Smash Ultimate fans hyped as Japan’s special tournament mode comes to NA
NintendoSmash Ultimate fans annoyed at the fact that Japan had an exclusive tournament mode can rejoice in the fact that it has suddenly appeared for North American players.
On September 18, Smash players started reporting that a new mode was showing up in their menus titled “Official Tourney Qualifiers.”
As Dexerto previously reported, Japan has a special mode that shows up from time to time with a ladder ranking component. The last tournament to do this made use of the new Small Battlefield stage.
The big factor, as noted, is the existence of a ladder system. As it stands, Smash Ultimate doesn’t have any sort of true competitive mode outside of third-party tournaments.
NintendoTournament details: how to join, prizes, and more
The mode is set to run on September 26 from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM PST. The top 20 players with the best tournament score will be able to earn prizes. Not bad for three hours of work.
The Grand Prize first-place winner will earn 10,000 My Nintendo Gold Points, the next nine highest scores will win 4,000 My Nintendo Gold Points and the ten remaining will secure 2,500 My Nintendo Gold Points.
In order to enter, you just need to click on Official Tourney Qualifiers in the online section and select “yes” once reviewing the rules.
A new in-game #SmashBrosUltimate tournament has arrived! @NintendoVS Challenge Cup September 2020 happens on 9/26 & we’re giving away over 70,000 total My Nintendo Gold Points! Get ready to join online in-game from 3 – 6pm PT on 9/26! 👊
Learn more: https://t.co/Wm8ozdY5QL pic.twitter.com/2rZwzqUR1x
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) September 18, 2020
Unfortunately, this particular game mode is hardly extremely competitive with items, stage hazards and other unconventional rules enabled. So, for fans expecting something similar to a third-party event, this isn’t exactly the same thing.
That said, the fact the mode is coming to North America now could be a huge deal, especially if Nintendo actually implements rules similar to that of major esports competitions.
This could also be a test run to see how the mode plays in North America before eventually doing something a bit more serious.
Plus, there’s a good chance we will see the Mario 35 Anniversary Tournament scheduled for later this year use this mode.