Combo Breaker 2023 Super Smash Bros Ultimate Top 8 Results

Combo Breaker is one of the premier fighting game events in the calendar year, and although it already features a massive 20+ brackets on its halls, there is still space for the king of platform fighters, Super Smash Bros. Yes, Melee has its own bracket as well, but here, we want to tell you about the most exciting matches that made up the final eight competitors on Sunday.

Top 24 Recap

Heading into Sunday, after the final stage of pools, we had the top 24 players battle it out for a chance at a top 8 finish. On the winner side of the bracket, it was Arctice taking a very close win over Skitz while NOODLE Wii fit Trainer fell short of a victory on a game five versus big_mak's Shiek. Dabuz punched his ticket to the top 8 winner side by taking out Ravenking, who would nevertheless endure and take victory over KilogramHours to stay in that loser's bracket.

ESAM, who has now fully moved into Team 26 Rising, brought his Pikachu to play and forced Kobe to win over MVD to keep his dreams alive. NOODLE's fate would not be as kind, as they faced a mirror match versus SoGoodPop, who bested them to continue an impressive lower bracket run that had already taken Regulating_Mofo 3-2 and Venom 3-1. Rounding up the lower side of the top 24 was Mastronarde, who beat Sandy and CrowZ before taking on Skitz and dispatching his Wario to make pull on through to the Top 8.

Loser Round 1

The action started with local hero Ravenking facing off against Kobe, who took the first game with Toon Link making the most of his gameplay versus Joker. Kobe kept the pressure high and secured his second victory in the top 8. Coming into Game 3, things locked solid for Kobe to advance, but Ravenking picked up the pace and pushed the set to Game 4. Sadly, it would not be enough, as Kobe picked up the stock advantage earlier and capitalized on it to advance.

Mastronarde pulled out the Minecraft Steve to face off against SoGoodPop's Wii Fit Trainer, who seemed ready to dish out the blocky physique of Steve. Picking up the first game of the set. Coming to Game 2, Mastronarde switched off Steve and went back to his main Pokemon Trainer, which was a good enough change to bring the set to a 1-1. In Game 3, both players pushed each other to the limit, with the very last stock easily going one way or another, but a well-timed spike sealed the deal for Mastronarde to go up 2-1. Keeping the momentum going, Mastronarde was able to secure the win in Game 4 and knocked out SoGoodPop.

Winner Semi-Finals

Opening the winner side of the bracket was Arctice's Captain Falcon versus big-mak's Sheik. Neither player was ready to give up the first-game advantage to the other as the two battled it deep into the final stock; in the end, big_mak kept his focus up and secured Game 1. The second game of the set was a lit more one-sided, as big_mak's Shieks made short work of his opponent and gave up only one stock in the rumble.  Yet, that was not the end. Arctice adapted well to the match-up and picked up Game 3 to put up a point on the board. But that was enough, Arctice went on to win Game 4 with all his stocks intact, only reaching a hair over 100% and taking out big_mak in dominant fashion to push for a final game. as pressure mounted for big-mak he rose to meet it and, in yet another last stock situation, he clutched the win to go to winner finals.

On the other side of the bracket, we had the battle of Dabuz vs ESAM, Dabuz had a strong start to kick things off, winning the first two games of the set in dominant fashion versus ESAM's Pikachu. Heading into Game 3 and the potential set point, we saw ESAM lean into his Mii Brawler to try to dislodge the power of Dabuz' Rosalina. Although it seemed like the change would work, Dabuz made sure to keep his Luma alive to close out the set 3-0.

Loser Quarter-Finals

Although Arctice was coming in strong from a close loss at the hands of big_mak, it was Kobe who landed the first strike in game 1 with his Toon Link. In the second game of the series, things looked much more even, with both players pushing each other to the limit of nearly every stock before Arctice was forced to tap out in Game 2, bringing putting Kobe on match point. Ultimately, for all his efforts in the upper side of the bracket, Arctice was no match for a possessed Kobe, who was building quite a loser side run and would add another name to his belt with a 3-0 over Arctice.

ESAM then had to pick a fight with Mastronarde to keep his dream alive. The Pikachu expert secured the first game of the series, but Mastronarde, the Minnesotan of the hour, was not quite ready to go down 2-0 and instead turned it in his favor and forced a Game 4 with a 2-1 score line. There, at the brink of losing, ESAM pulled out a brilliant 30% KO and followed up appropriately to give us a Game 5. It was here that Mastronarde shined brighter than any Pokemon, nearly taking out ESAM with his whole 3 stocks untouched; instead, he would do it with 2.

Winners Finals

For many, there were doubts as to how big_mak would fair against such strong opposition in Dabuz, and Game 1 certainly did not help big_mak's case as Dabuz 3-stocked the Sheik main to start of the series. Game 2 started out with a similar tune, though this time big_mak was able to take out the first stock off Dabuzand then followed up with another before finally giving it to Dabuz to lead the series 2-0. Coming to Game 3, the feeling was that big_mak just needed a handful more games to fully adapt to the matchup, as he kept improving from game to game, but it would be Dabuz taking the Winner Finals 3-0.

Loser Semi-Finals

Game 1 started slow, with both players looking to check how each other was responding to pressure. Kobe then pushed Mastronarde hard to the edge of the stage and secured the first game of the series. Mastronarde felt a change was needed, moving on to Steve versus Kobe's Toon Link. It seemed like it would work out for Mastronarde's Steve, but in the very end, clutching it from what seemed more and more like a first point for Steve, Kobe snatched Game 2. Finally, in Game 3, Mastronarde was clearly feeling the heat and nearly went out in a 3-0 stock fight, but after scoring his first stock of the game, he decided to let Kobe advance and go out on his own terms.

Losers Finals

Right after the semis, we had the Loser finals, a chance at redemption for big_mak, who was surely aiming to go back up and meet Dabuz once again. For Kobe, it was all about making it through; having already defeated so many opponents through the lower bracket, this was his time to shine, the protagonist. Game one would go the way of Kobe, who looked hooked in for the series, winning with a two-stock advantage. Game 2 followed a similar pattern, with Kobe outpacing big_mak's sheik to bring it to match point. Even as Game 3 was the closest of all, Kobe was ready to continue that lower bracket dream run and bring it to the Grand Finals.

Grand Finals

Dabuz came out with Olimar to start things out versus Kobe's Young Link. That choice made for a very thrilling Game 1 as both players dug deep into their last stocks, only for Dabuz to clinch a victory inside the last two minutes. Undeterred, Kobe went again, looking to flip the matchup in his favor. Unfortunately for Kobe, Dabuz took the first two stocks off Kobe before losing one himself, though Kobe was ready to claw his way back into the match and force a last situation once more, but it was not enough yet again, and Dabuz would pick up the 2-0 lead. with the tournament point on the line, neither player was ready to give it up easily, Kobe fought his way back hard and survived as long as he could, but once well over 150% that was a tough ask of anyone. Dabuz secured the win and sealed the Grand Finals with a 3-0 score.

Final Top 8 Standings

• 1st Dabuz
• 2nd Kobe
• 3rd big_mak
• 4th Mastronarde
• 5-6th ESAM
• 5-6th Arctice
• 7-8th SoGoodPop
• 7-8th Ravenking