by David Mendez
The Tournament
Hosted once again by Ripple, this historic series is seeing some big changes which will be great for entrants and spectators alike. First, a new venue. Instead of the Champaign area church that once housed the series, SMYM 15 will be in ballroom with the requisite space and internet need to host a regional in the platinum era of smash.
This also means that for the first time SMYM will feature a live stream provided by Windy City Smash.
http://www.twitch.tv/windycitysmash
By the way, even if you don’t end up watching the event you should really check out their YouTube channel. They have some great PM character guides.
Schedule (Central Time)
12:30pm – 3:30pm: PM pools
3:30pm – 6:30pm: Melee Pools
6:30pm – 8:00pm: Doubles
8:00pm – 12:00am: Singles Bracket
12:00am – 2:00am: Friendlies
2:00am: venue closes
Keep in mind how late the schedule goes. There is a lot to get through in a single day. It is tough to say how exactly this will affect the tournament (or the stream) but at least the late schedule is nice for west coast viewers.
What will be exciting to see?
Kels vs Darkatma
Two of the biggest names attending and the match up I expect to see in grand finals. There are a number of different character match ups that can happen here but I am hoping for Fox vs. Sheik. Their most recent set at UFGTX was solid with Darkatma nearly bring back a 3-stock to one deficit which would have forced a game five. Kels has had the upper hand in their recent sets but their games are always close.
Jiano!
I am a sucker for old school players. The results haven’t quite been there lately but I am very interested to see how he stacks up against the likes of Kels and Trail. Watching some of his most recent videos shows that Jiano certainly can hang with some great players but just needs to clean up certain aspects of his game. I might be overly optimistic but I expect him to do well this weekend.
The Midwest PM Scene
One of the best things about smash is how drastically different the play styles of various regions can be. It’s awesome to see the evolution of a metagame and a regional like this is one of the best places to see what players come up with. The Chicago area has been having plenty of PM tournaments lately with the EXposure series and Wavedash Wednesdays so you know everyone has been practicing.
Predictions (Melee)
Based on a combination of recent local results, SSBMRank, and my own biases. Enjoy!
1. Kels
2. Darkatma
3. Trail (assuming he enters singles, the entrants list only has him listed in doubles)
4. Jiano
5. Vro
Sorry, Jiano aint getting 4th if he has to get through me first 🙂