Since the first Super Smash Bros. released back in 1996 for the Nintendo 64, the massive crossover fighting game franchise has grown into one of the most popular competitive titles in the world. Both Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate maintain some of the biggest communities in the competitive fighting games circuit and many of the games' biggest pro players have become iconic names that have shaped the history of the games. Now, with Beyond the Summit's 13th Smash Summit fast approaching this weekend, one of Europe's biggest pros will be forced to miss out.
Swedish Super Smash Bros. player Linus "Pipsqueak" Nordin has made a name for himself within not only the European competitive scene but the Smash world as a whole thanks to his impressive play. Pipsqueak is regularly ranked alongside well-known top European Smash Bros. players like Leffen and Trif and is widely considered within the game's community to be one of the best Fox players in Europe. Unfortunately for Pipsqueak, after receiving an invitation to Smash Summit 13 with the tournament set to begin tomorrow, an update from his Twitter reveals the Smash pro has tested positive for COVID-19.
Pipsqueak posted the update to his Twitter account Tuesday with a message unfortunately confirming that the Super Smash Bros. Melee player will miss Summit 13 after testing positive for COVID-19. Pipsqueak also informed fans that he was in fact showing mild symptoms of the disease such as a cough and a sore throat, quashing hopes that the test might have been a false positive. Pipsqueak had previously qualified for the invitation-only tournament after winning the championships of the European "SAME 2021" tournament circuit in November of last year.
Pipsqueak's absence from Summit 13 will see one of Europe's most prolific talents dropping out of a tournament that is set to be stacked with some of the very best players in the competitive Super Smash Bros. Melee circuit. Alongside high-profile names like Cloud9's Mango, Panda Global's Plup, and TeamSoloMid's Leffen receiving invitations to the tournament, several other top Smash players like Hungrybox and n0ne qualified through tournaments with others like Frenzy, KoDoRiN and others joining through the tournament's crowdfunding initiatives.
With Beyond The Summit's tournaments marking one of the biggest events of the year for fans of competitive Smash Bros, many are still waiting to hear about the future of the competitive franchise through Nintendo themselves. Nintendo announced a partnership with gaming organization Panda Global late last year with the intention of starting an officially endorsed competitive circuit, though little has been released for details about the potential official tournament. Though fans may still be waiting a while to hear about Nintendo's official pro-level tournament offerings, Summit 13 should bring plenty of exciting matches for Smash's passionate fans.