The Eclipse series returns for its second installment on October 22 - 23 as the penultimate European major of 2016. Only DreamHack Winter on November 25th to 27th remains after this weekend, so the stakes are high for many of Europe's top players.
Eclipse 2 will be the fifth largest European Melee tournament of all time, the third largest of the year and the largest Norwegian tournament ever with 248 entrants eclipsing its predecessor’s 187. Eclipse will see some fierce competition as one of the most stacked events of the year including 11 of Europe’s top 20 and unique travellers from across the Atlantic.
Here's everything you need to know about Eclipse 2.
Top Contenders
The 2016 tournament set records between the attendees ranked in the top 20 in Europe. NB: sandbagging sets not excluded. Data from smashranking.eu.
Adam “[A] | Armada” Lindgren
- Finishing 2nd at The Big House 6 is another minor disappointment as Armada’s American losing streak continues. For a player looking to assert his claim to the number 1 spot on the end of year rankings, a win here will be important as the next man on the list returns to prime form.William “RB TSM | Leffen” Hjelte
- With his American visa issues finally sorted, Leffen is going to be training back up to peak potential. Will his Fox be strong enough by this weekend to take down Armada? It has only been two weeks since the news came and as such, his skills may require some polishing. With the returning fire of competition however, Leffen stands the best chance of taking down Armada.Mustafa “Ice” Akcakaya
- Ice seems to be making strides on the mentality issues that have held him back at top level play given his breakout 3rd place finish at The Big House 6. While he did not take down any god tier players, his run included many top names and could be a sign of further improvements to come for Germany’s top dog as he continues the quest for a new team.Aaron “VwS | Professor Pro” Thomas
- Former Summit hopeful Prof is the best player in the United Kingdom and a rising star internationally. Despite a disappointing placing at The Big House 6, Prof has had a good year including 13th place finishes at GOML and Shine. Throughout Eclipse, he will be looking to try establish himself in second tier of European Melee that Ice inhabits.Kashan “TL | Chillindude” Khan
- The first of two special guests, this is Chillin’s first time in Europe. Despite being one of the longest lasting members of the Smash community, he had yet to visit Europe up until this point. After slumping in 2015, his results have recently seen something of a revival including finishing 13th in singles at The Big House 6 and a stunning 4th in doubles with partner Daniel “VGBC | ChuDat” Rodriguez.Roustane “synK | Kage” Benzeguir
- The second visitor from North America is the Montreal-based Kage. Formerly the world’s premier Ganondorf solo main, he is now experimenting with other characters, mostly Captain Falcon and Fox. In Europe he should get plenty of joy with his original main due to Europe’s famous matchup deficiencies from the difficulty of practicing against strong players of each character in the region.Alvaro Garcia “Heir | Trifasia” Moral
- After winning The Contract and sponsorship from Team Heir at Heir 3 in August, Trifasia had a disappointing run at Syndicate 2016, losing to two players ranked lower than him and placing 9th. Able to travel again due to his sponsorship, the best Spanish player will be looking to stake his claim to top 4 in Europe.Roberto “Overtriforce” Iglesias
- After finishing Heir 3 as the highest placing non-Armada European, Over had a similarly disappointing run to his countryman Trifasia at Syndicate, losing to the same players. In international terms Over and Trif are of similar skill levels, a strong performance here could tip the scales in his favour.Miguel “Zgetto” Rodriguez
- Zgetto has been on a strong upswing of late with 5th place at Syndicate 2016, 3rd at Kickstart 11 behind only Ice and Weston “Tempo | Westballz” Dennis and won the last two Dutch locals over countrymen Amsah Augustuszoon and Adam Ayonmike. Zgetto has taken sets from Professor Pro, Trifasia and Overtriforce this year and could be the source of a few minor upsets this weekend.Andreas “[A] | Android” Lindgren
- In his first major European tournament on Team Alliance, Android will be looking to do them proud and repeat his top 8 performance at last year’s Eclipse. His projected bracket path has him meeting Kage before winners quarters, a matchup that could see a strong upset.Carl-Magnus “Calle W” Wall
- A major tournament in Scandinavia means appearances from the more rarely spotted Swedish elite. This time we do not see Marth main Felix “Beat” Björklöf but we do get Calle W, often considered Europe’s top Falco. He last ventured out of his home country for the first Eclipse, so it will be exciting to see him play again after a year away from international events.Charles “Revo | Fuzzyness” Kimmelman
- After a (re-)breakout performance at Syndicate 2016, Fuzzyness could not quite translate that to success in America losing in game three to two SSBMRank Top 100 players at The Big House 6 for 65th place. Here he will be looking to make another deep bracket run as well as providing one of the weekend’s streams.Adam Ayonmike
- After a very active summer of Melee, Adam has yet to fully repeat the success seen in his victory at DG Summer Clash in June. Despite a generally losing record, Adam is very capable of upsetting the players listed above him, so watch out for him in the bracket.More Challengers
Simon “ Eagle ” Henrikson |
| Denmark's number one and Europe's best DocLucas “ Zoler ” Blomgren |
| Another lesser spotted SwedeRyota “ Captain Jack ” Yoshida |
| Formerly a top player worldwide in '04-'08Gaute “ Zorc ” Berge |
| Norway's best player will be defending his turfDusan " Usleon " Haro |
| A Chilean/German back from Big HouseSverre Vinje |
| Another top defending NorwegianElliot " Frenzy " Grossman |
| A young Brit on the riseStream Information
Main stream: GeekyGoonSquad | Side stream: Fuzzyness
Follow the bracket on smash.gg and find more information about the tournament at their website.
