May is historically a hit-or-miss month for Melee; it produced just one tourney of 100+ entrants all-time going into 2014, then produced seven tourneys of 100+ entrants last year. Will May 2015 revert to the barren pre-2014 numbers, or repeat last year’s success? All signs point to the latter.

Last month was by far the biggest April in Melee history. IM NOT YELLING was the highest-attended tourney at 316 Melee Singles entrants, while several other tourneys (BUST 2, Sandstorm, Michigan Arcadian 2, Super Nebulous 3) also broke the 200-entrant mark, each shattering Fight Pitt 4’s previous April record of 174 entrants.

 

 

May 9

PressStart

Press Start takes place this weekend. While this tourney was on nobody’s radar just a couple months ago, MacD and company have taken over some of the Smash operation responsibilities and managed to attract big names such as Hungrybox, Leffen, Mew2King, and the rest of Cali. Prediction: 220 entrants.

HFLan

HF-Lan takes place this weekend. With the help of smashgg’s latest donation drive, the TOs have raised enough money to fly out Zhu from America to France for this event. Last year’s Republic of Fighters barely missed out on the 200-entrant milestone; can the French Smash community pull it off this time? Prediction: 190 entrants.

ShellShocked

Shell Shocked XVIII takes place this weekend. Top players confirmed include the usual MD/VA heavy hitters; TheMoon, DJ Nintendo and Swedish Delight from Tristate; plus DruggedFox and s0ft from Georgia. Prediction: 90 entrants.

 

 

May 16

EGL

EGL/Toryuken takes place this weekend. Despite occurring just two weeks before another big Canadian tourney, a solid lineup of top players confirmed so far include Canadian mainstays KirbyKaze, RaynEX, Kage, Vwins; renowned NorCal player Shroomed; and Michigan’s finest, Duck, Kalamazhu, KJH. Prediction: 80 entrants.

XanaduArcadian

Xanadu Arcadian takes place this weekend. MD/VA has officially entered the mix of hosting unranked-player tourneys, with the recent Clarendon Arcadian and now this. Registration stands at 47 entrants with 2 days left to sign up. Will people brave the streets of Baltimore to enter? Prediction: 70 entrants.

 

 

May 23

BAM7

BAM 7 takes place this weekend. The Australian Smash scene has gone nuts with the funding and promotion of this event, confirming top out-of-region names such as Armada, Mango, Leffen, Lucky, and Wife. This easily represents the biggest international Melee talent ever seen at any tourney outside of America or Europe, and local turnout is likely to back that up. Prediction: 200 entrants.

ComboBreaker

Combo Breaker takes place this weekend. Although overall Smash numbers are modest, Combo Breaker looks to bring great production value and top player composition to Chicago. VGBootCamp is set to stream its first multi-day tourney since Apex 2015, and confirmed names include Zero, Kels, Dart, Frootloop, Duck, KJH. Prediction: 80 entrants.

ShuffleVII

Shuffle VII takes place this weekend. The seventh installment of the Ohio tourney series continues its partnership with MLG, although the unlikely return of Smash to the circuit mostly renders that moot. Confirmed top players include Mew2King, Drephen, Hanky Panky. Abu. Prediction: 130 entrants.

 

 

May 30

GOML2015

Get On My Level 2015 takes place this weekend. Last year’s GOML set the new May record with 258 Melee Singles entrants, but due to fire code considerations, this year has already capped at a healthy 224 entrants. An impressive 12 of the SSBMRank Top 100 are confirmed, including Hungrybox, Hax, and KirbyKaze. Prediction: 224 entrants.

 

 

See you next month.

MIOM | Juggleguy