Well that didn’t take long.

Less than a year after announcing his retirement one of the world’s foremost professional Smash players,  ZeRo has announced that he will be returning to the world of competitive play with the release of Super Smash Bros Ultimate.

In a video to his fans released on Wednesday, ZeRo assured his fans that he would continue to produce streams and video’s, which is something he had been focusing on during his brief stint on the proverbial bench.

Speaking on his desire to return to competitive Smash play, ZeRo stated that he enjoyed watching high-level Super Smash Bros game play, but after a while, the need to be involved was to strong to ignore.

“I’m the type of person who could sit on the sidelines and enjoy it, but at some point I kinda want to get into the baseball game.”

He also stated that he has learned how to better manage his time and feels that he can avoid the sense of burnout that led to his retirement in January.

Beyond his return to active competition, ZeRo will also be flying under the banner of a new team: Tempo Storm, which he feels would better be able to support him in the endeavors he wishes to pursue.

ZeRo made a brief appearance in a competition at E3 2018 as part of Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros Invitational – a promotional tournament the company held as part of the reveal for the upcoming Super Smash Bros Ultimate.

ZeRo also made news this year on social media thanks to a war of words between him and prolific competitive player, Sonic Fox. Fox expressed his sentiments that the Super Smash Bros series could not be considered an actual fighting game, which prompted ZeRo to eventually jump in and defend the series’ honor. The spat ended with the two gentlemen agreeing to a showdown; however, the time and date of this battle has yet to be determined.

With the release of Super Smash Bros Ultimate only a month away, it will be very interesting to see how the Smash competitive scene reacts to this latest entry; and whether or not this title will be able to bridge the community divide that exists between those who have been playing Super Smash Bros for Wii U, and those who have bitterly clung to 2001’s Super Smash Bros: Melee.

With the possibility of a united Smash community, and the imminent return of ZeRo, we could be in for some of the most heated competitive play in the history of the Smash series.