Nintendo has revealed the eight competitors that will be facing off in its upcoming Smash Bros. for Switch Invitational tournament at E3 2018 next month.
In the past few years, Nintendo has hosted events known as the Nintendo World Championships at E3, which allowed members of the public to face off against invited YouTube, Twitch, and esports personalties to prove that they were the best Nintendo gamer around.
This time, however, Nintendo is returning back to an Invitational-only format and has only invited eight of the world’s best Smash Bros. players. The players range from Melee to Wii U and includes Gonzalo “ZeRo” Barrios, who won the 2015 Smash Bros. Invitational for Wii U.
The full list includes:
- MkLeo – A professional Super Smash Bros. for Wii U player from Mexico. He was the champion at GENESIS 4 and GENESIS 5 and was also the EVO Japan 2018 champion.
- ZeRo – A professional Super Smash Bros. for Wii U player from Chile. Arguably the best player in Wii U history, he was won a multitude of titles over his career including EVO 2015 and GENESIS 3.
- Armada – A professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player from Sweden. One of the most recognised players in the Melee scene after winning titles at GENESIS 2 as the singles champion and the GENESIS 4 doubles champion.
- Abadango – A professional Super Smash Bros. for Wii U player from Japan. He was the runner-up at EVO Japan 2018 and was also ranked in the top five at EVO 2016 and GENESIS 4.
- Plup – A professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player from Florida. He was the champion at GENESIS 5.
- Mr. R – A professional Super Smash Bros. for Wii U player from the Netherlands. He was the runner-up at EVO 2015, losing to ZeRo. Could we get a rematch of the 2015 final?
- Lucky – A professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player from California. He ranked in the top five at EVO 2017 and at GENESIS 5.
- Mang0 – A professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player from California. Just like Armada, he is one of the most known players in the Melee community. His notable achievements include being champion of EVO 2014.
The eight players will be the first people in the world to try out Smash Bros. for Switch at E3 from June 12. Nintendo also plans to reveal more about the game during its press conference on the same day.
The company has also stated that additional invited guests may appear to play the game throughout the day. Who these guests are, or what they would be doing at the event, is still a mystery, however.
Not much is known about the title at the moment, with only three playable characters confirmed to be in the game: Mario, Link, and the Inklings from the Splatoon series.
