| Smash Summit | |
|---|---|
| Info | |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Region | California, United States |
| Format | Double elimination |
 winners
|
 Armada (1, 2, 3, Spring 2017) Hungrybox (5, 7, 9) Mew2King (6) Axe (8) Zain (10 Online) Mango (11) iBDW (12, 13)
|
 winners
|
 MkLeo (1, 2) Tweek (3) Sparg0 (4)
|
| Most successful player(s) | Armada (Melee 1, 2, 3, Spring 2017)
|
The Smash Summit series, starting with Smash Summit in 2015, is a series of national-level invitationals focusing on Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Summit tournaments span several days, with singles and doubles on the final days. The first days feature various side events focusing on its main Smash game as well as other games, in addition to other activities such as Mafia, all of which is streamed on Beyond the Summit's Twitch channel.
17 Summits have taken place so far (13 for Melee and 4 for Ultimate). Smash Summit 14 and Smash Summit 15 are planned for Melee on November 3rd-6th, 2022[1] and June 2023 respectively.[2] Smash Ultimate Summit 5 and Smash Ultimate Summit 6 are planned for Ultimate on September 15th-18th, 2022[1] and March 2023 respectively.[2] Although a crossover Summit between the two games was planned for 2020, it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the idea was scrapped.[3][4]
Format and scheduling
Typically, 16 different players are selected to participate in each Smash Summit. 8 to 10 players are automatically invited based on their placement in preceding major tournaments, or based on power rankings such as SSBMRank. The other competitors qualify through either a voting phase or through qualifiers. In the former, fans can buy merchandise or donate cash, which grants them the opportunity to cast votes for certain players; the money then contributes to the event's prize payout. At the end of each voting deadline, two players are eliminated, while starting from the third voting round, two players are invited; this repeats until all vote-ins have been selected. Although the invitation process remained roughly the same, there has been irregularities such as in Smash Summit 10 Online, where the majority of players qualified through qualifiers.
Smash Summit presents itself as a unique opportunity for fans to watch the players interact with each other on a personal level. The competitors are invited to commentate other sets and give interviews after each set. Each Summit has its own theme and art design, often based around a real-life event or holiday occurring at a similar time.
Smash Summit tournaments typically run over four days, from Thursday through Sunday. The first day is often referred to as a "Media Day", as it is mostly dedicated to filming comedic skits with the invited players, which are aired throughout the event, as well as lighter side events. Pool play is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, along with doubles, side brackets, and non-Smash-related events. The final singles bracket is played out on Sunday.
Smash Summit has used multiple tournament formats, but pool play generally consists of either a swiss or round-robin format. The players are then usually seeded into winners' or losers' for the final bracket based on their performance. The final bracket is a typical double-elimination bracket, with the winner being crowned on Sunday evening.
Side brackets include doubles brackets, commentator brackets, secondary/low-tier brackets, Squad Strike, and unique rulesets (such as the "swag bracket", where fans vote for the "most entertaining" player to advance to the next round). Non-Smash events include other video games, such as Mario Party; party games, such as Mafia; and athletic competitions.
Champions
Melee singles winners
| Year | Event | Player | Tag | Character(s) | Runner-up | Character(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Smash Summit | Adam Lindgren | Armada |
  |
Mango |
|
| 2016 | Smash Summit 2 | Adam Lindgren | Armada |
|
Hungrybox |
|
| 2016 | Smash Summit 3 | Adam Lindgren | Armada |
|
Hungrybox |
|
| 2017 | Smash Summit Spring 2017 | Adam Lindgren | Armada |
|
Hungrybox |
|
| 2017 | Smash Summit 5 | Juan Manuel DeBiedma | Hungrybox |
|
Armada |
|
| 2018 | Smash Summit 6 | Jason Zimmerman | Mew2King |
  |
Armada |
|
| 2018 | Smash Summit 7 | Juan Manuel DeBiedma | Hungrybox |
|
Leffen |
|
| 2019 | Smash Summit 8 | Jeffrey Williamson | Axe |
 |
Wizzrobe |
|
| 2020 | Smash Summit 9 | Juan Manuel DeBiedma | Hungrybox |
|
Plup |
|
| 2020 | Smash Summit 10 Online | Zain Naghmi | Zain |
|
Mango |
|
| 2021 | Smash Summit 11 | Joseph Manuel Marquez | Mango |
|
Zain |
|
| 2021 | Smash Summit 12 | Cody Schwab | iBDW |
|
Mango |
|
| 2022 | Smash Summit 13 | Cody Schwab | iBDW |
|
Plup |
|
| 2022 | Smash Summit 14 | TBD | TBD |
Melee Doubles Winners
| Year | Event | Player | Tag | Character(s) | Player | Tag | Character(s) | Runner-up | Character(s) | Runner-up | Character(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Smash Summit | Kevin Toy | PewPewU |
|
Zachary Cordoni | SFAT |
|
Armada |
|
Mew2King |
|
| 2016 | Smash Summit 2 | Adam Lindgren | Armada |
|
Jason Zimmerman | Mew2King |
|
Hungrybox |
|
Plup |
|
| 2016 | Smash Summit 3 | Adam Lindgren | Armada |
|
Jason Zimmerman | Mew2King |
|
SFAT |
|
PewPewU |
|
| 2017 | Smash Summit Spring 2017 | Adam Lindgren | Armada |
|
Jason Zimmerman | Mew2King |
|
Leffen |
|
 Ice |
|
| 2017 | Smash Summit 5 | Adam Lindgren | Armada |
|
William Hjelte | Leffen |
|
Mew2King |
|
Plup |
|
| 2018 | Smash Summit 6 | Adam Lindgren | Armada |
|
William Hjelte | Leffen |
|
SFAT |
|
Mango |
|
| 2018 | Smash Summit 7 | Jason Zimmerman | Mew2King |
|
Justin McGrath | Plup |
|
Hungrybox |
|
Bananas |
|
| 2019 | Smash Summit 8 | Joseph Marquez | Mango |
|
Johnny Kim | S2J |
|
Plup |
|
Zain |
|
Ultimate singles winners
| Year | Event | Player | Tag | Character(s) | Runner-up | Character(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Smash Ultimate Summit | Leonardo Lopez Perez | MkLeo |
   |
Dabuz |
 
|
| 2019 | Smash Ultimate Summit 2 | Leonardo Lopez Perez | MkLeo |
  |
Samsora |
 
|
| 2021 | Smash Ultimate Summit 3 | Gavin Dempsey | Tweek |
 |
MkLeo |
 
|
| 2022 | Smash Ultimate Summit 4 | Edgar Valdez | Sparg0 |
 |
Light |
|
| 2022 | Smash Ultimate Summit 5 | TBD | TBD |
Players with multiple appearances
Melee
| Tag | Appearances |
|---|---|
| Mango |
13 |
| Hungrybox |
12 |
| Plup |
12 |
| Axe |
11 |
| SFAT |
10 |
| Leffen |
9 |
| Wizzrobe |
8 |
| Zain |
8 |
 aMSa |
7 |
| Mew2King |
7 |
 n0ne |
7 |
| S2J |
7 |
| Armada |
6 |
| iBDW |
6 |
| Shroomed |
6 |
| PewPewU |
5 |
| Westballz |
5 |
| Ginger |
4 |
| KoDoRiN |
3 |
| Lucky |
3 |
| Magi |
3 |
| 2saint |
2 |
| Duck |
2 |
| Hax |
2 |
| HugS |
2 |
| Ice |
2 |
| moky |
2 |
 Sora |
2 |
| Spark |
2 |
| Swedish Delight |
2 |
Ultimate
| Tag | Appearances |
|---|---|
| Dabuz |
5 |
| MkLeo |
5 |
| Light |
4 |
| Tweek |
4 |
| Cosmos |
3 |
 Glutonny |
3 |
| Maister |
3 |
| Sparg0 |
3 |
| VoiD |
3 |
| Zackray |
3 |
| Armada |
2 |
| Kola |
2 |
| Leffen |
2 |
| Marss |
2 |
| Nairo |
2 |
| Protobanham |
2 |
| Riddles |
2 |
| Samsora |
2 |
| Tea |
2 |
Trivia
- Mango and Plup have played against each other at every Smash Summit for Melee, with the exception of Smash Summit 6, Smash Summit 12, and Smash Summit 13.
- Hungrybox and aMSa have played at every in-person Smash Summit for Melee starting with Smash Summit 5, with the exception of Smash Summit 13.
- Hungrybox has won every time they've played at odd-numbered Summits, whereas the reverse is true for aMSa at even-numbered Summits.
- Mango and Hungrybox have played against each other at every odd-numbered Smash Summit for Melee starting with Smash Summit 7.
- Only six players - Armada, Leffen, Mew2King, Mango, Plup, and ESAM - have attended a Smash Summit for both Melee and Ultimate.
- The winner of each offline Smash Summit has been invited to the following Summit with the exception of Smash Ultimate Summit 3, where the winner Tweek qualified for Smash Ultimate Summit 4 at Mainstage 2021 before anyone was invited.
- Olimar is the only character with a main in every Smash Ultimate Summit, being played by Dabuz in the first 4 Ultimate Summits, and Myran in Smash Ultimate Summit 5.
- Dabuz has also played Rosalina & Luma in every Smash Ultimate Summit, though he didn't main her until after the first Smash Ultimate Summit.
- Tweek is the only person to place both last and first in a given game's Smash Summit, placing 13th at Smash Ultimate Summit 2 before winning Smash Ultimate Summit 3.
- Outside of the first Smash Ultimate Summit, Dabuz has placed 9th at every Smash Ultimate Summit
References