Smasher:Hurt
| Hurt | |
|---|---|
| |
| Character info | |
| Ultimate main | Snake |
| Other Ultimate character | Sonic |
| Retired Ultimate character | Greninja |
| Team info | |
| Sponsor(s) | ENTER FORCE.36 |
| Former sponsor(s) | flat-gaming |
| Rankings and results info | |
| Most recent ranking |  LumiRank Half Year 2025: 3rd |
| Best historical ranking | LumiRank 2024.1: 4th |
| Best tournament result | 1st / 924 at GENESIS X2 |
| Personal and other info | |
| Birth date | |
| Location | Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyushu 
|
Hurt is a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Snake player from Kyūshū, Japan who is considered the greatest Ultimate Snake player of all time, as well as one of the best Ultimate players in the world. Beginning his career as an online Greninja player on Smashmate, he started seriously competing offline in 2023 with Snake, when he became one of biggest rising stars of that year alongside SHADIC, winning a slew of superregional events throughout 2023, and culminating in his victory at Battle of BC 6 in 2024. Since then, he has won several other majors and is the only Ultimate Snake player to win more than one. His achievements include winning GENESIS X2, becoming the first Japanese player to win a non-Smash 64 GENESIS event, and being the sixth player to achieve the Ultimate Triple Crown. With his success, he is considered one of the best Japanese players in the post-pandemic metagame.
Tournament history[edit]
Smashmate beginnings[edit]
Similar to many of Japan's best players in the post-pandemic metagame, Hurt's Smash career began on the Japanese online ladder Smashmate, where he near-exclusively played Greninja. He immediately became one of the most successful Greninja players in Japan's online metagame, eventually claiming his first tournament victory at Maesuma #71 after defeating 8Mitsuki and Hero in top 8. Hurt frequently ranked in the top 20 on the Smashmate Rankings and eventually peaked at 3rd on the 26th rankings in the post-pandemic metagame. In addition, he became one of the few players to surpass a score of 2,500, and achieved a highest score of 2,522. With his performances, he was eventually ranked on kenniky's The Top 50 Smashmate Players of All Time for Smashmate seasons before season 22.
Despite his strong online tenure, Hurt's early offline events were largely under the radar, in part due to his infrequent appearances during the early years of the post-pandemic metagame. His first recorded offline event took place in late-2021, where he placed 5th at Fukuoka Smash Brothers KAGOSHIMA, while his first major, 2022's Kagaribi 7, ended in Hurt barely missing out on the Top 96, being defeated in Top 256 by Eim and Tsumusuto. As such, Hurt remained an unknown player outside of Japan.
Snake and Kagaribi 10[edit]
In 2022, Hurt eventually switched to playing Snake, though he initially kept Greninja as a secondary. It is with this combo where Hurt achieved his first notable offline performance at KOWLOON 4 in January 2023, ultimately finishing 7th. After floundering at a Maesuma TOP 11, Hurt finally broke out onto the national scene during Japan's 2023 Golden Week events. His first event was KOWLOON 5, where after being knocked into Losers by Moneyright, Hurt made a notable Losers run, eliminating players such as Yamanaction, before falling to Shuton in a game 5 set for 13th. He then had a relatively underwhelming 33rd at DELTA 4, and initially was projected to have an underwhelming run at Kagaribi 10 after being knocked into Losers early by Yez. Following this loss, however, Hurt embarked on a lengthy 9-set Losers run, taking out players such sssr, Oi, George, Ly, takera, and Taikei in either a 3-0 or 3-1 manner. Though his run was cut short by Dabuz, Hurt still went game 5 against him and bowed out at 13th as the #133 seed, the lowest seed to make top 16 at one of the largest events of the year.
This run became Hurt's breakout event and marked a sudden change in Hurt's career. Following Kagaribi 10, Hurt dominated or placed highly at every event he attended for the rest of the half-year season, winning his first LumiRank event at Midobura SP 3 as well as his first superregional at KOWLOON 6, where he defeated Atelier, Kome, and Yaura twice. His final run of the half-year season took place at the Indonesian event ACE-HIGH, which he won over the #1 seed Neo. This sudden explosion of strong performances and wins was enough for Hurt to be recognized on the LumiRank Mid-Year 2023; however, as his sudden rise mainly took place in the second half of the mid-year ranking, he was ultimately ranked in the 61st-70th tier.
