Some overseas fans recently discovered thatSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatehas a game mode that literally translates to “Online Tournament Qualifier,” but it’s region-locked to Japan. Even more disappointing, the mode plays like a ranked-competitive type, something theSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatecommunity has been asking for over a decade now.
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What interest players about Online Tournament Qualifier, isn’t the mode itself, but the ruleset it features. The mode pits players against each other in 1v1 battles. Competitors have two stocks in matches that last up to four minutes. Items are, of course, unusable, and the only selectable arena to fight in is the newSmall Battlefield stage. Winners earn points that tally up to a specific rank that places them somewhere on a leaderboard system.
The mode is literally justonline ranked forSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate. TheSmash Bros. community has been asking for something like this sinceSuper Smash Bros. Brawlintroduced the series to online battles. A ranked mode wouldn’t have worked very well since Brawl’s servers were — to put it lightly — lackluster.Ultimate’s online servers are far from perfect, but manageable, and the addition of a ranked mode nowadays would be more than welcomed.
Online Tournament Qualifier itself has become a big hit over in Japan.ProfessionalSmash Ultimateplayerssuch as Hero, Tea, and Shuton have all jumped on it. Shuton actually captured the footage above. Meanwhile, some overseas professionals have recently taken notice of the game mode thanks to Mj’s tweet.
Some, such as Leffen, couldn’t help but point out what looks like Nintendo having made “another” mistake. Others like Samsora, just couldn’t believe Japan had the game mode, and then outliers like MVD believe there’s nothing to be worried about. They think the game mode is only being tested over in Japan and will come overseas sooner or later.
Whether or not a ranked mode similar to the Online Tournament Qualifier will release internationally remains a mystery.Super Smash Bros. Ultimatestill has five DLC characters left, so there’s certainly time for it to happen. It would be a nice gift to receive before the game’s DLC updates come to an end, especially considering how long people have asked for it.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimateis on Nintendo Switch.
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