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Last weekend saw Collision 2023 take place, a Smash major located in New Jersey. The finals went in a way no one expected. Rather than the standard characters and players dominating, we saw a Kazuya vs Incineroar Smash Ultimate Major Final between Riddles and SkyJay.

Source: Twitter | WF / Skyjay @WarlockFighters

This last Major has blown expectations about what characters make the top tier wide open.

While it took decades for picks like Yoshi to win a major in Melee, Ultimate has always been a bit more open. Collision pushed just how open that is though. The big story of the weekend isn’t the winner, but SkyJay’s amazing run with Incineroar. The player performed well throughout the tournament, entering the final singles on the winner’s side.

Here he faced Riddles in the opening round and lost out, moving down to face Sparg0. He is one of the top Smash Bros players and had a huge year in 2022. SkyJay proved he might have what it takes to go all the way in this match, beating the seasoned Cloud player and heading into the grand finals. Here he had another match-up against Riddles.

At this point in the tournament, we were looking at a crazy final. Riddles is no stranger to the top flight of Smash as Kazuya. Most recently he won Frosty Faultings and has marked himself out for the year with this second win. SkyJay playing Incineroar has shown how far even low-rank characters can get though, with taking second place an impressive feat of its own.

In the end, Riddles takes the cake, but Skyjay gets the glory for this amazing showcase.

Credit: Collision 2023 | @CollisionSmash

Incineroar isn’t just a lower Smash Ultimate tier list character, he’s barely been a competitor. SkyJay’s talents with the characters have broken the normal reputation of the character and of Smash as a whole. This was an insane tournament full of surprises. Even with some setbacks this season from Beyond the Summit, Collision 2023 shows Smash Bros Ultimate still has loads of life left in it.