Larry Lurr and Chase voted into The Gimvitational

Southern California swept the first voting period for Calvin “GimR” Lofton’s upcoming Super Smash Bros. Ultimate invitational when local players Larry “Larry Lurr” Holland and Lucas “Chase” Ray became the first two players voted in to secure their spots at The Gimvitational on Saturday.

Congrats to @toptiersonly (Chase) & @LarryLurr for making it into the Gimvitational!

The Player Fund just hit $10,000 & with 2 more rounds of voting left I could see it reaching $15K – $20K! Happy we're able to give back to the players who help fund the event. Appreciate y'all! pic.twitter.com/Z31t1hNdlf

— GimR (@VGBC_GimR) June 4, 2022

Larry Lurr used his status as a meme within the Smash community as a great way to get voted into The Gimvitational. Meanwhile, Chase received his nomination after receiving support from top players like Luis “Lui$” Oceguera Ramos and Alexis “Goblin” Stennett, as well as a sudden influx of 10,000 votes in his favor.

After the two vote-ins, another pair of players, Dominican Sonic main Carlos “Sonix” Pérez and Alabamian Min Min main Alex “Xerzal” Mai, were eliminated from the process today. Notably, Sonix failed to qualify despite receiving 4,000 votes after winning an online invitational organized by Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma.

Meet The Gimvitational vote-ins: Larry Lurr and Chase

Larry Lurr is a longtime veteran of the Smash community; he’s been a top player in Melee, Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. While he has yet to crack the top 50 global Ultimate rankings, Lurr still boasts wins over titans of the game like Leonardo “MkLeo” López Pérez and Tyler “Marss” Martins, two heavyweights in the Smash scene.

Made it into the Gimvitational. You know what that means pic.twitter.com/ek7ECGWw7a

— Larry Lurr (@LarryLurr) June 4, 2022

In contrast, Chase entered his first offline tournament in 2019, making him a relative newcomer to the competitive Smash scene. Nevertheless, he has quickly improved and is now at the No. 1 position on the SoCal power rankings. Chase also recently finished in first place for 2v2s at Low Tide City 2021, proving his status as a contender.

Larry Lurr and Chase are just the first of six vote-in players who will win the opportunity to play in The Gimvitational. The next voting period will end at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday.