Super Smash Bros. Melee is going strong with a stacked first few months of the 2020 season, and Smash Summit 9 will surely be a highlight event of the year.
With a new format and more players getting a chance to come out to one of the highest quality Melee tournaments of the year, there could be a few interesting wrinkles thrown into the mix this time.
Just like with every previous Smash Summit event, there are players who are directly invited due to their strong performances and placements over the months leading up to the tournament. The remaining spots are split between a donation drive and qualifier spots. Since the roster has expanded to 18 from 16 players, eight players have been directly invited, with five crowdfunding spots, and five spots set for upcoming qualifiers.
Here are all of the players that are going to be attending Smash Summit 9 and how they qualified for the event.
Direct Invite
| SSBMRank | Player |
| First | Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma |
| Second | Justin “Wizzrobe” Hallett |
| Third | Jeffrey “Axe” Williamson |
| Fourth | William “Leffen” Hjelte |
| Fifth | Joseph “Mango” Marquez |
| Sixth | Zain Naghmi |
| Seventh | Justin “Plup” McGrath |
| Eighth | Masaya “aMSa” Chikamoto |
The direct invites went out to the top eight players in the current SSBMRank Summer listing, meaning Hungrybox and the other top players will be guaranteed a spot. Additionally, Axe will get a chance to defend the title he earned from Smash Summit 8.
Crowdfunded Players
| Voting Total | Player |
| 43,562 votes | Zaid “Spark” Ali |
| 67,675 votes | Sasha “Magi” Sullivan |
| 43,436 votes | Nico “Ryobeat” Rodriguez |
| N/A | Tommy “Pricent” Erstad Lindås |
| N/A | bobby big ballz |
Prepare for some weird streams that will feature some of the Melee players and streamers making complete fools of themselves while they complete challenges to make the cut for Summit. Crowdfunding is completely up to the fans, with donations paying into the overall prize pool for the event.
The crowdfunding opt-in is Jan. 22, with the voting period beginning on Jan. 19. The first player will be voted in on Feb. 2, while the remaining four will be split into two waves. Vote-in players two and three will be finalized on Feb. 4, while the final votes will be tallied on Feb. 6.
Qualified Players
| Event | Player |
| Genesis 7 | Shephard “Fiction” Lima |
| Genesis 7 | Edgard “n0ne” Sheleby |
| Genesis 7 | Aziz “Hax” Al-Yami |
| Genesis 7 | DaJuan “Shroomed” McDaniel |
| Saving Mr. Lombardi 2 | Cody “iBDW” Schwab |
The top four finishers from Genesis 7 that haven’t already made it into Summit will be added to the roster as qualified players. The same will apply to the top finisher from Saving Mr. Lombardi 2, where there will be significantly less competition than the Genesis Super Major.
Genesis 7 will run from Jan. 24 to 26 with Saving Mr. Lombardi 2 following on Feb. 1.
Once all of the players are announced, The Beyond The Summit team will start releasing information about side events and other content that will likewise be featured at the event. That will likely include staples like games of Mafia, various skits with the players, and lots of weird interviews.
