Hundreds of thousands of people play Super Smash Bros. for Wii U around the world. And this weekend in Las Vegas, more than 2,600 of them will gather for a chance at a $25,000 prize pool and world-class bragging rights if they win the trophy Saturday night. Many have a shot, but none have had quite the meteoric rise that 19-year-old James "VoiD" Makekau-Tyson has.
VoiD began his competitive career in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. At his first national event, Apex 2015, he tied for 33rd. Roughly a year and a half since then, he's been on one of the biggest competitive ascents in Smash history.
"I thought [after Apex] I could become really good at this game if I put the time into it," he told ESPN. "The only thing limiting me would be that I live in Hawaii, but I still have great training partners there."
Following his big win last year, he began to compete more and more. Before Evo 2015 one year ago, he lived for a while in Southern California, practicing against the likes of YouTuber Sky Williams, Smash legend Gonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios, Eric "Tyrant" Legesse, Matt "Xzax" Liberatore, and more who lived and stayed in Williams' home. This made VoiD improve significantly, and he took 49th at Evo 2015, a much larger event than Apex.
Like many top competitors in esports, however, tournaments took VoiD to the brink of a major life decision: attend college and sacrifice esports, or commit to esports and let his education take a backseat. VoiD says his family encouraged the former, but, bucking the trend, VoiD chose the latter.
"[My dad would] say, 'You're really intelligent, you have a long road ahead of you, and we don't want to see you fall because you just want to play games,'" he said. "I made the decision because I felt I could become really successful with games. Even though a lot of people didn't support me, I went through with it."
The next step was moving to California permanently, and making Williams' fabled esports and gaming house his permanent residence. VoiD, who is currently 19, made the jump from his home in Hawaii to Southern California.
"There are a lot of people who are successful [who live there]," he said about his adopted home. "I used that to motivate me. Then I got the chance to practice against them and I made sure I didn't get too upset when I was playing, because you always want to make sure you're practicing efficiently and in the right mindset. I feel like, just living there, both the location and the people there helped so much in my growth. I don't think I could be there without them."
VoiD said that the move, which he says took him out of his comfort zone, came with one mission: "to be successful in esports."
Since moving, VoiD's road to success has become infinitely more achievable. He took fourth at Genesis 3, Smash's largest tournament to date prior to Evo 2016, and second at PAX Arena, only behind ZeRo. And, most recently, he took second at Apex 2016 and ninth at CEO 2016.
His success over the past few months earned him the reputation of a rising star, which led one of esports' best known teams, Counter Logic Gaming, to pick him up for their roster. He now lives half-and-half, he says, switching between Williams' home and the Counter Logic Gaming house, where fellow Smashers and teammates Tyrell "NAKAT" Coleman and Richard "Keitaro" King Jr. live.
"At the CLG house, I can get a lot done, but I can't get as much done in terms of practicing," VoiD said. "I always want to have an outlet where I can go and say, 'I'm here to practice Smash.' The CLG house can't provide that, but they can provide a lot more, which is why I'm gonna be living at both."
But despite his newfound resources, VoiD is a part of a much bigger trend in Smash for Wii U: inconsistency. Nearly every top player, aside from Rosalina & Luma main Samuel "Dabuz" Buzby, suffers from inconsistent play, placing at various different spots in events. Even players like ZeRo and fellow legend Nairoby "Nairo" Quezada have this issue. VoiD says he thinks this issue will smooth out as the competitive scene develops more experience over time.
"I think time [will fix the inconsistencies,]" he said. "Because one of the main reasons of the inconsistencies is matchup inexperience, and over time, people will get better at matchups. People will understand what these other characters do at a higher level, so that way, they're more consistent."
At Evo, he said that his focus is on the Japanese players, like Yuta "Abadango" Kawamura, Ryuto "Ranai" Hayashi, Rei "Komorikiri" Furukawa, and others who don't regularly attend other events.
He still has faith in the American players in the event though, particularly CEO 2016 champion Jason "ANTi" Bates and runner-up Julian "Zinoto" Carrington. But specifically, VoiD thinks Nairo, of all the players, has the best shot to take home the gold at Evo come Saturday night.
"Somebody winning?" He pauses to think and then begins to speak. "I think Nairo, to be honest. I have a lot of faith in Nairo. Nairo has inconsistencies, but he has really high highs and I think losing is one of the best ways to stay motivated, and I think Nairo can come out on top here at Evo, as long as he has the support he needs."