Sota “Zackray” Okada won Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Singles at the Eastern Powerhouse Invitational in Kanto, Japan on October 24. It was the first significant offline Smash Ultimate tournament since CEO Dreamland 2020 in March.
Tomoki “kept” Ikeda hosted the Eastern Powerhouse Invitational across five different days from September 26 – October 24. Players competed in four eight-person single-elimination pools, with each pool taking place on a different day. Then, the top three players in each pool advanced into a final 12-person double-elimination bracket.
Zackray dominated his pools matches, beating Yuki “Etsuji” Kajihara 3-1, Seima “Eim” Tomonoh 3-0, and Kaito “Shogun” Kawasaki 3-0. As a result, he earned a round one bye in the final bracket. Zackray kept up the pace in the final bracket, defeating Tsubasa “Tsu” Takuma 3-0 in Winners Quarters.
In Winners Semis, Zackray narrowly defeated “Jagaimo” in a five-game set. Then, he beat Yuta “Abadango” Kawamura 3-1 in Winners Finals. Zackray finished the Eastern Powerhouse Invitational just as strong as he started it, beating Abadango again in Grand Finals, this time without dropping a game.
Other results from the Eastern Powerhouse Invitational
Though he is somewhat little-known internationally, Jagaimo cemented his status as one of Japan’s best at the Eastern Powerhouse Invitational. He won his pool as the pool’s seventh seed, upsetting Eita “HIKARU” Hoshi, Shimizu “Umeki” Masaki, and Takuto “Kameme” Ono. Then in the main bracket, Jagaimo won sets over Kengo “KEN” Suzuki and Ishiguro “Raito” Tetsuya. Ultimately, Jagaimo finished in 4th place, with losses to Zackray and KEN.
In addition to organizing the tournament, kept had a solid run to 5th place. In pools, he beat Noriyuki Kirihara and lost to Shogun, then beat Eim in their 3rd place match. Then in the final bracket, kept upset Kameme and Yuta “Nietono” Uejima before dropping sets to Abadango and KEN.
