

@9B, Akira, @Rin, and @FILIP practice for doubles while @Ranai, @Komorikiri, and more watch from the crowd.



We could even see... DOCTOR MELEE! I mean, @Dr_Elmes who showed off his cosplay!







"I studied various combos before the patch and by far the best were the brain dead combos. However, now I can discover new and exciting combos that put my opponents in very precarious positions. Actually, I really like the new Bayonetta," ikep explained to me after unfortunately losing in loser's finals. "Bayonetta is a very unique character with extremely strong moves such as witch time," he said enthusiastically. "I would be so happy if more people used her."​ The most interesting story of the tournament was @ikep , (pronounced like the letters E-K-P), the strongest Bayonetta main in Japan. ikep has had better results post-patch than pre-patch. I spoke with ikep about his results lately and he was delighted to talk about his beloved character. He stressed to me that pre-patch Bayonetta was all about dial-up combos. You could do all the research you wanted, but you were never going to find anything better than the up B into side B into up B bread-and-butter zero-to-death combos. Now post patch, Bayonetta is finally ready to be developed as a character." ikep explained to me after unfortunately losing in loser's finals. "," he said enthusiastically. ""​

Another @Sumabato comes to a close with a familiar champion. @Komorikiri finally snapped his losing streak and regained his spot at the top of western Japan without dropping a set to anyone all day. He went almost exclusively Sonic this time as well, only bringing out Cloud for various game two situations. Unlike another player headed for EVO , Komorikiri did not claim he would win EVO but instead said, "" Thanks to Nairo's donation drive, Komorikiri as well as three other players will be heading to EVO this year to compete, so staying up to date on the Japanese Smash scene is as important as ever.Komorikiri was incredibly touched by the generosity of the Smash Community and wanted to thank everyone who donated to get him to EVO. It was so successful, it appears that Komorikiri will be joined by three other players that rarely get the chance to leave Japan. These players were only able to go to EVO because of everyone's help and support and EVO will be even better because of it. Thank you all! Stay tuned to find out who will be joining Komorikiri and the rest of Team Japan.Before looking too far ahead, here's the results from Sumabato 11 ( translated bracket by @juddy96 ). For those looking for context surrounding the tournament, look no further than the preview article posted here on Smashboards last week!1st Komorikiri (Kansai; Sonic//Cloud)2nd Kie (Kansai; Peach)3rd ikep (Chubu; Bayonetta)4th You3 (Kansai; Duck Hunt)5th Earth (Chubu; Pit//Corrin)5th Oishii Tofu (Kansai; Greninja)7th Aki (Kansai; Ryu)7th FILIP (Hiroshima; Mario//Cloud)Sumabato is never without surprises and @Kameme , the player I have stated is the most consistent in Japan, drowned in pools. He later went on to win the B-Class Amateur bracket, but he used nearly every character. In pools he drowned from using Jigglypuff, Lucas, and Dark Pit. In B-Class grand finals he went Pac-Man, selectedfor game two and got Link, and finally took the tournament with his main Mega Man in game three. Kameme assured me he is going to take the time and train for EVO and that he was just trying things out here. He also told me he will come back from EVO and win The Big House 6 qualifier so he can go to America twice this year. I certainly hope he can pull it off and I am excited to see what he can do against the world's best next month.The only player who could possibly dethrone Kameme as the most consistent in Japan right now is @Kie , a Peach main who is relatively unknown due to @Umeki 's international popularity. Out of all the players in Japan I cannot think of another who has consistently placed in the Top 8 this many times in a row. Unfortunately, Kie might not make an American debut for sometime. After the tournament Kie told me that taking that much time off is impossible for him at the moment. Hopefully one day soon we will see another top level Japanese Peach player make their way to America.I used the time after the tournament to speak to every top level player I could, especially the ones who have not had a chance to leave Japan yet. Unfortunately, many have work or school conflicts that would not allow them to take the six-day minimum break required to fly out for an American major. There were however many who were extremely interested in attending either Super Smash Con in August and The Big House 6 in October. Both of those tournaments coincidentally fall on Japanese holidays so it will be much easier for them to get extended leave and travel to America. Who knows? Maybe we will be seeing Japan represented in record numbers sooner than you think.I leave you again with another great name tag drawn by returning Sumabato artist @Rin . Have any of you tried out these name tag ideas at your tournaments? If you have please sound off in the comments! I would love to see them. Are there any players you would particularly like to see come to a major tournament near you? Please let me know! I strive to make our tournaments as accommodating as possible for international players so we can continue to grow the scene. I look forward to being able to share with you more as we get closer to the next major tournaments.Sayonara until next week.