Smasher:Merrick
| Merrick | |
|---|---|
| |
| Character info | |
| Smash 64 main | Fox |
| Melee main | Sheik |
| Other Melee character | Jigglypuff |
| Brawl main | Snake |
| Smash 4 main | Bayonetta |
| Retired Smash 4 character | Luigi |
| Ultimate main | Bayonetta |
| Retired Ultimate character | Joker |
| Team info | |
| Former sponsor(s) | Starlight Gaming, Reach Gaming, Riptide Gaming |
| Crew(s) | Merrick United |
| Rankings and results info | |
| Most recent ranking |  West Michigan Power Rankings: 6th  West Michigan Power Rankings: 8th |
| Personal and other info | |
| Location | Michigan 
|
Merrick is a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Bayonetta player from Michigan. He was formerly ranked 8th on the West Michigan Power Rankings, and has notable wins over Onin, BooBear, Suspect, Ryoku, Eden, Adorable Knight, Dux, and Chan. He is considered the best Bayonetta player in Michigan, and notably co-mained Joker since his release before retiring him around 2020 for solo Bayonetta.
Merrick played Bayonetta upon her release in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and has wins over Gomakenpi, Miloni, BooBear, Ryoku, Nebula, Ksev, Nom, and Adorable Knight. He was ranked 6th on the final West Michigan Smash 4 Power Rankings. Compared to most Bayonetta players at the time, Merrick played her incredibly aggressively; often forcing opponents to shield in order to grab and set them up for big strings to kill off the top or side of the blastzones. He also documented the fact you could cancel the lag off Afterburner Kick using a very precise frame tight heel slide the very first frame she touches the ground in a now unlisted video, dubbed a heel slide cancel. Before Bayonetta's release, he solo mained Luigi before retiring him for Bayonetta, citing it was due to his exploitable recovery, especially as DLC was released. He was known for a very unorthodox Luigi, often using Fireball as a pressure tool on shield to run up and shield break with Super Jump Punch, as well as utilizing fireballs as a way to safely make it back from the ledge. He helped lab out and recorded all the new strings Luigi had since his nerf to brain storm new combo potential and help develop Luigis metagame through Smashboards.
Merrick solo mained Snake throughout Brawl's tournament life in the West Michigan scene since its release. He notably took a game off Ally at "Oh, Did I Win? 2", but lost 1-2 in the ditto. He also went to close sets against Chia at The Big House 10, and was forced to use Meta Knight for the first time in a tournament. There was some controversy over Merrick's style of play with Snake in his region, with many going out of their way to harass him because he played it very safe and kept a barrage of projectiles constantly out to look for openings. It was not uncommon for him to have had a C4 planted, both Hand Grenades on the field or in his hand, a down smash claymore, and a Remote Missile lingering all at once. For these reasons, many found him very toxic to try to get in on, and opponents were often prone to timeouts.
Merrick co-mains Sheik and Jigglypuff in Melee. Despite not being his primary game, he still secured decent results at the few events he did attend, having wins against the likes of Asiago and Nyte at locals.
Alongside competing regularly at locals and traveling to majors primarily in the Midwest, he is also prominently known for kickstarting the tournament scene in West Michigan when Brawl, Smash 4, and Ultimate were first released. He regularly ran events for Calder Clash, Tempest, Rehearsal, Culmination, and Starlight Road. He was also a commentator for local and some regional livestreams, notably providing commentary at STAMPEDE.
In the Fall of 2023 Merrick has taken a massive hiatus from competing in Ultimate, due to the primary venue he helped run for years moving up north and citing in mid-2024 the lack of majors in the state of Michigan hurt his motivation a lot. It does seem he still attends infrequently, though with a higher focus on Pokémon Unite and competitive Mario Kart World as evident by his bio as of 2025.
