I can’t believe it’s already June, which means it’s another action packed Summer of Smash. Unlike 2014, we don’t have a nice circuit leading into one of the majors. However, between CEO, Super Smash Con, FC, Evo and a plethora of large regionals and locals, we have more than enough exciting tournaments and streams that will even satisfy stream monsters such as Dingusmaster.
Key Events:
June
26-28, CEO 2015 – Orlando, FL
July
4-5, FC Smash 15XR – South Bend, IN
17-19, Evo 2015 – Las Vegas, NV
August
6-9, Super Smash Con – Chantilly, VA
Here are some of my thoughts going into the summer:
1. From 5 to 6 to 3.5
For a while there were 5 gods, and then we added Leffen after a fantastic January in which he won BEAST 5, defeating Mango and Armada. Ever since then, Leffen has been cold only winning one set against his compadres in the last 4 months and, furthermore, suffered losses to HugS, Axe, and SFAT. Hungrybox roams from the shadows; although he won Paragon, he hasn’t won a tournament featuring at least 4 of the other big 5 in a really long time. Between Mew2King’s forfeits and pedestrian performances, it seems like the 6 horse race has trimmed to 3.5 with Armada, PPMD, and Mango in front and Hungrybox not too far behind. It’ll be interesting to see…
2. Who will win Evo?
Interestingly enough, Armada has yet to win a Super Major since his return from retirement back in 2013 (and yes, CEO does not count). Granted, Armada has been on a tear lately, not losing a tournament since Apex, and would be more than happy to shut up Mango Nation with an Evo trophy on his shelf of accomplishments. Meanwhile, a three-peat would put Mango on Justin Wong level territory and on a new level of self-confidence – borderline arrogance. Though PPMD has won two Apex’s in a row, the summer and, in particular, Evo hasn’t been too kind to him as he placed 5th at Evo 2013 and 4th at Evo 2014. He’s been on a hiatus, but perhaps the break will give him the confidence he needs to perform on the grand stage. Head says Armada, but heart says Mango.
3. 1500 and counting
Both Smash games at #evo2015 have passed the 1500 player mark. Ultra Super Street Fighter IV is closing in on 2000. 7 weeks to go!
— Evo (@evo2k) May 25, 2015
Although Apex 2015 technically broke 1000, Evo 2015 is at a reported 1500 entrants according to a tweet from the SRK crew and can easily reach 2000 if we consider how much Smashers procrastinate. Given that it took nearly 2 days to trim down to the top 8 and Melee Top 8 may run on Saturday instead of Sunday, I wonder how the logistics crew will handle this doozy. Over/Under on the number of people who get DQ’d? Let’s put it at 70. I’ll go with the *over* on that.
4. The Titan Tier
While the big 6 have become household names, players such as Axe and Westballz have been performing fantastically in the past ½ year. Axe has taken sets off of Mango, Mew2King, and Leffen, while Westballz has taken sets off of Mango and Hungrybox. Although Westballz hasn’t had a great history at Evo or Apex, he’s placed high at almost every regional in 2015, aside from Press Start in which he had to face Mango for 17th place. While Axe has a sponsor in MVG, Westballz is really vying for a sponsor and, hopefully, solid performances at CEO and Evo2015 net him what he wants.
5. Sponsors
Here’s an interesting list:
LuCKy
Westballz
S2J
Shroomed
Silent Wolf
Plup
Fiction
Fly Amanita
What do they have all in common? They are sponsor-less. CLG, TSM, C9, etc.., if you guys are looking into signing Smash players, look into them while they’re still cheap before they come out with Top 8 performances and the sign price becomes more expensive. In all seriousness, hopefully some of them get sponsored in the next 1-2 months.
I believe that the summer will have many exciting matches, upsets, and gfycat-worthy moments. It’s an awesome time to be a smash fan
still feel like half the problem with sponsoring many players is their names. I love westballz, but that is not a name you’d want your brand associated with. (kinda the same for S2J, but that’s hidden enough to not be obvious)
Westballz is totally name safe – I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. Just no… lol
Silent Wolf actually is sponsored, he’s sponsored by local game store/company GameClucks
there are plenty of players in Otto’s position right now, but a local LAN center is hardly on the same level as a C9, Liquid or TSM sponsorship.
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