13 circuit events down, 1 to go. Things have gotten VERY interesting heading into our final circuit event. Time for another update on the Apex 2015 World Circuit standings as of 1/12/15.
As a reminder to all, the top 16 players […]
12 circuit events down, 2 to go. Time for another update on the Apex 2015 World Circuit standings as of 1/7/15.
As a reminder to all, the top 16 players in these standings will automatically advance into the final top-48 Melee […]
January is the premiere month for Melee on the calendar: it has produced 13 tourneys of 100+ entrants all-time, tied for best out of any month, including a 300+ entrant tourney in four of the past five years. This year […]
11 circuit events down, 3 to go. Time for another update on the Apex 2015 World Circuit standings as of 12/22/14.
As a reminder to all, the top 16 players in these standings will automatically advance into the final top-48 Melee […]
8 circuit events down, 6 to go. It’s mid-December in the Melee season, and time to update everyone on the Apex 2015 World Circuit standings.
As a reminder to all, the top 16 players in these standings will automatically advance into […]
December is historically a mediocre month for Melee: coming into 2014, it had produced just 5 tourneys of 100+ entrants all-time, and went four years without a 100+ entrant tourney between 2009-2013 before KoC 3 and Tipped Off 9 ended that drought last year. This time should be different; Smash 4 Wii U has hit the shelves, providing an opportunity for TOs to leverage dual game turnouts, and the hype from the Apex 2015 World Circuit will gain excellent momentum with an installment of the circuit taking place every weekend of the month.
Last month, Fight Pitt V impressed with 200 entrants, and we saw a record-breaking weekend on November 8-9th with an incredible five Melee tournaments cracking the 100+ entrant milestone: Kings of the North 3, SSW, Shuffle VI, GameClucks November, and Smash or DI 3.
December 6
The Come Up takes place this weekend. The Toronto region has flourished in 2014; McSmasher in January, a Canadian Arcadian in both May and November, and Get On My Level all gained 100+ entrants, with GOML amassing 250+ entrants; a hugely impressive feat for the region considering the fact that East Coast Canada had never hosted a 100+ entrant Melee tourney before this year. As part of the Apex 2015 World Circuit event, TO Joe is bringing the next big regional to the area with The Come Up, one of the first significant Melee and Smash 4 Wii U dual game events. Top names such as Mew2King, KirbyKaze, Kage, Duck, Toph, and more are confirmed. Prediction: 188 entrants (registration closed).
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November is historically a very strong month for Melee: coming into 2014, it boasted 13 tourneys of 100+ entrants all-time, tied with August for most of any month. November has usually been carried by the Revival of Melee tournament series, but without a ROM installment this fall, other tournaments will have to step up to fill that void.
Last month, The Big House 4 shattered the Midwest Melee attendance record with 574 entrants, good for fourth biggest Melee tournament of all-time. Justice 4 and Mayhem also brought in very respectable turnouts for one-day events. As suspected, the arrival of Smash 4 3DS did not make a significant dent in any Melee tourneys, either positively or negatively. It appears that the two games attract different crowds, and the intertwining of dual-game events may have to wait until the console version of Smash 4 comes out. This month, the arrival of Smash 4 Wii U and the continuing Apex World Circuit have the potential to shake things up.
November 1
Fight Pitt V headlines the first weekend of November, having just surpassed the 200-entrant mark through online paid pre-registration before the start of the event. The Pittsburgh and Northeast Ohio scene has taken attendance to the next level this year, having gone from a region which hadn’t ran a 100-entrant tourney in the post-Brawl era to one that has now hosted four of them in the last ten months alone, including this 200-entrant whopper coming up. This fifth installment of the series brings something new to the table: the first two-day Melee event held by the current Pittsburgh community. Attendees have responded favorably, driving registration numbers sky high and gaining top player starpower such as Hungrybox, Hax, and Colbol. The marketing plan has been on point, the organization solid, and the VGBootCamp platform as credible as ever. PGH, welcome to the 200-entrant tournament club. Prediction: 200 entrants (registration closed).
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October is historically an average month for Melee, but in recent years it has been dominated by The Big House, the premiere Midwest Smash tournament series. Out of the five 100+ entrant tourneys that have been hosted in October all-time, three of them belonged to The Big House series coming into this year. The others are Event 52, which was one of the first 100+ entrant Melee tourneys in the post-Brawl era in 2008, and the former record-holder MLG New York Playoffs 2006, which clocked in at 208 entrants. This year will shatter all previous marks: The Big House series has reached a high point of all-time interest, and the arrival of Smash 4 3DS to the United States should bring to life some new dual events featuring both Melee and Smash 4.
Last month, Tipped Off 10 set its own series attendance record with 175 entrants, and Shape V kicked off the Armada hype train in the final weekend of September with 104 entrants.
October 4
The Big House 4 arrives on October 4-5, representing the fourth annual installment of the largest active Midwest Melee tournament series. Registration closed on September 20th to an incredible 570 entrants. That’s good for 4th-biggest Melee tournament of all-time, only behind EVO 2014, EVO 2013, and Apex 2014. The Big House has soared to record-breaking numbers this year for a few reasons. It has a quality reputation for being a well-organized grassroots national, using word-of-mouth to bring in more and more attendees each year. It is supported by some of the biggest platforms in the community; Smashboards, Melee It On Me, and Twitch. And it is helped by the presence of Project M, which brings a sizable chunk of dual-game Smashers to the table: according to registration data, 233 entrants (about one-third of the entire field of entrants) entered both Melee Singles and Project M Singles at the tournament. With Mango, Armada, Hungrybox, Mew2King, Leffen, and more in attendance, the stakes are as high as ever. Prediction: 570 entrants (registration closed).
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September is historically the weakest tournament month on the Melee calendar. Going into 2014, only one Melee tournament of 100+ entrants has ever occurred in September: you have to go all the way back to Super Champ Combo in 2007. […]
Article by Robin Harn
When you hear Smashers talk about the greatest rivalries of all-time, it’s probably the usual: Mango vs Armada. Ken vs Azen. Mango vs Mew2King. But one matchup that has eluded the discussion far too long is Hax vs Zhu. Despite having flown under the radar for years, these two have played some of the most intense, high-level tournament matches in Melee history, and the narrative remains intriguing to this day. It’s a battle of the coasts: Hax was raised in New York, while Zhu is a NorCal native. It’s a battle of the characters: Hax toughed it out for years as perennial underdog Falcon before switching to Fox, while Zhu maintained dominance as a premiere Falco player and epitomized the reason a Falcon player might switch to Fox. It’s a battle of the highest stakes: the vast majority of their sets have taken place at the biggest tourneys of the year, including storied franchises such as Genesis, Pound, and Apex.
Most importantly, Hax and Zhu are both players that have undeniably been top-10 in the world for extended periods of time in the game’s history, and it’s that level of consistent gameplay that has given us great set after great set between the two. It’s no surprise both players showed they’ve still got it this past weekend at Zenith 2014.
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