby in Project M, primarily during v3.02, and was considered one of the best Kirby players in the mod, as well as a top 20 player in 2012 and 2014, retroactively. He was ranked 5th on the MD/VA Project M Power Rankings and 94th on the Project M/+ All Time Top 100.
He also played Smash 4 competitively (albeit not to the same extent as Melee), maining Cloud, and primarily entered doubles. His best performance in Smash 4 was 13th in The Big House 6 doubles, where he teamed with Puppeh, notably defeating komorikiri and SuperGirlKels. ChuDat previously mained Sheik, and was formerly ranked 9th on the MD/VA Smash 4 Power Rankings when he mained her.
Tournament history[edit]
Earlier history[edit]
In addition to piquing the interests of the community at large about the Ice Climbers' metagame, Chu has also spearheaded the local community in Northern Virginia by hosting "NoVa Bi-weekliez !" at his parents' home. The tournaments attracted a wide variety of top level competition including Mew2King, Chillin and Azen. His biggest original tournament placing in early Smash was OC2, where he made an incredible loser's run.
He had been known to frequently visit Southern California to spend time with the Hoang family, which includes Ken and Manacloud. For several years, ChuDat preferred to represent the West Coast due to his friendships and close ties to California, but this put stress on his relationship with the other members of H2YL.
CEO and EVO[edit]
After a few years on the West Coast, and around when Brawl was released, he moved back to MD/VA, where he once again became one of the top smashers in the area and reestablished ties with the rest of the MD/VA scene. Chu Dat won a large number of the weekly S@X tournaments in Brawl, Project M, and Melee. In Brawl and Project M specifically, he became the top Kirby main. Due to his frequent results, he was sponsored by Mortality eSports along with Axe. However, Mortality dropped both sponsorships shortly before CEO 2015, which left Chu with little cash. For EVO specifically, a crowd fund was sponsored by Melee Hell (or MH), which sponsored enough cash for Chu Dat to be able to attend EVO 2015. He lost eventually in winners to Ice's Fox in round 2 pools. He then made an impressive loser's run, beating players including Silent Wolf and Westballz and winning a nail-biting set vs HugS to get top 8 before finally losing to Mango in losers, netting 7th at then the largest tournament in history.
2017: Rise of ChuDat[edit]
ChuDat started the year off with an impressive run at GENESIS 4, where he defeated Shroomed in winners but lost to Hungrybox in a close game 5 set. In losers, he defeated Crush and Wizzrobe before losing to Leffen to finish at 9th place.
After his performance at GENESIS 4, he was voted into Smash Summit Spring 2017. He placed 7th at the tournament, notably upsetting Axe and 4-stocking Mango in the last game of their set.
ChuDat was later invited to Smash Rivalries, where he defeated Mango for a second time before being defeated by Wizzrobe and Druggedfox to place 5th.
Three weeks later, he travelled to DreamHack Austin 2017, where he had an impressive run. He notably beat Mango for the 3rd time in 2017 and strongly defeated Mew2King's Peach with Jigglypuff and the Ice Climbers (the latter of which was a four-stock) and winning the set 3-1. ChuDat took Hungrybox to a game 5 in Grand Finals, but ultimately lost to place 2nd. He then attended Battle of BC 2, where he won the entire event and double eliminated Mew2King. All these great performances lead him to be ranked at 7th on the Summer 2017 SSBMRank.
After ChuDat's performance during the first half of the year, he placed 17th at EVO 2017, 9th at DreamHack Atlanta 2017, and 13th at Super Smash Con 2017, taking sets off the likes of Ginger and HugS.
At Shine 2017, he earned his first top 8 performance of the second half of the year, defeating dizzkidboogie and Spark 3-0 and Westballz 3-1. In Losers' Top 8, he proceeded to defeat Leffen 3-2. However, a discrepancy in the use of UCF mandated that the set would be replayed. Leffen won the rematch 3-2, leaving ChuDat to place at 7th.
