The DotBlog: Smash & Maple Syrup

Welcome! My name is Matthew “MattDotZeb” Zaborowski. You may know me as a tournament organizer (TO), a streamer, a commentator, or as a competitor. My most recent endeavor has been the most challenging out of anything I have done with nearly a decade spent in our community: The Melee Games. It has taken a demanding role in my life, and for good cause! Allow me to introduce you to this project through the DotBlog. I will be utilizing this blog weekly, every Wednesday at 12pm EST, to provide you updates pertaining to The Melee Games.

This week we discuss the character selections throughout Fall ‘14, the next addition to TMG Spring ‘15, and check in with California. Before we get into it, I would like to give a big thanks to Smashboards and KhanYe for releasing an article discussing The Melee Games. Check it out here.

TMG By The Numbers

Last week we went over the importance of winning the first game of a crew battle. We learned that out of 45 crew battles, only 7 of them were won by the team that lost the first game! This week we’ll do a simple review of the most selected characters throughout the past crew battles. We go over 521 individual character selections from 46 crew battles. (Some information is lost due to lineup submission errors.) Next week I’ll be looking over stages. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know on Facebook or Twitter!

A few things I’d like to mention about AVG Stocks Taken (AST):
This does not account for variance. Captain Falcon’s number is so high because two separate starters took 19 & 20 stocks. Mr. Game & Watch saw Qerb start a crew battle and go hard in the 2D paint when NJIT went up against Ramapo. A fun note about Peach is that she started 6 times, and it was 6 different players in each case that performed well. For Captain Falcon, there were 10 different starters.

Smash & Maple Syrup

The Melee Games is not the only collegiate smash circuit out there. Even Matchup Gaming’s Toronto Joe set up his own version of TMG in the Fall ‘14 dubbed the Ontario Collegiate Circuit (OCC). At EVO 2014, Joe and I discussed incorporating this into TMG after its initial run. I hope you already have a passport because TMG is now expanding into the Canadian province of of Ontario! The OCC has just finished up with York University taking the crown over 7 other schools at last weekend’s Apex World Circuit event The Come Up. The most notable participants in this circuit are I.B. and RaynEX. Check out their bracket here & the finals match here.

If you’re a student in the Ontario Province, click the image to sign up!

Image created by Kevin “Known Scrub” Altschuler of Northeastern University. Feel free to view his portfolio here.

California (Week 4)

California sign ups are beginning to slow down. It looks as if we are going to have about 25 schools participating between NorCal and SoCal. As always, click the image to sign up! A finalized sign up date for California will be January 15th, although if sign ups slow down to nothingness we will change the date.

We are currently looking for Captains for a few schools. If you see your school on this list and wish to be a Captain, reach out to V$ for SoCal, and NorCal Buster for NorCal!

Check out the DotBlog every Wednesday at 12pm EST right here on MeleeItOnMe. If you have any suggestions, criticism, or ideas for the blog please feel free to contact me @DotZeb or atwww.facebook.com/MattDotZeb. Feel free to help Support TMG by Liking us on Facebook, Subscribing on YouTube, or Following us on Twitch!

Thanks to Lauren “Ten” Casapao and Anna “Housewife” Zotta for their help in editing this entry.