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Playoffs are just three days away, and with participants having a chance to win an extra $50 to $300 this season will truly be exciting. Since this season is different from the others I wanted to talk about some things and give everyone an idea on what's going on before the playoffs actually begin.

First, the ladder will be closing on November 20, 2011 at 11:59pm PST. Playoffs will not have it's first schedule match until December 5th! This gives everyone a chance to enjoy their Thanksgiving break.  I will try to have the brackets up by some time on the 22nd to give everyone about two weeks to get matches done early. I understand December is a very busy month for everyone. Between finals in the beginning of the month and holidays at the end of the month people won't have much free time. Unfortunately, we are under a very strict schedule, so we have to get all matches done on time. If you make it into the playoffs but don't think you'll be able to participate please let me know. It's one less person I have to worry about during the playoffs, and this way I don't have to burden you with the all the PMs I send to the playoff participants. Anyways, lets get to the playoffs schedule!

Events specifics

Allisbrawl Apex Fall Playoffs 2011 Singles.
Host: Enrish

All players meet up in Tournament Chat 3 at 8 PM EST  the following dates:

Monday December 5th. Round 1 and round 2 of the singles bracket will be played out.

Tuesday December 6th. Round 3 and round 4 of the singles bracket will be played.

Wednesday December 7th. Round 5 of the singles bracket will be played.

Monday December 12th. Round 6 and 7 of the single bracket will be played.

Tuesday December 13th. Round 8 of the singles bracket will be played.

Wednesday December 14th. Round 9 and 10 of the singles bracket will be played.

Thursday December 15th. Losers finals  and Grand Finals will be played.




Allisbrawl Apex Fall Playoffs 2011 Doubles.
Host: Enrish

All players meet up in Tournament Chat 4 at 9 PM EST the following dates:

Monday December 5th. Round 1 and round 2 of the doubles bracket will be played out.

Tuesday December 6th. Round 3 and round 4 of the doubles bracket will be played.

Wednesday December 7th. Round 5 of the doubles bracket will be played.

Monday December 12th. Round 6 of the doubles bracket will be played.

Tuesday December 13th. Round 7 of the doubles bracket will be played.

Wednesday December 14th. Round 8 of the doubles bracket will be played.

Thursday December 15th. Losers finals and Grand Finals will be played.


A friendly reminder that there is a match requirement for both singles and doubles to get into the appropriate playoffs. You must play 30 matches in singles ladder and get top 60 in order to get into the singles playoffs. You must play 20 matches (with your current team) in doubles ladder and get top 30 in order to get into doubles playoffs. Yes, that means the doubles requirement will not be lowered from 20.

You'll have one last good chance to get doubles matches in with Doubles Weekend happening this weekend. Reminder that Doubles Weekend is generally three Doubles Night back-to-back-to-back. There will be a set time for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and if you play three matches during the set time of any of the three days you will be awarded the double dater badge! This means you must play three matches during the set time in one day. You can't play one match each day and get the badge. Along with the double dater badge you will given the chance to get the new weekend warrior badge. In order to get this badge you must play two matches during the set time of all three days. Yes, that means two matches Friday, Saturday AND Sunday. Please message me with a link of your team's ladder profile to get the badges.

Doubles Weekend will be happening this weekend, Nov. 18 to Nov. 20. The set times are:
Friday 4pm EST to 1am EST
Saturday 1pm EST to 2am EST
Sunday 1pm EST to 11pm EST

*Remember that while Doubles Weekend set time is in Eastern Standard Time, the ladder closing is based on Pacific Standard Time. For those who don't know EST is three hours ahead of PST, meaning ladder will close at 2:59am EST on November 21st.

Good luck to everyone and I look forward to seeing you in the playoffs!

Apex is a big deal.  Like, maybe we're tooting our own horns, but Apex is pretty much... Well, the Apex of Smash.  With that said, it takes a fair amount man power to ensure the tournament is ran to its maximum potential.  In the past, we've always handed these spots out to those closest to us, but this year, we're reaching out to the entire community.  With an estimated 75% growth from last year's event, it's important to make sure we have the necessary staff to make this happen!

These positions are mainly volunteer basis.  Your help will earn you an Apex Staff shirt, and at least one meal voucher.  Most of these positions are a mere 3 hour shift, helping guild players through pools and recording the data that the matches contain!

Next, you'll find the list of positions available at Apex 2012, and what those positions would require of you!

• Referee:  These individuals will oversee a group of four pools, each containing four players.  These pools will be best of three, using the Unity Ruleset's guide to tiebreaking.  These players should be versed in organizing competitive play, but is not limited to TOs!
  