After Shine 2017, ChuDat continued his strong performances, with 3rd at DreamHack Montreal 2017 and 4th at Syndicate 2017. At GameTyrant Expo 2017, ChuDat was eliminated by Syrox and aMSa, leaving him at his worst performance of the year at 17th place. ChuDat then placed 13th at The Big House 7 and 5th at DreamHack Denver 2017, and ended the year at 11th on the 2017 SSBMRank.
In 2019, the Melee community was considering to ban wobbling. He has stated that wobbling is definitely an unfair mechanic. However, he believes if it were ever to get banned, it should only be illegal against top tier characters. Although this controversy has been a huge debate over the years, to help Melee seem more interesting to watch, this has been heavily considered since the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Rankings[edit]
Super Smash Bros. Melee[edit]
RetroSSBMRank[edit]
| Ranking | Time period | Rank | Character(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RetroSSBMRank 2004 | January 2004 - December 2004 | 5th |  |
|
| RetroSSBMRank 2005 | January 2005 - December 2005 | 2nd | |
|
| RetroSSBMRank 2006 | January 2006 - December 2006 | 4th | |
|
| RetroSSBMRank 2007 | January 2007 - December 2007 | 6th | |
|
| RetroSSBMRank 2008 | January 2008 - December 2008 | 6th | |
|
| RetroSSBMRank 2009 | January 2009 - December 2009 | HM | |
|
| RetroSSBMRank 2012 | January 2012 - December 2012 | 7th | |
SSBMRank/MPGR[edit]
| Ranking | Time period | Rank | Character(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSBMRank 2013 | January 2013 - December 2013 | 22nd | |
|
| SSBMRank 2014 | January 2014 - December 2014 | 32nd | |
|
| SSBMRank 2015 | January 2015 - December 2015 | 35th | |
|
| SSBMRank 2016 | January 2016 - December 2016 | 22nd | |
|
| Summer 2017 SSBMRank | December 2016 - June 2017 | 7th |  |
|
| SSBMRank 2017 | December 2016 - December 2017 | 11th | |
|
| MPGR 2018 | December 2017 - December 2018 | 46th | |
|
| Summer 2019 MPGR | December 2018 - July 2019 | 28th | |
|
| MPGR 2019 | December 2018 - December 2019 | 23rd | |
|
| SSBMRank 2022 | March 1st - December 18th, 2022 | 63rd | |
MD/VA Power Rankings[edit]
| Ranking | Rank | Character(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2014 | 5th |  |
|
| April 2015 | 6th | |
|
| Fall 2015 | 4th | |
|
| Spring 2016 | 5th | |
|
| Fall/Winter 2016 | 1st | |
|
| Winter 2018 | 5th | |
Super Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]
SSBBRank[edit]
| Ranking | Time period | Rank | Character(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSBBRank 2014 | January 2013 - June 2014 | 49th |  |
MD/VA Power Rankings[edit]
| Ranking | Rank | Character(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2012 | 1st | |
|
| August 2012 | 4th | |
|
| November 2012 | 6th | |
|
| December 2013 | 4th | |
Project M[edit]
All Time Project M/Project+ Rankings[edit]
