On Sept. 13, 2025, Leonardo “MkLeo” López Pérez won his first major Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament after a year of drought. His last major win was at KingCon in France on Feb. 24, 2025.

MkLeo showed glimpses of his former dominant self during this tournament as he seemed untouchable until he faced Carlos “Sonix” Pérez in the grand final, where he seemed lost against him, even trying out the ROB to throw Sonix off.

Sonix swept MkLeo 3-0 to reset the bracket. MkLeo then stuck with his Aegis pick and won the first two games of the bracket reset, but Sonix didn’t want that to go unanswered and won two straight games as well. The final game went down to the wire, where MkLeo was able to win it with a forward tilt from Pyra to punish Sonix’s overshooting of the ledge.

While MkLeo celebrates his win, Sonix’s loss extended his major tournament losing streak. The last major he won was The Coinbox IRL, but since then, he’s finished second or lower. He has won national tournaments, but major titles have eluded him for two years now.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s next major tournament is SmashMania 2025. The event will happen in France on Sept. 27-28, 2025. After that, Port Priority will happen in Seattle in November 2025.

The premier Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament Supernova 2025 was dominated by Japanese players, with Miya standing on top after beating the world’s No. 1 player, Doramigi, in the grand final.

Miya entered the top eight bracket from the winner’s side and had to work hard to earn his place in the grand final. His sets against Christian “Peabnut” Londono and Hurt all went to the fifth and very last game, resulting in a 3-2 game count.

Doramigi, on the other hand, lost immediately after qualifying for the top eight, getting sent down to the loser’s bracket to fight for his tournament life. He faced Edgar “Sparg0” Valdez in the loser’s semi-finals and Hurt, the player who sent him to the loser’s bracket, in the loser’s final.

While the other matches of the top eight were exhilarating, the grand final was a one-sided beating from Miya. Doramigi seemed lost fighting Miya, who made quick work of his opponent by winning 3-0. It doesn’t help that the match history between the two shows that Doramigi has never won against Miya.

Supernova is an annual convention and tournament held in the United States. It’s an event centered around Super Smash Bros., with tournaments for each of the Smash Bros. games. Recently, the event broke the record for being the largest Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament.

Edgar “Sparg0” Valdez continues his dominance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate after winning the game’s bracket at S Factor 12. Sparg0 faced Steve player “Syrup” in the grand final, who was the first Steve player in years to take a set off of him.

Sparg0’s run in this tournament was filled with crazy comebacks and a lot of Cloud gameplay. His signature Piranha Plant, while winning him a tournament last week, did not appear in the top 8 of the tournament, as he stuck with his trusted Cloud Strife.

Syrup, on the other hand, was switching between Steve and Ness. He tried Ness first against Sparg0 in the winners final but lost 0-3. He then beat “WaKa” in the losers finals, giving him another chance to redeem himself through another match with Sparg0 in the grand final.

This time, Syrup played Steve the whole time and was even able to beat Sparg0 with the character, a surprising feat, as the last time Sparg0 lost to a Steve was against Mashita “Acola” Hayato at the Ludwig Smash Invitational 2022.

The victory was short-lived, however, because Sparg0 swiftly turned things around in the grand final reset, beating the New Jersey prodigy 3-0. Sparg0’s S Factor 12 win is his third straight tournament win.

S Factor 12, previously known as Smash Factor, is a tournament held in Mexico. Back then, the tournament only had Smash titles as its focus but has since expanded to other games such as Street Fighter 6 and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, among many others.

Edgar “Sparg0” Valdez has beaten Carlos “Sonix” Pérez once more in a grand final of a big Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament. This time, Sparg0 used one of his favorite characters, Piranha Plant, which is considered one of the game’s low-tier characters.

While the tournament is not considered a “major,” many players in attendance were highly rated. Leonardo “MkLeo” López Pérez, Markus “ShinyMark” Florido and Sonix showed up to the tournament, only to lose to Sparg0’s Piranha Plant.

Sparg0 met Sonix in the grand final of the event, and it was yet another grand final in which Sonix was not able to win because of Sparg0’s unconventional pick. Most of the time Sonix and Sparg0 have played, Sparg0 has always pulled out a character that he doesn’t usually use in tournaments to throw Sonix off his game.

