Another Nintendo Direct, another disappointment. I didn’t even bother watching the livestream, and I’m glad I didn’t: just a bunch of remakes, DLC, and a bunch of other crap we’ve already seen before. No Super Smash Bros. 6.

We already knew this, of course. Masahiro Sakurai has essentially confirmed another Smash is coming, but given no details. He only works on one game at a time and has just finished his passion project, Kirby Air Riders. This means he only started working on the long-awaited fighter this year.

Of course, there’s a reason the Smash esports community is anxiously waiting. It needs this game.

I recently shared an interview with former Call of Duty Multiplayer Creative Director Greg Reisdorf that discussed the downfall of Call of Duty esports. What has made this esports scene fail to grab attention despite the games being so popular?

Reisdorf believes it’s due to Call of Duty’s annual releases, which dilute the game’s competitive intensity and integrity. When esports pros have to relearn the game time and time again, the buildup is gone. The inconsistency undermines any sense of prestige or elitism. It feels a bit chaotic.

“It always came up in development: why are we doing this over and over again? It’s always a topic of conversation with the players and within the devs because you are redoing it over and over again,” he expressed at the time.

So, you may be thinking: Why do you want Smash 6?

Well, Smash is built different. Unlike other games, the Smash scene has remained quite grassroots, without the massive production or franchising that other scenes have. It’s less linear. Nobody is forced to move forward, forgetting older games along the way.

At GENESIS X3, Ultimate was featured and had the largest bracket. But Melee, a game from 20ish years ago, was featured right along with it. Brawl and Smash 64 also had tournaments, albeit smaller. But that didn’t stop passionate competitors from flying out for them.

“I just f***ing love playing this game,” said top Brawl pro Christina “Chia” Korsak to Esports Insider. “It’s weird how it can still trap my attention, even more than the current titles. More than every other game. I’ll get sucked into a Zelda game for, like, three hours these days. But if you sit me in front of a Brawl bracket, I’m hooked forever.”

While the games may feel alike to casual players, there are so many differences that the games are practically nothing alike to the pros. I remember playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with Josh Brody. He’s considered one of the best N64 players out there. I beat him at Ultimate. He has spent so much time grinding Smash 64 that he’s used to that controller, those moves, those frame rates…

Every Smash game has its own distinct scene with their own personalities, rivalries, and vibes. It’s always been entertaining to see the constant drama between the Ultimate and Melee scenes. The games and their players couldn’t be more different. Melee pros are often calling out Ultimate for being less technical, while Ultimate fans often call Melee repetitive to watch.

When Smash 6 comes out, everyone will try it. Chia will undoubtedly take a break from Brawl to play it. Melee God Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma will grind it on Twitch. Many Ultimate players will switch over permanently. In fact, Smash 6 may take over Ultimate’s spot depending on how the gameplay is.

But the older games will live on. And Smash 6 will fuel them more. There will be more attention on Smash when the new game comes out, bringing in new fans and players. And that means more people checking out Melee, Brawl, and all the other games.

While Ultimate has often been given top billing, the game’s popularity has allowed other tournaments to exist. Now that Ultimate hype is dying out, Smash 6 will become the game that provides funding, attention, and fans for Smash, providing the other scenes with tourneys to compete in. The more Smash 6-focused events that pop up, the better, since they will also likely have brackets for Melee and other titles.

Let’s just hope there are no characters like Steve. We need fun battles again. We need fun rivalries again. We need consistent top players to follow again. Smash 6 is the Ultimate scene’s chance to feel hype, intense, and passionate like Melee. And that will only make the other scenes stronger.

It’s been a really wild week in Dota 2. We have all sorts of stuff happening, from one of the largest Dota teams leaving, underdog teams leaving good impressions, and a familiar face up to his usual tricks.

Here’s everything that went down in this Dota 2 week that we think you should know about. Or that just happened to entertain us.

1,953 days, a TI victory, nine S-tier titles, and $14.8 million in prize money later – Tundra Esports has officially decided to pull the plug and exit the Dota 2 scene. 

It’s really concerning that the London-based organization was arguably the most successful squad of the 2026 season. They’ve won four S-tier titles – the most of any team this season – and earned themselves direct invites to both the Esports World Cup and The International, and they still couldn’t make it work.

The organization hasn’t specified a reason for its exit, but the roster will at least stay intact. 1win Team has acquired the players, meaning Neta “33” Shapira and company will play under a new tag for the rest of the season. 

It’s no surprise a squad like the Tundra boys quickly found a new home, but the optics really aren’t great. We’ve already seen paiN Gaming and HEROIC leave this year due to sustainability concerns, but those were mid-sized organizations with middling teams. 

Tundra was – and if we ignore recency bias, still is – the best team in the world this year. If an org as successful as Tundra decides the scene is no longer worth investing in, I wonder what that means for everyone else. 