  Requirements:  Versed in Brawl or Melee's Apex ruleset;  If applying for the FGC side, versed in the competitve rulesets of SSF4:AE, UMvC3 and MK9;  Trusted member of the community;  Able to coordinate matches in a quick fashion; Legible handwriting.
  
  Compensation:  Volunteer basis.  These players will receive staff badges, and one meal voucher.
  
  Required number of staff:  20-30 Referees for Smash.  10 for the other events.
  
  
• Coat Check:  These individuals will oversee the coat check section of the venue.  You will be required to keep watch of the area, only leaving with coverage. 
  
  Requirements:  Must be able to tag coats, and keep an organized area;  Lift up to 50 lbs;  Keep track of all funds generated through the coat check;  Legible handwriting;  Be able to work no less than two shifts of four hours.   
  
  Compensation:  Paid position.  You will recieve 5% of the total amount of money generated from the coat check service.  Staff shirts.
  
  Required number of Staff:  3
  
  
• Security:  These volunteers will be equipped with the authority to prevent players from entering Apex 2012, and will be allowed to enforce the rules provided by Apex.  
  
  Requirements:  Great communication skills.  Able to keep calm in the face of a stressful situation.  
  
  Compensation:  Volunteer basis.  These players will receive a staff shirt, a special name badge, and two meal vouchers.
  
  Required number of Staff:  5
  
  
• Drivers:  These attendees will be responsible for transporting players to and from the Airport to or from the Hyatt Regency.
  
  Requirements:  Must have a well maintained vehicle; Clean driving record (barring minor offenses: Speeding tickets less than 10 miles over the speed limit, parking offenses, etc.);  The ability to manage time, and provide prompt service.
  
  Compensation:  Volunteer basis.  These players will receive staff shirts, and one meal voucher, and all gas/toll expenses reimbursed by Apex 2012.  (Must provide receipts.)
  
  Required number of staff:  As many as we can get!
  
  
• Stream assistants:  These players will be tasked with finding high profile matches that are yet to be played, and ensuring their sets are played on stream.  You will also be reporting non-stream, high profile matches to the Directional Influence staff to help provide the stream with updates!
  
  Requirements:  Organized, and motivated;  These volunteers must be able to recognize all top Smash Bros players by face; Attention to detail; Knowledge of top player details, including rivalries, power ranking, major wins and major losses.
  
  Compensation:  Volunteer basis.  Apex Staff badges, and one meal voucher
  
  Required number of staff:  3
  
  
• Photographers:  These volunteers will be tasked with...  Well, you guessed it:  Taking pictures!  You'll have access to all facets of the event, including behind the scenes, staff rooms, and the main stage, to be able to provide the world who couldn't attend with the best possible photos you can!
  
  Requirements:  Must have your own equipment;  Able to develop pictures, and upload them to a website of our choice;  Be able to share proprietary rights of all photos with the owners of Apex 2012;  Show up early, and stay late on all tournament days.
  
  Compensation:  To be determined on quality of product and experience.  Portfolios and Resumes are preferred.
  
  Required number of staff:  2.
  
  
• Sponsorship Booth:  These volunteers will assist our sponsors in relating both product and information to the attendees. 
  
  Requirements:  Studying the products you'll be assigned to; Relating all information to the attendees; Ability to sell (When applicable); Able to keep a positive attitude during your shifts.
  
  Compensation:  Volunteer basis.  Apex Staff badge, and one meal voucher per four hour shirt.
  
  Required number of staff:  3

Anyone interested in any position, please send me a private message with the following filled out:

1. Name:
2. Smash tag:
3. Position Applying for:
4. Qualifications (If applicable):
5. Why you would like to be on Apex Staff?
6. Have you ever worked for a tournament before?

Thanks to everyone in advance.  Keep in mind, these spaces are limited, so we'll only be accepting the most qualified applicants!

If you have any questions about this, just leave a comment!

Our second interview here on the Apex Smash is a special one! vVv Zero is an international player to us, but not just any international player - he is the best player in Chile! vVv Zero won the Apex 2012 qualifier in Chile, Showdown 2! vVv Zero was nice enough to allow me to conduct an interview with him about the upcoming Apex 2012 tournament on January 6th, 2012.

vVv ChiboSempai - vVv Zero, wifi master, Chile's #1 player, Meta Knight extraordinaire - how are you doing today?

vVv Zero - ¡I am doing great today! Thanks for asking! ¿What about yourself?

vVv ChiboSempai - I am doing great as well! I am excited about Apex coming up in just a few short months, getting ready for everything being both a member of the staff and a competitor. I want to start by saying congratulations by winning the Chile qualifer for Apex - Showdown 2! By winning you won yourself free entry into Apex 2012! Excited!?

vVv Zero - Extremely! Apex 2012 is going to be a Smash tournament that will make HISTORY. And I am extremely excited and happy that I will be able to form part of this!

vVv ChiboSempai - Have you begun to make your travel/flight arrangements yet? I've never flown out of the country myself but I imagine that it would take a lot of work! Do you plan to stay in the US only for Apex, or stay a little extra time to enjoy some of the surrounding areas, or perhaps stay for an extra tournament?

vVv Zero - I am planning everything related to my Visa papers first. This is something that requires time and a lot of requirements that I have to complete. My travel plans are related to my Visa papers. So at this moment, my Visa papers are the most important part to make my travel a possible one. I would love to stay in the United States of America for an extra tournament or two. Especially in the New York/New Jersey area! The chance to play with AMAZING players, like ADHD, Nairo, Dabuz and many others it's just a chance I wouldn't like to miss!
For Chile, it requires a lot of things. For example, as I'm not over 18 years old yet, I need a signed paper at a notary with both of my parents signature. I also need to sign and fill a lot of papers and tests on the embassy website. I need to be as clean as PictoChat in terms of "law" problems. I need to proove that I'm not going to stay ilegally in the United States of America, for which, I need a signed invitation from a resident of the United States of America inviting me to visit the United States of America with a CLEAR intention. In this case, compete at Apex 2012. I also need a special Visa, not a normal tourist one. As a competitor that is going to compete at Apex, I will have the "chance" of winning money, even from money matches. And for that I will have to pay taxes, which is something I can't do with a normal tourist Visa. Also, in some states of the United States, competing in a Video Game tournament is considered a "Gamble" and I can't "Gamble" with a normal tourist visa either. I need a special kind of Visa, such as a Visa that allows me to work, which allows me to pay taxes. Or, an athlete Visa, which allows me to compete without a problem. However, prooving that a 16 year old teenager is going to "work" or "compete" in the United States of America is something that I can't do without help. And that's where vVv Gaming helps comes in. Along with this, are everything related to my travel plans. Such as, travelling 450Km's to visit the Embassy in Santiago, travel costs, and language problems. My english if far from a native level, but I am trying my best everyday to keep improving it!

vVv ChiboSempai - That is quite a lot of work! I'm impressed, I really am. This shows the amount of dedication you're showing to attend this event, far more than your average smasher in the tri-state area that just has to hop into a car for a couple hours. I don't think any normal person would be making this travel like you are, and you are clearly the exception. To my understanding, you're one of the best, if not the undisputed best player in all of Chile! Why don't you talk about some of your tournament accomplishments from this year?

vVv Zero - Thank you very much for the accompliments! I am extremely dedicated for this game. This is truly something I love and care a LOT. The passion I feel for this game is very big. Well, I have won all the tournaments I have attended this year in Chile. In total, 11 Singles wins, and about 4-6 Doubles wins. I won the National Tournament without dropping from the Singles Bracket, and I won 3-0 in the Grand Finals. I won Showdown 2 dropping one game against Fabri, and one game to my best friend, Iori. I also, mastered the Diddy Kong match up, and now I can 3-2 stock consistently the second best player in Chil, Phantom who uses Diddy Kong. I have not dropped a single game in my last 3 tournaments, in singles and doubles.
One good memory I have is from Showdown 1. Where I lost to Phantom in WB2 2-1. I was extremely dissapointed after that. I rallied trough the losers bracket, beating Hb2 (best peach in Chile), Ferna (2nd best Falco in Chile), Dragon (3rd best overall player in Chile), Iori (my best friend, and the person I fear the most in a tournament! He knows EXACTLY what I'm gonna do!) and finally, I beat Phantom 6-0 in Grand Finals. This was an AMAZING experience for me. I just couldn't keep smiling after that!

vVv ChiboSempai - That is incredible! No one in the US has a record like that here. Granted we have more players, but not dropping a single game in 3 tournaments? Consistently 2 or 3 stocking the 2nd best player? No one in the US can match that sort of status, and I'm excited to see how you will perform with our best here. As I mentioned earlier, you are a Meta Knight main. Do you have any secondary characters you have prepared, perhaps even used in tournament?

vVv Zero - Thanks for that! I think there are players in the US who have reached this "status". Players like Mew2King, Ally or ADHD have won several tournaments without dropping games, or 2-3 stocking in Grand Finals. I'm a Meta Knight exclusive main in tournaments. But, I have been preparing a few characters for Apex 2012, such as Ice Climbers, Snake, Falco, Fox, Diddy Kong and even Donkey Kong. This way, I can counterpick the match ups I don't feel like I can perform really well with Meta Knight, or use them when I feel I need them. Having more options is better than not having many options!

vVv ChiboSempai - Which matchup could you possibly favor Donkey Kong in over Meta Knight??

vVv Zero - Definitely Lucas. I can't play Lucas with Meta Knight for a weird reason. I am going to have some good practice sessions with FernHadez, the best Lucas main in Chile before Apex 2012. I want to have my Meta Knight ready for any great Lucas mains, such as Mekos or PinkFresh. I'm gonna have a Donkey Kong ready in the Lucas match up just in case. I prefer to be ready for any situation than to be sorry after losing!

vVv ChiboSempai - Ah, good answer. That is definitely a matchup I can see you preferring to use Donkey Kong. What would you say is your best matchup for your Meta Knight?

vVv Zero - Definitely, Snake. The Snake match up is the match up where I am the most comfortable with, and also the match up where I have the most fun and experience! I love to play Snake in almost every single stage of the game. The better the Snake player, the more fun I have! For this, I am very excited to play Ally in a 50$ Dollar money match at Apex 2012!
It's like a dream to me. Play with the Snake who has beaten Mew2King, Anti, ADHD, and basically, everyone? It's just something I want to experience!
Ally, be ready for our Money Match! Because I am going to try my hardest to win! And I expect you to do so as well!

vVv ChiboSempai - Oooh, vVv Zero with the call out! I love it! I don't know if I would ever do so much money lying on a single set, but I certainly hope for the best.
Now despite living in Chile, I feel like your connected pretty well with the American Smash scene. You compete regularly on the All is Brawl ladder, and you have an account on Smashboards where you post at times. How would you say the Smash scene here differs from where you live?

vVv Zero - Haha, well, if you don't have the right mindset to compete with the best, then you wouldn't have chance, no? And thanks! I hope that aswell! The North American Smash scene is really different from the Smash scene of Chile. The most obvious and first difference is the language barrier. The second is the size and level of competition in the communites. The North American Smash scene is not only the biggest Smash community in the world, but also it has some of the best players in the world! I also think that a big difference is the economy.
Chile doesn't have the same reality as the United States, economically speaking. The tournaments over here are much cheaper and smaller in terms of prices and prizes. That's a big difference. For this reason I don't play Smash for money. I compete for the love and passion I have for the game! I am a very, very competitive person! I can even compete in "Who can eat the breakfast/lunch faster than the other!". That's a competition I usually compete with my mom or my friends, haha.
I also love and respect the compromise, professionalism and dedication of the persons who try to take Smash to a next level. Persons like AlphaZealot or you are a big example of this! I'm also very thankful of the persons who run websites like AllisBrawl and Smashboards. These persons are extremely dedicated to the Smash community, and they do it for FREE! Shoutouts to every moderator, super moderator, and admins in AllisBrawl and Smashboards! Also shoutouts to VideoGameBootCamp! They have done SO much to take the Smash scene to a new level, and again, for FREE! Shoutouts to everyone who runs VGBC! (GIMR, Bionic, Logic and you!). I am sorry if I forgot someone! Shoutouts to "you" as well, and thanks for taking the Smash scene to a next level!

vVv ChiboSempai - Quite an answer vVv Zero! I want to thank you for taking your time to do this interview with me, I'm sure everyone appreciates it. We all look forward to seeing you compete at Apex 2012!

vVv Zero - Thanks for having me, and thanks to everyone who reads this interview! And YES! I am so excited and hyped for Apex 2012! I just can't keep counting the days with my fingers! Shoutouts to my mom, my sister, my dad, my two dogs, my cat, my friends, and of course, the Smash scene! Also, special shoutouts to vVv Gaming for being a great sponsor and helping me to get to compete at Apex 2012! Make sure to check out the best professional gaming community in the world at: www.vVv-Gaming.com

Greeting one and all, and welcome to this season's first Doubles Night! I know how hard it is to find people to challenge in the Doubles Ladder chat sometimes, but I also know how important this ladder is, so we're going to host a few Doubles Nights this season to get things moving.

Doubles night is just a time to come to the doubles chat, play as many matches to your heart's content and earn a cool badge for doing so. This Doubles Night event will be hosted Friday, September 30, 2011, and will run from 6 PM EST – 12 AM EST. Participants at this event will have a shot at earning the double dater badge! To acquire the badge, participants will need to complete a minimum of 3 Doubles Ladder rank matches this Doubles Night, and send me (or host Miles of SmashWiki) a PM after the event if you think your team fulfilled the requirements to obtain the badge. Just have the team captain PM one of us, since it's not really necessary for both members of the team to send me the same PM.

