After tallying stats from Evo 2015, here’s some interesting data. I wanted to break down some metrics for region representation, character selection, and stage selection. Some of the information will very likely confirm some of your speculative thoughts, while other data may surprise you.

Region Representation

Region Top 32 Top 16 Top 8
Socal 10 5 1
Norcal 4 1 0
Tri-State 3 0 0
Sweden 2 2 2
Florida 2 2 2
Mexico 2 0 0
North Carolina 1 1 1
Arizona 1 1 1
MD/VA 1 1 1
Germany 1 1 0
Georgia 1 1 0
Michigan 1 1 0
Washington 1 0 0
Japan 1 0 0
Kansas 1 0 0

Table 1: Top 32 by Area

Socal was very well represented in the bracket with 10 out of 32 players.  It’s not to say that Socal has significantly stronger players, but they do have a slew of heavy hitters. Many strong players seem to come from isolated regions (PPMD from North Carolina, Ice from Germany, etc…), and grouping players by larger regions could serve to give a better idea of which area is stronger (see table 2).

Region Top 32 Top 16 Top 8
West Coast 16 7 2
South 4 4 3
East Coast 4 1 1
Europe 3 3 2
Midwest 2 1 0
Mexico 2 0 0
Japan 1 0 0

 Table 2: Top 32 by Region

The West Coast was very well represented, filling up half of the Top 32. Yet, it was the South that ended up with the most players in Top 8 with 3 (Hungrybox, PPMD, Plup). On any given day, it seems that the “filler spots” of Top 8 can be represented by any region. To no surprise, Armada and Leffen represented Europe in the Top 8 and, perhaps, if more Europeans had the means to travel, then we would see more international representation in the Top 32/48 of a Super National. With that being said, the international scene filled 6 Top 32 slots with no Canadian representation, strangely enough.

Character Representation

Total: 240 (120 games x 2 characters)

Character Wins Losses Total Percent Picked Win %
Fox 40 41 81 33.8% 49.4%
Sheik 11 15 26 10.8% 42.3%
Marth 7 18 25 10.4% 28.0%
Jigglypuff 14 6 20 8.3% 70.0%
Samus 10 9 19 7.9% 52.6%
Falco 11 5 16 6.7% 68.8%
Ice Climbers 10 6 16 6.7% 62.5%
Pikachu 6 6 12 5.0% 50.0%
Peach 6 5 11 4.6% 54.5%
Captain Falcon 3 5 8 3.3% 37.5%
Luigi 1 2 3 1.3% 33.3%
Yoshi 1 2 3 1.3% 33.3%

Table 3: Characters Used in Top 32

In the top 32, we had a total of 12 characters represented, which is ~46.1% of the roster. For a game that’s been out for over a decade, that’s quite impressive! Interestingly enough, Fox had a sub-50 win percentage. Many would glance at this stat and come to the wrong conclusion. Keep in mind that when you have many players pick the same character, their average skill level may not be as high as a character that is seldom picked by a specialist (ex. Axe and Pikachu). On the other spectrum, Jigglypuff had a 70% win rate (14-6), but was represented solely by Hungrybox. Despite our character diversity, we still are guilty of a Fox-dominant meta with a 33.8% pick rate, over triple the next closest character (Sheik).

Stage

Stage Percentage Total
Battlefield 38.3% 46
Dreamland 15.0% 18
Final Destination 8.3% 10
Fountain of Dreams 6.7% 8
Pokemon Stadium 17.5% 21
Yoshi’s Story 14.2% 17
Total 120

Table 4: Stages Picked in Top 32

As expected, Battlefield was the most common played stage in Top 32 with a 38.3% pick rate. Against common intuition, Pokemon Stadium was chosen the 2nd most with a 17.5% pick rate. Despite people’s distaste towards Pokemon Stadium, it seems that many would rather allow Pokemon Stadium and ban a heavier counter-pick such as Final Destination, Fountain of Dreams, or Dreamland depending on matchup.

Stage Percentage Total
Battlefield 73.9% 34
Dreamland 6.5% 3
Final Destination 6.5% 3
Fountain of Dreams 6.5% 3
Yoshi’s Story 6.5% 3
Total 46

Table 5: Stage Strike (Game 1) Data

To no one’s surprise, Battlefield was the preferred opening stage by a landslide with a 74% pick rate. With reasonable platforms, a medium size, and average blast zones, it is one of the most, if not, the most neutral, out of the tournament legal stages.