Nintendo has announced the eight participants who will compete in the Super Smash Bros. Invitational during E3 this year.
The tournament will serve a heated introduction to the latest game in the long-running franchise and matches the invitational Nintendo held previously to celebrate Super Smash Bros. WiiU's announcement.
This year's contenders were announced via a new trailer and it looks like Nintendo is pulling in talent from both the Melee and Smash WiiU competitive scenes. It's an impressive list, containing EVO Championship winners for both games and players from the USA, Mexico, Chile Sweden, The Netherlands and Japan. Here's the full lineup from Nintendo's announcement:
- MkLeo – A professional Super Smash Bros. for Wii U player from Mexico. His favorite Nintendo game is Fire Emblem. He was the champion at GENESIS 4 and GENESIS 5. He was also the EVO Japan 2018 champion.
- ZeRo – A professional Super Smash Bros. for Wii U player from Chile. His favorite Nintendo game is Xenoblade Chronicles. His hobbies include writing and motocross. He was the champion at EVO 2015 and GENESIS 3. He also won the Super Smash Bros. Invitational in 2014.
- Armada – A professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player from Sweden. His favorite Nintendo game is Super Mario 64. His hobbies include ice hockey and table tennis. He’s the GENESIS 2 singles champion and the GENESIS 4 doubles champion.
- Abadango – A professional Super Smash Bros. for Wii U player from Japan. His favorite Nintendo franchise is the Xenoblade series. His hobbies include watching anime and reading. He was the runner-up at EVO Japan 2018. He also ranked in the top five at EVO 2016 and GENESIS 4.
- Plup – A professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player from Florida. His favorite Nintendo game is Super Metroid, and his favorite Nintendo memory is beating Super Metroid for the first time. He was the champion at GENESIS 5.
- Mr. R – A professional Super Smash Bros. for Wii U player from the Netherlands. His favorite Nintendo game is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. His hobbies include reading manga and traveling. He was the runner-up at EVO 2015.
- Lucky – A professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player from California. His favorite Nintendo game is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. He ranked in the top five at EVO 2017 and at GENESIS 5.
- Mang0 – A professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player from California. His favorite Nintendo game is Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. He was the champion at EVO 2014.
With the likes of Mang0, Armada and Zero involved, competition will no doubt be fierce, but given the expectation for Smash Switch to be similar to the WiiU release, it's likely players from that scene like MkLeo, Zero, Abadango and Mr. R will have the edge. That said, none of the competitors will have had a chance to get their hands on the game in advance, so anything could happen!
The Super Smash Bros. Invitational will take place as part of E3 on July 12, following the Splatoon 2 World Championship Finals (you can catch the start of that the previous day, July 11, at 3.30pm PT).