| Ranking | Time period | Rank | Character(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project M/+ All Time Top 100 | February 19th, 2011 - October 26th, 2024 | 94th | |
MD/VA Power Rankings[edit]
| Ranking | Rank | Character(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2014 | 1st | |
|
| July 2014 | 4th | |
|
| September 2014 | 2nd | |
|
| Spring 2015 | 5th | |
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U[edit]
MD/VA Power Rankings[edit]
| Ranking | Rank | Character(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 2015 | 4th |  |
|
| May 2015 | 9th | |
Tournament placings[edit]
Super Smash Bros.[edit]
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MELEE-FC Diamond | July 12th-14th, 2007 | 17th | — | — |
| Apex 2010 | August 6th-8th, 2010 | 13th | — | — |
| Apex 2014 | January 17th-19th, 2014 | 25th | — | — |
| Apex 2015 | January 31st-February 1st, 2015 | — | 17th | Valoem |
Super Smash Bros. Melee[edit]
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DCSS#1 | July 12th, 2003 | 2nd | — | — |
| DCSS#2 | September 20th, 2003 | 4th | 2nd | JTanic |
| Game Over | January 10th, 2004 | 9th | 4th | JTanic |
| Tournament Go 6 | August 21st-22nd, 2004 | 3rd | — | — |
| DCSS#3 | September 25th, 2004 | 5th | — | — |
| Gettin' Schooled | October 14th, 2004 | 1st (tie) | — | — |
| MLG DC 2005 | January 29th-30th, 2005 | 3rd | 5th | Manacloud |
| BOMB 3 | March 9th, 2005 | 1st | — | — |
| Gettin' Schooled 2 | June 25th-26th, 2005 | 2nd | 9th | sheikssbm |
| MELEE-FC3 | July 10th-12th, 2005 | 3rd | 10th | Manacloud |
| MLG Nashville 2005 | August 27th-28th, 2005 | 1st | 4th | Oro |
| MLG Seattle 2005 | September 10th-11th, 2005 | 3rd | — | — |
| SMYM 4 | September 24th, 2005 | 2nd | — | — |
| MLG Los Angeles 2005 | October 14th-16th, 2005 | 4th | 2nd | Azen |
| BOMB 4 | November 12th, 2005 | 1st | 7th | Chillin |
| MLG Atlanta 2005 | November 25th-27th, 2005 | 3rd | 5th | Mike G |
| MLG Chicago 2005 | December 16th-18th, 2005 | 9th | 2nd | Ken |
| Pound | January 28th, 2006 | 1st | 1st | Chillin |
| MLG New York 2005 | February 25th-26th, 2006 | 2nd | 3rd | Manacloud |
| Champ Combo: Yayuhzzz Edition | March 25th, 2006 | 2nd | 2nd | Manacloud |
| MLG New York Opener 2006 | April 21st-23rd, 2006 | 3rd | 9th | Manacloud |
| MLG Dallas 2006 | May 19th-21st, 2006 | 2nd | 4th | Manacloud |
| MLG Anaheim 2006 | June 23rd-25th, 2006 | 3rd | 4th | Manacloud |
| MELEE-FC6 | July 13th-15th, 2006 | 4th | — | — |
| MLG Chicago 2006 | July 21st-23rd, 2006 | 2nd | 9th | Manacloud |
| Zero Challenge 2 | August 15th-17th, 2006 | 2nd | 2nd | Manacloud |
| MLG Orlando 2006 | August 25th-27th, 2006 | 2nd | 9th | Manacloud |
| C3 September 2006 | September 2nd, 2006 | 3rd | 2nd | Kaiser GL |
| MLG New York Playoffs 2006 | October 13th-15th, 2006 | 3rd | 7th | Manacloud |
| SMASHTALITY 2 | October 21st, 2006 | 1st | 2nd | Mew2King |
| NorCal Tournament 2 | October 28th, 2006 | — | 5th | Manacloud |
