DoubleTree by Hilton, located in Norwalk, California, hosted a South California event ran by 2GG in collaboration with Metashift. Ultimate Nimbus, the first SoCal major this year, also had an additional prize for the Smash Ultimate Singles tournament. The highest placing non-invited/qualified/voted-in player in Ultimate earned the last spot to the Ultimate Summit. The Ultimate Summit is one of the premier events of the year, and everyone wants a spot in this prestigious event. The victor, securing his spot at said event was Paris “Light” Ramirez, who defeated Eric “ESAM” Lew in Grand Finals of Ultimate Nimbus. This ten game grand finals set was one of the best of the year, both players giving their all to be named the victor. However, Light and his Fox proved to be better than ESAM and his Pikachu that day.
Other notable placings for Ultimate Nimbus were:
- Saleem “Salem” Young debuting his Snake and placing third.
- Ramin “Mr. R” Delshad and his Chrom making their first appearance for a Smash Ultimate tournament in the US, placing fourth.
- Guillermo “Stroder” Martinez placing fifth, not before sending Frostbite 2019 winner Gavin “Tweek” Dempsey to the losers bracket in one of the biggest upsets of the year.
- Maryland’s own Zackery “ZD” and his Fox also placing fifth.
- Gavin “Tweek” Dempsey and Eric “Pandarian” Lund both placing seventh to round up top 8.
With the Victory at the Ultimate Nimbus, Light Secured Himself as the Final Entrant for the Smash Ultimate Summit
Tournament Sets to Watch
Ramin “Mr. R” Delshad vs Larry “Larry Lurr” Holland
Health and visa issues stopped Mr. R from going many of the Smash Ultimate tournaments since the game released. The Smash community is happy to have one of its Smash Wii U veterans back, as the former Sheik main took on another veteran in Larry Lurr. This time around, however, he showed us what he has been practicing with Fire Emblem’s Chrom. This five-game set serves as a welcome back to Mr. R, as we hope he continues his pursuit to be the best in the world.
Gavin “Tweek” Dempsey vs Guillermo “Stroder” Martinez
Tweek was coming off a victory at Frostbite 2019, where he was named the best player in the world. However, his Wolf and Wario were not enough to stop Stroder’s Greninja. Complications with the stream prevented many live viewers from watching this set. Even after the videos were uploaded, some parts of the gameplay were still lost. 2GG managed to compile most of the set and post it to their channel. They also issued an apology, stating that they will strive to do better from here on out. This is a good thing, because now we can watch how one of the biggest upsets of the year unfolded.
Eric “Pandarian” Lund vs Conor “Mr. ConCon” Ghobrial
Mr. Concon was coming off a big win against Larry Lurr to eliminate him from the tournament. Pandarian was sent to Losers by eventual second place ESAM. Both players tried to prove why they deserved to continue on to the next round. ConCon’s Luigi stood toe to toe with Pandarian’s Pokemon Trainer. They traded sets back and forth until Pandarian took it up a notch in Game 5. After this set, Pandarian cemented his spot in top 8 before losing to ESAM again in a much closer match.
Paris “Light” Ramirez vs Saleem “Salem” Young
Selecting one of all the great sets that both Light and Salem played at Nimbus was difficult. But this match has to take the cake. The story here goes to the fifth game between these two players. With a firm three stock lead, Salem looked poised to sit in the winner’s side of Grand Finals. However, Light was determined to change the result. With his signature fast pace play, Light managed to make the comeback and clutch out the set against Salem.
Paris “Light” Ramirez vs Eric “ESAM” Lew
The final match of the tournament was a must-watch for competitive Smash Ultimate fans. Neither of these players was invited nor voted into the Ultimate Summit. This was for all of the marbles, and they did not disappoint. ESAM managed to reset the bracket against Light, as they went 10 games to determine the winner of Nimbus. Light managed to edge out the set with a final push after an unfortunate self-destruct by ESAM switched the momentum in favor of the eventual Ultimate Nimbus winner.