The Panda Cup, An Officially-Licensed Smash Bros. Circuit, Begins Today At CEO

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Image: Nintendo

Update [Fri 24th Jun, 2022 17:00 BST]: The first round of The Panda Cup Circuit starts today at Daytona Beach and the CEO Fighting Game Championship.This is the first stop in a series of eight tournaments that lead up to the finals in Los Angeles in December.

From today until Sunday 26th, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate players will be duking it out to see who will qualify for the finals.

If you can’t attend the event in person, don’t worry, you’ll be able to watch all of the matches on the official Panda Cup Twitch right here. The stream will start around about now, 12pm EDT, today and will go on until 10pm EDT. But here’s the full streaming schedule for the whole weekend.

  • Friday: 12 – 10pm EDT
  • Saturday: 10am -10pm EDT
  • Sunday: 12 – 4 pm EDT

You can find out the rest of the circuit dates, including details about the tournament, in our original story below.

Original article [Fri 27th May, 2022 13:15 BST]: The absence of Super Smash Bros. from Evo later this year is a bit of a downer for some. Nintendo officially withdrew from the huge fighting game tournament earlier this year, months after Sony bought the Evolution Championship Series. That doesn’t mean fans will have to miss out on some smashing action this summer, though.

The Panda Cup has been officially announced — an official Nintendo-licensed North American circuit that will pit 32 of the best players of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Super Smash Bros. Melee against each other across multiple dates.

Kicking off on 24th June at Evo rival live at CEO, the circuit will make eight stops before stopping in Los Angeles for the Last Chance Qualifiers and the finale, which will determine the best Ultimate and Melee player out there. There will also be online qualifiers for Ultimate. starting in July through to October, with dates yet to be announced.

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Image: Panda
  • 24th to 26th June: CEO (Daytona, Florida)
  • 1st to 3rd July: Get On My Level (Toronto)
  • 29th to 31st July: Smash Factor 9 (Cholula, Puebla)
  • 30th September to 2nd October: Lost Tech City (San Antonio, Texas)
  • 7th to 9th October: The Big Hours 10 (Detroit)
  • 28th to 30th October: Let’s Make Moves (Miami)
  • 12th to 13th November: Saving Mr. Lombardi 3 (Irvine, California)
  • 18th to 20th November: Dreamhack Atlanta (Atlanta)
  • 15th December: Panda Cup Finale Last Chance Qualifier (Los Angeles)
  • 16th to 18th December: Panda Cup Finale (Los Angeles)

While Nintendo is licensing the tournament, it is “not a sponsor, co-sponsor, or administrator of this tournament”. Over $100,000 dollars are up for grabs, and the prize pool will be split between the winners of the Ultimate and Melee tournaments.

You can find out more about the Panda Cup over on the official website.

Will you be watching any of these events? Are you glad to see a new, official Smash tournament? Let us know in the comments.