iBDW wins Smash Summit 13 for second straight Summit title

Cody "iBDW" Schwab took place at Smash Summit 13 this past weekend. The invitational tournament was the latest in Beyond the Summit's prestigious series of Super Smash Bros. Melee competitions. 16 of the best players in the world gathered in Los Angeles for three days of intense Smash action.

Legendary names like Mango, Hungrybox, and Leffen highlighted the lineup. However, it was the reigning champ who emerged victorious, as iBDW claimed his second consecutive Summit championship. This is his first major tournament win since taking Smash Summit 12 last December.

Following the first official day of the event, Beyond the Smash announced via Twitter that there was a positive COVID test on Saturday morning. Organizers required every player to test negative before entering the venue for the third day of the tournament. Unfortunately, two players tested positive and had to drop out of the competition. A third player dropped out of due to close extended contact with a COVID-positive individual.

Since the field had been reduced to 13 players, several adjustments had to be made to the tournament format on the fly. The most significant changes came during the Gauntlet Stage:

Thankfully there were no more COVID cases for the rest of the event and the final two days carried on as planned.

Things got off to a perfect start for iBDW as he went 3-0 in the Group Stage to automatically qualify for the Winners Bracket. He won his two Day 1 matches against Blue and Frenzy, and also won his Day 2 match against Plup by forfeit. Having dropped just a single game in Group State, iBDW ensured he did not have to play in the Gauntlet Stage. The defending champ was sitting comfortably in the Winners Bracket awaiting the start of Day 3.

In his first match of the Final Bracket, iBDW defeated n0ne 3-1 to advance to the Winners Semi-Finals. There he best Jmook 3-1 as well to earn a spot in Winners Finals. Continuing his day of dominance, iBDW secured another 3-1 victory against Hungrybox. Playing out of his mind and undefeated in the tournament to that point, it seemed inevitable that he would soon be lifting another Smash Summit trophy.

The player who would go on to meet iBDW in the Grand Final was his teammate on Panda, Plup. Despite being placed in the same Group at the start of the tournament, they had yet to actually play. This was because Plup decided to not attend Day 2 as a precaution after the positive COVID test. He forfeited all of his matches that day, but went 3-0 in Gauntlet Tiebreakers on Day 3 to secure a spot in the Winners bracket.

Plup continued his Day 3 run with a string of enormous performances. He upset Zain 3-2 in his first match of the Final Bracket to send the tournament favorite into Losers. Unfortunately, Plup then lost to Hungrybox 3-2 in an intensely close set that ended with the loudest popoff in Smash history.

Plup found himself in Losers but was not fazed by the pressure. He defeated lloD and Jmook 3-1 each to earn his runback with Hungrybox in the Losers Final. After playing Sheik for most of the tournament, Plup switched to Fox for his first set with Hungrybox. He continued this strategy during his Losers Bracket run, only using Sheik against lloD's Peach. Plup managed to get his McCloud rolling in time for his rematch against Hungrybox. The two traded games back and forth, but this time it was Plup who emerged with a 3-2 victory.

Both Panda representatives were set to play in the Grand Final of Smash Summit 13. At first Plup gave iBDW his first real scare of the entire tournament, racing out to a 2-0 lead. However, iBDW responded with the will of a champion. He took the next three games to deny the bracket rest and win his second Smash Summit event in the past six months.

Top 8

For Super Smash Bros. new, follow Esports.gg.