Smash Bros. Ultimate's First Event Tournament Kicks Off Today

Along with the Hero from Dragon Quest, one of the biggest additions to come in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's major 4.0 update was a new online tournament mode, which would periodically hold special event tourneys. The first of these events kicks off today, August 9, and it fittingly pits good against evil.

The theme of the first Smash Bros. Ultimate event tourney is Heroes vs. Villains. Each match features a 2:30 time limit, and only certain heroic and villainous characters are able to participate. You can see the full list of eligible fighters for this tournament below:

• Mario
• Link
• Samus
• Dark Samus
• Fox
• Bowser
• Marth
• Young Link
• Ganondorf
• Roy
• Chrom
• Meta Knight
• Pit
• Dark Pit
• Wario
• Ike
• Sonic
• King Dedede
• Toon Link
• Wolf
• Shulk
• Bowser Jr.
• Ridley
• Simon Belmont
• Richter Belmont
• King K. Rool
• Hero

The Heroes vs. Villains event runs through the weekend until August 12, and players who participate will receive a Spirit as a prize. Nintendo says the further you advance during the tournament, the better the Spirit will be. You'll need to have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to take part in the event.

If you're already a Switch Online member, you can also grab an exclusive Smash Bros. Ultimate freebie from the Eshop. Nintendo is giving NSO subscribers a free Spirit Board Challenge Pack that includes a handful of helpful items for the game's Spirit Board mode. If you're in the market for a new controller, a handful of GameCube-style Smash Ultimate controllers are also on sale right now at Amazon.

Hero is the second DLC fighter from Smash Bros. Ultimate's Fighters Pass to arrive, following Persona 5's Joker. The next DLC character on the way to the game is Rare's famous bear and bird duo, Banjo and Kazooie, who are slated to launch sometime this fall. Nintendo still has two more DLC characters in the works, although the company has kept their identities a secret thus far.