| MLG Las Vegas 2006 | November 17th-19th, 2006 | 7th | 2nd | Manacloud |
| CAOTIC's Farewell Biweekly | December 9th, 2006 | 2nd | 1st | Manacloud |
| FORT1 | December 23rd, 2006 | 1st | 5th | Eskimo |
| EGL DC | January 20th, 2007 | 3rd | 2nd | KM |
| ChuDat Birthday Biweekly 1/27 | January 27th, 2007 | 7th | 1st | Mew2King |
| C3 February | February 3rd, 2007 | 7th | 1st | Azen |
| Cataclysm 3 | March 3rd-4th, 2007 | 3rd | 3rd | Forward |
| San Diego Triweekly XII | March 10th, 2007 | 2nd | 2nd | Manacloud |
| Fight Club | March 17th, 2007 | 2nd | 1st | Forward |
| Smash4Life: Wii 4ever | April 7th, 2007 | 1st | — | — |
| UMBC III | April 28th, 2007 | 2nd | 2nd | Inui |
| MLG Long Island 2007 | May 5th-6th, 2007 | 5th | 2nd | Chillin |
| C3 Malicious May | May 12th, 2007 | 1st | 1st | Chillin |
| UMBC IV | May 19th, 2007 | 2nd | 1st | Chillin |
| EVO East | May 25th-27th, 2007 | 5th | — | — |
| Smashtality III | June 2nd-3rd, 2007 | 1st (split) | 1st | Chillin |
| Pound 2 | June 16th-17th, 2007 | 1st | 13th | Chillin |
| C3 July Jackpot | July 7th, 2007 | 1st | — | — |
| MELEE-FC Diamond | July 12th-14th, 2007 | 3rd | 2nd | Chillin |
| Zero Challenge 3 | July 20th-22nd, 2007 | 3rd | 4th | Mew2King |
| EVO West | July 27th-29th, 2007 | 3rd | — | — |
| C3 August | August 18th, 2007 | 3rd | 2nd | Tope |
| EVO World 2007 | August 24th-26th, 2007 | 5th | — | — |
| C3 September | September 22nd, 2007 | 9th | 1st | Azen |
| Super Champ Combo | September 29th-30th, 2007 | 5th | 7th | Manacloud |
| C3 October | October 20th, 2007 | 4th | 1st | Azen |
| UMBC VI | October 27th, 2007 | 5th | 2nd | Azen |
| Viva La Smashtaclysm | November 10th-11th, 2007 | 2nd | 3rd | KoreanDJ |
| Shell Shocked | November 17th, 2007 | 5th | 9th | Level 9 CPU |
| C3 January 2008 | January 12th, 2008 | 2nd | 2nd | Triad |
| Pound 3 | February 2nd-3rd, 2008 | 5th | 4th | Chillin |
| C3 February 2008 | February 23rd, 2008 | 2nd | — | — |
| TGMTSBCO | June 7th-8th, 2008 | 1st (split) | 5th | HAT |
| ChuDatz Final Biweekly | August 3rd, 2008 | 13th | 2nd | Mew2King |
| ChuDat's Special Haunted Halloween Biweekly | November 1st, 2008 | 1st (split) | 1st | Forte |
| Shell Shocked III: Balboa | December 6th, 2008 | 5th | 4th | Voodoo |
| Revival of Melee | March 7th-8th, 2009 | 5th | 7th | Azen |
| Apex 2009 | May 9th-10th, 2009 | 3rd (Split) | 4th | Plank |
| HERB2 | July 25th-26th, 2009 | 5th | 1st | Mew2King |
| Shell Shocked IV | October 10th, 2009 | 1st | 3rd | DoH |
| Shell Shocked V | November 7th, 2009 | 2nd | 3rd | DoH |
| Pound 4 | January 16th-18th, 2010 | 25th | 5th | Vidjogamer |
| Shell Shocked VI | March 6th, 2010 | 3rd | 3rd | Eggm |
| Shell Shocked VIII | May 8th, 2010 | 2nd | 1st | Chillin |
| CEO 2010 | June 5th-6th, 2010 | 4th | 1st | Hungrybox |
| Apex 2010 | August 6th-8th, 2010 | 13th | 17th | Chillin |
| Shell Shocked X | November 6th, 2010 | 2nd | 1st | Chillin |
