One other yr, one other missed Combo Contest. I’ve sadly determined to move to Monterey Automotive Week this summer time, which implies I gained’t have the ability to attend the newly expanded Supernova (aka Smash Con) and watch my favourite tourney of all time: the Combo Contest.
Supernova is the most important Smash occasion on this planet, that includes tournaments for Melee, Final, Brawl, 64, and even Venture M (no less than up to now). It additionally has a Smash awards present, cosplay contest, friendlies, and all the wonderful belongings you’d anticipate from a community-focused occasion. Which means professionals doing cash matches and followers taking bets on the Prime 8 and all the opposite chaos.
And certainly one of my favourite tournaments begins off the lengthy weekend: the Combo Contest.
The magic of the Combo Contest (and Huntsman’s ft)
The Combo Contest takes place inside Smash 64, buried within the coaching mode. The aim: get as many hits on an NPC earlier than KO’ing them. You need to by no means drop the string and also you should be as artistic as attainable. Then, judges offers you a rating as much as 10 primarily based on innovation, expertise, and madness.
Previously few years, there have been some insane stand-out moments. Blake “Huntsman” Davis had everybody shook when he whipped out two controllers to manage two completely different characters for certainly one of his combos. And he managed one of many characters together with his ft. I witnessed this in particular person, and I can say it was each gross and unimaginable to look at somebody be barefoot on a Smash stage.
He stepped it up in 2025 and had three characters, which implies three controllers. One in his hand, and one for every foot.
Then there’s the Japanese participant, Prince, who is likely one of the most flawless Combo Contest contestants on the market. He can pull off extremely advanced combos with the next success charge than different gamers, even when there are a number of objects and loopy trajectory angles to maintain monitor of. He wasn’t there the previous few years, however I managed to get him to signal my Smash Con shirt some time again.
The hype from the judges – particularly Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma standing up in disbelief – and the cheers from the entertained crowd make this probably the most electrical moments of the weekend. However what makes the Combo Contest the most effective Smash event is that it completely embodies the spirit of the scene.
It will possibly’t be recreated, it may’t be faked
The Combo Contest gained’t get you any fame and barely any cash. You’ll be even much less of a well-recognized title than the highest gamers in Melee and Final. There are individuals inside the Smash scene itself who gained’t know you. That is really for the love of the sport.
The Combo Contest is about ardour, ability, dedication, and innovation. You’re taking a recreation from the Nineties and persevering with to search out new exploits, new combos, new methods, and new methods to point out your ability that’s past everybody else who has been grinding for many years. That is like Melee on steroids. It’s the identical handful of characters, the identical objects, the identical levels, however you will need to discover a strategy to be further artistic and further gifted to face out. Years later. That’s why you’ll see the naked ft come out (without cost) and the additional controllers.
After you provide you with an insane, never-before-seen combo in a recreation over 30 years previous, it’s important to grind that combo for a complete yr. You must dedicate a ton of time to perfecting the combo in hopes that it will likely be executed as near excellent as attainable come Supernova. Which means learning precisely how far an NPC falls again at a sure share, how briskly an NPC flies when hit with a sure merchandise at a sure injury share… It’s insanity.
And also you’re working towards that each one yr only for a small group of bizarre Smash followers. No person else on this planet even cares. And that doesn’t hassle you. You simply need to show your self. You simply need to pull off one thing loopy for the few that get it.
The Combo Contest is Smash in its rawest kind. It’s the sort of magic that may’t be replicated wherever else. The truth is, in case you threw extra money on the Combo Contest, it could even danger killing it fully. It’s not about an enormous manufacturing. It’s not about viewership on a stream. There isn’t a pressured hype right here. There’s no particular second that may be clip farmed. It’s a type of issues that may solely occur within the Smash neighborhood, in its present bubble.
As a result of the magic of the Combo Contest is in its realness. Its rawness. The dedication to win after grinding a combo all yr, even when it means no cash, no recognition. Take that facet away, and it’s destroyed. That is the epitome of Smash tradition and its obsession with ardour and sweatiness. Gamers that grind all yr, put their complete life and soul into an previous recreation, collapse to their knees and cry after they win a match… This can be a tradition that may’t be bought and formulated.
That being stated, who can’t wait to look at Huntsman whip out his ft at Supernova 2026? I can safely say that I’d fairly see that than all the hypercars on this planet. So I’ll be there subsequent yr. I’ve to be. It’s value flying throughout the nation. It’s one thing that you would be able to’t expertise or really feel wherever else.
I’m speaking in regards to the Combo Contest, BTW. Not simply seeing his grippers on a N64 controller.