This time, it was the low-tier character Piranha Plant. It’s not just Sonix who suffered the wrath of the plant, though. MkLeo’s Byleth also lost to Sparg0 using Plant. This whole top 8 was just Sparg0 playing one of his favorite characters and showing what one can do with it.

After the loss, Sonix took to X and asked players to give him a rundown on how to beat Piranha Plant. He added that it was his first time playing the matchup in a bracket and “idk what the f**k was going on.”

Sonix’s loss this tournament continues his first-place drought in offline tournaments. The last time he won a big tournament was in 2023 at The Coinbox IRL. He beat Sparg0 in the grand final of that tournament, but since then, he’s struggled to replicate his results whenever he faces off against him.

Edgar “Sparg0” Valdez has won Get On My Level: Forever, a premier Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament held in Toronto, Canada. A premier-class tournament is a tier above majors, which means that the competition is fiercer and the prize money higher.

The rivalry between Sparg0 and Carlos “Sonix” Pérez has existed ever since the two of them rose to prominence around 2023. These two players are considered two of the best in the world, with Sparg0 being the best Cloud player and Sonix being the best Sonic player.

Sparg0’s Smash Ultimate run at this tournament was nothing short of impressive. He lost early in the bracket at top 128, which meant that only one set loss would’ve eliminated him from the event. However, he clawed and persevered, which resulted in winning 10 straight sets to take the title home.

Sonix’s path was a lot more stable, never losing a single set in the whole tournament until his fated match with Sparg0 in the grand final. Sparg0 was able to beat Sonix 3-1, which prompted a bracket reset due to Sonix being dragged down to the loser’s bracket with him. The resulting match in the grand final reset was heartbreaking for Sonix, as a couple of mistakes resulted in him losing an otherwise very winnable game.

The tournament ended with a 3-2 win for Sparg0. Sonix walked home once more without a major or premier trophy. His last one was Coinbox IRL, which happened in 2023. There, he also fought Sparg0 in the grand final and was able to win the tournament from the loser’s bracket.

North American esports organization Cloud9 announced that it has dropped Joseph “Mang0” Marquez from its roster after clips of him sexually harassing women at a recent Mogul Moves event surfaced.

“Regardless of tenure or accomplishments, the behavior demonstrated is entirely unacceptable and directly conflicts with our organization’s core values,” Cloud9 said in a statement. Mang0 has been widely regarded as the greatest Super Smash Bros. Melee player of all time.

Mang0 also published a post on his X account, saying that he has nobody to blame but himself and “I had it all and f**king tossed it in the trashcan,” lamenting the loss of his sponsor. He also mentioned that he thinks he will be banned from tournaments.

In a previous post, Mang0 said that he’s going to stop drinking and try to redeem himself over time. He’s sorry to everyone that he let down and that he finally realized that he was coddled for so long and looked the other way when it came to his drinking problems.

As of the writing of this article, no tournaments have formally announced the ban of Mang0 at their venue. Super Smash Bros. Melee tournaments are mostly in the hands of the tournament organizers, and they will have the final call on whether a player will be banned from their events.

Ludwig Ahgren, the organizer of the event where Mang0 did his drunken antics, has formally stated that he’s going to be banned from all future Mogul Moves events.

One of the most decorated Super Smash Bros. Melee players, Joseph “Mang0” Marquez, is currently under fire for sexually harassing women on stream during an event that Ludwig Ahgren planned, called Beerio Kart 2025. 

The event, which might be obvious because of its name, has a lot to do with alcohol and Mario Kart. In simple terms, players are going to play Mario Kart while also drinking copious amounts of beer. This is where things have turned sour for the other participants, as Mang0’s behavior made people uncomfortable, especially females.

In a short clip by LiveStream Fails on X, it can be seen that Mang0 is making humping motions close to another streamer by the name of Maya Higa, and the clip shows just how uncomfortable she was around him. Milli, another X user, posted another clip of Mang0 doing the same thing but in a different part of the venue. According to a report by Dexerto, he was even seen humping a cardboard cutout of himself in the corner.

Mang0 has issued an apology on X, saying that he’s going to privately apologize to anyone he made uncomfortable and hopes they can forgive him. He also added that he’s going to re-evaluate his relationship with alcohol. However, most of his fans are just asking him to quit alcohol entirely, as this is not the first time the player has gotten in trouble due to the beverage. His sponsor, Cloud9, has not issued a statement yet.