| Pound V | February 19th-21st, 2011 | 17th | 5th | Redd |
| Zenith 2011 | May 28th-29th, 2011 | 7th | 9th | Nando |
| Shell Shocked XI | October 28th, 2011 | 1st | — | — |
| Apex 2012 | January 6th-8th, 2012 | 33rd | 5th | Kage |
| Shell Shocked XII | February 11th, 2012 | 2nd | 1st | Boss |
| Shell Shocked XIII | May 18th, 2012 | 1st | 3rd | Boss |
| Zenith 2012 | May 26th-27th, 2012 | 3rd | 9th | Teczero |
| Bar Wars | October 26th, 2013 | 2nd | 2nd | Chillin |
| Apex 2014 | January 17th-19th, 2014 | 33rd | 9th | Chillin |
| Shell Shocked XIV | March 8th, 2014 | 1st | 1st | Chillin |
| eSmashLANd | March 22nd, 2014 | 1st | 1st | Chillin |
| Smash @ Clarendon 4/25/14 | April 25th, 2014 | 1st | — | — |
| Squabbles | May 3rd, 2014 | 5th | — | — |
| Smash @ Clarendon 5/23/14 | May 23rd, 2014 | 1st | — | — |
| Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 5/27 | May 27th, 2014 | 1st | — | — |
| SKTAR 3 | May 31st-June 1st, 2014 | 9th | 9th | ZoSo |
| Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 6/3 | June 3rd, 2014 | 3rd | — | — |
| Smash @ Clarendon 6/6/14 | June 6th, 2014 | 1st | — | — |
| Thanks For Playing 7 | June 7th, 2014 | 5th | 2nd | DP |
| MLG Anaheim 2014 | June 20th-22nd, 2014 | 29th | 4th | Chillin |
| CEO 2014 | June 27th-29th, 2014 | 9th | 3rd | Chillin |
| Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 6/17 | June 17th, 2014 | 3rd | — | — |
| EVO 2014 | July 11th-13th, 2014 | 17th | 13th | Chillin |
| Smash @ Xanadu Tuesday 7/22 | July 22nd, 2014 | 4th | — | — |
| Smash @ Clarendon 8/1/2014 | August 1st, 2014 | 1st | — | — |
| Mortality eSports Tournament | August 2nd, 2014 | 1st | 2nd | Level 9 Luigi |
| Smash @ Clarendon 8/29/2014 | August 29th, 2014 | 7th | — | — |
| Shell Shocked XVI | October 11th, 2014 | 2nd | 2nd | Chillin |
| Apex 2015 | January 30th-February 1st, 2015 | 25th | 4th | Chillin |
| CEO 2015 | June 26th-28th, 2015 | 25th | 7th | Ken |
| EVO 2015 | July 17th-19th, 2015 | 7th | — | — |
| Super Smash Con 2015 | August 6th-9th, 2015 | 17th | — | — |
| Paragon Los Angeles 2015 | September 5th-6th, 2015 | 25th | — | — |
| Smash @ Xanadu Wednesdays 1/20 | January 20th, 2016 | 1st | — | — |
| Smash @ Xanadu Wednesdays 2/17 | February 17th, 2016 | 3rd | — | — |
| Midwest Mayhem | March 19th, 2016 | 1st | 3rd | Scythe |
| Pound 2016 | April 2nd-3rd, 2016 | 17th | 7th | Chillin |
| CEO 2016 | June 24th-26th, 2016 | 7th | 9th | Chillin |
| EVO 2016 | July 15th-17th, 2016 | 17th | 5th | Chillin |
| Super Smash Con 2016 | August 11th-14th, 2016 | 17th | 5th | Chillin |
| Heir 3 | August 19th-21st, 2016 | 3rd | 4th | Reaper |
| The Big House 6 | October 7th-9th, 2016 | 17th | 4th | Chillin |
| UGC Smash Open | December 2nd-4th, 2016 | 17th | 9th | Professor Pro |
| GENESIS 4 | January 20th-22nd, 2017 | 9th | 13th | Chillin |
| Smash Summit Spring 2017 | March 2nd-5th, 2017 | 7th | 7th | HugS |
