How This Player Redefined Mario at Ludwig's Invitational

Kurama's historic Super Smash Bros. Ultimate run at the Ludwig Invitational will go down as one of the game's all-time greats. Today, we analyze the prodigious Mario's bracket run and how he was able to upset six top 10 players throughout the weekend.
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#ludwig #theludwiginvitational #Ludwiginvitational #pgstats #pgstatsanalysis

[@pgstats]

WAHOOOOOOOOOO!!

[@JakeSm4sh]

Amazing

[@liraco_mx]

- Coney, 2022

[@andylolol]

CONTENT MARIO

[@JC-gf8rr]

LETS’A GO!!

[@aaronsantos7411]

Translate to English 😂

[@kyallon1213]

I think it’s sick as hell that the only person to even take a game off of leo is the dude who is historic for taking a set off of leo

[@lyrics2challenged]

Literally lmao. Leo was on too much of a mission though. While I believe it could've very well still been 3-0 in Leo's favor, it would've been nice to see a third match between them.

[@lyrics2challenged]

@@rayquaza5001 this a badass reply you made frrl. And it was the damn truth.

[@shortesnameofalltime]

Plus the fact that kurama made it to winners finals makes Leo’s return more poetic in a sense all he needed was to fight sparg0

[@georgeelmassih6133]

Reminder that Kurama is campaigning for the next Summit. Let's help him make another one of these runs happen

[@10cesc4.]

Kurama is a beast. He makes Mario seem fun to play but he moves insane with him

[@greedo194]

He was always fun to play

[@linkonedgell894]

@Sander L. yeah, when I'm just looking for fun mario is one of my go to guys.

[@MajoraWaffle]

mario has always been fun to play you capping bro

[@Scrimbus_McBimbus]

I can't believe Kurama peed on the carpet 😭😭😭

[@muzuchama]

Pee man

[@MarioSMG64]

Where did this meme come from?

[@rixrobin]

@@MarioSMG64 coney

[@liamm113]

​@@rixrobin what set was it?

[@rixrobin]

@@liamm113 he says it most the time whenever he commentates a Mario set

[@marlinmurrell620]

5:30 I love that image of Mario doing the Wadi handshake

[@PuppetMasterIX]

I think my favorite forward-air spike Kurama landed this weekend was the first stock he took on MkLeo. With MkLeo at 32%, Kurama strikes with back-air into reverse neutral-air, then two up-airs, and finishing with an attempted forward-air. It whiffs. What does he do next? Midair jump back towards the stage, hit Leo (who was rushing to get back on stage with a ledge-jump neutral-air) with up-air on the way down, and immediately jump to forward-air him _again,_ landing it this time. This dude's forward-air punishes are so good that he even has *back-up strats* for them.

[@trythelight8319]

The way you explained this made me laugh. Kurama’s strats have backup strats! My favorite part was the “platformer” recovery he did against Acola. Absolutely godlike!!!

[@dingo9696]

All top players have backup strats for their combos lmao. Come on now.

[@r4tl_]

people when they find out frametrapping exists

[@steven3814]

The amount of work that goes into calculating all of this is wild

[@jmbw4271]

He also was pixels away from winning game three vs mkleo. That sequence at around 12:15 was mind-blowing

[@captainmario_]

Not only is Kurama bringing Mario’s tier place up, but all of that data about Mario’s versatile frame rates should make Mario even higher on the tier list, even If people don’t win with him as much!

[@isaacnikolic5895]

The man made Leo afraid to edge guard. He's a beast.

[@N7Sovik]

Have been watching this kid play since his Smash 4 days back in 2015. Been incredible to see Junior rise up the ranks!

[@coolguyj7934]

Let's not forget that kuramas only losses were to MkLeo (best in world) and Acola (second best) and he was the only person to take a game off leo

[@lyrics2challenged]

Acola top 4. Proto or Light imo both are over him going off eye test.

[@coolguyj7934]

@@lyrics2challenged good picks, for sure, I need to see more but imo proto was poised to be the best in the world. But everyone said acola is best in Japan so I went off that

[@sabridinart105]

And Dabuz in poold

[@lazodavidpaul3675]

I admired Prodigy's (Kurama now) mario before and even more when he got to beat Leo's joker in frostbite, he just improved much more now in Ludwig's invitiational

[@voodooedits785]

Dark wizzy even admitted that kurama was the best Mario.

[@SMFizzy]

When was this?

[@Reninabin]

Ofc he did lol he knows the truth

[@quarium5681]

Thank you for the Mario Tennis 64 music! Motoi Sakuraba forgot he wasnt composting for a JRPG I swear to God haha

[@koldking]

Kurama deserves so much attention, he's been bomb

[@vvindicator]

huh??? u said he needs attention but say he's "been" bomb. so ur saying he's been getting attention

[@koldking]

@@vvindicator just because someone is great doesn't mean he's been getting the attention he deserves

[@ohianaw]

Mario has always been a good character. He has tools to deal with the majority of the roster and Kurama shows it really well. Swordies and range do give him some trouble but he's still a threat in this game and I can Kurama getting better and better as time passes.

[@CloudoCR]

kurama is insane sometimes man. remember prodigy at frostbite 2020?

[@drakejoshofficialyoutubech5569]

You mean Frostbite 2020?

[@firemin5398]

@@drakejoshofficialyoutubech5569 you mean frostbite 2023?

[@CloudoCR]

@@drakejoshofficialyoutubech5569 oh yeah sorry same thing, 2017 was still smash 4 actually wasn’t it. My mistake

[@ninjaoflight908]

10:10 The classic Sparg0 rage

[@DanielGarcia-rg5fs]

The fact that this man just shows up at my locals to pick up a weekly check is hilarious to me

[@boppertron4929]

I hope to see something about that Ice Climbers player, I know he didn't do as well but an ICIES player at such an invitational doing well isn't heard of much if at all

[@cormeaga]

Didn't he 3-0 Light, the #1 seed?

[@pgstats]

We did a deep dive on Big D’s GOML run a couple months back! He showcased mostly the same kind of stuff at LSI. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZLZkmVsnpKVntk

[@patrickburton1401]

Big D is so hype

[@chrisladd1523]

I love the Mario’s did nothing for three years and then in October they start doing crazy stuff

[@JonnyJayKhan]

seeing Kurama's Mario now is like what seeing Light's optimised Fox emerge or Sparg0's Cloud emerge in 2021... suddenly the character just looks absolutely broken because they've optimised the shit out of them but aren't purely hold forward offense

[@SawyersFilms]

I was like kurama came out of no where, "previous known as prodigy" OOOOOHHHHHHHH I that makes sense. California best not so hidden boss lmao

[@drigo2104]

These charts are amazing. Shout out to the data analysts!!!

[@winged777]

Love analysis videos like this, wish every esport had a guy like you. Keep it up!

[@jarbs_8324]

This is why we gotta be more careful with our untrained puppies

[@sonnydee5135]

Wow, you've really dedicated your life to this game. You should be an announcer

[@Nards_1997]

Kurama absolutely destroyed Leo at Frostbite 2020 under the tag Prodigy I remember

[@bravewryy6781]

Time to play Mario again! ❤️

[@Phentem2]

Chris Pratt would be proud

[@fightinggameshighlights4841]

man i really love these analysis

[@guts7099]

CAN WE GET MUCH HIGHER? SO HIGH, SO HIGHHH~

[@pgstats]

OHHH OHH OHH

[@scraps7624]

Love the data viz, great work!

[@eggusbreadus]

this man's option select is uncrackable, from my experience. exciting to see him succeed!

[@MsFasty]

Mario’s everywhere on qp now 💀

[@surplus_kato]

I've been a fan since that Frostbite tournament you all know about

[@donutbarbell]

These videos 😍. The stats, so nerdy ❤️

[@hiitsmorgan5431]

Y’all keep forgetting that this dude 3-0d Mkleo in Frostbite 2019 back when he was Prodigy. Most explosive player in Smash.

