In less than a week, the 4th largest Melee tournament of all time will happen in Michigan. Here’s an amazing trailer to highlight the action, courtesy of PapaPaint:

Some Reminders:

1. Be on Time

Juggleguy will D/Q you if you’re late. Be familiar with the schedule. Here’s the link to pools.

2. Parking

  • There’s free parking in the hotel/venue

3. Free Shuttle (From the Airport)

Call the hotel’s complimentary shuttle service at (734) 729-2600 ext. 0 and be ready to provide your name, airline, and terminal (McNamara or North). From there, the staff will take care of you! Go to the hotel shuttles area of ground transportation and look for a burnt orange Sheraton shuttle.

The shuttle is free and runs 24/7, every 20 minutes, between the Sheraton Hotel and DTW airport. Amazing deal! Everyone should be able to travel independently to and from the tournament!

4. Have Fun!

Nationals are the perfect time to hang out and meet new people. Jump on friendly setups and play. Go around the hotel rooms in the venue to meet and chill

5. Don’t Stink (literally)

Shower and deodorize. Please… I mean it

Tafo’s Fantasy Thoughts

As of writing this article (September 29), pools aren’t out yet. Instead of giving you something definitive, I decided to put people in tiers of when I think you should draft players (Pay attention to tiers more so than the individual #s). Here’s things to consider when you draft

  • Brackets > perceived skill. Player A can be a “better” overall player than Player B, but if Player B has an easier bracket, he’ll get further in bracket
  • Matchups Matter. Want to draft Bizzarro? Make sure he doesn’t have to play against a ton of sheiks in bracket or that can spell an early exit for our stomping hero
  • Consistency matters. Do you draft Westballz or Plup? Westballz may have more potential to beat higher skilled players, but has the potential to lose to a bunch of players. Proceed with caution.

Not Attending: PewPewU, s2j, Chudat

Tier 1 aka “the gods”

1. Hungrybox
2. Armada
3. Mango
4. Mew2King

– Realistically you can’t go wrong with picking any of the top 4 in any order. Mew2King may be one or two steps behind the other 3, but he did win Big House 3 at his “low” point. The nod goes to Hungrybox for now because he beat Armada and Mew2King in their recent encounters. Mango is a wildcard and tends to do poorly in September-January.

Tier 1.5 aka “the titans”

5. Leffen
6. Axe
7. Hax
8. Colbol

– I’m always a bit uneasy drafting a non-Mango/PPMD spacies early, since there’s a high risk associated with them. They can easily go cold and lose early, which seems to happen often at nationals. Bracket pools are especially unforgiving to spacie mains that have to play consistently with little leeway. These 4 have been performing pretty well and could easily get as high as 4th and a low as 17th. Colbol has stepped up lately and deserves to be in the “titan” discussion, beating Hungrybox recently 6-1 at a Florida local.

Tier 2 aka “Consistent threats”

9. Westballz
10. KirbyKaze
11. Plup
12. Zhu
13. Shroomed
14. LuCKy
15. SFAT

– All of the people are very strong and most likely good for 7th-17th place. Westballz has the highest ceiling here, but also the lowest floor. He could be a worthwhile gamble that makes or breaks your bracket. Also on this list are KK, Plup, Zhu, and Shroomed who have been nationals threats for years. They have experience and also the mental fortitude to not choke. LuCKy and SFAT can make some noise if they are playing in peak form, but as usual, they can also have some questionable losses.

Tier 2.5

16. Wizzrobe
17. Abate
18. Nintendude
19. The Moon
20. Weon-X
21. MacD
22. Bladewise

– These players are wildcard picks in the sense that you can make a case for drafting them much higher and, in some drafts, any of them can slip to as low as 25th pick. All of them have been putting in quite a bit of work this year and can pull many upsets over people. Wizzrobe has done well in his region and also has beaten Axe. Maybe this can be his breakthrough national. Matchup unfamiliarity also benefits Abate. Abate, a very skilled Luigi, can turn many heads with his fantastic play. Nintendude has done really well at nationals, but the lack of wobbling may hurt him a bit. The Moon and Weon-X round out this tier. Both are solid players. Peach mains tend to be looked over as “un-sexy” picks, but both MacD and Bladewise are top-level talent that consistently perform at nationals.

Tier 3 – Draft deviation

23. HugS
24. Cactuar
25. DarkAtma
26. Darkrain
27. DoH
28. Duck
29. Kels

– Based on perception of skill tiers 3-3.5-4 can all be interchangeable. HugS has shown much improvement and can take on top-level Falco/Foxes. The rest of the cast here are veterans that have been strong players for years. Picking in this tier will depend on who each plays in bracket.

Tier 3.5 – Draft deviation

30. DJ Nintendo
31. Gahtzu
32. Professor Pro
33. Dart
34. Darrell
35. Zanguzen
36. Vanz
37. FrootLoop

– Once again, opinions may vary widely here. Some players such as Gahtzu and Professor Pro have been improving over the past year whereas players such as Vanz have been playing on and off. Go with whoever has the most favorable bracket in R2 pools.

Tier 4 – Draft deviation

38. Porkchops
39. Redd
40. Wenbobular
41. Hanky Panky
42. Sung
43. Trail
44. Tafokints
45. Toph
46. Scar
47. Milkman
48. Jesiah
49. Bizzarro Flame
50. Drephen
51. Prince Abu
52. Tai
53. Phish It
54. Plank
55. Kalamazhu
56. KJH
57. Laudandus
58. L
59. Gravy
60. Vish
61. Eikelmannrus

You can make a case to drafting these players in any order. Go with your preferences based on what you see in bracket. This tournament is stacked

Other Great Players: ORLY, Moose, Vish, 4%,Sol, Slayers, Jiano, (and I probably forgot others)