Written by Craig Alphonse

Smash is going to be massive this weekend as May 31st – June 1st contains the final qualifier for the MLG Grassroots Program. SKTAR 3 is being held in Somerset, New Jersey, and despite its location on the east coast numerous top players from both sides of the country and even worldwide are showing up to land a coveted position in the bracket for MLG Anaheim. There are currently five spots left: one of the spots will go to the winner of the event (if they have not won any of the other seven qualifiers) and the remaining slots will go to the players who have earned the most points over each MLG qualifier.

This prospect has brought so many top players that the astounding skill is sure to make for an exciting tournament. Many great players (Shroomed, Hax, Westballz, SFAT) are borderline to qualify, but the biggest wild card will be EG PPMD. Due to his studies, he has not been able to make it out to many tournaments, which has left him with zero points for MLG. As he is the only member of the Fabled Five to have not qualified, it will be interesting to see if he will be able to take the spot either through winning the tournament or simply placing high enough. (He most likely will need at least a top 3 placement.) It could be speculated that due to his hiatus from the scene he may not place well, but having won Apex just earlier this year, it is evident that he definitely has the capability to take this tournament to the bank.

It is a hard road for any competitor this weekend, because despite having already qualified the remaining members of the Fabled Five (aside from Crs. Hungrybox) will be present at SKTAR, along with legends Liquid’Ken, Liquid’KDJ, Chudat, and Crs. Chillin. While it is fantastic to see the greats returning to the game they love, they need to brush up on their play a little more before they can expect to take a massive event like this. None of the legends have very many points either, which will require them to place top 3 at the least, and it is difficult to see them landing the upsets they would need.

With all this taken into account, it is evident that nothing is for certain other than the notion that this will be an entertaining tournament. The only guarantee I can envision is SS Soft taking one of the five spots due to the massive amounts of points he has gained, and even that could be taken away by two upsets from any of the other 236 competitors. Whatever the case may be, the players I have listed in this article are the ones keep an eye on, as they will be playing to win.

Great match-ups, massive potential for upsets, and MLG Anaheim on the horizon all combine to ensure SKTAR 3 will be enticing to watch and terrifying to compete in.

SKTAR 3 will be streamed on MLG and will go from 11a-midnight on Saturday, and from 3:30p-midnight on Sunday. All matches will be archived on the Clash Tournaments youtube channel following the event.