[@-Comet.]

He's always been snubbed from pgr because he doesn't attend enough tournaments. He's never been the guy to win it all, but he almost always outplaces his seeding and gets a respectable finish

[@Exile559]

Mario came for all the smoke, he got a movie coming out soon. Gotta get that exposure.

[@Low5ive]

"Unprecedented!" "Here's 3 other people that did this." 😎

[@OntyVeracitea]

3:45 the text is incorrectly written. Should probably be '4/9 (44%) Stocks Taken < 60%' . The way it reads currently is something like "4 of 9 (or 44%) stocks taken at 60% or more". Not to detract from the great summary the video provides, just something i noticed.

[@evanrudefx]

IMO he had the most exciting games at ludwig's. I would much rather see him than leo or spargo

[@lyrics2challenged]

Ehhh, I could definitely go without the Cloud, but I enjoy seeing top level Byleth. Shit just feels so exciting imo when he smacks that fair or bair tipper.

[@malikmorsli6468]

Yoooo😭😭😭can you guys link that Mario picture for my computer lock screen

[@ToortlShell]

“I ain’t gon sugarcoat it”

[@Shaeffen_]

Insert mario movie joke here

[@KingPhilipsRideshare]

At :33 seconds.. how does he land like that on the platform?!

[@keegano8615]

that cloud play was absolutely crazy

[@louisjohnmanuel3661]

MARIO MAINS STAND UP!!!

[@Goronixz]

I literally can't focus on the graphic at 5:57. It is triggering some sort of depth perception illusion for me.. but its pretty cool...

[@danielcalk955]

Best character of all time.

[@janswhatsupdoc]

take a shot every time he landed a Fair spike this entire tourney

[@imhoong]

take a shot every time he did a ladder combo to kola in that one set alone

[@MrCalexv12]

He took 1 game from MKLeo with GOAT mode activated, enough said

[@paytonsample]

i didn't realize kurama was prodigy lmaooo

[@vokeadam624]

Me neither

[@isabella16939]

What a beast...

[@greatobikili4858]

Foward-aerial

[@Jesus-hu4lq]

One of the best chris pratt players other than dark wizzy

[@lyrics2challenged]

The best* including Dark Wizzy. He's getting better again but Prodigy/Kurama>Mario let's be real. Thought Wizzy's history is no slouch whatsoever.

[@jakeswierdfriend7204]

Kurama in 2026 is gonna get a pgstats video for not getting jv4ed by Leo in grands

[@nighfinite]

I do enjoy when people don’t DI ladders correctly and die for it, it’ll still do a lot of damage though. Believe me I’d still be maining Mario after 500 hours of specific character practice if ladders killed.

[@Alex1jag]

To me his match against Tea was the most impressive. He only lost to the two best players in the world MKLeo and acola.

[@kuno0009]

People be sleeping on Mario

[@Chris-dy1cb]

naaahh theres literally no one close to this caliber of mario

[@kuno0009]

@@Chris-dy1cb Ik kurma's mario just built diff he gunna be the reason gunna be a wanna be kurma mario main

[@roguethemachine3928]

any reason why we talk about prodigy clip vs mkleo at frostbite while mentionning kurama?

[@kapi672]

Kurama is prodigy changed his tag

[@duderuler]

So, quick question for anyone that knows. When they say "HE DIED AT 70??" does that mean before the killing blow, or when hitting the blast zone?

[@kameronmaki9172]

Before the killing blow.

[@ManuelPersona24]

Mario has always been better than lame Aegis

[@patrickburton1401]

No but he’s still really good

[@1andonlyyd]

I feel like Zenyou doesn’t get enough credit… Not hating on kurama though he’s a beast

[@colemiller6032]

So are nairo and samsora fully allowed back into the community??

[@metroretro7986]

What is the name of the music playing through the whole video?

