Zackray

Early Career and Wii U Beginnings

Zackray began competing in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U at the start of 2017, entering the scene several years after the game's release. Although he was not a widely known figure during this period, his performances earned him a place on the historical Panda Global Rankings 100, a list of the top 100 Wii U players of all time, where he was ranked 88th. In July 2018, he also participated in a tournament for Super Smash Bros. Melee, indicating his activity across different titles in the series before the launch of Ultimate.

Immediate Success with Ultimate

With the December 2018 launch of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Zackray's career accelerated rapidly. He announced a signing with the esports organization GameWith at the beginning of that month. In the following months, he won seven minor tournaments within Japan, establishing domestic dominance. His first major international test was GENESIS 6 in Oakland, California in February 2019. As a minor on his first trip to the United States for competition, Zackray put on a strong performance. He advanced far into the tournament before meeting his first defeat in the winners' semi-finals, ultimately finishing tied for 5th place overall.

This result qualified him for an invitation to the 16-player Smash Ultimate Summit in March 2019. At that invitational, his run ended again in the winners' semi-finals, leading to another 5th place tie. In April, he reached the grand finals of 2GG: Prime Saga, finishing second to fellow Japanese player Shuton. It was later revealed that another elite player, Ally, intentionally lost his match against Zackray at this event following a request from a third party.

Building a Ranking and Major Performances

Alongside his performances at GENESIS and the Summit, Zackray's results in the first half of 2019 included a tie for 33rd at Frostbite 2019 and a tie for 7th at the Umebura Japan Major. This body of work earned him the 12th position in the world on the inaugural Panda Global Rankings Ultimate. His summer included a tie for 7th at the massive EVO 2019 tournament. After eliminating Zackray, the eventual champion MkLeo stated he considered him a top-five player and that the win gave him confidence he could win the event. A week later, Zackray tied for 9th at Super Smash Con 2019.

Historic Victory at The Big House 9

Zackray's breakthrough moment arrived in October 2019 at The Big House 9, a tournament described as arguably the deepest Ultimate event to that date with nearly every top player present. In the double-elimination bracket, he lost to Maister in the winner's semi-finals. Forced into the losers bracket, Zackray then defeated Tweek, Nairo, and won a rematch against Maister to advance to the grand finals. There, he defeated Dabuz to win the tournament.

This victory was historically significant. It made Zackray the first Japanese player to win a premier-tier Ultimate tournament held outside of Japan. It was also his first tournament win of any tier outside his home country. The win secured his invitation to Smash Ultimate Summit 2 at the end of October, where he tied for 7th. When the Panda Global Rankings Ultimate for the second half of 2019 were released, Zackray had risen to 7th in the world. A separate ranking also named him the best Ultimate player in Japan for that period.

The Pandemic Era and Domestic Dominance

The start of 2020 saw Zackray tie for 5th at EVO Japan and then tie for 7th at Frostbite 2020, where he was eliminated in a close match by the eventual winner, MkLeo. The COVID-19 pandemic then suspended most offline tournaments. When events cautiously resumed, Zackray won the Eastern Powerhouse Invitational in October 2020, noted as the first significant offline Smash event since March. He followed this by winning Mēsuma in November, and placed 3rd at Kagaribi in December after losses to KEN and Kome.

As supermajor tournaments returned in 2021, Zackray finished 2nd at Kagaribi 4 in June. After a loss in the winner's quarter-finals, he fought through the losers bracket, eliminating Lea, Kome, HERO, and Tea to earn a rematch in the grand finals, but was defeated in the bracket reset. In October 2021, he won Kagaribi 5 without losing a single set, using only the newly released character Sora throughout the entire tournament. He continued this winning form into January 2022 by taking first place at Kagaribi 6, primarily using the characters Joker and Sheik.

A Brief Departure and Return

In March 2022, Zackray announced via YouTube that he would take a break from Ultimate for several months to focus on competing in Pokémon Unite. However, he still participated in the Japanese tournament WINNER! #10 in May 2022, placing 3rd while using primarily Sheik. In June, he announced his full return to Smash Bros. This decision came after he and his Pokémon Unite team were disqualified from the Pokémon Unite Championship Series because a teammate overslept and failed to appear for a match. He made his official offline return in August 2022 at Ultimate WANTED 4, winning the tournament over Shuto Moriya. In October, he was invited to Ludwig Ahgren's Smash Invitational, where he placed 23rd in the Swiss bracket.

An Exceptionally Deep Character Pool

Zackray's versatility with characters is a defining trait of his play. An analyst for Panda Global Rankings called it one of the deepest character pools in the entire competitive scene. His early Ultimate tournaments featured Wolf O'Donnell. By April 2019, he was using Wolf, Lucina, and Wario to secure his second-place finish at 2GG: Prime Saga. He also used R.O.B. and Pokémon Trainer in tournaments during the first half of 2019.

By the time of his Big House 9 victory, he had added Joker to his lineup, and also briefly used Sonic and Corrin at the event. At Smash Ultimate Summit 2, he used seven different characters, including Mr. Game & Watch and Ridley. Mario joined his repertoire by the end of 2019. His mastery of new characters continued, as he used only Sora to win Kagaribi 5 in late 2021. At Kagaribi 6, he used Sheik alongside Joker for most sets, and used only Sheik at WINNER! #10. By February 2023, he had incorporated Pit into his lineup, using him to place 3rd at the supermajor Kagaribi 9.