Inven Global Smash Awards: Best Ultimate Content Piece of 2021 (Nominees)

Feb 7, 2022

As the year 2021 draws to a close, we at Inven Global are looking back at the players, casters, events, and games that made this year of competitive Super Smash Bros. Ultimate so special. In a year of turmoil, the Smash community continued to thrive and bring some incredible competition.

We're excited to present the second year of the Inven Global Awards (IGA). Voted by the editorial crew of Inven Global, along with some of the game’s most well-respected players, casters, and community figures, the IGAs celebrate the many strong facets of Melee in 2021 — the best players, casters, content creators, etc.

One of the best parts of Ultimate is the game's passionate community and the content surrounding it. While other games have developers with enormous budgets to put together first-rate content, those in the Ultimate scene have put their hearts into work that can be just as compelling. Here are the cases for each of these fantastic content pieces.

Fans can also vote for the content piece they think deserves it the most, and the player with the most votes will receive the IGA Community Award.

Note: Due to the lack of votes in this particular category, the award for Best Content Piece in Melee and Ultimate was decided solely by the Inven Global editorial team.

The Greatest ULTIMATE Tournament - GRtr4sh

GRtr4sh is somehow able to make a very entertaining tournament even more so. Within the silliness of this video, there is brilliance. GRtr4sh creates his own fun narratives, and once again makes a fun story filled with great clips and hilarious moments — all to an unusual but beautiful score.

That altogether creates something more than an entertaining video: it reminds us what makes the Smash scene so great, that it’s full of unique and interesting personalities at the same time capable of blowing your mind with their skill. And it just happens to be really enjoyable as well.

How I broke Smash Bros with Portals - Alpharad

This video was a unique new direction for Alpharad — instead of a bit of chaos and craziness, this was pure chaos and craziness. And it’s awesome. Fun concept, great production, and Alpharad’s charisma guiding you through the explosions, with plenty of laughs along the way.

It does a great job summarizing and explaining the origins of one of the most entertaining side-events in Summit history, showing everyone — the players, the commentators, and Alpharad — just having a blast. Plus, it has a great moral. We need more Portals.

The Legend of Game 4 MkLeo - PGstats

For those not familiar with the Smash scene, it’s difficult to describe how unusual of a player Leonardo "MkLeo" Lopez Perez is. This video does it, though. It describes it beautifully, in a way that’s entertaining and very compelling.

It isn’t lacking in substance, though. The video centers around this very impressive chart, with an article explaining the amazing statistics further. It’s a comprehensive journey explaining the comeback heroics MkLeo seems to always be capable of.

Everything about it — the music choice, the writing, the pacing — is excellent. We must also highlight the great custom animation the video has to illustrate important moments. All we can do is hope we’ll have similar content soon.

The Fundamentals of Smash Ultimate - Beyond the Summit

Although awesome analysis and montages define most “quality” content, we must not forget the incredible entertainment the BTS crew has provided. Summit skits are always great, and this is a Summit skit at its best.

It’s well-edited, well shot, and the players show surprisingly decent acting. It’s a very fun concept, that every person involved makes the most of it. Especially Tyler "Marss" Martins — his performance deserves an Oscar. Not much else to say, just watch it!

The Problem(s) With Zoners in Super Smash Bros. - MockRock

MockRock is one person that proves analysis can be fun to watch. The video does a great job of giving a sober look at Zoners in Ultimate, offering excellent insight into the problems that he sees with them. All of his arguments are supported well — providing comparisons to other platform fighters. MockRock has a great understanding of game analysis, and is able to articulate all of his points effectively.

Also, unlike similar videos, he makes sure not to just voice his complaints about a perceived issue and drive away. He provides potential solutions and explains why they would work. An excellent example of game analysis done well.