How Do Smash Ultimate Tournaments Work?

Smash Ultimate is one of the biggest fighters out there, but it has always been a bit of a unique one. Smash Ultimate tournaments aren’t like Street Fighter tournaments or Tekken. There’s no big over-arching circuit with a prize pool put up by the developer. In fact, at times the developer has tried to make the game more difficult to organize. Yet, there is a huge community for Smash tournaments. Very few fighting games can manage the completely community-driven network of events that Smash Bros Ultimate has.

Compared to most of the biggest fighters in 2024, Smash Bros Ultimate is purely community-based. This isn’t the Capcom Cup with its million-dollar prize pool. However, with the sheer number of other tournaments plenty of pros are able to compete in Super Smash Bros. It does make the whole community a little more difficult to follow though. What are the main Smash Ultimate tournaments and how do they work?

Source: Nintendo

How Do Smash Bros Tournaments Work?

Smash Bros tournaments have a particularly fun take on the game, they’re serious. Smash is quite a light-hearted game in places. Players can use assists, stage hazards, Pokemon, items, there’s loads of random nonsense you can have spawn to make the game more wacky. Obviously, none of this is competitively appropriate.

Smash tournaments tend to be played on basic versions of stages, without items or assists. Also, no stage hazards. This makes the game a much more level field competitively. There are still other mechanics to work with for strategy though, like map picks. However, the game is put on a more even playing field for Smash Bros tournaments.

The format of tournament matches is simple. The games are set to stock, with players typically getting three and the winner being the victor. They’re played in sets of 3-5 games. Most Smash Ultimate tournaments open with pools where a large field competes against each other. Then a larger bracket until it whittles down to a top 8, which is played in double elimination.

Source: EvenMatchUpGaming

This is the most common for Smash Bros esports. It isn’t every tournament though. Different events will have slight variations and side events with wider rules are pretty common too. Some events have even experimented with banning Steve, but largely he’s allowed.

Biggest Tournaments to Watch For

That’s how most tournaments work, but what does the competitive calendar look like? There isn’t a big circuit that players work at across the year. However, isolated events happen pretty frequently. These are some of the biggest recent and upcoming, including those focused on Smash as a whole.

• Genesis (February)
• Kagaribi (Regular)
• LVL UP EXPO (April)
• DreamHack (Regular)
• Get on My Level (May)
• Low Tide City (May)
• Combo Breaker (May)
• CEO (June)
• CEOTaku (September)
• Collision (March)
• Riptide (September)
• The Big House

This is just some of the major Smash tournaments. There’s more throughout the year. While there isn’t an official circuit, other organizers do have interlinking events. The best Smash pros at one tournament will earn an invite to those in the Winter. Standouts in recent years have included those organized by Ludwig. There are plenty of Smash Ultimate tournaments out there though.

On the lower level, locals are where everyone starts. Most regions will have a lively scene of locals where smaller players get together to cut their teeth. This is where every great player begins, and it’s always the right time to get started with them. We still don’t know when the next Smash Bros game will be, and Ultimate seems like the main competitive title for quite a while to come.