Smash Ultimate pro Tweek leaves TSM and becomes free agent

Smash Ultimate pro Gavin “Tweek” Dempsey is the latest Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player to leave TSM and is now a free agent. 

On February 28, TSM announced that the 24-year-old US star would part ways after four years with TSM. The Jersey player is considered one of the best Sephiroth and Diddy Kong players in the world. During his time at TSM, Tweek rose to become arguably the best American player in the world and had numerous successes.

Tweek’s achievements in Smash Ultimate

Despite a rocky start in the post-pandemic lockdown period, Tweek ended last year on a high note. He was able to win Port Priority 7 and finished second at the Scuffed World Tour organized by streamer Ludwig and Mainstage 2022.

The only one who could hold a candle to him was Edgar “Spag0” Valdez, a 17-year-old Canadian Ultimate player who currently resides in Mexico. Tweek got revenge for his loss to Sparg0 at Let’s Make Big Moves 2023 by defeating him in a five-game Grand Final series.

Tweek joins MkLeo as a free agent

Tweek is leaving TSM just a week after the Smash star Leonardo “MkLeo” Lopez Perez and his team T1 also parted ways. Both players are considered top players in Smash Ultimate and it is therefore all the more surprising that two of them are on the open market. It’s not yet clear if a new organization will take over either player, but all of this comes at a time when the future of Smash as an esport looks bleak and not very promising.

Smash Ultimate esports in crisis

A while ago, Nintendo canceled the finals of the Smash World Tour 2022, which caused a huge backlash from the community, leading many professional Smash players such as ESAM and Marss, as well as Panda Global employees, to leave. This then caused the Panda Cup to be postponed. To add to the drama, Beyond The Summit also announced that they would be closing down after Ultimate Summit 6, a tournament that both Tweek and MkLeo will be attending. All this news does not bode well with the Fighting Games Community.

It’s no longer a big secret that the esports industry is in crisis, with some titles, organizations, and players hit harder than others. Smash Ultimate is also on shaky ground right now, but we’ll have to be patient to see how the title and the two players fare now.

Header: Tweek