The best Snake player and Japan's newest rising star[edit]
It wouldn't be long before Hurt would crack into the global top 50, especially as his string of amazing performances continued after the rankings released. Following his first B+ tier victory at Maesuma TOP 13.5 "U-22" and a 4th-place finish at KOWLOON 7, Hurt found the greatest performance of his season at DELTA 5. Though Kameme sent him into Losers in top 32, Hurt clawed his way into Grand Finals by going on an 8-set Losers run, where he finally defeated Shuton after losing to him in their last 3 sets, knocked out KEN, and defeated Miya, a contender for the best player in the world, in a matchup considered one of Snake's worst. Most impressive, however, was how Hurt defeated acola, recently crowned the best player in the world, in the first set of Grand Finals, and although acola was able to win the reset, the set still went to game 5. This not only began Hurt's dominance over acola and acola's main Steve, but also marked the greatest Snake performance in the post-pandemic metagame up to that point. With Hurt's wins over Japan's top echelon and him being just one game away from winning a supermajor, many players wondered whether Hurt had it in him to win a major, which would make him the first Snake player to win one since Ally won Pound 2019.
Though Hurt remained an incredibly strong player for the rest of the season, the major win never came to fruition, as he fell to 7th and 9th at his final 2 majors, Kagaribi 11 and Port Priority 8, respectively. He also failed to win another ranked event after Maesuma TOP 13.5, and notably came in 2nd at Chest 2, losing to ProtoBanham. In spite of these shortcomings, Hurt still managed to put up strong performances at all of them. At Kagaribi 11, he was once again knocked into Losers early, this time by Etsuji, but clawed his way to top 8, defeating Shuton once again, before falling to Zackray in game 5. He then traveled to his first North American event at Port Priority 8, where he defeated Lima but lost to Light in yet another game 5 before being eliminated by Umeki. These performances made him one of the biggest rising stars of the year, alongside SHADIC. As such, even in spite of the weaker start of the year, Hurt ended the LumiRank 2023 season at 19th, the highest player debut of that season, and making him the best Snake player in the world.
Rise to the top 10[edit]
Though he was not ranked in the top 10 on LumiRank, several alternative rankings, such as LunaRank Zenith, placed Hurt within that position in the second half of the year. Thus, many players believed that Hurt was already a top 10 player — he just needed to prove it on LumiRank. His first few majors of the season, however, seemed like nothing was going to change. At both KOWLOON 9 with Sumabato and Maesuma'U22, Hurt was knocked into Losers relatively early, leading him to claw his way through the Losers bracket to 4th in both instances. Though great performances, both of Hurt's early losses resulted in a relatively high upset factor, with his loss to Miru at the latter event being an upset factor of 8. This highlighted a repeating pattern in Hurt's tournament runs, in which he often started out slow before picking up as the bracket progressed, a pattern that had existed since Hurt's initial breakout event at Kagaribi 10.
This all changed at Hurt's second North American event, Battle of BC 6, where for the first time in his career, Hurt was able to enter top 8 at a major on the Winners side, staving off an upset by Toriguri right before it. Eventually, he made it into Winners Finals to fight Sparg0 in a highly anticipated set. Hurt dismantled Sparg0 3-0 before moving on to Grand Finals, where he eventually faced off against Sparg0 once again. Though their second set was closer, Hurt was still able to soundly defeat Sparg0 3-1, finally winning his first major. Emphasizing Hurt's incredible skill level despite his relatively-short career was Sparg0's statement after the set, where, despite having experience in the Snake matchup thanks to AlanDiss, Sparg0 mentioned how he did not know how to fight Hurt.[1]
The rest of the first 2024 season remained around the same for Hurt. He claimed additional major victories at Sumabato SP 48 and UltCore Third and placed 2nd at Kagaribi 12, where he double-eliminated acola but lost to Miya in Grand Finals despite being up 2-0 at one point, an unfortunate 6 to 9 Judge combo effectively reversing his fortunes. Though he had a few underperformances, including a disastrous 49th at Seibugeki 17 to end his season, players widely considered Hurt a shoe-in for the top 5, let alone top 10. Ultimately, Hurt was ranked 4th on the LumiRank 2024.1, making him the highest-ranking Snake player to date.
