Recent News

The Socal regional series is hosting the grand finale to their circuit on June 23rd 2012!  This is going to be an awesome event as always but there are a few things that are bringing some extra hype for you.

With the help of the smash community we've raised funds to help both Mr. R and Vinnie make it out to the tournament.  That's right - both the European swagmonster and East Coast grabguy will be at this event.  Neither one of these players have set foot on the West Coast before and with the high skill level at this tournament I'm positive pride will be broken.

Just to give you an idea of the difficulty here is a list of players confirmed to make it out:

Mr. R
Vinnie
Tyrant
Fow
TKD
DEHF
SK92
RichBrown
Havok
Mike Haze

OBVIOUSLY STACKED.


We're having a special promotion for new players as well.  If you're new to the offline tournament scene you can save money.  If you print out the flyer posted in this article you will receive $5 off of your 1v1 entry fee.  This won't be a tournament you'll want to miss so hopefully that will serve as an extra incentive for you.

The tournament will be hosted at a Anime/card shop in Temple City, California called Desu-Nation.  They have an awesome collection of anime merch so even if you don't enter feel free to come by and check out the event/store.  The address is as followed:

Signups for both 1v1 and 2v2 begin at 11:00AM and end at 12:00 PM.  This is running on a strict schedule so do not be late, otherwise you may not be able to enter. 

We hope you make it out to the event, this will definitely be a great one.  If you have any other questions, feel free to post here or on the tournament page!  CLICK HERE TO BE LINKED TO THE PAGE

The Socal regional series is finishing up another circuit this Saturday, December 10th Temple City, California.  

This event is being sponsored by T MOBILE |Blackberry so expect a lot of awesome all around!  The venue is at an awesome anime store called Desu Nation - Check out the tournament page for pictures.   

Here are a few reasons you should get your butt off of wifi and make it out to Champion: 

1) New Player Discounts - Players new to the offline tournament scene will receive $5 off of their Singles Entry Fee!  All you have to do is print out the flyer below and bring it to the tournament. 

2) Raffles - We will be giving away over $200 in raffle prizes!  All of this stuff is free to win - we will not be selling raffle tickets!    

You will receive a raffle ticket for entering the event. 
You will receive a raffle ticket for bringing a full setup. 
You will receive a raffle ticket for entering the cosplay contest.   

Prizes for the raffles include: SD Cards, Tri Wing screw drivers, Shirts, Anime Merch, a new White Gamecube Controller, and  much more!   

3) Cosplay Contest - You heard it right!  A full on Cosplay Contest will be taking place during the event.  The winner of the  cosplay contest will receive a copy of Skyward Sword 

4) Pools and Amateur Bracket- Pools ensure you get your moneys worth by playing a minimum of five different people, which is great because nobody likes to go 0-2 in bracket.  An Amateur Bracket will be offered to those who don't make it out of pools but still want vengeance!  The top 3 players in Amateur Bracket will receive pot money :). 

5) The Players - The best in the West will be attending and hype matches will ensue.  You won't get the same feel from watching these hype matches on computer screen.  We are expecting lots of tough competition including:  

-Tyrant  
-TKD  
-DEHF  
-Fow 
-Mikehaze  
-Havok  
-Rich Brown  
-Tearbear  
-X 

On top of the singles payout being top 8, there is also a $100 pot bonus!  

As you can see there will be a lot going on all day - this isn't an event you'll want to miss out on!   For more information, be sure to check out the tournament page or email us at MikeHazeGaming@gmail.com

The Socal regional series is finishing up another circuit this Saturday, October 22nd in Orange, California. The venue is home to the famous EGP fighting game ranbats, only this time the entire venue is dedicated to only Brawl and Melee! 

We are expecting lots of tough competition including:

-Tyrant
-TKD
-DEHF
-Fow
-SK92
-Mikehaze
-Havok
-Rich Brown
-Tearbear
....and a chance some special guests up North ;)




This is a tournament you won't want to miss out on especially if you're a new player. With the flyer below new players will receive
$5 off of their entry fee!

http://i56.tinypic.com/2e4f1qo.jpg

The venue opens at 1:00 PM and the tournament starts at 2:00, so be sure to register on time and get some warm ups in. 
I really hope to see everybody there this Saturday. I know I'll be there trying to win it! 

If you can't attend, don't forget to check out the livestream for some great matches - www.twitch.tv/mikehazegaming



Check out the tournament page here:http://allisbrawl.com/ttournament.aspx?id=12401

Genesis is right around the corner! Most of the nation’s top players have already arrived in Antioch and are gearing themselves up for this weekend’s major tournament.
 
Here’s a look at some potential MUs that could take place this weekend!
 
M2K vs TKD
 
While M2K has been the undisputed champion of Brawl since day 1, it’s no secret that he sometimes struggles with obscure MUs.
 
Enter TKD.
 
TKD, the legendary Fox from Tijuana, will be making his first national appearance in recent memory. TKD has a lot of knowledge with the MK MU which could give M2K a lot of trouble. However, M2K has shown on numerous occasions that he’s not afraid to camp as hard as Brawl will allow in order to preserve the win. Will M2K be able to abuse his character, or will TKDs lasers force M2K to approach? This is a MU the entire community has all been waiting to see, and it could happen this weekend!
 
MikeHAZE vs Ally
 
Lately Ally has shown increased dominance over the entire tournament scene. However, MikeHAZE has always proven to be his kryptonite. What’s going to make this MU interesting is since the last time these two played, Ally has picked up a ton of different characters, including MK, Wario, and ICs. Ally likely will break out a secondary against Mike, since Ally’s snake has had no luck in the past. It will be interesting to see if a secondary switch pays off.
 
Seibrik vs Razer
 
Back in January, Seibrik surprised many by taking 3rd at pound V, solidly beating Razer along the way. Razer will no doubt be looking for revenge. Razer has improved a ton since Pound V, as reflected by his Whobo placing and the fact that he’s now 1st in his region. This should be a fun rematch if they face each other.
 
Trela vs ESAM
 
This would be an interesting MU if it took place, since it features two obscure characters. Trela and ESAM are both general dark horses going into any tournament they enter. Most people count them both out, even though they both put up strong performances everywhere they go. It would be refreshing to see something different like Lucario vs Pikachu take place. MU knowledge will certainly go far here.

Japan vs America
 
There are tons of interesting MUs here. Both Rain and Earth will be attending from Japan, and both are capable of causing upsets. America lacks a national level Pit player, so in a game where MU knowledge is highly valued, Earth could definitely take a lot of names. Rain could also cause some serious damage, since with the exception of So Cal there are no regions that have top level Falco experience.

---

Tune into the Genesis stream this weekend and check out your favorite players, and experience all the rare hype MUs that will be taking place!

Genesis is in just 3 weeks! (July 15th-17th). Registration ends on June 30th! That's just tomorrow! Follow this link: http://t.co/mqJQq69 and sign up today!

Genesis 1 brought some of the most hype sets in both Brawl and Melee history. Genesis 2 will be featuring all the top players from around the nation, including household names such as M2K, Ally, Tyrant, and DEHF. In addition, RAIN and EARTH will be making a special appearance all the way from Japan! Words can't describe the amount of hype and energy that will be in the building in 3 weeks. This is a must have experience for every smasher out there.

Register today! And if transportation/housing is an issue, fear not! Here are some very helpful links which will assure that everyone who wants to go to Genesis can find a way to be there.

Transportation: http://allisbrawl.com/blogpost.aspx?id=116579 , http://allisbrawl.com/blogpost.aspx?id=116277

Housing: http://allisbrawl.com/blogpost.aspx?id=114714

Also, for those wanting to get in some last minute practice before Genesis, be sure to come out to E4J: Champion ( http://allisbrawl.com/ttournament.aspx?id=12016 ) the week before on July 9th! M2K and TKD will be in attendance!

Happy New Year to all of you here on AllisBrawl. This year has been one of the biggest for AiB and Smash in general. I’ll be joined by Rich Brown and Zolga to re-cap all of this year’s happenings on AiB, the Smash Scene, and give you all another New Year’s resolution challenge to try out for 2011.

This past year on AiB has been one with a lot of changes and improvements that’s made the site much more fun and given our members a lot more to do around the site. We’ll try to improve and add on to the site even more in the future, but I’ll touch on just some of the cool new things added to the site during 2010.

A major change we all went through early this year was a new layout introduces to AiB. It was a little different at first, but I’ve definitely gotten more use to it, and really like how it displays all of the current featured content all in one place without too much looking or scrolling. We even introduced an art panel to it and might even make more additions to it next year to make it even better.

Blogs have always been a popular function of this site, and they’ve only become more popular this past year with more members blogging more frequently. The featured blogs feature was added so members could check the front page and keep up to date on important or interesting topics from blogs they might not have otherwise seen without it and I really like this addition.

With a new year comes new mods, and we’ve had a fair share of new mods this year as old mods retired as well. I even became a mod this year and it’s been an interesting year on AiB seeing how things are run behind the scenes as well as being a part of making the site better and more fun for the members, so I’m glad I’ve had a chance to do that this year.

After joining the staff I helped in introducing a cool new group for all of the Pokemon fans on this site with the creation of the AiB Pokemon League. This group allowed our members to take on Gym leaders and earn badges just like a real Pokemon League, and I’ve been having a lot of fun taking on the league as well as being a gym leader myself and taking challenges from members.

How many of us remember back in the day when trading cards were big and all of your friends were collecting cards and got you into it too. Well, AiB introduced its very own TCG this year with the launch of the AiB trading card game system. This allows members to collect and trade Smash cards with other members and gives a nostalgic feeling of the good old days at the same time.

We even had an unexpected surprise this year with the launch of a brand new Allis site when AllisCoD was announced. This is a cool new site for CoD or first person shooter fans in general, and although it’s still starting out it’s looking like a promising site that will let members compete to see who has the best CoD skills among AiB and AiCoD members.

Our members got to enjoy the release of a brand new skin for AiB this year with the introduction of the Rising Sun skin. This is a cool new skin created by Amethia who has announced the launch of two other skins he has created, the Volcanic and Acid skins, which will be launched sometime early this year, so keep an eye out for those while you enjoy the Rising Sun skin for now.

Along with all of the new features and groups we’ve added here on AiB for our members also comes a plethora of contests and challenges to keep our members entertained and having fun while visiting the site. Along with the regular contests frequently hosted this year we brought back the Halloween Pumpkin Contest this year, started up Scavenger Hunts again to challenge the knowledge of our users, introduced a new challenge in the form of the Who’s That User? Competitions, and also created the brand new Holiday Cookie competition. Look forward to participating in these contests again in 2011 along with any new contests or competitions we can think up for next year to make the site even more fun for everyone who visits it.

With all of the new happening on AiB this past year out of the way, here’s Rich Brown’s review of Smash’s influence offline and on the community during this past year:

2010 was an incredible year for Smash. The MLG Circuit,
Japan’s first time in the US, and the various new challengers to M2K’s
dominance were just a part of the highlights from the national tourney scene
this year. Here’s a quick recap of some of the nationals that took place this
year, as well as a look ahead to 2011:  

January 17th: POUND IV:
http://allisbrawl.com/event.aspx?id=7381

Results:

1: ADHD (Diddy)
2: Mew2King (Metaknight)
3: Ally (Snake/Metaknight)
4: KSizzle (Metaknight/Lucario)
5: Shadow_111 (Metaknight)
5: Judge (Metaknight)
7: Havok (Metaknight)
7: Logic (Olimar)

Summary: The new year kicked off with a national
hosted by Plank which attracted nearly the entire right side of the United
States, as well as So Cal pros DEHF and Havok. The top 8 featured 6 MKs, with
the only non MK mains/secondaries being ADHD with Diddy Kong (1st)
and Logic with Olimar (7th). Ksizzle came out of nowhere and beat
Ally, ultimately taking 4th place, while Shadow took out many top
players including NEO, Lee Martin, and Judge. ADHD ultimately won the
tournament, beating Mew2King in winners and grand finals.

Most Memorable Moment: Just about anyone who thinks
of Pound IV thinks of what happened at 8:15 in this match of DEHF vs. Chudat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNP8gI9d6X8
. Prior to the tournament, many people considered DEHF a legitimate threat to
win the tournament. He seemed poised to advance to the next round, but Chu
stayed patient and was able to force an unbelievable off stage gimp. Would DEHF
ever recover from such a heart breaking loss at a national?…..

(Fun Fact: Chu came to So Cal for a regional a couple months
later, and faced DEHF again. The same exact thing almost happened again. Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhjcTsss3CY)

Notable Upsets:

Chudat over DEHF: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNP8gI9d6X8
Ksizzle over Ally: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZCuKkdUv20


April 16-18: MLG ORLANDO: http://allisbrawl.com/event.aspx?id=8195

Results:

1: Mew2King - $2,500
2: Ally - $1,500
3: Tyrant - $1,000
4: ESAM - $700
5: DSF - $500
6: ADHD - $350
7: DEHF - $250
8: Big Lou - $200

Summary: One of the biggest happenings for Brawl this
year was getting picked up on the MLG circuit. The MLG circuit attracted just
about every top smasher from every region in the United States. MLG Orlando was
the first tournament in the series. The top 2 was somewhat predictable with
legendary smashers Mew2King and Ally taking 1st and 2nd,
as well as West Coast’s number 1 player Tyrant placing 3rd.

Final match of MLG Orlando. Mew2King vs Ally:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-19NssjjZQ

Most Memorable Moment: The most memorable moment of
this tournament is really more of a completely unexpected tournament run by two
players who were previously relatively unknown at the national level: ESAM
(pikachu) and Big Lou (Luigi). ESAM’s pikachu got sent to losers early by ADHD,
but he then charged through a losers bracket which included Fatal (New
England’s number 1 player), Big Lou (one of Georgia’s top players) and DSF (top
West Coast MK). Big Lou’s Luigi beat MikeHaze twice (best Marth in the US) and
Atomsk (one of NJ’s top players) to slide into the top 8.

Notable Upsets:


MK18 over Ksizzle
Chaz over Lain
Big Lou over MikeHAZE
Big Lou over Atomsk
 

June 4th-6th: MLG COLUMBUS:
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=276868

Results:

1: Mew2King (MW) - Meta Knight - $2,500
2: Ally (CAN)- Snake - $1,500
3: NickRiddle (SE)- Zero Suit Samus - $1,000
4: LeeMartin (SW)- Meta Knight/Lucario - $700
5: -Dojo- (SW) -Meta Knight - $500
6: Gnes (SW)- Diddy Kong - $350
7: Tearbear (WC)- Meta Knight - $250
8: ESAM (SE)- Pikachu - $200

Summary: MLG Columbus was the second stop on the
circuit. Mew2King and Ally once again took the top spots, reinforcing the fact
that they are leagues above the rest of the community. Nick Riddle, however,
did take an impressive 2-0 win against Ally in winners semis, after which he
announced at the end of this
video that he is “kinda the best in the world.” Lee Martin had an
impressive 4th place finish after a series of large tournaments
where he was unable to quite break into the top 8. TX’s top 2 players Dojo and
Gnes took 5th and 6th respectively, while Tearbear
(ranked Metaknight from So Cal) surprised a lot of people with his 7th
place finish. ESAM proved his Orlando placing wasn’t a fluke by once again
placing into the top 8.

Most Memorable Moment: The Most Memorable Moment from
this tournament actually came from a match very early in losers bracket
MikeHAZE vs Ook: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbnTVF_CgEA
. Ook counterpicked Green Greens in game 3, so MikeHAZE switched to DDD to
counter Ook’s DK. The rest is history.

Notable Upsets:

Nick Riddle over Ally: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqhgI5X_0uc
Ook over MikeHAZE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbnTVF_CgEA
Arty over Dojo
San over Rich Brown

 
Aug 6th: APEX 2010: http://allisbrawl.com/event.aspx?id=9378

Results:

1st - DEHF (Falco)
2nd - Brood (Olimar)
3rd - Mew2King (Meta Knight)
4th - Lee Martin (Lucario/MK)
5th - Ally (Snake)
6th - Lain (Ice Climbers)
7th - Atomsk (Ice Climbers/D3/Wario)
8th - Rain (Falco/MK)  

Summary: This was the most incredible tournament of
2010. Hosted by Alex Strife, this tournament brought Japan’s top players,
including Rain (Falco) and Brood (Olimar), to the United States for the first
time. There were so many incredible matches, including Rain vs Lee Martin going
last hit (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvmAwdKNfHg)
and DEHF beating Mew2King for the first time (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rh3laUIhoQ).
DEHF had a death bracket which included Gnes, Sweetpea (top Japanese diddy),
Atomsk, Mew2King, and Brood, but he tore through every one of them like a pro,
ultimately becoming the champion this incredible national event.

Most Memorable Moment: While DEHF was the champion
over everyone, the most memorable moment unquestionably was Mew2King vs Brood,
game 5 of losers finals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JWp_S_ZeiE.
The live stream swelled to about 3,000 viewers during this set. Prior to this
tournament, Japan hyped Rain as their best player, while Brood flew under the
radar. Brood went from getting 3 stocked game 1 to adapting and ultimately
securing a completely unexpected losers finals victory over the nation’s top
player.

Notable Upsets:

Brood over M2K: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JWp_S_ZeiE
Brood over Ally: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR_WN0JLM3w
DEHF over M2K: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rh3laUIhoQ
San over Gnes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfUnLOF-iDg



August 27th-29th: MLG RALEIGH:
http://allisbrawl.com/event.aspx?id=9255

Results:  

1: Mew2King (MW)- Meta Knight - $2,500
2: LeeMartin (S) - Toon Link/Meta Knight/Lucario - $1,500
3: Felix (WC) - Diddy Kong - $1,000
4: Seibrik (S)- Meta Knight - $700
5: NickRiddle (S) - Zero Suit Samus - $500
6: TyRaNt (WC)- Meta Knight - $350
7: DEHF (WC) - Falco - $250
8: Havok (WC)- Meta Knight/Marth - $200

Summary: While Mew2King continued his unprecedented
dominance over the competitive scene, the rest of the results at MLG Raleigh
were nuts. There was also plenty of controversy to go around. One of the
stories which grabbed headlines was the pause DQs which took place during
Cheese vs Nick Riddle and Cheese vs Will. Both Nick Riddle and Will were forced
to forfeit games due to inadvertently pausing. Ally, Atomsk, ADHD, and
NinjaLink were all DQed from winners due to being late for their match, which
made for some interesting results. On the positive side: Havok, a top player
from the West Coast, finally broke into the top 8 after receiving extremely
difficult brackets at the first two MLG events. Havok surprised everyone by
knocking out Ally very early on in the loser’s bracket, causing Ally to place 17th.
Felix, one of the top players from the Pac NW, also came out of nowhere and
took names including MikeHAZE, ESAM, Tyrant, and Seibrik.

Most Memorable Moment: Lee Martin had an amazing
weekend at MLG Raleigh, building upon his impressive showing at MLG Columbus by
taking out a myriad of top players including Sean (top Nor Cal player), Zex (1st
in Nor Cal), Big Lou, Tyrant, Seibrik, and Felix, only losing to Mew2King.
However, the best moment probably came in Grand Finals, where Lee Martin
decided to display his knowledge of characters and pick Toon Link. His TL
caught Mew2King off guard and brutally destroyed him, drawing quite a laugh and
much appreciation from the crowd.

Notable Upsets:
Cheese over Nick Riddle
Havok over Ally
Felix over Tyrant

 
Oct 14th-16th: MLG D.C.:
http://allisbrawl.com/event.aspx?id=9568

Results:

1: The_ADHD (EC) - Diddy - $2,500
2: RichBrown (WC) - Olimar - $1,500
3: Mew2King (MW) - Meta Knight - $1,000
4: ESAM (SE) - Pikachu - $700
5: FatalMatt (EC) - Snake - $500
6: MikeHaze (WC) - Marth - $350
7: HavokZ (WC) - Meta Knight/Marth/Snake - $250
8: AllyOrNotAlly (CAN) - Snake - $200

Summary: MLG D.C. found a way to top the insane
results of the previous MLG events. The top 8 featured some fresh faces with
ADHD, Rich Brown, Fatal, and MikeHAZE all placing into the top 8 for the first
time. MikeHAZE beat Anti (one of the best Metaknight mains in the nation) and
also beat Ally early in the bracket, continuing his dominance over Ally which
dates back to Evo 2009. Fatal beat Tyrant to get revenge from their set at MLG
Raleigh. ESAM was knocked into losers early by Havok (who got another
impressive top 8 finish) but then tore through the most horrific losers bracket
ever seen, beating Nick Riddle, Lee Martin, Tyrant, Ally, and MikeHAZE (and
nearly beat Mew2King) to finish 4th.

Most Memorable Moment: Rich Brown and ADHD both stole
the show and made history by becoming the first players ever to hand Mew2King a
loss at an MLG Brawl event. ADHD and Rich Brown probably had the most
impressive runs of all throughout the tournament, with ADHD beating Lee Martin,
Havok, MikeHaze, and Rich Brown, while Rich Brown beat Tearbear, Mew2King,
Atomsk, Fatal, and ADHD in winners bracket.

M2K vs Rich Brown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrj1ZgtHWjY
M2K vs ADHD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEPflcblTW4

Notable Upsets:

Rich Brown over M2K: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrj1ZgtHWjY
MikeHAZE over Anti: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkKJDA0yn_E
JuneBug over DEHF: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tajb7PCu_yk
SlikVik over NickRiddle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMadHu9N7Xk


Nov 4th-6th: MLG Dallas:
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=290675

Results:

1st (9) Gnes -Diddy Kong - $12,500
2nd (3) TyRaNt - Meta Knight - $7,500
3rd (2) ESAM - Pikachu - $5,000
4th (1) Ally - Snake - $3,500
5th (11) Espy - Sonic - $2,500
6th (12) _X_ - Sonic - $1,750
7th (4) LeeMartin - Meta Knight/Lucario - $1,250
8th (7) Atomsk92 - King Dedede/Ice Climbers/Meta Knight$1,000

Summary: Prior to this event, there was some serious
controversy involving Mew2King and ADHD. Apparently both players agreed to a
split of some sort, which was highly frowned upon by MLG, causing both players
to be banned from MLG Dallas. With the only two MLG winners both banned from
the final event, everyone knew the results would be interesting. Gnes, who had
been quietly destroying his local scene since getting 6th at MLG
Columbus, beasted through the entire tournament, only losing one game (ESAM,
who yet again got an impressive placing) the entire tournament. Tyrant also had
a very impressive run, returning to the top by beating DEHF, X, Ally, and ESAM
after losing to Espy early in losers. Ally also earned a solid placing, beating
Lee Martin and Espy to secure 4th place. Atomsk also finally placed
into the top 8 after placing just outside top 8 at every single MLG event.

Most Memorable Moment: No one prepared for was the
complete rampage Espy and X went on at MLG Dallas. Both Sonic mains tore
through some intense brackets to shock the entire smash world by taking 5th
and 6th. Espy’s victories included DEHF, Rich Brown, and Tyrant,
while X’s victories included Seibrik, Dojo and Lee Martin.

Notable Upsets:

Espy over Rich Brown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi-0zqdgsvw
Espy over Tyrant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUF24QlRXMk
Espy over DEHF: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm7n907FSV0
X over Dojo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rw4ark-xXM
X over Lee Martin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPjnvBycXn0


What 2011 has in store for smash
 
Feb 19th-21st: POUND V:
http://allisbrawl.com/ttournament.aspx?id=10906

Location: Arlington, VA

Plank is bringing his legendary smash series back for
another round! Plank is doing some pretty amazing things for this tournament,
and many top pros from around the nation will be in attendance? And if you’re
worried about being eliminated too early because so many pros will be there,
there is also an amateur buy-in tournament for people who got eliminated from
pools, so everyone has a shot to go home happy!

March 18th-20th: WHOBO 3:
http://allisbrawl.com/ttournament.aspx?id=10692

Location: Houston, TX
 
Xyro’s largely successful World Hobo tournament! Many top
pros who don’t travel much, including Gnes, Dojo, Razer, and Espy will all be
in attendance. They will all no doubt be ready to defend their home turf!

July 11th-13th: Genesis 2:
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=284863

Location: Antioch, CA
 
In summer 2009, DBR brought us one of the most epic smash
brothers tournaments in history, and this summer they plan to make it even
better! If you only go to one tournament all summer, make it this one. Just do
it, this is a can’t-miss-absolutely-must-attend-tournament. Take my word for
it.


There you have it smashers! We had an amazing year, and we
have plenty more to look forward to in 2011. Support your local scene, practice
up, and come out to these big events!

Now that you’ve caught up with everything on AiB and in the Smash Scene that’s happened in 2010 we would like to leave you all with another Zolga’s New Year’s Challenge for this year to give you something to strive for in 2011:

"It's that time of year again! The New Year is upon us and it's a good time to make some changes.

This year I propose that everyone makes an effort to get involved in their area's offline scene. There are a vast amount of users on AiB that haven't really tried to do this. How often have you passed up a tournament just because you didn't feel like it or didn't want to travel a little bit to get there? There are some out there that legitimately can't but that can't be true for every WiFi player and casual player out there. I am also guilty of not really trying that hard (which I hope to rectify in the coming year).

As you can see by Rich's review of Smash over the past year there were a ton of great moments in the community this year. You can be a part of the new ones too!
No one is forcing you to become more involved but honestly, what have you got to lose?

2011 is looking to be a good year with a lot of great upcoming events. Do your best to get out there!"

The Championship bracket at MLG Dallas features some of the most revered names in smash. Here is a quick preview of all the likely second round pro bracket matchups!
 
(Disclaimer: So far at these MLGs, NOTHING has gone according to plan, and with names such as Gnes, Dojo, and TKD all in attendance, you can pretty much count on upsets occurring. The following matchups are simply based on seeding points, and the assumption that the higher seed will advance to the second round of bracket.

1. Ally vs Fatal
Ever since Brawl’s release, Ally has been universally regarded as the best snake. Ally has been fairly consistent in the MLG circuit, placing 2nd twice, 8th once, and 17th another time. Recently, however, such a title has been put into question due to the recent success of Fatal. Fatal recently 2-0ed M2K at MGC in Vegas, and is looking to ride the momentum of his MGC performance, as well as his MLG DC performance (where he placed 5th out of 174, taking out names such as NinjaLink, Tyrant, and MikeHAZE). While dittos don’t mean everything, a win from Fatal would be quite a statement.

2. ESAM vs Atomsk
The MLG circuit has given ESAM, a relatively unknown pikachu prior to MLG Orlando, a chance to prove that he’s one of the best players in the nation. ESAM has consistently placed very high at every event, taking out names such as Ally, Tyrant, and Lee Martin along the way. ESAM has tons of tricky setups that he utilizes to trap his opponents into bad situations, which has helped him get as far as he has. Atomsk, on the other hand, has a variety of characters he knows how to play at a top level, including MK, ICs, and DDD. Atomsk has come very close to top 8 at every single MLG event, but hasn’t quite broken through. Will this be the time Atomsk finally gets a big win and launches himself into top 8, or will ESAM continue his dominant streak through MLG?

3. Lee Martin vs Nick Riddle
Lee Martin and Nick Riddle are both looking to bounce back strong after very sub par performances at MLG DC. Lee Martin’s MK is very unique. He opts for random opportunities to hit his opponents, and lands attacks in situations which you wouldn’t expect him to attack. Nick Riddle has a very similar style, and has developed an excellent pressure game with ZSS. This MU will simply come down to who’s spacing is better, and if ZSS can do a reasonable job recovering against MK without taking too much damage.

4. Tyrant vs Rich Brown
The last time these two players fought was at MLG Raleigh. Rich Brown was on the verge of winning the set, but Tyrant landed a clutch shuttleloop and took game 3. Rich Brown, fresh off beating M2K at MLG DC, is hoping to get revenge in Dallas. Tyrant will rely on a variety of clever setups to deal major damage to Rich Brown’s Olimar while he’s trying to recover, as well as try to land the gimps. This MU really just depends on mistakes and how good both players are with punishes. In the Olimar-MK MU, both characters can severely punish mistakes, so whoever is more alert that day will likely take the set. 

There you have it! Be sure to follow all the MLG twitters and updates, and be on the lookout for videos shortly after the event, as well as any bootleg streams which might be created!

MLG Dallas (http://allisbrawl.com/ttournament.aspx?id=10702) is going to be one of the biggest events in Smash history. Players from all over the nation, including M2K, Ally, ESAM, Tyrant, Lee Martin, and many, many more are all competing for a first place prize of $12,500. X factor players such as TeeKayDee and Gnes, coming in unranked, are also looking to stir things up. Buy your pass now at https://secure.mlgpro.com/store/product.php?pid=142 .
 
In order for smash to have a chance at being picked up again for the 2011 Pro Circuit, the event must sell out completely. If this event does not sell out, there is a good chance Smash will be dropped. Buy your pass immediately and help support the community!
 
MLG competitions are truly a once in a life time experience. Even outside the competition, you get to meet and play against the nation’s top players, and get all kinds of free stuff, including Dr. Pepper, Doritos, Hot Pockets, and my personal favorite: hand massages!
 
MLG Dallas is an event you absolutely have to be at. Buy your pass now and come experience the hype!
 
If you want a small taste of what MLG DC was like, here is Keitaro's MLG DC experience:
 
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV-4GvloBI4
 
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFZUWzm3tnQ

MLG: Columbus is coming up this week! To kick off MLG week, we sat down with DEHF, the nation's top Falco, and got some of his thoughts regarding the upcoming national event.


Rich: The first question is a simple one: Why Falco?


DEHF: He was my Melee character to start with, plus I tried other characters and Falco just seemed to click with me.


Rich: You’re widely considered one of the top 10 players in the nation. This also puts a target on your back and gives everyone extra incentive to beat you. How do you handle the pressure of being such a high level player?


DEHF: You get used to it. Eventually, the pressure becomes a driving factor into what makes you play better.


Rich: How do you feel about your performance at MLG: Orlando?


DEHF: I feel I could've placed higher; hopefully I do so in Columbus.


Rich: Tell me a little about your Orlando experience. What stood out in your mind from the trip?


DEHF: I think that was one of the most fun trips I had going to a tournament.


Rich: What made the tournament fun for you?


DEHF: Hanging out with smashers like Dekar, Arturito Burrito, HRNut, GDX, and everyone else staying there.


Rich: What’s your mindset going into MLG: Columbus? What goals do you have in mind?


DEHF: My mindset is to play like it were any other tournament. My only goal for the tournament is to win.


Rich: For a lot of players, this will be their first MLG event. What advice do you have for the first time players?


DEHF: Don't take it too seriously; going to an MLG for the first time can be very overwhelming and can make you nervous. As long as you remember that it's just like any other tournament you should be fine.


Rich: Is there anyone in particular you’re looking forward to playing?
 
DEHF: I'd like to play Ally again, I really enjoy playing against him.


Rich: What do you think the top 8 will look like? Do you feel any upsets happening, much like how Chaz, Esam, and Biglou came out of nowhere to take very high placings?



DEHF: I think that an Olimar player named Rich Brown and Shugo will do well.
 
Rich: Last question: Falco’s jab is stupid.


DEHF: That's not a question.


Rich: I know, it's a FACT. Hehe. Thanks for your time DEHF, and good luck at Columbus!
 
DEHF: No problem, see you at Columbus!


Get the latest MLG updates on AllieD's twitter. AllieD will be constantly giving bracket updates throughout MLG weekend!

mikeHAZE: After writing up the last Tournament Analysis article, I quickly realized that I couldn't do this alone, so I had to bring someone with me!  Please welcome our East Coast Representative, AlliieD.
 
 
AlliieeD: Hey, what's up all?  This is Allied from New York and  I'll be reporting to you about the hottest tournaments this side of the US.
 
We're a little late this week, please forgive us; we'll be back to a normal schedule on the next article.
 
This past weekend, East Coast Brawl attended Super DSO 2, a tournament being run by ChiboSempai who is a well known host as well as a great player in the Smash community.  
 
The tournament ran Singles and Doubles for both Brawl and Brawl+.
 
Brawl Singles:
 
1: Atomsk
2: Squall
3: Ninjalink
4: Inui
5: Malcolm
5: ChiboSempai
7: MintyFlesh
7: Izumi
 
Brawl Singles had some pretty interesting results.  Atomsk placed first, which is nothing out of the ordinary, but the battle to first place is something to be talked about.
 
As you see, Squall got second place.  If you're unfamiliar with Squall then let me enlighten you.
 
Squall is considered PA's best player (I don't know if it's official yet).  Last weekend was disappointing for him: he placed 17th at Asylum, losing to Deltacod, who is New Jersey's best Yoshi. Squall was kinda depressed at DSO, questioning even entering the tournament, but with some support from Vex Kesrani and I he decided to enter. 
 
Squall had an INSANELY tough bracket.  He showed us that he's a force to reckoned with. In winners bracket, he took out players like Nasty, Will - who is considered the best Donkey Kong, Ninjalink, Inui, and then finally in Winners' Finals he took out Atomsk.
 
Stacked bracket if you ask me.  
 
In the losers' bracket, Atomsk took out Ninjalink for second place.  Ninjalink, who got 3rd, had an impressing killing spree in losers' bracket after being knocked out by Squall early on in the tournament.  In losers' he defeated Xzax, Mintyflesh, Inui, and Malcolm before losing to Atomsk. 
 
Ninjalink definitely showed off his amazing Diddy Kong once again in the tournament, as well as his surprise guest: Pikachu.
 
Surprising results, and a very fun tournament. As far as tournament hosting, let's give shout outs to Chibo! He did a very good job. And special shout outs to Alex Strife for making a guest hosting appearance. 
  
  
  
mikeHAZE: Yo guys, this is mikeHAZE and I'll be bringing you the scoop on what happened on West Coast's regional tournament this past weekend - TourneyPlay #5.
 
This was the fifth tournament being run by GCguy (Chris), owner of Gameclucks - a gamestore residing in Washington.  GCguy has been known for hosting some well run, well hyped tournaments, so it was good to see him out in Southern California running a regional outside of his comfort zone.
 
The two day tournament saw a plethora of different games: Brawl, Melee, Halo 3, Super Street Fighter 4, Call of Duty: MW2, and TVC.
 
Brawl had 79 entrants for singles, which included players from all over the West Coast, as well as a special Midwest guest - Mew2King.
 
Singles Results:
 
1: Mew2King
2: Tyrant
3: mikeHAZE
4: DSF
5: Darklink
5: DEHF
7: Rich Brown
7: Warpstatus
 
The first question you may ask yourself: Who is Darklink?  Well first, he doesn't main Link.  Darklink is a Meta Knight player, who is also considered the best player in Arizona.  In the winners' bracket, he defeated Tyrant, Erow, and was then sent to losers' bracket by mikeHAZE in Winners' Semifinals.
 
Warpstatus and Rich Brown did really well as you can see.  They actually played each other first match of Pro Bracket, with Rich Brown taking the win in a close 2-1 set.  Rich also took out Zex before being sent to losers bracket by Mew2King.
 
Warpstatus had a good run considering his loss vs. Rich in the first bracket match.  In losers bracket he took out Brent, Tearbear, FOW, and CPU before losing an intense, last match set vs. DEHF.
 
DEHF took a early loss in the winners' bracket after losing to mikeHAZE 2-1, and was later taken out by DSF when they met in losers'.
 
In winners' finals, mikeHAZE played Mew2King.  Unfortunately (yes, I'm biased) Mike lost to Mew2King 3-1. 
 
In the losers' bracket Mike faced Tyrant, who made quite a comeback in losers' bracket despite his early defeat.  After his loss vs. Darklink, he defeated: Typh, Oki, Fiction, Rich Brown, Darklink, DSF (who forfeited), then finally faced and defeated mikeHAZE in Losers' Finals 3-1.  Tyrant met Mew2King in grand finals where he lost 3-0.
 
Mew2King dominates once again.  With MLG coming up pretty soon everyone is wondering if he will be able to stay static with his wins.

TourneyPlay5, the biggest West Coast Smash event so far this year, is this Saturday. I took a moment to sit down with GameClucks, the host for this event, and ask him a few questions about what to expect this weekend.




Rich Brown: What inspired you to become a TO (Tournament Organizer) for Brawl?

GameClucks: It started when I bought GameClucks back in Jan of 2006, so pre-Brawl. In February 2006, Silent Wolf and Tori (now known as DJ Combo) called me up and asked if I wanted to do Melee tournaments. We worked on it and I have run Smash events every month since then. So when Brawl came out, it was a natural transition to run events for it as well.

Rich Brown: Everyone has to start somewhere. How did you get these GameClucks/TourneyPlay events from a phone call from Silent Wolf/Tori all the way to a national level event?

GameClucks: For whatever reason, running tournaments happened to be something I was sort of a natural at I guess, at least that is what I was told by Counter Strike players, Halo players, Smash players... within a couple of months of buying GameClucks, I already had a repuation in WA of being a quality TO.  So I started to grow the GC scene and held the GameClucks National in Sept 2008. Shortly after that the original creator of TourneyPlay gave me the company name and I decided to start running events for the West Coast using the TourneyPlay name. This event in May will be my first out-of-state TP, so it has taken a couple years of planning to get it done, but after TP5, it’s going to explode I think.

Rich Brown: The previous 4 installments of TourneyPlay have all been held in WA. What made you decide to bring the event to So Cal?


GameClucks: I have wanted to "test" myself by doing something outside of GameClucks; the GCN did that as it was in a hotel, and a couple of Sakura-Con events helped with this process also, but they were all still in the same area. Since I want to be a West Coast e-sports provider, I have to get to places other than Seattle. GCN and Sakura-Con let me know I can do this outside of GameClucks, now I need to do this in a different state. It’s part of the evolution I think of becoming a force for gaming on the West Coast. So why SoCal? Because of the huge base of gamers. It’s the natural first place to go I think.

Rich Brown: Let's talk about the venue. How big is it, and how many setups and attendees do you expect to have for Brawl?

GameClucks: The Learning Center in Irvine has two rooms. One is about 2400 sq. ft., the other is about 1400 sq. ft.. We will use the 2400 sq. ft. one for Smash, TvC and SSF4. We will use the 1400 sq ft one for Halo3 and MW2 (and maybe SSF4 there depending on layout). As for setups, we are still getting a count on that, I am really looking to Champ from 2GG for a lot of help on that, and the SoCal regulars as well. My partner in this, Arthur from WestCoastLANs has the Halo and MW2 setups on lockdown, I think we have about 20-25 Xboxs and TVs for that. For SSF4 and TvC those communities are bringing a couple of sets ups as well.  I would like to have 20+ Brawl and Melee set ups for the tournaments. (Note from Rich Brown: PLEASE BRING SETUPS!)

Rich Brown: What are your keys to running an efficient tournament?

GameClucks: Organization; well, my version of organization anyway. While I am a pretty organized person, I also count on a lot of quick, on-my-feet decision-making as well. I leave a lot of things to be decided or executed until last minute, but in my head I know how they should go.  I have done a blog series about some of my thinking on how I go about running events, the GC Guy Theories of Tournament Organization (Note from Rich Brown: http://allisbrawl.com/blogpost.aspx?id=57188). I think I have written about 5 or 6 blogs about it so far and there is still a lot left to put down.  The KEY for me, is believing in me and knowing I will make the right decision when I have too. My years of business background and, believe it or not, college education have helped me a lot with this.

Rich Brown: Apart from the Brawl tournament, what else is there to do at TP5?

GameClucks: We have a couple of sponsors lined up that plan to attend the event and hang out, talk, and do whatever else sponsors do. So I am hoping we have some activities related to them going on. I am working on that aspect tomorrow and Monday. Other games we have, a LOT. Melee 1v1 and 2v2, Halo3 4v4 and an FFA, MW2 4v4 and an FFA, TvC 1v1 (and unofficially a 2v2 also I think) and Super Street Fighter 4. A LOT. It is going to be a busy weekend.

Rich Brown: There will most likely be a lot of players coming to this event who have never been to an in-person tournament before. What advice do you have for these first-time players? How should they go about maximizing their tournament experience?

GameClucks: If you are a first-timer (actually everyone, even veterans should do this), find the players that are at the top of the game you are coming for and try to talk to them. Watch them play also. Check out all of the games as well. Even if you are not at all interested in, say, Halo 3, watch a couple games. Just because the game is not your game does not mean there is not something to learn from it. Talk to pros from all the games. They all have valuable apsects to them. For truly first-timers, I think the biggest thing is understand that regardless of how good you really are at the game you are playing, an in-person event is a completely different world then online or playing your friends. So while you need to play your best, do not get discouraged if you lose. Its part of the process and it’s important that you view your performance at this event as a stepping stone.

Rich Brown: Almost all of the West Coast’s top players will be at this tournament. Who do you think will place top 8 in singles?

GameClucks: I am not really into predictions. I have seen some crazy things in five years of running events. With M2K coming, we can count on a top 2 or 3 placing for him. Tyrant, mikeHAZE, Havok, DSF - cannot count any of them out either. I think everyone has seen that Felix from Washington is REALLY GOOD, so do not be suprised if he takes a top spot. Jem from Washington - I think this is his time also, I think he will suprise some people. FOW is solid also. So many great players, I am sure I will make someone mad by not mentioning them, but there is a handful of people that could be top 8 anyway.

Rich Brown: And finally, which region has the best looking smashers?

GameClucks: Hmm.. Really? WOW. Washington.

Rich Brown: Hahaha. Thanks for your time GC Guy, looking forward to a fantastic event!

GameClucks: Thank you, and I can not wait to get down there and do this!! ALSO Turtle Racing for the Over 21 crowd at Brennans in venice Beach area on Thursday! It’s a good time!

After a long wait, So Cal has released its latest Power Rankings update! Here’s the list below:



 



Points of interest:


-These rankings have four MKs, along with one Falco, Marth, Olimar, Lucario, Fox, and Wario. Havok has stated he is going to use Snake until MLG: Columbus. TKD also uses MK from time to time. Overall, a very diverse list of characters.



-Tyrant reclaims the number one spot, pushing DEHF back to number two. It’s always a tossup between these two players, as they’ve never consistently beaten each other.



-The highest jump was made by TearBear, who went from the 8 spot all the way to 4.



-The biggest drop was made by Havok, who went from the 4 spot down to 6.



-Stauffy is the first ranked Lucario in So Cal since BoA back in late 2008. This is his first time on the So Cal PR. Congrats Stauffy!



-TKD and Fiction have both been ranked before, but were taken off the list due to inactivity. With some recent strong performances, however, they both found their way back on. TKD was actually ranked with his MK previously, and is now ranked with his Fox.



There you go! The next update will be roughly around mid-late summer.



If you live in So Cal and want to get ranked, start attending in person tournaments! The first tournament that will be considered towards rankings this period is TourneyPlay5 (http://allisbrawl.com/ttournament.aspx?id=8595). Every one of these pros will be in attendance, so come on down and get a chance to play these top ranked players!

Join the Official So Cal PR group page! http://allisbrawl.com/group.aspx?id=10313

The excitement is brewing over Tourneyplay 5. The normally Washington-based tournament, hosted by GameClucks is making a special appearance in Southern California. We sat down with Jem, one of Washington’s top players, and got his thoughts on this upcoming regional tournament.




Rich Brown: You are regarded as the top MK in WA, and one of the top 2 or 3 players in the state. What is it about your playstyle that sets you apart from all other WA players?


Jem: I play a lot more aggressively than most of them are used to, I would guess. I've been near the top of my region since 2008, and you don't just luck your way into this position. I have a natural talent, but I'm trying to get even better by practicing with Felix and Nerd a lot.

Rich Brown: How often to you practice? Who else in WA do you play with?

Jem: I try to play everyday. The closest person lives about 20 minutes from me, so if I'm not playing with someone, I pretty much pull the Mew2King and just play vs. computers and theorize what a human would do if I do something. I play mostly with Felix and Nerd, but also Eggz and TooBusyToCare and Sagemoon.

Rich Brown: TourneyPlay5 is coming up. This will be your first time coming to SoCal for Smash. Who are you most looking forward to playing against, and who do you think are your biggest threats in singles and doubles?

Jem: I went to SoCal for Super Champ Combo too for Melee ;). Im looking forward to playing with DSF since I've played him in about 7 Brawl sets. Tyrant, Havok, just everyone down there. You too. I would say Tyrant, Havok, and Mew2King. I want to play DSF. For doubles, M2K + Fiction. I'm fairly confident in Sean and myself's ability to place at TP5 doubles. Larry also, obviously.

Rich Brown: Ah, yes, you and I have unfinished business ;)

Jem: Very much so!

Rich Brown: Since this is a WC regional, there’s going to be a lot of regional pride to go around. How do you think the crowd and the pressure of such a massive tournament will influence the matches?

Jem: I think after MLG Orlando, all those guys will be used to it. I've played with some of the best in Brawl and *cough* Halo, so the crowd doesn't bug me. I do want to rep Washington though. Chip has done it, Felix has done it, I need to step up now, I expect myself to finally shine at a big regional scale event.

Rich Brown: How do you personally handle the pressure of a crowd and a big tournament? What advice would you give to someone attending a big tournament for the first time?

Jem: Just remember why you're there and playing. And if people are rooting against you, that typically means youre a threat. I take it as a bit of a compliment. You need to be calm. I would say, just try to play and have fun when its your first tournament. Don't set your standards too high, but come in aiming to do some damage. If you're friendly with everyone, it'll make your experience all the more better.

Rich Brown: Some other WA players, including Felix and Nerd, are also coming down for the event. How do you predict WA as a whole will hold up against SoCal, NorCal, and Vegas?

Jem: Felix just showed he can keep up with elite Meta Knights. He beat Seibrik in tournament, and I heard he 3-0'd Atomsk in a MK vs Diddy money match down in Orlando. Nerd is always a good player getting better. I think WA will get a top spot in doubles, and Felix, Nerd, or myself (or maybe a combination) will place top 7, even with SoCal and M2K in attendance. i think we're highly underrated, mainly because of my lack of travelling and results.

Rich Brown: What potential singles and doubles matches are you most looking forward to seeing?

Jem: Felix vs. any SoCal Meta Knight, Nerd vs. any SoCal Meta Knight, Felix vs. Larry, me vs. any SoCal Meta Knight and ranked player. Felix and Nerd vs. M2K and Fiction. Sean and I vs. M2K and Fiction. There's a lot I'm looking forward to :)

Rich Brown: Lastly, apart from Smash, what else do you plan on doing while you're in SoCal?

Jem: Hanging out with everyone. I haven't seen SoCal (exempting Havok and DSF) since Genesis. I want to meet new people and just have a blast with everyone. Shoutouts to Gunnar Optiks, Gameclucks, Felix, Nerd, umm, everyone whose supported me, Rich Brown, MLG, and Brawl players everywhere! :)

Rich Brown: Very cool. Thanks for your time, and good luck at TP5!

Jem: Thanks, you too, cant wait to see you all again!