Several Bayonetta players made it into the Super Smash Brothers 4 finals at Evo 2018 this year, although surprisingly, last year’s Evo winner and Bayonetta player Saleem “Salem” Akiel Young wasn’t one of them.

Salem’s upset last year coincided with the longstanding debate over whether Bayonetta’s combo-linking abilities make her an unfair opponent, and after tonight’s results, that debate shows no signs of slowing down.

Up a set of stairs in a musty Polish wedding venue, 11-year-old Lizzie "Ultrasonic" Newell, wearing a backwards, gold snake-print hat, approached a cluster of five world-famous beatboxers. Their circle immediately absorbed her.

Newell showed off her own plucky drum beats, bouncing along in time. She fit right in here, yet wore a look of shameless admiration on her face. About an hour later, Newell was downstairs in a similarly musty hall with a controller in hand, getting her butt whooped at Super Smash Bros. 4.

On the eve of a new Super Smash Bros. game, it's time to reflect on the sins of past Smashes. We can quibble over whether Bayonetta should have been in Smash 4. We can beef about Super Smash Bros. Brawl's infuriating tripping mechanic.

Or we could explore some less-trod Smash territory, something so idiosyncratic and dumb that players barely talk about it: Smash 4's terrifically random board game for the Wii U, called Smash Tour.

Lock a crowd of Super Smash Bros. fans in a room and make them agree on what they want in the series' next game and it's likely that, when you open the door again, there will be blood.

In a dominating performance, Nairoby "Nairo" Quezada's Zero Suit Samus had Leonardo "MkLeo" Perez's Bayonetta on the edge, knocking him down to just one stock. Shortly after, Quezada finished the job by sending Perez flying immediately after respawning; he won the gold at the Battle for Vegas and now both he and Perez lead the pack of top players hoping to replace the freshly retired Gonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios as the number one player in the world.

Smash @ Xanadu has been one of the Super Smash Bros. most notable weeklies for years, but this weekend will be the end of an era. Xanadu will be closing its doors after its last hurrah: one more Smash Bros. tournament.

One of Super Smash Bros. For Wii U's more controversial characters is in the spotlight again. Pros and casuals alike are debating whether to ban Bayonetta.

Over the weekend, Brian "Cosmos" Kalu won his first-ever trophy for Super Smash Bros. For Wii U - and almost lost it.

The last few years have been pivotal in establishing Super Smash Bros. For Wii U as its own game, separate from its everlasting older sibling Melee. The Smash 4 scene has grown, developed major personalities and storylines and saw its Evo grand finals live on cable television. Now all eyes are on Nintendo for what's next.

The same day as he was revealed as the top ranked player in the Panda Global rankings, Gonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios announced he would no longer be competing in Super Smash Bros. For Wii U... for now.

A new mod promising to make Super Smash Bros. 4 play more like Super Smash Bros. Melee now has a playable beta, as well as a new trailer.

Saleem "Salem" Young, who plays the controversial Smash 4 fighter Bayonetta, clinically tore through the game's top brawn at last weekend's Boot Camp tournament like, as one commentator put it, a "a shark in the water".

The fight between Leonardo "MkLeo" Lopez Perez and Gonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios in the 2GG Championship final was some of the highest-level Smash 4 I've ever seen, with incredibly clean play and perceptive reads and adaptions.

This weekend's 2GG Championship was created to be a capstone tournament for the Super Smash Bros. For Wii U scene. It was a fitting end to have two of its biggest titans clash in the grand finals.

Briefly: Congrats to Chris "WaDi" Boston and Cinnpie. Boston would go on to beat Tweek in a 3-2 set and steal our hearts in the process.

Two masters of their own character met last week in the 2GG Championship, as the clash between the best Sonic and best Link came down to the last second and a single hit's worth of damage.

For 13 minutes, Gonzalo "Zero" Barrios' face barely moved. It was the Grand Finals match of a Super Smash Bros. Wii U tournament, and Barrios, the best Smash player in the world, was squaring off against a formidable opponent. A few feet away, Barrios' bodyguard kept a lookout for a man who'd threatened to be there, in wait, with a gun aimed at the champion gamer.

Two unsigned, ambitious competitors shook up the competitive Super Smash Bros. 4 community yesterday after shutting down the game's best player, Gonzalo "Zero" Barrios, in two fun-to-watch upsets.

What makes a Super Smash Bros. character annoying? It's a very specific cocktail of repetitive, invulnerable, low-effort or spammy moves that, together, make you want to throw your controller at the television.

In the 16 years since Super Smash Brothers: Melee came out, it has gotten harder and harder for Smash tournaments and pro players to keep using the controller for which it was originally made. GameCube controllers are getting old. The best ones are are hard to find and expensive to maintain. And some players complain that they cause hand pain.