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The Even Bigger Balc: Your Guide to Project M’s Dopest West Coast Major

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Photo by Remzi Hazboun

In two short weeks, the dopest Project M tourney on the West Coast is going to be putting on a crazy show and scratching an itch you never knew you had. Three years after the end of Project M’s development and the supposed “death” of PM, Project M’s dedicated community is flourishing with more excitement and growth than anyone could have ever anticipated. This past month we saw Zachary “Lunchables” Sain’s cathartic triumph at Smash ‘n’ Splash 4, where he took the first PM major of his career. Additionally, Canada’s rising star Brad “Rongunshu” Sanderson used the tournament as an opportunity to show off and put on an explosive performance. The Even Bigger Balc, currently sitting at 300+ entrants for its PM singles bracket, is looking to showcase some top-quality, 100% home-grown PM talent and smash a couple records along the way. Here are a few storylines to hype you up for the Even Bigger Balc on July 6th - July 8th:

Breaking 300 and the Project M Renaissance

Project M’s history can be broken up into two eras: Before Cease & Desist (BC) and After Development Shutdown (AD).

In the BC era, Project M had three tournaments that broke 300 entrants: The Big House 4, Apex 2014, and Paragon Los Angeles 2015. Similarly, the AD era has also had, so far, three tournaments that have surpassed 300 entrants: Smash ‘n’ Splash 3, The Bigger Balc, and Smash ‘n’ Splash 4.

The Even Bigger Balc will mark the 4th tournament in the AD era to smash that benchmark and, in doing so, push the AD era above the BC era in terms of sheer tournament attendance.

Despite what every fiber of your Smasher sense may think, the Project M national scene is somehow BIGGER than it was in the BC era. Like, excuse me? Exactly where the hell did all of these Project M players come from?

Having been booted off of twitch.tv and pushed out of most major Smash events, Project M’s community gets little to no exposure with respect to the larger Smash community. Let's be honest, the average Smasher’s encyclopedia of Project M knowledge usually consists of, “didn't they try to add Knuckles?” and “lol GIMR.” However, hidden behind the walls of hundreds of local community Facebook groups and countless Discords across the globe, the Project M community continues to boom at a purely grassroots level. PM regions have been intermingling. Character strategies and combos have been debated and slowly optimized. The skill level for top PM players shoots up astronomically each year. Their VoDs from 2014 look absolutely amateur when compared to the level of play you see at nationals today.

Although many players abandoned PM after its development stopped, its community has emerged stronger and more closely-knit than ever before. The Project M Development Team set out to create a fast-paced and deeply competitive game, and with 4 years of continuous growth and optimization post-shutdown to show for it, they have absolutely, unquestionably, succeeded.

While the sheer size and scope of The Even Bigger Balc represents something intensely meaningful for the Project M community, its results will also make it one of the most important majors of the year for PMRank 2018. Let’s break down some of the player dynamics to watch out for this year.

Sosa vs Malachi

The two highest seeds for this tournament, Jonathan “Sosa” Sosa and Malachi “Malachi” Covington, were ranked 2nd and 3rd on PMRank 2017 and will both be out for blood at The Even Bigger Balc, which is set to be the biggest PM major of the year. Sosa is undisputedly number one in the world right now, with first place finishes at all but one event he’s attended this year, including Don’t Sleep 2 and The Flex Zone 3. His dominant records over every other top player make him the clear favorite to win this tournament. His one second place finish in 2018 at Resting Stitch Face came at the hands of Malachi’s Sheik, however.

Malachi has held the title of best on the East Coast for quite some time, with strong records over Switch, DVD, Envy, Twisty, and more. In 2017, he even held a positive record over former number one player ThundeRzReiGN. While Malachi has suffered a string of recent upsets in major brackets at the hands of players including Fuzz, Kycse, techboy, and Bobby Frizz, he remains the most likely player to push Sosa to his limits. Perhaps a return to the West Coast will reinvigorate New York’s titan.

