With thousands of competitors in the Smash Ultimate scene, cutting down everything to highlight the Top 50 leaves out many a player from the spotlight.
These are the honorable mentions for the PGRU that just missed the mark -- Area 51.
We do not consider the differences between these players to be statistically significant, so they are collectively referred to as Area 51.
Edited by: Luis "suar" Suarez
Brett “8BitMan” Esposito
Region: Florida (SFL)
Main(s): ROB
Team: AntiMatter Gaming
Twitter: @8BrettMan
One of the pillars of character loyalty across multiple entries of the franchise, 8BitMan is near synonymous with ROB at this point, with Ultimate being no exception. 8BitMan had a bit of a wild path before finally landing in the Area 51 range, peaking at 17th (GENESIS 6) and bottoming out at 65th a few weeks later (Frostbite 2019), as far as the early season. He managed to rebound a bit with a 25th place mark at Smash ‘N’ Splash 5, but alas his steep fall hindered his upward progress a bit too much to make the PGRu’s Top 50. Though not to be completely discredited, 8BitMan has wins on Captain L, CaptainZack, Fatality, Sinji, and Shoyo James, and rarely fell outside of Top 8 at lower tiered events, such as Midwest Arena, Overlords of Orlando, and Come To Papa 3, where he finished 2nd, 4th, and 9th respectively.
Alan “Gen” Soriano
Region: Tristate (NYC)
Main(s): Palutena
Team: House of 3000
Twitter: @Ho3kAlan
Gen is one of New York’s most promising up-and-comers, and Area 51 is much closer to being his floor than it is his ceiling. For now, however, this is where the young Palutena main resides. Gen’s premiere tournament resume leaves a bit to be desired, posting 49th at Frostbite 2019 and 33rd at Smash ‘N’ Splash 5. Representing Tristate at Suplex City Smash, Gen netted 13th. Winning both Guardian 1 and the Scarlet Classic V with wins over the likes of LingLing, Suarez, ZD, and Zinoto, Gen has made it clear that he's a force to be reckoned with.
Laith “SDX” Hamdan
Region: Tristate (Buffalo, NY)
Main(s): Mewtwo
Team: N/A
Twitter: @SDXM2
Even though SDX has openly resigned from Ultimate for now on his own accord, his resume was still impressive enough to nearly notch a spot on the PGRU. Truly impressive when you think about it: his last tournament of any considerable weight was Frostbite 2019, where he placed 33rd. Before that, it was GENESIS 6, where he finished at 17th place, and the only thing separating those events is No Fun Allowed 3, at which he got 2nd. Since then, SDX has been radio silent at the national level, and even with all those months gone, he was only barely knocked out of contention for Top 50. A consistently active season will likely land him a seat at the table- it’s only a matter of when that time may be.
Leon “Sonido” Green
Region: Southeast (GA)
Main(s): Sonic
Team: Typo House Games
Twitter: @_Sonido_
Sonido has been one of the Southeast’s quietest driving forces so far in Ultimate, peaking at #2 in Georgia and proving himself worthy of praise when traveling out of region. The only real fault in Sonido’s Season 1 was the timing of when it all came together, so it ended up being the equivalent of handing in an assignment just past the turn in time, late. His performance at CEO 2019 landed him a placement of 17th and set list including Mr. R, Captain Zack, and Mr. E, but in the end it failed to balance out his showings at the season’s S Tier events: 65th at GENESIS 6, 49th at Frostbite 2019, and 33rd at MomoCon 2019. Wins over Samsora, ScAtt, and Suarez helped his cause even more, unfortunately it just wasn’t enough to edge out the rest of the competition.
Zack “ZD” Darby
Region: MD/VA (MD)
Main(s): Fox, Wolf
Team: Demise
Twitter: @zd_luigi
ZD being relegated to Area 51 of the inaugural PGRu is a testament to the strength of the competition this season and the sheer difficulty of reserving a spot. ZD’s biggest downfall by far was his inability to reach the deeper ends of S-Tier brackets, finishing within the Top 32 only once: Frostbite 2019 (25th). At GENESIS 6 and Smash ‘N’ Splash 5 he placed a still respectable 33rd, in addition to placing 5th at Ultimate Nimbus and 9th at Scarlet Classic V at lower tiered events. His set list also includes the likes of Tweek, Zackray, and Leffen, but even with these feats, cracking the Top 50 still was not in the cards.
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