Beyond the Summit is back with another major Super Smash Bros. Melee invitational, as Smash Summit 13 will kick off on Thursday. Sixteen high-level players will compete at yet another iteration of one of Melee’s most prestigious events.
Financially speaking, the stakes will be lower than usual. This event’s prize pool is currently a little over $24,000, barely more than half of what Joseph “Mang0” Marquez alone made for winning Smash Summit 11. Even so, here’s everything viewers need to know about Smash Summit 13 before it begins.
Players to watch
Zain “Zain” Naghmi has won every major tournament so far this year, making him the clear favorite to win Smash Summit 13. The biggest potential challenge to Zain’s dominance would be a resurgent Mang0. After missing top eight at both Genesis 8 and Pound 2022, Mang0 will undoubtedly look for a performance befitting the No. 1 player of 2021 at Summit.
Jake “Jmook” DiRado also has the potential to make a deep run at Summit. Although he has attended few offline majors, he recently made a shocking run to second place at Genesis, defeating Justin “Plup” McGrath, Arjun “lloD” Malhotra, Edgard “n0ne” Sheleby and Cody “iBDW” Schwab in the process. If he can make a similar run at Summit, he will cement himself as one of the best Melee players in the world.
It seems the Smash Summit 13 roster may experience a slight shake-up, as Linus “Pipsqueak” Nordin tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. Beyond the Summit has not yet announced who will replace Pipsqueak if he is unable to compete.
It seems I won't go to summit again pic.twitter.com/emEI8IJIYY
— Pipsqueak (@Pipsqueak_TV) May 9, 2022
Smash Summit 13 schedule and format
While Beyond the Summit has not announced an official schedule, Summit events typically start with side events on Thursday. Then, sets on Friday and Saturday will determine seeding for a final bracket on Sunday.
This event will follow the same format as the past few Smash Summits. Competitors will play in four round robin pools where the winner of each pool advances to the final bracket on the winners side. The remaining players will be seeded into gauntlets to determine their seeding for the final bracket.
The third seed from one pool will play the fourth seed from another pool in the gauntlet stage. Whoever loses this match will advance to the final bracket on losers side, while the winner will play the second seed from a different pool. Then, the winner of that match will be on winners side of the final bracket, while the loser of that match will be on losers side.
🔥 The GAUNTLET STAGE is back 🔥
Everything you need to know about the main event format of #SmashSummit 13 Presented by @coinbase can be found below 👀 pic.twitter.com/3Y18fJZG0w
— Beyond the Smash (@BTSsmash) May 3, 2022
In addition, Smash Summit 13 will feature a Summit Island side event in keeping with the tournament’s “Survivor” theme. The only detail currently available about Summit Island is that Josh “FendrickLamar” Fendrick will be the host.