Unfortunately, perhaps foreshadowed by his run at Seibugeki, the second half of the season was not particularly kind to Hurt. Throughout the late-summer and early-fall, despite notable highs such as 3rd at Sumabato SP 50 and 5th at Supernova 2024, Hurt found himself often being upset early but failing to make a strong Losers run, a contrast to his performances earlier in the year. This began with a disappointing 25th at Kowloon 12 with Kagaribi, where he was upset by alice and before being eliminated by Lea. Following a few successful events, Hurt then found himself with three back-to-back underperformances at North American events, first with his run at Riptide 2024, where he lost to Candle and Snow for 17th; then at Litvitational 3, where he lost his Round Robin to Tea and Light and was eventually eliminated by Miya for 7th; and finally at Cirque 4, where he lost to Peabnut in Top 32 before being immediately eliminated by Dominator for 17th. Though Hurt ended off his season with two great performances at The Throne II and UltCore Fourth, the low points of his season, as well as a lack of major wins, ultimately left him outside the top 10 on the LumiRank 2024.2, and he was eventually ranked 12th.
Contender for the best[edit]
Though he had a weaker second half of 2024, Hurt was able to bring it back in his last few performances. This resurgence continued into the new season where he won the supermajor Smash Awesome!, the first supermajor of the LumiRank 2025 season and the last supermajor of 2024. This began Hurt's greatest season yet, as he was able to make Grand Finals at every ranked event he attended for the following 2 months. This string of performances included his run at GENESIS X2: following a game 5 set against Kola, which Hurt won in a reverse 3-0, he cruised through the entire top 8, winning every single match along the way. This included a devastating 6-0 on acola, whom Hurt defeated in Winners Finals and Grand Finals to win his first-ever P-tier. Not only was this considered the greatest Snake performance up to that point, it made Hurt an early frontrunner for the #1 position that season, or at least for the half-year season.
This success, however, was immediately cut short in March. Following revelations that Hurt had been playing online Smash on a delay mod, Hurt went into a self-imposed 2-month ban after Battle of BC 7, an event where he lost to Syrup's Ness and Monte for 9th. Hurt's ban meant that he was unable to attend the two P-tier events LVL UP EXPO 2025 and Kagaribi 13; the latter was especially devastating, as it went on to become the largest Ultimate tournament of all time. His season was further worsened with his performances at the events he attended after his ban was over; though he placed highly lower-stake events and majors, he found himself eliminated early at DELTA 11 for 33rd, his lowest placement of the season by far. While he ended the season with a respectable 7th place at Get On My Level: Forever, the ban and the low points of his season ended Hurt's chances to be #1 for the half-year season.
Fortunately, Hurt's performances rebounded in the second half of the year. Following an underperformance at S Factor 12, where he lost to Sisqui and MkLeo for 13th, Hurt returned to form by placing no lower than 4th at all of the events he attended after S Factor 12. These performances include winning UltCore 5th and SmashMania 2025, and he became the sixth player to achieve the Ultimate Triple Crown with his latter victory. However, he was never able to become a serious contender for the #1 for the entire year, as his chances were thwarted by Doramigi and Miya, two players who consistently made Grand Finals at every event they attended that year and had good records over Hurt: Miya never dropped a single set against Hurt while Doramigi won all but two of their sets. This gatekeeping was evident by Hurt finishing 3rd at 3 of the largest events of the second half of the year — Supernova 2025, Riptide 2025, and Kagaribi 14 — while Doramigi and Miya outplaced him at all 3 events. Nevertheless, these performances meant that, even in spite of the hiccup in the middle of the season, Hurt was still one of the best players in the world that year.
