Some overseas fans recently discovered that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has a game mode that literally translates to “Online Tournament Qualifier,” but it’s region-locked to Japan. Even more disappointing, the mode plays like a ranked-competitive type, something the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate community has been asking for over a decade now.
Online Tournament Qualifier has been around since February 2020. The game type comes and goes as its only a limited-time event, not a staple game mode like Elite Smash. As the name of the game mode suggests, it exists to select individuals worthy of participating in an official, sponsored, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament.
What interest players about Online Tournament Qualifier, isn’t the mode itself, but the ruleset it features. The mode pits players against each other in 1v1 battles. Competitors have two stocks in matches that last up to four minutes. Items are, of course, unusable, and the only selectable arena to fight in is the new Small Battlefield stage. Winners earn points that tally up to a specific rank that places them somewhere on a leaderboard system.
The mode is literally just online ranked for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The Smash Bros. community has been asking for something like this since Super Smash Bros. Brawl introduced the series to online battles. A ranked mode wouldn’t have worked very well since Brawl’s servers were — to put it lightly — lackluster. Ultimate‘s online servers are far from perfect, but manageable, and the addition of a ranked mode nowadays would be more than welcomed.
Online Tournament Qualifier itself has become a big hit over in Japan. Professional Smash Ultimate players such as Hero, Tea, and Shuton have all jumped on it. Shuton actually captured the footage above. Meanwhile, some overseas professionals have recently taken notice of the game mode thanks to Mj’s tweet.
Some, such as Leffen, couldn’t help but point out what looks like Nintendo having made “another” mistake. Others like Samsora, just couldn’t believe Japan had the game mode, and then outliers like MVD believe there’s nothing to be worried about. They think the game mode is only being tested over in Japan and will come overseas sooner or later.
Whether or not a ranked mode similar to the Online Tournament Qualifier will release internationally remains a mystery. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate still has five DLC characters left, so there’s certainly time for it to happen. It would be a nice gift to receive before the game’s DLC updates come to an end, especially considering how long people have asked for it.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is on Nintendo Switch.
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