Reappearance of ThundeRzReiGN and Flipp

Speaking of top seeds, The Even Bigger Balc will be a rare opportunity to see both Grand Finals participants from The Bigger Balc back on the main stage.

Nick “Flipp” Filippides, who placed second at both The Big Balc and The Bigger Balc, has been inactive since last summer due to hand problems and has only recently re-entered the competitive scene as a top level threat. He defeated Kycse in dominant fashion at The Revival of Smashing Grounds to take second at the event and will no doubt be looking to once again reach Grand Finals here in SoCal. Will this be his year to finally take home the gold?

Xayya Thomas “ThundeRzReiGN” Thammavongsa, the former number one player in the world and the winner of The Bigger Balc, announced his retirement from competition in January and has not entered a major since. He is currently ranked second in NorCal with his Captain Falcon and other secondaries and, despite not planning to take the event seriously or play his fearsome Donkey Kong, has entered both singles and doubles at The Even Bigger Balc. As the player who last year put together the greatest losers run in Project M history to win The Bigger Balc and whose Falcon took sets from Sosa, Malachi, and Flipp in 2017, perhaps he will once again reach his former glory. One thing is for sure: it will be a rare treat to once again see ThundeRzReiGN at a major.

Potential Breakouts

Given the history of crazy upsets at The Big Balc series and the stacked roster of top players attending The Bigger Balc, this tournament is a prime chance for players to stake their claim to Project M history. Last year’s tourney featured Fuzz’s incredible Winners’ Bracket rampage to third place, Yung Quaff’s once-in-a-lifetime run to top 8, and breakout performances from others including The Doctor and MorKs. This year, the competition will be even fiercer and the upsets even more explosive. From previously hidden bosses like Cala, Ivayne, and Rongunshu, to those simply hungry to prove themselves a cut above the rest, expect some incredible competition to go down here at The Even Bigger Balc.

From the stacked brackets for Project M, Melee, Smash 64, and Slap City, all of which will leave a lasting imprint on their respective metagames, to the historic significance of The Even Bigger Balc to the Project M community, this is not a tournament to be missed. Whether you will be here in SoCal with us or tuning in online, we sincerely hope that you will join us in celebrating Project M’s history and community at The Even Bigger Balc on July 6th-8th.

You can follow The Even Bigger Balc’s bracket’s here and tune in to the Balc’s stream here and the AZPM stream here starting the Friday of the tournament. You can also follow The Balcony’s Twitter for updates.

Don't forget to follow Jfalls and Sabre for updates on the event and other Project M news.
 
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Comments

Before Cease & Desist (BC)
Yeeeaaaah, about that...
https://www.gamnesia.com/news/the-r...elopers-cancelled-the-smash-bros-mod-was-fear
And even that doesn't tell the supposedly true story. :evil:
has been inactive since last summer due to hand problems
He hasn't really been inactive:
https://www.ssbwiki.com/Smasher:Flipp
And he's also a teacher (not sure, but I suppose full-time), so pretty busy outside of summer; hardly even attends his local during the schoolyear.

As for the state of PM right now, not too much has changed. RadicalFuzz RadicalFuzz has been a force to be reckoned with, as you noted. Switch is still certainly a Top 5 player.
Hyperflame has actually racked up major tournament wins since then, so I expect to see him in this Top 8.
Kycse (Connecticut Charizard, and best on the continent) has always been a threat. He usually loses to tough matchups like Toon Link and Wolf. He could certainly make Top 8 but there's no guarantee.
DVD has been making terrifying runs (dvdbesttoonlink). He's also a Top 8 contender, but more certainly a Top 2 contender for Doubles with his static partner Envy. I want to see more destruction from them like I saw once a while ago---I can't remember the tournament or set, but there was a match where DVD and Envy were playing against Switch and his partner on Wario Land, and Envy landed Ike's OHKO on Switch's Wolf.

Now then, I think everyone who keeps up with Project M should hype up the scenes they follow here in the comments, for the benefit of people less in the know.
I think the Great Value Smash scene from Connecticut is on the come up. It's got players like Shadowhawke (Lucas) who could be Top 16 contenders in the next year if they keep up their growth; it's got players who are already Top 16 material, though not quite a shoe-in yet, like King Koney (Donkey Kong); and it's got your Top 8 contenders, in Flipp and Kycse. They stream Project M three Thursdays a month on YouTube and Smashcast, and usually put on a good show, even having way out of state players come in every now and then; so if you're looking for quality content weekly, check them out.

I don't keep up with Washington these days, but Aki (Ness), Chevy (Samus), and Pikmon (G&W [could also call him NorCal]) are all heavy hitters. Their scene, Epeen Gaming, also has players that have been on the rise, like Punk Panda (Wolf). Don't sleep on them.

From New Mexico comes one of my Top 10 favorite players in the scene and favorite Wolf player, Filthy Casual. Be sure, the name is ironic, because this guy is as technical player as they come. With a penchant for showing off he's quite entertaining to watch. He did get whooped last year by Switch, and often has lost to players he shouldn't, but if he isn't too rusty now, I expect him to make it far, as he has improved substantially since then.

From Massachusetts, you have Silver (Fox and Falco) and Twisty (Wario). At this point, I don't see Twisty not being a Top 3 Wario player on the continent. He had quite the run at Low Tier City 5, and dominates his local along with Silver. Don't be surprised to see him in Top 32. Silver is nigh indisputedly the best Project M Falco player, and one of the best Fox players.
In my personal opinion, I think he can go very far if he treats himself as a dual-main; I think he better utilizes Fox than he does Falco, but neither of his characters are slouches. Both characters are better then they are usually given credit for, so the only thing holding him back is his own skill playing against other characters. I do want to see some Falco action at the tournament, but I'm not sure Silver will do everything he needs to do in order to be victorious with him.
It's a bit of a tossup how well Silver will do, but he's definitely not the player to turn your eye from, especially if you like seeing Spacie action.

Techboy (Ice Climbers) from the Midwest has been a player to watch since last year. I expect him to continue to impress a lot of people at this tournament.

I've been liking The Doctor (Mario) from NorCal. I enjoy seeing Mario play because I dabbled in him when I started out, and I think he's a much better character than he seems to be regarded. I'll be glad to see him beating dudes up and finessing.

From Arizona Project Melee, you have, as far as I am concerned, the best Luigi in the world, ilovebagelz. Dude is sick.

Cloudburst and Dirtboy, the top Squirtle players, make them look like a better character than I think they are, so I won't sleep on them.

Jose V always puts on a fascinating Ness performance. My personal favorite sets are his Mother boys face-offs against Hyperflame. Won't mind seeing the best Ness on stream against a really high ranking player.

Goode is probably my favorite Sonic player to watch. I hope he does well.

YadoR is going to be there. Hopefully his Kirby gets at least one on stream match. His victory over Sosa was quite a thing to watch.
 
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Yeeeaaaah, about that...
https://www.gamnesia.com/news/the-r...elopers-cancelled-the-smash-bros-mod-was-fear
And even that doesn't tell the supposedly true story. :evil:

He hasn't really been inactive:
https://www.ssbwiki.com/Smasher:Flipp
And he's also a teacher (not sure, but I suppose full-time), so pretty busy outside of summer; hardly even attends his local during the schoolyear.

As for the state of PM right now, not too much has changed. RadicalFuzz RadicalFuzz has been a force to be reckoned with, as you noted. Switch is still certainly a Top 5 player.
Hyperflame has actually racked up major tournament wins since then, so I expect to see him in this Top 8.
Kycse (Connecticut Charizard, and best on the continent) has always been a threat. He usually loses to tough matchups like Toon Link and Wolf. He could certainly make Top 8 but there's no guarantee.
DVD has been making terrifying runs (dvdbesttoonlink). He's also a Top 8 contender, but more certainly a Top 2 contender for Doubles with his static partner Envy. I want to see more destruction from them like I saw once a while ago---I can't remember the tournament or set, but there was a match where DVD and Envy were playing against Switch and his partner on Wario Land, and Envy landed Ike's OHKO on Switch's Wolf.