Rankings[edit]
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
LumiRank[edit]
| Ranking | Time period | Rank | Character(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LumiRank Mid-Year 2023 | December 19th, 2022 - July 23rd, 2023 | 61st-70th |  |
|
| LumiRank 2023 | December 19th, 2022 - December 17th, 2023 | 19th |  |
|
| LumiRank 2024.1 | December 18th, 2023 - July 15th, 2024 | 4th | |
|
| LumiRank 2024.2 | July 16th - December 16th, 2024 | 12th | |
|
| LumiRank Half Year 2025 | December 17th, 2024 - July 7th, 2025 | 3rd |  |
OrionRank/LumiRank Japan[edit]
| Ranking | Time period | Rank | Character(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LumiRank 2023 Japan | December 19th, 2022 - December 17th, 2023 | 10th | |
|
| LumiRank 2024 Japan | December 18th, 2023 - December 16th, 2024 | 3rd | |
Tournament placings[edit]
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Maesuma 12 |
March 10th, 2019 | 9th | — | — |
| Maesuma 17 |
March 26th, 2019 | 9th | — | — |
| Maesuma #34 |
June 4th, 2019 | 3rd | — | — |
| Maesuma #38 |
June 25th, 2019 | 9th | — | — |
| Maesuma #47 |
August 11th, 2019 | 5th | — | — |
| Maesuma #59 |
September 24th, 2019 | 3rd | — | — |
| Tamisuma SP 78 |
November 4th, 2019 | 9th | — | — |
| Maesuma #71 |
November 14th, 2019 | 1st | — | — |
| Maesuma #83 |
December 24th, 2019 | 5th | — | — |
| Tamisuma SP #102 |
January 25th, 2020 | 5th | — | — |
| Maesuma #94 |
February 2nd, 2020 | 2nd | — | — |
| Tamisuma SP #108 |
February 14th, 2020 | 3rd | — | — |
| Maesuma #94 |
February 13th, 2020 | 5th | — | — |
| Tamisuma SP #112 |
February 27th, 2020 | 3rd | — | — |
| Maesuma #101 |
March 13th, 2020 | 5th | — | — |
| Tamisuma SP #118 |
March 17th, 2020 | 3rd | — | — |
| Maesuma #104 |
March 22nd, 2020 | 5th | — | — |
| Tamisuma SP #132 |
April 28th, 2020 | 2nd | — | — |
| Tamisuma SP #133 |
May 1st, 2020 | 5th | — | — |
| Voyage Qualifier 2 |
May 3rd, 2020 | 9th | — | — |
| Tamisuma SP #134 |
May 7th, 2020 | 9th | — | — |
| Maesuma #118 |
May 20th, 2020 | 5th | — | — |
| Fukuoka Smash Brothers KAGOSHIMA | October 31st, 2021 | 5th | — | — |
| Tamisuma SP #377 |
March 3rd, 2022 | 1st | — | — |
| Kagaribi 7 | May 4th-5th, 2022 | 97th | — | — |
| Maesuma #333 |
May 20th, 2022 | 3rd | — | — |
| Tamisuma SP #411 |
May 24th, 2022 | 5th | — | — |
| Fukuoka Smash Brothers KAGOSHIMA II | June 18th, 2022 | 2nd | — | — |
| Kagaribi 8 | July 30th-31st, 2022 | 65th | — | — |
| KOWLOON 4 | January 21st, 2023 | 7th | — | — |
| Maesuma TOP 11 | March 5th, 2023 | 65th | — | — |
| Maesuma Champion Series 25 |
March 28th, 2023 | 5th | — | — |
| KOWLOON 5 | April 8th, 2023 | 13th | — | — |
| DELTA 4 | May 4th, 2023 | 33rd | — | — |
| Kagaribi 10 | May 6th-7th, 2023 | 13th | — | — |
| Maesuma Champion Series 26 |
May 20th, 2023 | 5th / 16 | — | — |
| Midobura SP 3 | May 27th, 2023 | 1st / 155 | — | — |
| KOWLOON 6 | June 17th, 2023 | 1st / 309 | — | — |