| Smash Rivalries | April 8th-9th, 2017 | 5th | 7th | Wizzrobe |
| HFLAN Melee Edition 2017 | April 15th-16th, 2017 | 2nd | 2nd | Chillin |
| Inheritance | April 22nd, 2017 | 1st | 2nd | r0cket_wizard |
| DreamHack Austin 2017 | April 28th-30th, 2017 | 2nd | 13th | Chillin |
| Royal Flush | May 12th-14th, 2017 | 13th | 13th | Chillin |
| Battle of BC 2 | June 3rd-4th, 2017 | 1st | 1st | Ryan Ford |
| GENESIS: RED | July 9th, 2017 | 9th | 4th | Chillin |
| EVO 2017 | July 14th-16th, 2017 | 17th | — | — |
| DreamHack Atlanta 2017 | July 21st-23rd, 2017 | 9th | 5th | Chillin |
| Alaska Smash Bash 2017 | July 29th, 2017 | 1st | — | — |
| Super Smash Con 2017 | August 10th-13th, 2017 | 13th | 7th | Chillin |
| Shine 2017 | August 25th-27th, 2017 | 7th | 17th | Medz |
| DreamHack Montreal 2017 | September 8th-10th, 2017 | 3rd | 2nd | Chillin |
| Syndicate 2017 | September 23rd-24th, 2017 | 4th | 2nd | Wizzrobe |
| GameTyrant Expo 2017 | September 29th-October 1st, 2017 | 17th | 4th | Hungrybox |
| The Big House 7 | October 6th-8th, 2017 | 13th | 4th | Hungrybox |
| DreamHack Denver 2017 | October 20th-22nd, 2017 | 5th | 1st | Hungrybox |
| MD/VA Melee Invitational | November 25th, 2017 | 7th | — | — |
| GENESIS 5 | January 19th-21st, 2018 | 33rd | 2nd | Hungrybox |
| Cave 02/5/18 | February 5th, 2018 | 1st | — | — |
| Xanadu - End of an Era | February 24th-25th, 2018 | 3rd | 2nd | Chillin |
| Full Bloom 4 | March 24th-25th, 2018 | 25th | 2nd | Hungrybox |
| Respawn 6 | March 31st-April 2nd, 2018 | 1st | 1st | Ice |
| Pound Underground | May 12th-13th, 2018 | 13th | 2nd | HAT |
| Battle Arena Melbourne 10 | May 18th-20th, 2018 | 2nd | 1st | Noxus |
| DreamHack Austin 2018 | June 1st-3rd, 2018 | 4th | 3rd | Ka-Master |
| Lighthouse | July 13th-15th, 2018 | 1st | 3rd | Xardov |
| EVO 2018 | August 3rd-5th, 2018 | 25th | — | — |
| Super Smash Con 2018 | August 9th-12th, 2018 | 65th | 13th | Rishi |
| Shine 2018 | August 24th-26th, 2018 | 13th | 4th | Hungrybox |
| The Big House 8 | October 5th-7th, 2018 | 13th | 2nd | Hungrybox |
| The Mang0: Homecoming | November 10th-11th, 2018 | 13th | 4th | Westballz |
| DreamHack Atlanta 2018 | November 16th-18th, 2018 | 3rd | — | — |
| GENESIS 6 | February 1st-3rd, 2019 | 17th | 2nd | Hungrybox |
| Pound 2019 | April 19th-21st, 2019 | 7th | 3rd | Hungrybox |
| Smash 'N' Splash 5 | May 31st-June 2nd, 2019 | 13th | 5th | Hungrybox |
| The Kid, the Goat, and the Mang0 | June 8th-9th, 2019 | 9th | 1st | Swedish Delight |
| EVO 2019 | August 2nd-4th, 2019 | 2nd | — | — |
| Super Smash Con 2019 | August 8th-11th, 2019 | 9th | 3rd | Hungrybox |
| Shine 2019 | August 23rd-25th, 2019 | 4th | 25th | Level 9 Luigi |
| Mainstage | September 20th-22nd, 2019 | 13th | 4th | Hungrybox |
| GENESIS 7 | January 24th-26th, 2020 | 33rd | 13th | Westballz |
Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 4  |
January 29th-30th, 2022 | 17th | — | — |