After losing the first game in the Full Bloom 5 grand finals, Tyler "Marss" Martins juggled his Panda Global teammate Brian "Cosmos" Kalu's Inkling off the left side of the stage in striking fashion. Martins continued to pressure Kalu right up until he spiked the fragile Inkling into oblivion. Zero Suit Samus is a killer acrobat.
That was only the second match of the grand finals at Full Bloom 5 in Bloomington, Indiana, last weekend. Later matches would only prove Panda Global right in signing Martins as one of their newest Super Smash Bros. Ultimate competitors. He didn't drop a full game the entire tournament, bringing him to a commanding record of 9-0 and the first-place trophy.
It was a white-and-red affair for most of the tournament, too -- half of the top eight competitors, with their stylish range of jerseys, are currently signed or had been signed by Panda Global in the past. Kalu and Martins were joined by teammate Eric "ESAM" Lew and former teammate Jestise "MVD" Negron. Martins and Kalu also won the doubles side of Ultimate, where they faced off against Lew and Negron in the grand finals, taking up all the spotlight at the premier event for the rest of Ultimate's Spring lineup.
Martins knew he had to impress because Panda Global only announced the signing a week ago, a few days before the tournament. After a turbulent career at the end of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, where he didn't travel to as many events as he'd like to due to sponsorship issues, the signing and victory at Full Bloom 5 gave Martins validation going forward. Playing through the entire tournament with only Zero Suit Samus, a character many consider outside the top 10 with her changes from Smash 4, only made the accomplishment more impressive.
"It was a huge relief after not being sponsored for so long. Getting picked up by a great team like Panda Global made the wait feel worth it," Martins told ESPN post-tournament. "I also needed to prove that my last win wasn't a fluke and that I can still keep up with the best of the best."
Last week, Martins also won Collision, a New Jersey tournament with almost 400 entrants, after beating Nairoby "Nairo" Quezada (another top Zero Suit Samus player who recently dropped the character to focus on Palutena), Liquid's newly signed Samuel "Dabuz" Buzby, and Jake "Frozen" Somma. We could be seeing the beginning of a Zero Suit Samus winning streak.
"Marss is someone I see as more than just a top-10 player, he's in the top five," said Full Bloom organizer Alex Myers. "He's gotten great results in every tournament he's been to, both in head-to-heads and overall tournament results. It may not be the case for everyone that's watched him but I am confident that if he continues to attend big tournaments he will continue to place well and turn out to be a great pickup for Panda Global."
An especially exciting win at Full Bloom against Yatiyaña "yeti" Schaper included Martins' aggressive Zero Suit Samus facing off against Schaper's Mega Man, a character more known for methodical, spacing-oriented play. Schaper matched Martins' aggression, though, using Mega Man's projectiles to put Zero Suit Samus on edge in an intense five-set game.
At one point in Game 3, Schaper took advantage of Martins' aggression by baiting him to the left edge of Pokemon Stadium. Martins charged toward Schaper; Schaper dodged and launched Martins off the match before following him to finish the job. Two fantastically placed off-stage forward airs gave Schaper a leg up. Schaper won that match, but couldn't handle Martins' fast paced play going forward.
Another standout performance came in Enrique "Maister" Solís' stellar Mr. Game & Watch play against both Lew and Martins. Mr. Game & Watch hasn't been a popular character in tournaments in either Ultimate or Smash 4, but Solís firmly believes that he's a dominant character and continues to use him.
"If you attached a talent like [Solís] to Mr. Game & Watch he'll take that character to the top eight of almost any tournament he attends," Myers said. "The character is obviously not low-tier, as many people have said previously, but I don't believe he is a high-tier character like Wolf. I think the separation between low-, mid- and high-tier characters is more blurred than ever."
During his matchup against Martins in the first game of the winners finals, Solís kept things interesting by keeping up with Martins blow for blow. Solís set the tone early by sending Martins flying with a neutral-air down tilt that set up a one-stock comeback to win the match.
Solís, who is probably the best Mr. Game & Watch player in the world, couldn't keep up in Game 2. Martins took two of Solís' stocks at low percentages by pressuring him off the side of the stage. Solís managed to take one stock from Martins, but got juggled up and off the top of the stage by Zero Suit Samus' up-air.
Martins didn't have much to prove at Full Bloom 5 because he already won a tournament just last week. But after getting signed by Panda Global, many thought the "sponsorship curse" would hurt his play. That couldn't be further from the truth.
If there's one thing to take from the tournament this weekend, it's that Martins will be a force to look out for once he meets some of the other top competitors later this year at events like EVO, CEO and Shine. It's pretty clear that he's one of the best playing the game right now -- but it's still very early in Ultimate's lifespan, so he'll need to stay on his toes if he wants to remain there.
"I think Zero Suit Samus is in the top 15 or 20 characters in Ultimate, which is obviously not too bad," he said. "But I think I can beat anyone regardless of what character they are playing."