The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate scene is facing its second surprising announcement of the past seven days with the release of another top player from a tier-one organization.
TSM has released Gavin “Tweek” Dempsey, its sole Smash Ultimate player, after three years together, the org announced today.
Before joining TSM, Tweek first represented Phoenix1 in 2017 alongside Zach “Captain Zach” Lauth for Wii U and James “Duck” Ma for Melee. Tweek claimed his first premier tournament win on Nov. 4, 2017, at MKLeo Saga, alongside four more titles in Wii U, before leaving Phoenix1 on May 17, 2018.
On Dec. 29, 2018, Tweek transitioned into Ultimate as a free agent, entering his first major tournaments and continuing his prior dominance at Let’s Make Moves and Glitch 6 before being picked up by TSM on Jan. 19, 2019, joining Smash Melee legend William “Leffen” Hjelte and coach Charles Thoren. Tweek was the first and only Smash Ultimate player to represent the organization after the departure of Gonzalo “ZeRo” Barrios to Tempo Storm in 2018.
Tweek’s fame within the Ultimate scene continued to grow after his signing, including wins at Frostbite 2019, his first tournament with the organization, and Smash Ultimate Summit 3, his first invitational event. During his three years with TSM, Tweek claimed seven Major tournament titles, most recently including Supermajor Let’s Make Big Moves 2023.
Tweek’s performances kept him in the top echelon of players throughout Ultimate, ranking as high as second place in the 2019 Spring PGRU, the global player leaderboard, only falling behind Leonardo “MKLeo” Lopez Perez. Tweek continued his dominance over the years, finishing the most recent UltRank 2022 in eighth place.
Following TSM’s announcement, Tweek confirmed his free agent status, which is now shared with MKLeo, who also parted ways with T1 last week. Both players will be attending Smash Ultimate Summit 6 on March 23 to 26, the first tournament since their release and possibly the last tournament for Beyond The Summit, which plans to shut down after the event.
The decision between TSM and Tweek’s mutual parting brings up many questions about the future of Smash’s competitive scene, with two of the greatest players in Ultimate history now orgless. Many organizations have subsequently dropped teams and players, with BTS’ co-founder, David “LD” Gorman, citing the “esports winter” as a major contributing factor for many large organizations’ recent decisions and layoffs.
Despite TSM dropping its only remaining Ultimate player, the org has not left the competitive scene entirely, still retaining Leffen, who first signed in 2015, marking an eight-year tenure and the sole representative of TSM in the entire Smash scene.
