Wombo Combo: What's a wombo combo?

In video games, Wombo Combo essentially means a highly effective combination of moves or attacks one after another in a game that guarantees a win for the team executing it. This term originated from the fighting game community, but it garnered so much attention and popularity that it’s now a well-known term in the competitive gaming community.

In MOBAs like League of Legends or Dota 2, a Wombo Combo consists of several characters using their abilities simultaneously or in a specific order that allows them to wipe out their opponents and secure a win. In Overwatch, a Wombo Combo could be when two characters like Ana and Genji synergize their ultimates for a powerful assault.

What is the most popular example of a Wombo Combo?

The most popular example of a Wombo Combo is also the first time it occurred in a professional match. The combo happened in a losers’ semifinals at the SCSA West Coast Circuit regional tournament ^[1] on December 6th, 2008. The round was a 2v2 where the teammates SilentSpectre and Tang played as Captain Falcon and Fox and fought against Lucky and Zhu, who both played Fox.

Before the match ended, Lucky died from SilentSpectre’s smash attack, giving Silent and Tang the upper hand because both were alive and had more stocks than Zhu. After Zhu fumbled an aerial attack, Tang grabbed him and initiated a combo attack with a teammate to defeat an opponent with 0% damage in less than 10 seconds. The commentators started screaming the iconic term Wombo Combo alongside other popular phrases like “Where you at!?” and “Happy Feet?”. Tang and SilentSpectre went on to the finals of the losers’ bracket and lost, but they birthed a term the community still uses.

References

1. [1] "SCSA West Coast Circuit Wiki". www.ssbwiki.com. Retrieved July 26, 2024