| tamasuma kyokkan 3 | July 15th, 2023 | 3rd / 157 | — | — |
| ACE-HIGH | July 22nd-23rd, 2023 | 1st / 114 | — | — |
| Maesuma TOP 13.5 "U-22" | August 5th, 2023 | 1st / 314 | — | — |
| KOWLOON 7 | August 26th, 2023 | 4th / 298 | — | — |
| DELTA 5 | September 23rd-24th, 2023 | 2nd / 292 | — | — |
| Kagaribi 11 | October 7th-8th, 2023 | 7th / 1,472 | — | — |
| Chest 2 | October 28th, 2023 | 2nd / 106 | — | — |
| Port Priority 8 | November 11th-12th, 2023 | 9th / 710 | 9th / 165 | ApolloKage |
| Grand Slum 16 | December 9th, 2023 | 4th / 256 | — | — |
| R smash | December 16th, 2023 | 1st / 128 | — | — |
| KOWLOON 9 with Sumabato | January 13th-14th, 2024 | 4th / 895 | — | — |
| Chest 3 | January 20th, 2024 | 1st / 99 | — | — |
| Higobura SP 24 | January 28th, 2024 | 1st / 132 | — | — |
| Maesuma'U22 | March 23rd, 2024 | 4th / 262 | — | — |
| The Pregame - BOBC6 Pre-Event | March 28th, 2024 | 3rd / 173 | — | — |
| Battle of BC 6 | March 29th-31st, 2024 | 1st / 494 | 7th / 98 | Gorioka |
| Maesuma'GRAND WARS | April 27th, 2024 | 3rd / 318 | — | — |
| DELTA 8 | May 3rd, 2024 | 9th / 516 | — | — |
| Kagaribi 12 | May 5th-6th, 2024 | 2nd / 2,030 | — | — |
| KOWLOON 11 | May 11th, 2024 | 1st / 278 | — | — |
| Sumabato SP 48 | June 15th, 2024 | 1st / 340 | — | — |
| Chest 4 | June 29th, 2024 | 1st / 83 | — | — |
| UltCore Third | June 30th, 2024 | 1st / 320 | — | — |
| ITSUKUSHIMA 4 | July 6th-7th, 2024 | 1st / 127 | — | — |
| Seibugeki 17 | July 15th, 2024 | 49th / 295 | — | — |
| Kowloon 12 with Kagaribi | July 27th-28th, 2024 | 25th / 1,428 | — | — |
| Dr Insanos Bonfire | August 7th, 2024 | 5th / 24 | — | — |
| Supernova 2024 | August 8th-11th, 2024 | 5th / 2,281 | 5th / 497 | Miya |
| Maesuma'U22 2 | August 17th, 2024 | 2nd / 274 | — | — |
| Sumabato SP 50 | August 24th, 2024 | 3rd / 384 | — | — |
| Riptide 2024 | September 6th-8th, 2024 | 17th / 1,024 | 1st / 145 | Miya |
| Umebura SP 11 | September 14th-15th, 2024 | 5th / 1,023 | — | — |
| Sumabato SP 51 | September 22nd, 2024 | 9th / 375 | — | — |
| KOWLOON 13 | October 5th, 2024 | 1st / 309 | — | — |
| Litvitational 3 | October 18th, 2024 | 7th / 16 | — | — |
| Cirque 4 | October 19th-20th, 2024 | 17th / 145 | 1st / 29 | Miya |
| The Throne II | November 8th-10th, 2024 | 4th / 16 | — | — |
| UltCore Fourth | November 24th, 2024 | 5th / 367 | — | — |
| THE SHIBUYA "FIST" TOURNAMENTS 2 | December 14th, 2024 | 4th / 16 | — | — |
| Smash Awesome! | December 21st-22nd, 2024 | 1st / 722 | — | — |
| Luminosity Makes BIG Moves 2025 | January 3rd-5th, 2025 | 2nd / 832 | 33rd / 124 | Sho |
| Maesuma'HIT Championship | February 1st, 2025 | 2nd / 32 | — | — |
| KOWLOON 14 | February 8th, 2025 | 1st / 227 | — | — |
| Pre-Genesis X2 at Guildhouse (Thursday) | February 13th, 2025 | 3rd / 159 | — | — |
| GENESIS X2 | February 14th-16th, 2025 | 1st / 924 | 3rd / 178 | Miya |
| Kyokkan 9 | March 8th, 2025 | 1st / 241 | — | — |
| KOWLOON 15 with SUMABATO OIKOMI | March 16th, 2025 | 1st / 29 | — | — |