The event organizer, Ludwig Ahgren, has decided not to invite Mang0 to future Mogul Moves events. He said that the whole point of an event is to have a fun time, but nobody should feel uncomfortable because of one person, hence the ban.

Mang0, as previously mentioned, is one of the best and most decorated Super Smash Bros. Melee players in the world. He’s considered by many to be the greatest of all time when it comes to the game and the best player ever. He’s a member of the Five Gods of Melee.

Guatemalan Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player Markus “ShinyMark” Florido has won his second major title after defeating Christian “Peabnut” Londono in the grand final of Comicpalooza Fight Club 2025. This tournament saw the attendance of various top players, such as Tyler “Marss” Martins and Leonardo “MkLeo” Lopez Perez.

ShinyMark showed up strong in the tournament, making it look easy against his top player opponents. It was only in the winners final where cracks in his defenses showed, and he lost to Peabnut 3-1. This sent him to the losers bracket, where he had to face Paris “Light” Ramirez Garcia, the best Fox player in the world.

The games were close, but ShinyMark was able to deny Light the comeback and eliminate him from the bracket. This win set up another showdown between Peabnut and ShinyMark in the grand final.

However, this time, ShinyMark did not let Peabnut breathe. He beat Peabnut 3-0 to reset the bracket, then he beat him again 3-0 to close out the tournament and claim his second major Super Smash Bros. Ultimate trophy.

ShinyMark is ranked 24th in the latest Luminosity Gaming’s LumiRank, a system that ranks top players of Smash Ultimate. In this tournament alone, he beat Light (rank 4) and Marss (rank 23).

Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma won the Super Smash Bros. Melee bracket of CEO 2025 after beating Justin “Wizzrobe” Hallett. Throughout the top 8 bracket, Hungrybox was having problems with his controller, which led to him losing games and eventually throwing his controller away.

During the winner’s final against Aly “MOF” Oquendo, Hungrybox’s controller malfunctioned. He still won the set and thanked MOF for her sportsmanship, saying that he only won because she allowed him to switch controllers mid-game, mid-stock, and gave him another handwarmer.

The grand final against Wizzrobe was the same story. He tried his original controller once more for game one, but it continued to malfunction. Hungrybox made the decision to jump off the map and give Wizzrobe the win because of it.

This is where Hungrybox looked for a replacement controller to continue the grand final with. He lost 3-0 against Wizzrobe, which reset the bracket and put him in a difficult situation. Hungrybox was able to bounce back and win the tournament 3-2.

Melee is one of the fighting games where precise inputs are very important. This means that the controller a player is using can dictate how well they’re going to play in the tournament. If they’re not used to the controller they’re using, it’s a huge detriment to their performance. Hungrybox using another controller to win CEO 2025 is a huge achievement, especially against Wizzrobe, one of the best Melee players in the world.

Additionally, this is Hungrybox’s eighth time winning CEO. Alex Jebailey, the tournament organizer of CEO, posted on his X account that Hungrybox won the very first CEO event for Melee back in 2010. A full 15 years apart, and Hungrybox has finished in the top 8 of every iteration of CEO.

On April 17, Michael “Riddles” Kim announced that he’s going to stop competing in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and will instead focus on Street Fighter 6. Riddles is considered one of the best players in Smash Ultimate and was ranked 31st in the world.

In a video, he detailed why he felt this way. According to him, the state of Smash Ultimate has depleted him of all his motivation to compete. This is likely referring to the meta that is currently dominated by what most Smash Ultimate pros consider lame.

Characters like Game and Watch, Steve from Minecraft, and Sonic have been dominating the meta after the game’s final patch. These characters promote a lame playstyle, which involves running around and avoiding interaction with the enemy as much as possible. Presumably, because of this, he announced that he’s going to focus on Street Fighter 6 instead.

He’s been seeing results in Street Fighter 6, but has not won anything as big as his Smash Ultimate wins. His recent one was a third place at Battle of BC 7, where he lost to Christopher “ChrisCCH” Hancock.

While Riddles is stepping away from Smash Ultimate, he clarified that he will still attend LVL UP EXPO 2025 and Kagaribi 13. The latter is a historic tournament where 85 of the top 100 players will be in attendance.