[@JoeJoe-ju7vz]

3 different songs from the Mario Tennis OST

[@ChrisJones-qv6ty]

Ya remember 2019 frostbite mkleo vs prodigy mario? That's all I'm saying

[@oofioboi5894]

He got dat (pissing) dog in 'em

[@noirlavender6409]

I hope we see him winning more stuff soon, unlike darkwizzy who looks kinda lame most of the time kurama looks really sick and really fnu to watch

[@SNSsack]

If you want to beat mario just don’t let him pee on the carpet

[@KingYungRome]

Only thing I don’t like about kurama is his outfit choice other then that he might be my favorite player to watch right now.

[@patrickburton1401]

Yeh I hate that alt. Either that or the hard hat replaced the red and white fire ball alt.

[@goncalocosta1325]

The mario movie boosted him

[@vanity4865]

OPEN THE GATE!

[@minig5207]

i just read the title adn facts

[@JakeSm4sh]

It’s a me Mario

[@yogurtclosetok]

kurama is the biggest chart creator in the games history

[@imthe_catman]

YAAAAHOOOOOOOO!!!!!

[@roosterboots4684]

Great video but what the fuck was that music?

[@ANAXOS_]

omg my boy nairo getting mentioned again

[@emilebourget1088]

cool video

[@verfuncht]

A lot of errors in those statistics

[@spiceitnow5317]

What’s crazy is that not only was he the only person to take a game off of Leo, but he almost took the second. If his up-b didn’t pull a ZSS and actually worked, he might’ve actually beat Leo, which is pretty crazy

[@empyrium1516]

Kurama had a much harder bracket than Leo.

[@voodooedits785]

Acola’s bracket was much harder than the both of them. Beat chag ddog dabuz light riddles onin sparg0 and kurama to get 2nd losing to Leo twice and zomba

[@greedo194]

@@voodooedits785 dabuz's bracket too because he got the leo joker

[@voodooedits785]

Mkleo was projected to play everybody he did to get to winners finals except for tea who was the 6th seed.

[@empyrium1516]

Kurama played Mario and not a DLC privilege character too.

[@COINLAUNCHERZ]

@@empyrium1516 Aight bro, if you say that cuz of byleth then you're very wrong lol mario is way better than byleth. Steve on the other hand...

[@ohcomeon1111]

Redefined? You mean just playing the character how he should be? Lol

[@yawg691]

YAHOOOOOO

[@noirlavender6409]

Good luck surviving against bell pressured that long if you're not a main steve*

[@jeremiahtannehill9895]

Leo was just surprised at how explosive kuruma was at Frostbite and that’s when he got cheesed by kurama but at Ludwig’s he already know how kurama plays and won’t underestimate kurama like at frostbite which is why kurama took the l simply because he’s the worst player and can’t beat leo when leo tries because leo is just better lol…

[@patrickburton1401]

Downplaying him getting 3rd is kinda silly. Leo is a god, but this Mario is damn good.

[@lyrics2challenged]

Bro, what level of copium?? "When Leo tries" he was playing Joker back then lmao, and got washed before going on to massacre the loser's bracket. Better play won the set that day. Better play won their set this past weekend too. Sometimes you lose.

[@hypedup8081]

he 3-0d leo at lmmm lol…

[@urieru5096]

still not as god as Leo 😊

[@eonstar]

#bannairo

[@jordanfan8222]

This is some of the best journalism out there, and the fact that it covers a bunch of 20-30 year old virgins playing a game made for 10 year olds makes it all the more brilliant

[@onlyonpaper]

This fool is desperate for some 🐈

[@muzuchama]

me when I feel like being pathetic

[@coldfireball6384]

Me when I gatekeep videogames:

[@ManuelPersona24]

Excuse me, but people who already had intercourse are not more valuable. It is the opposite, they sold their body

[@Kobaaming090]

L bait. Go watch some andrew tate or whatever

[@Silhouette0827]

It's a me Mario