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Looking like it will be the third largest Smash 4 tournament ever to take place in Japan, the Sumabato NicoNico Qualifiers are sure to showcase some of the finest Smash the country has to offer! The top 3 players from this event automatically qualify for the Nintendo-sponsored niconico Championship in January of 2016 and those who placed top 3 in the Umebura Qualifiers cannot compete in either so we'll get to see some new names in grand finals!

Beefy Smash Doods are well known for their in depth study of Smash 4 mechanics and making videos to explain them. They proved it can be impossible to tech, have found the best way to mash buttons, explained how to live longer, and more. This time they sat down to explain Stale-Move Negation and how it works so players can keep their kill moves fresh. Watch and learn!

KOF GCC Dubai is looking to be one of the greatest fighting game tournaments ever to take place in the Middle East and alongside games like Ultra Street Fighter IV, King Of Fighters XII, and Guilty Gear Xrd SIGN Smash for Wii U has earned the honor of being at the event! While the ruleset for the event if fairly regular by North American standards, Miis will be available under a special ruleset. "Mii Fighters are legal, with their full move sets available as per the Evolution 2015 move list. All Miis are to be set to default size only." With such an amazing event some of the best in the Middle East will be there to compete, so let's meet the big threats!

Nakat may be known these days for his strong play of Smash 4, but once he was one of the greatest names in Brawl. He was ranked number one on the Tristate Brawl power rankings and could command the Ice Climbers as well as Fox with precision. Needless to say, Nakat and Brawl have a serious history together. Recently, Nakat made a video on why he loves Brawl talking about some of the best parts of the game as well as his time playing it. Give it a watch!

Do we use two stocks or three stocks in Smash 4? This is one of the biggest current debates within the Smash 4 community. Whether we look at the history of Smash and stock counts or look for current data there are many factors to consider before a final decision is made. Once again Omni has made a vlog to lend his signature voice and ideas to this issue explaining the "triforce" of groups in ruleset creation and more. Give it a watch!

In a brand new Famitsu Column, translated by Source Gaming, Sakurai discusses his selection of Cloud, Corrin and Bayonetta for the final DLC on Smash for Wii U/ 3DS.

He begins with Cloud,

Having a representative from Final Fantasy is an amazing feat! And the character that was the overwhelming favorite among the cast of Final Fantasy was Cloud. Wielding his massive Buster Sword with ease in one hand, he has speed, reach, and power. If left unadjusted, he’d definitely be overpowered. After thinking about how I would approach this character, I decided his swordsmanship style would utilize the concept of “swinging through,” which is exemplified in his forward smash. This move has Cloud build up some power before swing three times at high speed. It maintains his speed and reach, but is balanced by having a window of vulnerability...

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Ever wanted to play Melee but have it be a bit more silly? Then today a small dream can come true! The first official build for Silly Melee has been released today. Made by Alpharad and MagicScrumpy with assistance from Casey O'Rourke it is self described on its official website as "Very, very silly. Characters do things that they never should have been able to do." Want to see some of what it can do? Check out the official release trailer!

Brawl Minus 4.0b was released a while back and the team behind the game has been releasing videos to help introduce new players to the cast. For those who don't know what Brawl Minus is the team has put out a video to explain just that. In the simplest terms Brawl Minus instead of balancing within reason makes every character so powerful and broken they become balanced.

Top 5 Smash Shorts with Cloud only? Yes, please. This week's Weekly Top 5 Smash Shorts series shows off what you guys have found to be the best Cloud plays in only a week since his release.. Make sure you stick around until the end to find out how you can win a free Xenoblade Chronicles X in a giveaway that ends this Christmas.

As Cloud has stormed into battle many players have been trying him out and seeing what the character has to offer and one of those players is Swedish player Izaw. He has created videos in the past to highlight characters including The Art Of Kirby, The Art Of Link, The Art Of Falco, and now to show off this latest DLC, The Art Of Cloud! Give it a watch.

Not many international threats get taken down at locals but Michigan shows Midwestern Smash can get the job done! Recently Pulse Gaming's own Zinoto was able to fight and take down Ally, Canada's best, in both Winners and Grand Finals at SFW #19. Zinoto placed 17th at TBH5 and 25th at Apex 2015 losing to, oddly enough, Ally. We tracked down this Ann Arbor player to get his thoughts on the match, upcoming events, character selection, and more.

Welcome to SmashBoards Writer's Interviews! This is a series that will appear at least twice every month covering a writer (or someone important to making the front page the way it is). These are more casual interviewers, but depending on the interviewer, they can be asked further questions by the users!

This week we have SmashBoards writer Pokemon64ism! Oh wait, he's now making a name change to MrPikaPal! That's cool! He's motivated, inspired, and an all around interesting Smasher. Give him a warm welcome!


Thirdkoopa: Tell us a little bit about yourself!

PikaPal: First of all, thanks for having my for this interview! My tag 64ism and I've been playing Smash Bros. for as long as I can remember. I've lived in Canada all my life. My main interest outside of school and Smash is music. I love everything about it...

Welcome to the Weekend Watchlist 32! The Smashboards events system recently got a fantastic upgrade and we've combed through all of the tournaments submitted to find some of the best events being streamed this weekend to feature here. So without further ado get ready to watch and read because here is our Weekend Watchlist!

Recently, famous streamer GimR started a brand new Youtube channel. His first video was a trailer analysis for Cloud and then he released an impressive combo exhibition with Ryu. To perform some of the combos and strings shown in the video it takes a strong knowledge of how Ryu's focus attack works. In his latest video GimR explains the ins and outs of Focus Attack. Give it a watch!

Smash YouTuber, Relax Alax has released his newest installment in the Know Your Moves series. Seeing how it's winter, @RelaxAlax decided to cover the lovable Ice Climbers. Many fans have been upset with their removal from Smash for Wii U and 3DS. Relax Alax covers the inspiration behind their moveset, comparing it to the original NES classic. The video has been embedded below.

The stock count in Smash Bros. for Wii U has seen a global split between Europe and the US, as well as Japan, since very early in the game’s lifespan. Most American nationals since APEX 2015 have opted for 2 stocks, which lead many US...

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Genesis 3 has become the largest Smash 64 tournament of all time with over 200 entrants. Isai is attending and thanks to hanks to the efforts of the Smash 64 community fundraiser, as well as the Genesis 3 compendium many international names are attending including Mariguas, Kort, Banze, Dext3r, SSBPete, Shalaka, Wario, and more. With this looking to be the greatest Smash 64 tournament of all time, Tafokints sat down to talk with Smash 64 community leaders @pidgezero_one and @Shears to discuss Smash 64 at Genesis 3.

Welcome to our first TO Talks! In this series, we will talk to famous tournament organizers on upcoming events, recaps from majors, tournament tips, and more. For our first TO talks we got Vegas TO Bear. Bear is a manager for Panda Global Gaming, one of the tournament organizers for Genesis 3, and a local TO in Vegas. Bear gives his tips on time management, talks about his history hosting, and discusses the upcoming tournament series Vegas Cup.

After a small tease by SFAT and PewPewU, Counter Logic Game officially announced that SFAT would be joining there team on twitter. SFAT is currently ranked number two in NorCal's power rankings and has impressive placements such as CEO 2015 (9th), Evo 2015 (17th), HTC Throwdown (7th), and The Big House 5 (7th). This also means that one of the most famous teams of Melee, 'PewFat', will now be under the banner of CLG!