Kelsy Medeiros (born May 20, 1995), known professionally as SuperGirlKels, is a Canadian professional '' Super Smash Bros.'' player. Medeiros competitive gaming career spanned from 2014 until her retirement in 2023, during which she competed in ''

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and (colloquially and collectively referred to as ''Super Smash Bros. 4'' or ''Smash 4'') is a group of two 2014 crossover fighting video games developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS ...

'' and ''

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' is a 2018 crossover fighting video game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the fifth installment in the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series, succeed ...

'' tournaments using the character Sonic the Hedgehog.

Biography

Kelsy Medeiros was born on May 20, 1995. From a young age, Medeiros played video games like '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' and '' Super Smash Bros.'' with her family. When she was 16 years old, she decided to attend the ''Super Smash Bros.'' tournament Apex 2012 while her family was taking a vacation in New York. As she was too young to travel to tournaments, she spent the following three years training through the game's online

multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system ( couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

services. In addition to her activities as a competitive ''Super Smash Bros.'' player, Medeiros previously worked full-time for French game developer

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', ...

. Her younger brother, Jayson "Soar" Medeiros, has also played ''Super Smash Bros.'' competitively and was previously sponsored by

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

team Mirage Esports. The siblings have competed as a team for doubles events.

Career

''Super Smash Bros. for Wii U''

Medeiros formally began competing in tournaments in 2014. Competing in the ''

'' event at

Apex 2015 Apex was an annual esports tournament held in New Jersey that was focused on '' Super Smash Bros.'' The event's first incarnation was in 2009 with Jesus "Jman" Fernandez as the champion of ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' and Elliot "Ally" Carroza-Oy ...

, she placed within the top 64 of competitors. Returning to the same event at Apex 2016, she defeated top professional Jason "

Mew2King Jason Sheldon Zimmerman (born February 5, 1989), known by his gamertag Mew2King, commonly shortened to M2K, is an American professional '' Super Smash Bros.'' player from Cinnaminson, New Jersey. He has won more than 70 tournaments during his c ...

" Zimmerman in an upset victory and ultimately placed in 5th. Later that year, she won the ''Super Smash Bros.'' event held at Lan ETS and placed 33rd at

Super Smash Con The Super Smash Con is an annual '' Super Smash Bros.'' convention held at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Virginia. The event is held in early August that praises the video game series published by Nintendo along with other video games, ...

. 2017 saw Medeiros place 2nd at Lan ETS, 5th at Royal Flush, 65th at Evo 2017, and 7th at

DreamHack DreamHack is an ESL Gaming brand specializing in esports tournaments and other gaming conventions. It is recognized by the Guinness Book of Records and Twin Galaxies as being the world's largest LAN party and computer festival with the world's fa ...

Montreal. In 2018, she took 1st place at Lan ETS and placed 5th at DreamHack Montreal. 2018 power rankings presented by esports team

Panda Global The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white animal coat, coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is ...

ranked Medeiros as the 100th best ''Super Smash Bros. for Wii U'' player of all time.

''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''

Medeiros signed with esports team Iceberg Competitive Esports in February 2018. After the organization dissolved later that year, Medeiros told

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...

in 2019 that it had failed to fulfill the terms of her contract, including salary payments. In 2019, Medeiros provided

commentary Commentary or commentaries may refer to: Publications * ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee * Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...

for Nintendo's ''

'' World Championship. At the tournament Frostbite 2020, she placed 97th individually and teamed with her brother to place 13th in the doubles event. When a wave of sexual abuse allegations emerged in the competitive community in 2020, Medeiros spoke to CBC News on the need for greater awareness of the issue of abuse within the community. Medeiros announced her retirement from ''Super Smash Bros.'' competition in 2023.

Style of play

Medeiros primarily competed in ''Super Smash Bros.'' tournaments using the character Sonic the Hedgehog. A profile by esports publication ''The Meta'' described her play style as "always on the attack, probing her opponent's defenses and lunging for the

carotid In anatomy, the left and right common carotid arteries (carotids) (Entry "carotid"
in
Super Smash Bros. Melee'' competitor Jeffrey "

Axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...

" Williamson, who plays the game with a similar "in-your-face" style, as an inspiration.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Competitive Super Smash Bros. 1995 births Living people Canadian esports players Sportspeople from Montreal Super Smash Bros. Ultimate players Super Smash Bros. for Wii U players Women esports players