Foreign Challengers
Thanks to the fine folks at Panda Global Gaming, three of their players will be traveling over to compete at Beast 6, so we can see how American talent stacks up against Europe. While he is better known in Melee, Wobbles has also signed up for Smash 4. He uses Wario in Smash 4 and has enough fundamental skills to compete and still do well. It's best to keep an eye on him and see how far he goes.
Next comes MVD. With several unexpectedly high placements under his belt, including 33rd at The Big House 5, MLG World Finals 2015, and Genesis 3, it will be interesting to see how his Diddy Kong stacks up against Europe. The different rulesets and curious character variety will push MVD's knowledge of the game to its limit. Will he crack or come home with the gold?
With his Pika-Power, ESAM is sure to do well at the event. He has been pulling in many top 8 placements and is always a powerhouse at events. However, at Genesis 3, he had an odd loss against Teb, a Mario player from NorCal, who sent him to the loser's side of the bracket. Europe has several of their best Mario players coming to the event, so it will be interesting to see if any of them can do the same.
Ruleset
Before they have a chance to fight the local talent, those visiting Europe will have to get used to the ruleset in Europe. To start, Europe heavily supports a 3 stock ruleset. While this will be easy to adapt to, it will be interesting to see if this major can run with 267 entrants in singles in a 3 stock format within a reasonable amount of time.
On to the stages! Another curiosity is the replacement of Final Destination with Pokemon Stadium 2 Omega. While Palutena's Temple has been used as a replacement if both players agree in several events in the US, Final Destination is not listed on the starting stage list and only within the Counterpicks, making this Omega a requirement to learn. Another minor difference is Lylat Cruise rounding out the five starter stages over Dreamland, presumably to avoid two similarly shaped stages in the starter list.
Miis
Miis are legal at this event under a very unique ruling for their legality. The community has voted on one setup for each Mii in terms of the moves they can use, while players are allowed to use any guest Miis on the console when competing. Mii Brawler's set is 1122, Mii Swordfighter's is 2331, and Mii Gunner's is 3322. Those in Europe have experience with Miis as countries like Finland and Norway have several Mii Brawlers in their power rankings and players that use Mii Gunner and Mii Swordfighter regularly. As the visiting players probably have little Mii experience, could one of these players cause an upset?
The Local Talent
Europe has come out in full force to compete and won't be taken down easily. With 273 of their entrants set to stack up again the pros from across the sea, it should be a great showing. Mr. R won't be the only powerhouse at the event from Europe, as power ranked players from over 9 European countries are set to attend. Here is a quick list!
Expected Matchups
Character Spread for Top Players in Order of Popularity and Tiers
For those top players attending the event, there will be a lot of matchups players rarely see on a top level. Three players using King Dedede, two using Greninja, two using Samus, and one using a recently buffed Roy should all prove interesting. Plus, one of the best Zelda players in the world is attending alongside a Mii Brawler and Lucario. This could be a great opportunity to see how some of these characters stack up against the best in the game.
Fortunately, there are plenty of top tiers in attendance as well. Unsurprisingly, the most common character among top players is Sheik, and plenty are in attendance. However, what's more curious are the large numbers of Fox and Diddy Kong players. Higher tiered characters like Zero Suit Samus and Pikachu have to have their numbers combined to reach as many of those characters, not to mention the small numbers of Rosalina and Ness. Could it be these characters are simply more complex so they have less representation? Plus there is a mysterious lack of Cloud, Ryu, and Meta Knight to consider. It could simply be regional differences, but with such a unique character spread, maybe some of these characters have a tougher time competing. Plus the newest DLC characters are NOT legal, so no brand new Bayonetta or Corrin mains will be there to shake up the bracket.
Crew Battles
This will be an exciting opportunity to see which country truly is on top in Smash 4. Eight crews have been made for major countries entering the event to compete in a bracket and see who comes out on top. The eight countries with crews include the United States, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France, Germany & Austria, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
The event begins on February 19th with the Smash 4 side of the event streamed by Salty Playground. The current event schedule is available here. More information on the event can be found on its Smashboards Event Post. Excited to see these titans Smashing it out in Europe? Tell us in the comments below and don't forget to tune in: it's sure to be an amazing show!
