When Nairoby “Nairo” Quezada went down 0-2 to Paris “Light” Ramirez in the loser’s semifinal of Collision 2019, few members of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament’s in-venue audience believed he’d be able to make the comeback. After all, the New Jersey player was using his main, Palutena, and with his Lucina secondary looking shaky at best, he didn’t seem to have any other options—until he pulled out his Ganondorf.
Using the powerful but slow warlock—considered a bottom-tier character by many members of the Smash scene—Nairo won one game, then another. As the buzzing of the crowd slowly grew to a roar, he pulled off a two-stock comeback in the set’s final game, closing it out with an earthshaking dropzone down aerial.
This wasn’t Nairo’s first big win with a low-tier character; in Smash 4, he’s won sets over top-level players such as Gonzalo “ZeRo” Barrios and Eric “ESAM” Lew using Bowser and Dr. Mario. But this win, a reverse 3-0 in loser’s semis of a massive tri-state regional event, was arguably the NRG member’s most high-profile low-tier victory ever.
In the end, Nairo was unable to ride his momentum to a tournament victory, falling to Tyler “Marss” Martins in the second set of grand finals. But his accomplishment was undeniably the highlight of the event, and it will go down as a classic moment in Smash Ultimate history. Catch the full VOD here:
