Hosted at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Virginia, SSC is more than just another premier tournament. As its name suggests, it’s also a convention featuring panels, contests, music, vendors, an arcade, and more! Players come not only to compete, but to enjoy this wide variety of Smash-centered festivities.
Today, we’ll be delving into the tournament aspect of the event,specifically the one for Super Smash Bros. Wii U. If you’re interested in reading about Project M, you can check out Edgar “Notsuchabadguy” Guajardo’s preview for it here. You should also stay tuned to read what’s in store for Super Smash Bros. Melee and 64!
Last year’s Smash Wii U tournament was quite the spectacle. Though tournament results were more consistent during Gonzalo “ZeRo” Barrios’ impressive win streak, the final bracket was filled with upsets. Most notably, perennial favorite Samuel “Dabuz” Buzby lost to Griffin “Fatality” Miller’s Falcon in winners’ bracket and ultimately failed to make top 8. Fatality went on to claim 4th place, a personal best as far as national tournaments go.
Meanwhile, EVO 2015 3rd place finisher Nairoby “Nairo” Quezada was double-eliminated by Eric “ESAM” Lew, sparking an engaging rivalry for the next 6 months. Though ZeRo went on to win the event, he narrowly avoided a loss in winners’ finals against ESAM’s Pikachu. You can view a more complete breakdown of 2015’s results here.
As fierce as 2015’s competition proved to be, this year’s is on another level of difficulty. All of last year’s top 8 are returning to compete again, but because of the emergence of new local and global threats, it will be difficult for 2015’s finalists to repeat that accomplishment.
The current state of competitive Smash Wii U is far more turbulent in general. ZeRo’s reign of complete dominance has come to an end, ESAM and Nairo are no longer staples to appear in every top 8, and even the likes of Ramin “Mr.R” Delshad and Dabuz have been sent home early in the past few months. Meanwhile, top tier international threats including EVO 2016 Champion Elliot “Ally” Carroza-Oyarce and Yuta “Abadango” Kawagama are looking as strong as ever.
There is practically no way to predict who will win, but if impossible odds are your kind of thing, you can still make a fantasy bracket over on Smash.gg.
And that’s just singles. For doubles fans, SSC’s organizers have assured plenty of time for 2v2 action. Here, the competition will be tougher than ever.
Last year’s winning team of ZeRo and Nairo will have to defend their crown against the likes of James “VoiD” Makekau-Tyson and Tyrell “NAKAT” Coleman, who already proved at Pound 2016 that they are a national threat. Meanwhile, the legendary Lucario/Lucas duo of Taiheita and Gomamugitya will finally get a chance to square off against America’s best. Though their team healing strategies have been nerfed since their last appearance, their 2nd place finish at Umebura F.A.T. was truly something to behold.
If you want to tune into some Smash Wii U action (or any tournament, for that matter), check out the official stream schedule, which was just updated today:
Local streaming giants VGBootCamp will function as the primary stream, and will be assisted by Texas' Tourney Locator. All times listed are EDT, so be sure to account for that when planning your weekend viewings.
Discussion Points:
- Who do you think will win?
- Will there be any huge upsets? (of course there will be)
Also, be sure to give a shoutout to Robin “Juggleguy” Harn and Michael “Nintendude” Brancato, without whom this unique spectacle would not be possible.
For more coverage on Super Smash Con, stay tuned on Smashboards.
