Thunder Gaming has opted to invite 12 international players to compete at Thunder Smash 3. Thunder Smash 3: Clash of the Pandas! is an upcoming Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament. It will take place in Long Beach, California on Oct. 12.
The following players from around the globe will attend Thunder Smash 3 on Thunder Gaming’s dime:
- Ben Gold, from Australia
- William “Glutonny” Belaid, from France
- Takuto “Kameme” Ono, from Japan
- “Lea”, from Japan
- Enrique “Maister” Hernández Solís, from Mexico
- Mehrdad “Meru” Mehrafar, from the Netherlands
- Isami “T” Ikeda, from Japan
- Takuma “Tea” Hirooka, from Japan
- Tsubasa “Tsu” Takuma, from Japan
- Shimizu “Umeki” Masaki, from Japan
- Yves “Young Eevey” du Long, from the Netherlands
- Sota “Zackray” Okada, from Japan
Initially, these international players were supposed to earn their way into Thunder Smash 3 in a sort of pseudo-competition. By registering for the event, fans could vote for the out-of-country competitor they wanted to see at the tournament. For every 100 registrants, Thunder Gaming planned to fly out the international player with the highest number of votes.
However, it seems this initiative has been abandoned, as Thunder Gaming has opted to invite all of the players anyways. This is likely a result of low registration numbers, which has plagued every Thunder Smash event thus far. The attendees list is no longer visible on the event’s smash.gg page. However, Andrew “PracticalTAS” Nestico previously noted that the event only had 35 registrants as of Sept. 14.
Thunder Smash 3 has a $10,000 pot bonus and Samsora, Marss, Light, Cosmos, ESAM, MVD, Raito, MuteAce, and Dark Wizzy signed up (that's like, one VoiD shy of an A Tier).
So why's it only got 35 entrants(!) one month before the event?
— Andrew Nestico (@PracticalTAS) September 14, 2019
International players will attend Thunder Smash 3
Thunder Gaming’s announcement came in a tweet today. Here is their full statement about the international competitors at Thunder Smash 3: “Thunder Gaming is committed to cultivating the highest quality Smash Bros. competition and production. In that spirit, we are funding all of our invitees from the poll and converting Thunder Smash 3 into a global invitational. Thanks to those already registered. You will keep your place in bracket.”
Despite the language of a “global invitational,” it seems the bracket will function as normal. In fact, players can still register for Thunder Smash 3 through this Friday, Sept. 27. Despite low registration numbers, there were already enough top players for this tournament to qualify as a B-tier. With the international players now confirmed, Thunder Smash 3 may make the jump to A-tier.
Just for public clarification, the event didn’t get enough entrants as we were nearing the sign up deadline! There was supposed to be a 5k pot bonus, and some really cool stuff planned, but if that doesn’t entice the community what can you do 💁♂️
— Ginger (@SsbmGinger) September 23, 2019
Interestingly, Thunder Gaming has removed Super Smash Bros. Melee from the Thunder Smash 3 lineup. Michael “MikeHaze” Pulido brought this fact to the community’s attention on Twitter. Avery “Ginger” Wilson noted that the Melee tournament was canceled due to low registration numbers (apparently lower than 35). Ginger said in a follow-up tweet that the community would have to support Thunder Gaming to receive their support in return.
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