| Blast Zone #170 Pre Local | March 21st, 2025 | 1st / 71 | — | — |
| GAUNTLET OF GLORY IV | March 22nd, 2025 | 1st / 190 | — | — |
| Battle of BC 7 | March 28th-30th, 2025 | 9th / 433 | 1st / 89 | Miya |
| Maesuma'LANDMARK 6 | June 21st, 2025 | 1st / 80 | — | — |
| Sumabato SP 59 | June 22nd, 2025 | 2nd / 341 | — | — |
| DELTA 11 | June 28th, 2025 | 33rd / 443 | — | — |
| Get On My Level: Forever | July 4th-6th, 2025 | 7th / 751 | 2nd / 127 | Shuton |
| S Factor 12 | July 26th-27th, 2025 | 13th / 1,051 | — | — |
| Supernova 2025 | August 7th-10th, 2025 | 3rd / 2,432 | 3rd / 434 | Miya |
| UltCore 5th | August 16th-17th, 2025 | 1st / 423 | — | — |
| Umebura SP 12 | August 23rd-24th, 2025 | 4th / 987 | — | — |
| Riptide 2025 | September 5th-7th, 2025 | 3rd / 952 | 4th / 169 | Miya |
| INNOSUMA!! GRAND | September 15th, 2025 | 1st / 96 | — | — |
| SmashMania 2025 | September 27th-28th, 2025 | 1st / 416 | — | — |
| KOWLOON 17 | October 18th, 2025 | 1st / 248 | — | — |
| Sumabato SP 63 | October 26th, 2025 | 3rd / 346 | — | — |
| Kagaribi 14 | November 2nd-3rd, 2025 | 3rd / 1,520 | — | — |
Temporary ban[edit]
On March 27th, 2025, a Twitter user made a post questioning whether Hurt was using a delay mod on his Switch in a match uploaded to YouTube weeks prior. When investigated, Hurt confirmed that he had modded two of his Switches but only used those mods when playing private matches and did not use the mods for competition. Following this revelation, Hurt chose to ban himself from offline play and Smashmate for two months, beginning from April 1st and ending on May 31st, and as such de-registered from every event during his ban, which included Kagaribi 13.[2] In addition, an apology from both Hurt and his esports team, ENTER FORCE.36, were posted onto the latter's Twitter account.[3]
Though mods are heavily discouraged in Japan, they are relatively common in other regions, especially in North America. As such, Hurt's delay mod controversy was met with confusion from audiences outside of Japan, many of whom were also upset at the ban due to Hurt being the leading player for #1 at that time. Conversely, several players in Japan believed the punishment was not severe enough.[4]
Gameplay videos[edit]
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
- Battle of BC 6 Grand Finals - E36 | Hurt (Snake) Vs. FaZe | Sparg0 (Cloud)
- Kagaribi 12 Losers Finals - E36 | Hurt (Snake) Vs. ZETA | acola (Steve)
- DELTA 5 Losers Finals - E36 | Hurt (Snake) Vs. FENNEL | Miya (Mr. Game & Watch)
- Supernova 2024 Winners Quarters - E36 | Hurt (Snake) Vs. LG | Tweek (Diddy Kong)
- Smash Awesome! Grand Finals - E36 | Hurt (Snake) Vs. RC | Shuton (Olimar)
- Port Priority 8 Top 32 - E36 | Hurt (Snake) Vs. ZETA | Tea (Pac-Man)
- Supernova 2024 Top 24 Qualifier - E36 | Hurt (Snake) Vs. Stride | Zomba (R.O.B.)
- DELTA 5 Losers Top 8 - E36 | Hurt (Snake) Vs. SBI | KEN (Sephiroth, Sonic)