Tournament placings[edit]
Super Smash Bros. Melee[edit]
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crashing Counters | September 25th, 2018 | 1st | — | — |
| Starlight Road: Melee Edition | January 4th, 2022 | 1st | — | — |
| Starlight Road: Infinity V1 | March 22nd, 2022 | 1st | — | — |
| Starlight Road: Infinity V2 | March 29nd, 2022 | 1st | — | — |
| All Star Battle Royale | October 24th, 2022 | 1st | — | — |
| All Stars Colosseum #23 | November 7th, 2022 | 2nd | — | — |
Super Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]
|
This Smasher article or section lacks a complete results table. However, the results it lacks may be lost to history. If they're able to be found, you can help SmashWiki by adding the missing results. The editor who added this tag elaborates: Brawl's active competitive life |
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collateral Damage #9 | January 12th, 2017 | 1st | — | — |
| Collateral Damage #22 | April 13th, 2017 | 1st | — | — |
| All Out Attack | December 5th, 2018 | 1st | — | — |
| Starlight Road: Infinity V2 | March 29nd, 2022 | 1st | — | — |
| The Big House 10 | October 7th-9th, 2022 | 2nd | — | — |
| The Big House 11 | October 20th-22nd, 2023 | 9th | — | — |
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U[edit]
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Tom Nook Experience | January 31st, 2015 | 4th | — | — |
| Swift Neo City | August 20th, 2015 | 1st | — | — |
| Midnight Clash #1 | August 25th, 2015 | 1st | — | — |
| Midnight Clash #2 | September 5th, 2015 | 2nd | — | — |
| Tech Or Treat | October 29th, 2015 | 7th | 4th | J The man |
| Grand Valley Grand Prix 6 | October 31st, 2015 | 4th | — | — |
| Grand Valley Grand Prix 7 | January 16th, 2016 | 3rd | — | — |
| Signs Of Love | January 6th, 2017 | 3rd | 2nd | Adorable Knight |
| Zero Requirem | March 25th, 2017 | 33rd | — | — |
| Michigan Arcadian Smash Festival | November 18th, 2017 | 33rd | 5th | K1lllaaG |
| Pizza Time 3 | April 28th, 2018 | 25th | 7th | K1lllaaG |
| The Arcadian 3 | June 16th, 2018 | 17th | 9th | K1lllaaG |
| Curtain Call 2: Encore | September 1st, 2018 | 9th | 13th | Canuk |
| Rebirth X | September 15th, 2018 | 25th | 9th | Gemini |
| The Big House 8 | October 5th-8th, 2018 | 65th | 13th | K1lllaaG |
| Collateral Damage #105 Singles - Everyone Is Here! | November 14th, 2018 | 2nd | 2nd | Dux |
| Super Smash Con 2019 | August 9th-11th, 2019 | 65th | — | — |
| The Big House 11 | October 20th-22nd, 2023 | 2nd | — | — |
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rehearsal | December 11th, 2018 | 5th | 4th | Goat |
| Frostbite 2019 | February 9th-11th, 2019 | 385th | 65th | K1lllaaG |
| Super Smash Con 2019 | August 9th, 2019 | 513th | — | — |
| Culmination | September 14th, 2019 | 9th | 9th | Bhart |
| Little Big House 5 | October 3rd, 2019 | 49th | — | — |
| The Big House 9 | October 4th, 2019 | 257th | 65th | MachoMan |
| Arctic Clash | November 28th, 2019 | 3rd | — | — |
| Revenge Of The Fifth Seed | January 8th, 2020 | 5th | — | — |
| Bronco Beatdown | March 7th, 2020 | 4th | — | — |
| The Velvet Room I | August 12th, 2020 | 13th | — | — |
| The Velvet Room II | September 2nd, 2020 | 3rd | — | — |
| LFG Smash Ultimate | October 25th, 2020 | 3rd | — | — |
| Grand Revival #5 | July 8th, 2021 | 7th | — | — |
| Grand Revival #17 | October 29th, 2021 | 5th | — | — |
| End Of Stardom | November 2nd, 2021 | 3rd | — | — |
| Starlight Rumble Night | March 15th, 2022 | 1st | — | — |
| Starlight Road: Infinity V1 | March 22nd, 2022 | 2nd | — | — |
| Starlight Road: Infinity V2 | March 29nd, 2022 | 5th | — | — |
| Grand Revival #30 | April 29th, 2022 | 5th | — | — |
| STAMPEDE | June 4th, 2022 | 33rd | 7th | Goat |
| All Star Colosseum #5 | June 7th, 2022 | 3rd | — | — |
| All Star Colosseum #8 | July 1st, 2022 | 1st | — | — |
| All Star Colosseum #11 | July 19th, 2022 | 2nd | — | — |
| All Star Colosseum #13 | August 16th, 2022 | 3rd | — | — |
| Shield Break #1 | August 25th, 2022 | 7th | 5th | CK47 |
| All Star Colosseum #15 | August 30th, 2022 | 2nd | — | — |
| Shield Break #2 | September 1st, 2022 | 5th | — | — |
| All Star Colosseum #16 | September 5th, 2022 | 3rd | — | — |
| The Big House 10 | October 7th-9th, 2022 | 197th | — | — |
| All Stars Colosseum #23 | November 7th, 2022 | 2nd | — | — |
| Christmas Curd Bash | December 12th, 2022 | 1st | — | — |
| Starlight Road #10 | April 18th, 2023 | 1st | — | — |
| JAFAX 2023 | June 9th-11th, 2023 | 1st | — | — |
| Starlight Road #21 | July 4th, 2023 | 1st | — | — |
| The Big House 11 | October 20th-22nd, 2023 | 65th / 507 | — | — |
| JAFAX 2024 | June 20th-22nd, 2024 | 2nd | — | — |
| JAFAX 2025 | June 27th-29th, 2025 | 1st | — | — |
Trivia[edit]
- Merrick is one of the oldest members in the West Michigan Smash scene, having competed in Brawl since 2009 and helped organize tournaments for the community ever since then.
- In 2009, Merrick had won a big Brawl local over a Meta Knight player, with the tourney having over one hundred dollars in pot bonus. There was a big incident where at some point during friendlies after the tournament, someone managed to steal his earning from his bag of belongings. It was later found very shortly in the bathroom trash bin at the venue.
- Merrick was known within the community for wearing various winter hats at the same time for large scale tournaments and majors. Of these, the Deadmau5 one was the most notoriously worn.
- Merrick holds a record within the West Michigan Smash 4 community as the only player to maintain a slight winning consecutive record over Miloni with 5-4 sets in his favor in season 9, despite being ranked much lower than Miloni at number one.
