MkLeo and Tweek
With Riptide wrapping up last Sunday, we’ve had a few tourneys now to see what Smash post-Covid looks like. MkLeo, the best in the world pre-pandemic, has now won the Smash World tour Central America Finals, got second at Smash Ultimate Summit 3, and then went on to win Riptide. He only came second to Tweek at Summit to Tweek who he then defeated at Riptide, 3-2, in a reverse 3-0, in Winners finals. Coming off of Tweek’s amazing performance at Summit, everybody was wondering if there had been a change in these two players’ dynamic. Tweek was playing in such a way that many spectators and commentators can’t see the flaws in this play. Aside from his lackluster day 1 of Summit, he dominated everyone else, and until Winner’s finals of Riptide, the same was true that weekend. Tweek lost 1 game in the whole tournament until Leo.
Tweek is this bastion of consistency now. Tweek 2.0 is what people have been referring to him as. Tweek was the second-best player in the world pre-pandemic, but now it’s obvious that’s he’s a level above. I think of this Tweek (from what we’ve seen so far), as a higher level Dabuz. Dabuz is the most consistent player. He’s a gatekeeper to the top 10 it feels. He’s a defensive player that is really hard to overwhelm. If you can, you’re an amazing player. It feels like Tweek is that except top 3 instead of the top 10.
So with that winner’s final set, Tweek goes up 2-0 on Leo. Leo is playing Byleth, a character he tried once against Tweek at Summit, but then switched off after losing game 1. Tweek’s Diddy was doing the things we’ve been seeing, and Leo was not able to find the answers. In game 3, Leo wins and it snowballs from there. It continued into the grand finals, where Leo 3-0ed Tweek. Tweek did seem a little shaky in losers finals, but we have to consider he was fighting Spargo. Spargo has himself shown to be a step above everyone else but not quite on the level of Leo and Tweek. Tweek did win, but he could find answers against Leo in grand finals.
The dynamic I’m getting, and granted it’s early, is that Tweek is this unmovable object. He’s solid, his mentality is rock solid. Nobody is getting past him. Nobody except the unstoppable force. Leo wasn’t able to beat the unmovable object at Summit, but Leo’s unstoppable force was enough at Riptide. Once he broke through, he just won. Tweek is a wall for the game. Leo is the force that can beat anything.
This is a great time in Ultimate. The meta is so volatile, but the top 3 are pretty obvious so far. Spargo is 3rd so far, and then Tweek and Leo are in contention for best. Leo would probably be number 1 because of legacy, but there’s obviously a debate for Tweek even after Riptide. I still think Tweek has more to prove, but it’s becoming clear that nobody can touch him aside from Leo. I’m excited to see the meta evolve and the players who fuel the changes.
Bernard Lamar Rice 