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All Panda Cup Finale invited and qualified players

56 players make the cut through three different qualification methods
Image of Dylan Tate
Dylan Tate
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Published: Nov 28, 2022 06:00 pm

Panda Global’s partnered circuit with Nintendo is nearing its conclusion, with the roster for the circuit finals being almost completely set. All that remains are slots for four Melee and Ultimate players from the on-site Last Chance Qualifiers.

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This circuit featured a number of qualification methods, including live events, online qualifiers for Ultimate, and invitees based on a panel vote. Here’s an overview of all of the 2022 Panda Cup Finale invited and qualified players, as well as how fans can tune into the event.

Panda Cup Finale Melee players

In total, 16 Melee players directly qualified for the Panda Cup Finale based on their placements at seven different events. Here were the qualifier tournaments and all of the players who got into the finale at each of them:

  • CEO 2022 – Justin “Plup” McGrath, Sasha “Magi” Sullivan and Andrew “Chem” Khalili
  • GOML 2022 – Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma and Jake “Jmook” DiRado
  • Smash Factor 9 – Justin “Wizzrobe” Hallett and Juan “Medz” Garcia
  • Lost Tech City 2022 – Joseph “Mang0” Marquez, Masaya “aMSa” Chikamoto, and Ben “SFOP” Duren
  • The Big House 10 – Cody “iBDW” Schwab, Zain “Zain” Naghmi, and Miles “Soonsay” Foster
  • Saving Mr. Lombardi 3 – John “KoDoRiN” Ko
  • DreamHack Atlanta 2022 – Colin “Colbol” Green and Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman

Meanwhile, another large chunk of players received invitations based on the recommendations of a panel. Here are the players who qualified on account of the panel vote:

  • William “Leffen” Hjelte
  • Jeffrey “Axe” Williamson
  • Shephard “Fiction” Lima
  • Kurtis “moky” Pratt
  • Johnny “S2J” Kim
  • Edgard “n0ne” Sheleby
  • Linus “Pipsqueak” Nordin
  • Avery “Ginger” Wilson
  • Josh “Joshman” Lyras
  • Zac “SFAT” Cordoni
  • Eduardo “Eddy Mexico” Lucatero Rincón
  • Brandon “Panda” Orooji

Invited and qualified Ultimate players

With two extra qualifying events, Ultimate ended up with 18 players who got into the Panda Cup Finale through offline tournaments. Here’s an overview of the in-person Panda Cup events and which players got in through each of them:

  • CEO 2022 – Sonix “Carlos” Pérez, Michael “Riddles” Kim and Toriano “Toast” Warren Jr.
  • GOML 2022 – Angel “Onin” Mireles and Dawson “Big D” Perron
  • Smash Factor 9 – Leonardo “MkLeo” López Pérez and Samuel “Dabuz” Buzby
  • Almost Pro Open at PAX West 2022 Arena – Aaron “Aaron” Wilhite
  • Lost Tech City 2022 – Tyler “Marss” Martins, Enrique “Maister” Hernández Solís, and Bharat “Lima” Chintapall
  • The Big House 10 – Paris “Light” Ramirez, Gavin “Tweek” Dempsey and Antony “MuteAce” Hoo
  • Let’s Make Moves Miami – Mashita “acola” Hayato
  • Port Priority 7 – Pedro “Kurama” Alonso
  • DreamHack Atlanta 2022 – Dylan “ApollKage” J. and Steven “Anathema” Acosta

Like Melee, Ultimate also had a panel vote, which resulted in Salvatore “Zomba” DeSena and Kolawole “Kola” Aideyan getting into the Panda Cup Finale. However, Ultimate also had a series of online qualifiers for eight regions, which is why it had a much smaller panel vote than Melee. Here’s an overview of the Panda Cup’s region-locked online regional finals and who qualified through each of them:

  • Heartland Finals – Ryan “Ravenking” McDonough
  • Mid-Atlantic USA Finals – Anthony “MPg” Casale
  • Southeast USA Finals – Jacob “Jake” Silberman
  • South Central USA Finals – Sebastian “Deathspade” Smith
  • Southwest USA Finals – Spencer “Scend” Garner
  • Mexico Finals – Santiago “Chag” Pérez Checchi
  • Northeast NA Finals – Dylan “Anarchy” Dunn
  • Northwest NA Finals – Justice “Justice” Cappalonga

How to watch the Panda Cup Finale and when is it?

The Panda Cup Finale will take place in Los Angeles, California, from December 15-18, one week after the 2022 Smash World Tour Championships. The LCQs for both Melee and Ultimate will take place on Thursday, December 15. Wave A of the LCQs will start at 1 p.m. ET, followed by Wave B at 3 p.m.

Then, the main event will begin on Friday and continue into Saturday. On both days, the venue will be open from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. The tournament will conclude on Sunday with top eight of the final brackets for both Melee and Ultimate. Viewers should be able to tune in throughout the weekend on the PandaCup and PandaCup2 Twitch channels, along with the Panda Cup YouTube channel.

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Author
Image of Dylan Tate
Dylan Tate
Dylan Tate is an alumnus of the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a gaming journalist with a love for Nintendo esports, particularly Super Smash Bros. and Pokémon.
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