Last night, Gavin “Tweek” Dempsey solidified his position as the best Smash Ultimate player in the current metagame by winning Glitch 6 over a stacked field. After earning a spot in winner’s semifinals, the dual Young Link/Wario main defeated Nairoby “Nairo” Quezada and Paris “Light” Ramirez to make it into winner’s side of grand finals. There, he overcame a resurgent Nairo to win his second major event without dropping a set.
Tweek’s innovative play, which saw him switch between his patient Young Link and his aggressive Wario depending on the matchup, showed the strength of character counterpicks in Smash Ultimate. Using Wario’s powerful Waft to deadly effect, Tweek was clearly a cut above the rest at Glitch 6.
That isn’t to downplay the accomplishments of Nairo, who squeezed out a close win over Zack “ZD” Darby in loser’s bracket before achieving triumphant victories over Leonardo “MkLeo” Lopez Perez and Light to make his way into grands. Though Nairo hasn’t yet won a large-scale Ultimate tournament, he’s shown that it’s only a matter of time—he’s more than capable of standing up to the big guys using his precise and combo-heavy Palutena play.
ZD was the breakout star of the event. Long considered a top Fox player in Smash 4, ZD used the character to great effect last night, notching impressive victories such as a reverse 3-0 over Elliot “Ally” Carroza-Oyarce and a shutout victory over Saleem “Salem” Young. When the dust settled, however, Light was the highest-placing Fox player, placing third after defeating Salem and MkLeo in a blistering winner’s bracket run.
MkLeo, who showed himself to be a major-tournament contender in Ultimate at Smash Conference United, was disappointed by his fourth-place finish, promising to come back swinging in two weeks at Genesis 6.
The Top 8 was rounded out by Chris “WaDi” Boston, whose R.O.B. play netted him a seventh-place finish to tie with Salem.
As Genesis approaches, it looks like quite a few players are in contention for Smash Ultimate’s first supermajor title—but after his stellar performance last night, there’s no doubt that Tweek will be the top seed at the Northern California event.
