Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a crossover fighting video game for the Nintendo Switch. Players control one of over 80 characters drawn from Nintendo and third-party game franchises, and try to knock their opponents out of an arena. Each player has a percentage meter which rises when they take damage; characters become easier to knock into the air or out of bounds as the percentage increases. Like with all other Super Smash Bros. games, Ultimates competitive scene features both Singles (1v1) and Doubles (2v2) tournament, with Ultimate introducing a new form of 1v1 competition named "Squad Strike" in which the players switch between different characters during a same game; Singles competition is largely seen as the most prestigious form of Super Smash Bros. competition.
Games in the Super Smash Bros. franchise have been played competitively since the early 2000s, but the inclusion of Super Smash Bros. Melee at the 2013 edition of Evolution Championship Series (Evo), a major multi-game tournament, was seen as a turning point; after Evo 2013, competitive Smash saw an increase in tournaments, media coverage, and attention from Nintendo. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the fifth officially released Smash Bros. title; all five have been played competitively, in addition to a fan-made mod of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Project M. Many of the top-ranked Ultimate players were highly ranked in previous Smash Bros. games, in particular Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Ultimate was released on December 7, 2018, to critical acclaim, and broke sales records in the United States and Europe en route to becoming the best-selling fighting game of all time. The release of Ultimate saw an increase in the number of people entering and watching tournaments, leading to an increase in available prize money compared to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. However, unlike many other developers, Nintendo does not contribute funds to tournament prize pools. As a result, the prize pools for Ultimate are still significantly smaller than those of other fighting games. The Ultimate tournament at Evo 2019 had just over 3,500 entrants, which made it the largest offline tournament held in Smash Bros. franchise history. However, its prize pool of $35,300 - $10 from each player's registration fee - was smaller than that of Street Fighter V, which had only 1,951 entrants, but whose developer Capcom contributed $50,000 to the prize pool. Additionally, Japanese law significantly limits cash prizes for esports events held in that country. Some Japanese tournaments use legal loopholes to provide cash prizes, while others offer non-cash prizes, including tickets for players to attend American tournaments. Nintendo received widespread criticism after Ultimate was the only game at Evo Japan 2020 not to offer a cash prize. While other games' developers joined the Japan Esports Union, allowing them to offer prizes, Nintendo did not, and instead awarded the winner a Switch controller emblazoned with a gold Smash Bros. logo. In a January 2020 interview, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa indicated that the company did not intend to support esports, stating that the company's focus was on inclusiveness, and their ability to create games that many people want to play, without the need for prize money, was one of Nintendo's strengths.
Smash Bros. tournaments are generally seeded so that the best players do not face off against each other until the later stages of a tournament. The most authoritative ranking of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate players is the Panda Global Rankings Ultimate (PGRU). The PGRU groups tournaments into one of four tiers – S, A, B, and C – based on the number of entrants, with S being the most prestigious tier and C the least. Tournaments can also qualify for higher tiers by having a large number of highly ranked players, even if the overall number of entrants is lower. Tournaments held outside of the United States require fewer entrants to qualify for higher tiers, owing to their smaller competitive communities. S-tier and A-tier events are frequently called "Majors", with S-tier tournaments sometimes called "Supermajors"; winning a Major is largely considered the most prestigious accomplishment in Ultimate. This list contains all PGRU Majors – S- and A-tier events – from the release of Ultimate through the present.
PGRU S-tier tournaments
The following is a list of results from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournaments considered S-tier by the Panda Global Rankings Ultimate:
+Tournament LocationDateEntrantsPrize pool Singles Doubles1st2nd1st2ndGenesis 6 Oakland, California, United States February 2–3, 20192,105$20,890 MkLeo VoiD Dark Wizzy Salem Light MarssFrostbite 2019 Detroit, Michigan, United States February 22–24, 20191,239 Tweek MkLeo Marss Tweek ESAM MVDUmebura Japan Major Tokyo, Japan May 1–2, 20191,015¥0 Kameme ProtoBanham colspan=2 MomoCon 2019 Atlanta, Georgia, United States May 23–26, 20191,280$10,000 MkLeo Tweek Ally Samsora Marss MkLeoSmash'N'Splash 5 Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, United StatesMay 31 – June 2, 20191,610 MkLeo Samsora Dark Wizzy Nairo Ally Mr. REvo 2019 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States August 2–4, 20193,529$35,300 MkLeo Tweekcolspan=2 Super Smash Con 2019 Chantilly, Virginia, United States August 8–11, 20192,708 MkLeo Samsora Light Marss Javi MkLeoShine 2019 Worcester, Massachusetts, United States August 23–25, 2019882 Samsora MkLeo Dark Wizzy MkLeo Light MarssMainstage Ontario, California, United States September 20–22, 2019273$5,000 Nairo MkLeo Glutonny MkLeo Nairo SamsoraThe Big House 9 Detroit, Michigan, United States October 4–6, 20191,017$10,170 zackray Dabuz Shuton zackray Light Marss2GG: Kongo Saga La Mirada, California, United States December 7–8, 2019909 MkLeo Tweek Glutonny MkLeo Maister zackrayLet's Make Big Moves New York City, New York, United States January 3–6, 2020650$6,350+ Nairo Dabuz Dark Wizzy Light Marss SamsoraEvo Japan 2020 Tokyo, Japan January 24–26, 20201,819¥0 Shuton Kome colspan=2 Genesis 7 Oakland, California, United States January 24–26, 20201,699$20,566 Marss MkLeo Light Marss Glutonny MkLeoFrostbite 2020 Detroit, Michigan, United States February 21–23, 20201,280$12,800 MkLeo Maister Light Marss Maister zackrayKagaribi#4 Tokyo, Japan June 26–27, 2021386¥0 ProtoBanham zackray colspan=2 Temple: Hermès Edition Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France September 4–5, 2021863€8,630 Tea Glutonny colspan=2 Riptide Sandusky, Ohio, United States September 10–12, 20211,024$10,240 MkLeo Tweek Lui$ Scend Epic_Gabriel Sparg0Low Tide City Round Rock, Texas, United States September 10–12, 20211,024$11,010 MkLeo Dabuz Lui$ Scend Javi MkLeoKagaribi#5 Tokyo, Japan October 20, 2021512¥0 zackray Shuton colspan=2 Mainstage 2021 Ontario, California, United States November 12–14, 2021830$8,300 MkLeo Sparg0 ESAM MVD Light Marss Smash World Championship 2021 Orlando, Florida, United States December 17–19, 202140$75,000 MkLeo Cosmos colspan=2 Official Smash World Tour websiteCollision 2022 North Bergen, New Jersey, United States March 12–13, 2022361$11,250 Sparg0 Tweek Glutonny MkLeo Chag Sparg0 Genesis 8 San Jose, California, United States April 15–17, 20221,959$29,385 MkLeo Glutonny Chag Sparg0 BigBoss MkLeoPound 2022 Laurel, Maryland, United States April 22–24, 2022280 Glutonny MkLeo colspan=2 Kagaribi#7 Tokyo, Japan May 4-5, 2022769¥0 acola Asimo colspan=2 MomoCon 2022 Atlanta, Georgia, United States May 4-5, 2022666$14,990 Light Dabuz Lui$ Scend Goblin Zomba COLOSSEL 2022 Lyon, France April 15–17, 20221,024$21,735 MkLeo Maister colspan=2 Double Down 2022 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States July 8-10, 2022987$14,805 ProtoBanham MkLeo Lui$ Scend BigBoss MkLeoSmash Factor 9 Puebla, Puebla, Mexico July 29-31, 2022681 TBD MkLeo Dabuz BigBoss MkLeo Maister SkyjayAnnouncement of the new Smash Factor 9 dateSuper Smash Con 2022 Chantilly, Virginia, United States August 11-14, 20221,347 TBD Onin Maister MkLeo Sisqui Light MarssThe Big House 10 Detroit, Michigan, United StatesOctober 7-9, 2022636TBD Riddles Light Maister Skyjay Light MarssLudwig Smash Invitational Las Vegas, Nevada, United StatesOctober 21-23, 202232$52,502 MkLeo acola colspan=2 Let's Make Moves Miami Miami, Florida, United StatesOctober 28-30, 2022467 acola Onin acola Onin Ned Dark WizzyMainstage 2022 Ontario, California, United StatesDecember 2-4, 2022512 Sparg0 Tweek Lui$ Scend Ouch!? Blacktwins13Let's Make BIG Moves 2023 New York, New York, United StatesJanuary 6-8, 2023790 Tweek Sparg0 Sparg0 Chag BigBoss MkLeo Genesis 9 San Jose, California, United StatesJanuary 20-22, 20231215 MkLeo MuteAce Sparg0 Chag MuteAce Scend
PGRU A-tier tournaments
The following is a list of results from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournaments considered A-tier by the Panda Global Rankings Ultimate: