On October 3rd Smash Bros. players from across the globe will travel to Dearborn, Michigan for one of the biggest events in the history of the scene. Registration is closed; and all-in-all the numbers don't lie. Over 2,000 attendees have registered for the event. With Melee clocking in at whopping 1,300+ entrants in singles and 500+ for the corresponding Wii U singles. To help put that in perspective: those numbers make this event the second largest Melee tournament of all time (only trailing EVO 2015) and as one of the five largest Wii U turnouts so far in the game's young lifespan. In a scene making a successful transition into the eSports realm, TBH5 took a rigorous grassroots approach to build the event up from the ground up.
The Big House series, organized by UMSmash and longtime tournament organizer Robin Harn (@Juggleguy), has seen growth in attendance each year with this year far surpassing the 574 melee entrants from TBH4. The tournament took a unique approach by launching a "Compendium". The "Compendium" allowed for players to donate more to the event and in return various perks could be unlocked. Overall a staggering total of $36,450 was raised to further embellish the event; which should be no surprise from a community which raised over $90,000 for breast cancer research in 2013.
This money will go right back to the community with six top-level international players being flown out to the event, over $12,000 being added to the prize pools, allow for more allocated time at the venue, and allow for crew battles to occur. Players who donated larger amounts gained perks such as chances to team with top players, signed controllers, shirts, and more. With the brackets already made, players have the chance to win more of these items thanks to a robust Fantasy Draft available on Smashgg. Giving even more back to the community the Compendium allowed for players to donate while purchasing the artwork of talented gamers in the community; who will also have an Artist Alley at the event to further promote themselves. Moving past that, the Compendium offered a chance for The Big House 5 to team with a charity organization: Gamer's Outreach to help raise funds for a local hospital (Hurley Children’s Hospital).
With all the buzz and accomplishments that have already happened with TBH5, it's easy to forget the main attraction: the competition. For Wii U the goal for many top players is clear: Defeat TSM | ZeRo. His dominance in the scene has been undeniable and he has the ability to make TBH5 just another tally on his record list of consecutive tournament wins. However TBH5 offers him a chance to show that even as other top players improve, new players rise to the scene, and the metagame advances his crown is still untouchable. For other top players the chance to dethrone him would be a big achievement, but there are more storylines than just that.
One such player is vQ | IQHQ | Dabuz who is set to face ZeRo in Winner's Semi-Finals. That is, if he can get there. Despite his very consistent and stellar performances, Dabuz has found himself knocked into loser's bracket earlier than expected on many occasions. In order to get to ZeRo on the Winner's side he will have to break through opponents such as Fatality and PG | ESAM. Dabuz and Fatality met in Winner's at Super Smash Con and Fatality emerged victorious. The two are projected to meet the round before Winner's Quarters.
For some time now many have been placing their bets on Liquid | Nairo to be the one to take out ZeRo. This has yet to happen and Nairo will need to stay on top of his game to make it to Winner's Finals where he would be projected to meet ZeRo. In a recent nail biter 3-2 set at Paragon LA, Nairo was able to eke out a victory over PG | MVD. The two are projected to meet in Winner's Quarters this tournament. There are still many other safe bets for Top 8 such as Boreal | Ally and IQHQ | Vinnie, who notably took a set off of ZeRo at Smash @ PAX. Other threats and wildcards bound to make waves include Abadango who cruised to a 4th place finish at EVO 2015 and perhaps most interestingly Megafox a top level player who rarely travels but will be making it out to TBH5. Will his local dominance translate on the big scale?
When it comes to doubles there are quite a few power-packed teams. ZeRo will be teaming with Nairo and while ZeRo's record in teams is just as impressive as his singles record there is some great teams synergy this tournament. Mew2King/Vinnie, ESAM/MVD, and Ally/Pulse | Zinoto are all projected to make a splash in the top eight and real contenders to take the event.
One of the more interesting aspects of TBH5 and Wii U is that the event may be the "end of an era" of sorts for the game. While there has been a recent patch to the game with significant reworks to shield mechanics, TBH5 will actually be using an older patch thanks to a massive vault of set-ups provided by Gaming Generations. In addition, the stage list for the event also sticks out. These stages were locked in place months ago; before a major shift in regional rulesets took place. Recently more and more regions have removed transforming stages which were legal during Brawl's lifespan (Castle Seige, Delfino Plaza, Battleship Halberd) from their stagelists including the last national event Paragon LA not having any of these stages. Combined with this stagelist and this patch; TBH5 might be the last Wii U tournament before a significant shift in the metagame.
On the Melee side the projected winner is more unclear. TBH5 managed to round up all of the "big six"; only to watch it slowly fall apart. EG | PPMD confirmed that he would not be competing although he would be attending. Understanding the importance of his own health, he chose to avoid further mental strain on himself by competing and instead is using the opportunity to help further support the community and begin the road to his recovery.
The next of the big six to drop was as recent as it was unexpected. TSM | Leffen from Sweden was denied entrance into the US due to regulations regarding his American sponsorship and his ESTA status. While both were power players to look out for in the bracket; the rest of Melee's top talent is still in full force in one of the best showings in recent times. After taking the EVO 2015 crown [A} | Armada is aiming to further cement his dominance with a win here. While he overcame Liquid | Hungrybox there with a stronger and more clean-cut Fox, the two have gone back and forth many times before and a win is not to be taken for granted. The two are projected to meet in Winner's Semi-Finals. Of course, only if Hungrybox can make it past COG | Mew2King in a projected Winner's Quarter-Finals match. Mew2King saw a bit of a slump throughout the early half of the year and into the summer, citing increased hand pains. However all of that changed and the chants for the return of the king came to fruition as Mew2King claimed a decisive victory over Leffen at Smash @ Pax and has continued his refurbished play with a strong showing at Paragon LA where he took out Hungrybox.
The reigning champ of The Big House series, C9 | Mang0 has recently expressed doubt about his performance at TBH5; essentially telling fantasy drafters to, well, sleep on the kid. With Leffen's exit from the tournament, things become interesting as a projected Semi-Finals could have PG | Plup or TGL | Druggedfox waiting for Mang0. Both have proven themselves to be rising stars in the scene over the past year, with Druggedfox often jokingly being said to be one-tournament behind Plup in terms of performance. Still: both have taken sets off of Mang0 this year and regardless of who wins between the two of them, Mang0 will be meeting whichever player proves himself to be more battle-ready.
These aren't the only players with something to prove: TMPO | Westballz and TMPO | Axe are both expected to bring strong performances and have proven they can take a crack at the big six on the right day. Westballz could find the chance to finally gain a victory over Armada in Winner's Quarter-finals. Likewise that's where Axe will get his chance against Mang0.
Doubles should prove exciting with some all-star teams making waves. Armada/TT.8BP | Android should be a favourite to win the projected bracket. Their teams synergy in the past have taken out the best of players with a strong ping-pong game between the two players to extend combos and cover options. Still they will have to overcome proven winning teams such as Hungrybox/Mew2King and Westballz/Axe if they want to take home a victory. Perhaps one of the more interesting teams is Plup/Druggedfox which could unleash some interesting teams thanks to the various mains between the two players.
Also keep an eye out for the regional crew battle. With Leffen missing a dominant Europe roster could prove to be more vulnerable than previously expected. Florida and SoCal also appear to have formidable rosters lined up for this event. With some big money on the line thanks to the Compendium these crews will be treating this as something much more than just a side event. The line-up begins with SoCal v. New England, Florida v. TriState, Europe v. Midwest, and NorCal v. Canada.
But in the end this is all just a preview of what is to come. If you aren't attending there are plenty of resources to keep up with the action as it happens this weekend. Schedules for brackets, streams, and more can be found here. Xiivi will be at The Big House 5 live as a media representative of Smashboards and reporting everything for you here on Smashboards and social media!
The Big House series, organized by UMSmash and longtime tournament organizer Robin Harn (@Juggleguy), has seen growth in attendance each year with this year far surpassing the 574 melee entrants from TBH4. The tournament took a unique approach by launching a "Compendium". The "Compendium" allowed for players to donate more to the event and in return various perks could be unlocked. Overall a staggering total of $36,450 was raised to further embellish the event; which should be no surprise from a community which raised over $90,000 for breast cancer research in 2013.
This money will go right back to the community with six top-level international players being flown out to the event, over $12,000 being added to the prize pools, allow for more allocated time at the venue, and allow for crew battles to occur. Players who donated larger amounts gained perks such as chances to team with top players, signed controllers, shirts, and more. With the brackets already made, players have the chance to win more of these items thanks to a robust Fantasy Draft available on Smashgg. Giving even more back to the community the Compendium allowed for players to donate while purchasing the artwork of talented gamers in the community; who will also have an Artist Alley at the event to further promote themselves. Moving past that, the Compendium offered a chance for The Big House 5 to team with a charity organization: Gamer's Outreach to help raise funds for a local hospital (Hurley Children’s Hospital).
With all the buzz and accomplishments that have already happened with TBH5, it's easy to forget the main attraction: the competition. For Wii U the goal for many top players is clear: Defeat TSM | ZeRo. His dominance in the scene has been undeniable and he has the ability to make TBH5 just another tally on his record list of consecutive tournament wins. However TBH5 offers him a chance to show that even as other top players improve, new players rise to the scene, and the metagame advances his crown is still untouchable. For other top players the chance to dethrone him would be a big achievement, but there are more storylines than just that.
One such player is vQ | IQHQ | Dabuz who is set to face ZeRo in Winner's Semi-Finals. That is, if he can get there. Despite his very consistent and stellar performances, Dabuz has found himself knocked into loser's bracket earlier than expected on many occasions. In order to get to ZeRo on the Winner's side he will have to break through opponents such as Fatality and PG | ESAM. Dabuz and Fatality met in Winner's at Super Smash Con and Fatality emerged victorious. The two are projected to meet the round before Winner's Quarters.
For some time now many have been placing their bets on Liquid | Nairo to be the one to take out ZeRo. This has yet to happen and Nairo will need to stay on top of his game to make it to Winner's Finals where he would be projected to meet ZeRo. In a recent nail biter 3-2 set at Paragon LA, Nairo was able to eke out a victory over PG | MVD. The two are projected to meet in Winner's Quarters this tournament. There are still many other safe bets for Top 8 such as Boreal | Ally and IQHQ | Vinnie, who notably took a set off of ZeRo at Smash @ PAX. Other threats and wildcards bound to make waves include Abadango who cruised to a 4th place finish at EVO 2015 and perhaps most interestingly Megafox a top level player who rarely travels but will be making it out to TBH5. Will his local dominance translate on the big scale?
When it comes to doubles there are quite a few power-packed teams. ZeRo will be teaming with Nairo and while ZeRo's record in teams is just as impressive as his singles record there is some great teams synergy this tournament. Mew2King/Vinnie, ESAM/MVD, and Ally/Pulse | Zinoto are all projected to make a splash in the top eight and real contenders to take the event.
One of the more interesting aspects of TBH5 and Wii U is that the event may be the "end of an era" of sorts for the game. While there has been a recent patch to the game with significant reworks to shield mechanics, TBH5 will actually be using an older patch thanks to a massive vault of set-ups provided by Gaming Generations. In addition, the stage list for the event also sticks out. These stages were locked in place months ago; before a major shift in regional rulesets took place. Recently more and more regions have removed transforming stages which were legal during Brawl's lifespan (Castle Seige, Delfino Plaza, Battleship Halberd) from their stagelists including the last national event Paragon LA not having any of these stages. Combined with this stagelist and this patch; TBH5 might be the last Wii U tournament before a significant shift in the metagame.
On the Melee side the projected winner is more unclear. TBH5 managed to round up all of the "big six"; only to watch it slowly fall apart. EG | PPMD confirmed that he would not be competing although he would be attending. Understanding the importance of his own health, he chose to avoid further mental strain on himself by competing and instead is using the opportunity to help further support the community and begin the road to his recovery.
The next of the big six to drop was as recent as it was unexpected. TSM | Leffen from Sweden was denied entrance into the US due to regulations regarding his American sponsorship and his ESTA status. While both were power players to look out for in the bracket; the rest of Melee's top talent is still in full force in one of the best showings in recent times. After taking the EVO 2015 crown [A} | Armada is aiming to further cement his dominance with a win here. While he overcame Liquid | Hungrybox there with a stronger and more clean-cut Fox, the two have gone back and forth many times before and a win is not to be taken for granted. The two are projected to meet in Winner's Semi-Finals. Of course, only if Hungrybox can make it past COG | Mew2King in a projected Winner's Quarter-Finals match. Mew2King saw a bit of a slump throughout the early half of the year and into the summer, citing increased hand pains. However all of that changed and the chants for the return of the king came to fruition as Mew2King claimed a decisive victory over Leffen at Smash @ Pax and has continued his refurbished play with a strong showing at Paragon LA where he took out Hungrybox.
The reigning champ of The Big House series, C9 | Mang0 has recently expressed doubt about his performance at TBH5; essentially telling fantasy drafters to, well, sleep on the kid. With Leffen's exit from the tournament, things become interesting as a projected Semi-Finals could have PG | Plup or TGL | Druggedfox waiting for Mang0. Both have proven themselves to be rising stars in the scene over the past year, with Druggedfox often jokingly being said to be one-tournament behind Plup in terms of performance. Still: both have taken sets off of Mang0 this year and regardless of who wins between the two of them, Mang0 will be meeting whichever player proves himself to be more battle-ready.
These aren't the only players with something to prove: TMPO | Westballz and TMPO | Axe are both expected to bring strong performances and have proven they can take a crack at the big six on the right day. Westballz could find the chance to finally gain a victory over Armada in Winner's Quarter-finals. Likewise that's where Axe will get his chance against Mang0.
Doubles should prove exciting with some all-star teams making waves. Armada/TT.8BP | Android should be a favourite to win the projected bracket. Their teams synergy in the past have taken out the best of players with a strong ping-pong game between the two players to extend combos and cover options. Still they will have to overcome proven winning teams such as Hungrybox/Mew2King and Westballz/Axe if they want to take home a victory. Perhaps one of the more interesting teams is Plup/Druggedfox which could unleash some interesting teams thanks to the various mains between the two players.
Also keep an eye out for the regional crew battle. With Leffen missing a dominant Europe roster could prove to be more vulnerable than previously expected. Florida and SoCal also appear to have formidable rosters lined up for this event. With some big money on the line thanks to the Compendium these crews will be treating this as something much more than just a side event. The line-up begins with SoCal v. New England, Florida v. TriState, Europe v. Midwest, and NorCal v. Canada.
But in the end this is all just a preview of what is to come. If you aren't attending there are plenty of resources to keep up with the action as it happens this weekend. Schedules for brackets, streams, and more can be found here. Xiivi will be at The Big House 5 live as a media representative of Smashboards and reporting everything for you here on Smashboards and social media!