Now then, I think everyone who keeps up with Project M should hype up the scenes they follow here in the comments, for the benefit of people less in the know.
I think the Great Value Smash scene from Connecticut is on the come up. It's got players like Shadowhawke (Lucas) who could be Top 16 contenders in the next year if they keep up their growth; it's got players who are already Top 16 material, though not quite a shoe-in yet, like King Koney (Donkey Kong); and it's got your Top 8 contenders, in Flipp and Kycse. They stream Project M three Thursdays a month on YouTube and Smashcast, and usually put on a good show, even having way out of state players come in every now and then; so if you're looking for quality content weekly, check them out.

I don't keep up with Washington these days, but Aki (Ness), Chevy (Samus), and Pikmon (G&W [could also call him NorCal]) are all heavy hitters. Their scene, Epeen Gaming, also has players that have been on the rise, like Punk Panda (Wolf). Don't sleep on them.

From New Mexico comes one of my Top 10 favorite players in the scene and favorite Wolf player, Filthy Casual. Be sure, the name is ironic, because this guy is as technical player as they come. With a penchant for showing off he's quite entertaining to watch. He did get whooped last year by Switch, and often has lost to players he shouldn't, but if he isn't too rusty now, I expect him to make it far, as he has improved substantially since then.

From Massachusetts, you have Silver (Fox and Falco) and Twisty (Wario). At this point, I don't see Twisty not being a Top 3 Wario player on the continent. He had quite the run at Low Tier City 5, and dominates his local along with Silver. Don't be surprised to see him in Top 32. Silver is nigh indisputedly the best Project M Falco player, and one of the best Fox players.
In my personal opinion, I think he can go very far if he treats himself as a dual-main; I think he better utilizes Fox than he does Falco, but neither of his characters are slouches. Both characters are better then they are usually given credit for, so the only thing holding him back is his own skill playing against other characters. I do want to see some Falco action at the tournament, but I'm not sure Silver will do everything he needs to do in order to be victorious with him.
It's a bit of a tossup how well Silver will do, but he's definitely not the player to turn your eye from, especially if you like seeing Spacie action.

Techboy (Ice Climbers) from the Midwest has been a player to watch since last year. I expect him to continue to impress a lot of people at this tournament.

I've been liking The Doctor (Mario) from NorCal. I enjoy seeing Mario play because I dabbled in him when I started out, and I think he's a much better character than he seems to be regarded. I'll be glad to see him beating dudes up and finessing.

From Arizona Project Melee, you have, as far as I am concerned, the best Luigi in the world, ilovebagelz. Dude is sick.

Cloudburst and Dirtboy, the top Squirtle players, make them look like a better character than I think they are, so I won't sleep on them.

Jose V always puts on a fascinating Ness performance. My personal favorite sets are his Mother boys face-offs against Hyperflame. Won't mind seeing the best Ness on stream against a really high ranking player.

Goode is probably my favorite Sonic player to watch. I hope he does well.

YadoR is going to be there. Hopefully his Kirby gets at least one on stream match. His victory over Sosa was quite a thing to watch.
Holy ****, NICE write-up! This deserves a sticky or something :love:.

Speaking of King Koney, he beat Hyperflame 2-0 in pools in SMASHADELPHIA yesterday, which was very notable (reddit link for TOP 8: https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/8tjnmt/project_m_top_16_at_smashadelphia_is_live/). The tournament is rather stacked, with Flipp and many others in attendance.

Techboy upset Malachi in a dominant 3-0 at SnS 4, definitely someone to look out for at EBB.

God I have not been this hyped for a tournament since Armada's run at SnS 4, ^_^. Good luck to all the competitors!
 
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HYYYYYYPPPPPEEEEEEE! I've been inactive from my scene for a long time myself. I've been keeping up by spectating a lot. Glad this game's community is GROWING. WE LIVIN' BOIZ!
 
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