I think we can all agree that Dota 2 esports isn’t on its best trajectory right now, and if Valve isn’t going to step in, the scene will have to figure it out on its own. Betting companies like 1win have become increasingly visible in the ecosystem, whether they’re funding teams through sponsorships or straight up owning them. 

Now, I’m not saying it’s a great solution, but it’s very possible that Dota 2 will have to lean more heavily on gambling sponsors in the near future. I don’t think it’s the most glamorous look for the scene, but with orgs continuing to drop like flies, that might simply be the reality we’re heading toward.

Whether that’s a good thing is an entirely different conversation.

Speaking of betting site orgs, Vitalie “Save-” Melnic has recently hit a milestone of 1,000 maps played under the BetBoom Team banner. He’s been a constant presence on this team since the 2023 season, weathering every roster shuffle thrown at him.

It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for BB Team, as they actually started out pretty rough. In Save-’s first year, the team couldn’t secure any notable results, but he stuck with them through thick and thin. 

Things started clicking in 2024, with three second-place finishes at S-tier events before the team finally won their first Tier 1 trophy at BLAST Slam I in December 2024, which was also his first LAN trophy. Three more S-tier titles followed, including a recent win at PGL Wallachia Season 8 just two months ago – bringing the BetBoom Team’s trophy count to four, all of which Save- has been a part of. 

In my opinion, Save- has always been one of the most mechanically skilled position four players in the scene, and it’s been like that for a while. This guy is a monster, and I’d go as far as to say he made this team. 

Only a couple of soft support players can rival him, and we’re only talking about the super veterans like Andreas “Cr1t-” Nielsen and Samuel “Boxi” Svahn. Save- easily clears all his new blood counterparts – except for maybe Edgar “9class” Naltakian – in both mechanics and experience.

To commemorate his milestone and loyalty to the team, Save- was gifted a custom 1,000-map BetBoom jersey. He’s definitely one of the most underrated players in the scene. 

With growing concerns about the esports scene, it’s important for players to treasure opportunities and make the most out of them – and that’s exactly what the former HEROIC boys are doing after LGD Gaming put their trust in them. 

Despite entering BLAST Slam 7 as one of the more middling teams, LGD Gaming is playing with no fear and tore through the group stage. The South Americans won 8 out of 11 matches, landing them the top spot in the entire bracket in such a stacked tournament. They’ve even earned themselves a fast pass to the second round of the upper bracket.

Not only do they have to fly to Copenhagen for the rest of BLAST Slam 7, but the LGD Gaming guys are also grinding out the qualifiers for the Esports World Cup. Since they’re currently bootcamping in Europe for BLAST, they registered for the Western European qualifiers instead. 

So, they’re playing qualifiers in the middle of a million-dollar event, and got the job done with ease. They rolled everyone in the qualifiers, taking down NAVI 2-1 in the upper bracket final to secure their spot at the Esports World Cup. 

While LGD Gaming is thriving and headed to the playoffs at BLAST Slam, GLYPH unfortunately got the shorter end of the stick. They’re an unsponsored Southeast Asian stack that dug into their own pockets to compete at this event.

As expected, GLYPH ended up as cannon fodder and was eliminated in last place with a 2-9 record. And though they were sent packing earlier than they’d like, they at least gave us one of the best clips of the year so far. 

In their Best of 1 against Tundra Esports, now 1win, Tri “Jhocam” Kuncoro’s Rubick stole Techies’ Proximity Mines and planted a minefield around the Twin Gate, which is a pretty common strat. 

Tundra was smoked up as four, looking to take the gate to the opposite side of the map and look for a pickoff. Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov’s Puck was sent through first, with the rest of the team right behind him.

After completing the teleportation, bzm immediately heard Mines going off and quickly reacted with Phase Shift to dodge the potential explosions. However, the rest of the team didn’t react in time, got blown up by six mines, and died instantly. 

This is hands-down one of the funniest plays we’ve seen this year, and GLYPH will at least be remembered for that. 

The infamous David “Parker” Nicho Flores is back with another band of brothers. This fella is notoriously known for being one of the most skilled carry players in the world, but can’t muster enough professionalism to stay on a team for more than three months.

However, he’s really proficient at forming stacks and carrying them through South American qualifiers for big events. He’s running it back with Estar Backs, where he’s currently competing for a spot in the Esports World Cup – and his chances are as high as they can get. 

South America has two big teams: LGD Gaming and PlayTime. As we covered earlier, the former is playing in the Western European qualifier for this event, while the latter has already secured their spot via direct invite.

So, Parker and the boys only have to go through Team Nemesis as the only worthy opponent. And with how oddly good Parker is at farming qualifiers, their odds look pretty darn good. 

The Estar Backs roster is as follows:

Are we going to get another repeat of the South American Rejects story? Only time – or whether Parker has finally learned his lessons – will tell.