As an added bonus hosts of the night, Miles of SmashWiki and Fandangox, will be hosting Non-Smash Trivia during Doubles Night. For those who are unfamiliar with how Non-Smash Trivia works, it is a contest for knowing certain pieces of information relating to Nintendo games.  For those who know how it works, Miles and Fandangox will be doing things a little differently at this event. Since this is a 6 hour event, we don’t want people just coming by to play three matches for the double dater badge, and calling it a night. We want everyone sticking around the whole night, playing rank matches, earning badges, and having fun; so throughout the night, Miles and Fandangox will be randomly asking Non-Smash Trivia questions. They’ll give notice before asking questions, but if you miss one, you’ll have many more chances throughout the night. All standard Non-Smash Trivia rules apply. Whoever answers first gets a point, they'll keep track of points throughout the night, etc. The top scoring individuals will receive cards, as will whoever correctly answers the difficult Challenge Question!


Now for the new ladder rules!!! Yes, in addition to last articles.

1. If your partner is banned from the site then you are unable to participate in doubles ladder. You can not substitute your partner, unless you disband. This means if your partner gets banned from the site for a month then your team can not participate in ladder for that month.
2. You cannot play against family members, or anyone in the same house, but you can play with them as a team.
3. No one person can play the same team more than once in 24 hours regardless of you switching teams.

And for this season alone, until further notice, we have decided to use Apex's stage list. It was decided since stage lists are already so close and it is the Apex ladder there is no reason not to use Apex's stage list.

Neutrals:

• Battlefield
• Final Destination
• Yoshi’s Island (Brawl)
• Smashville
• Lylat

Counter Picks:

• Castle Siege
• Delfino Plaza
• Halberd
• Pokemon Stadium 1
• Frigate Orpheon

For anyone unfamiliar with the recent changes made to the ladder please check out, "The Road to Apex: Online Edition!". As I've stated before Neal is the only one that can change the ladder rules page, and because of his busy schedule I'm unsure how soon he'll be able to change it. Until further notice (or he changes the page to match the updated rules) please refer to this article and the one linked above for the rules. Anything not addressed in the articles can be found in the FAQs or Rules. If you are unsure of anything after reading everything please feel free to ask me.

Once again please give big thanks to our sponsors vVv-Gaming, and Apex2012 for making this ladder so special! We hope to see everyone at Doubles Night, and good luck to everyone!

It's nice to see people are taking full advantage of what we offer this season (with help from our sponsors vVv-Gaming, and Apex2012) by jumping on ladder right away. Before everyone gets a little too comfortable with the current ruleset for this season I wanted to introduce some changes to this season's ruleset!

First of all, the stages! Finally the stage that everyone hates is finally getting taken off the stage list. Yes, it's that particular stage that everyone hates because of the constant movement. Of course everyone knows I'm talking about Jungle Japes, right? The constant moving river sends everyone who falls into it to their untimely deaths. Along side Jungle Japes will be Pictochat. We felt that due to the seriousness of this season it was about time we had stage list have a more traditional tournament feel. Also, we've been receiving a lot of questions regarding the change to the stage list.  Aside from being a sort of out-adted list, we decided to go ahead with the change so that our Apex Online qualifier will be more in line with the qualifiers around the country.

Now on to the general rules of ladder!

1. Use the chats provided! If you report a match we referees feel is too short you will be disqualified from the ladder and unable to participate in this season's playoffs, which means no prizes for you. 
2. If you receive more than three dishonor points this season you will be disqualified from ladder. Dishonor points are given based on the results of a dispute. There are some exceptions, but that will be on a case by case basis. By the way, referees have been informed to be more "strict" on disputes, meaning more chances of dishonor points so please be careful when reporting.
3. No substituting of any kind is allowed! Regardless of an opponent approving or not, if we find out that you had someone or something else play for you and/or your teammate you will be disqualified. 
4. This season we're going to have a minimal requirement on how many matches you/your team have to play in order to participate in the playoffs. This will prevent higher level plays from waiting until the last week and playing eight people barely making it into the playoffs. In order to participate in the singles playoffs you must play 30 matches in singles ladder this season. In order to participate in the doubles playoff your team has to play 25 matches. 

That should do it for the changes! If you are unsure of anything please feel free to ask me or one of the other referees, but please make sure you check the rules and FAQs before asking.

Good luck, and be sure to check out the next update on Apex 2012 Thursday!

P.S. Yeah, we're taking Rainbow Cruise off the stage list as well.