2016 has been an incredible year for competitive Super Smash Bros. Melee. The year has been filled with periods of dominance, numerous breakout performances and a never ending stream of surprises, with every major event managing to deliver the hype. As the year comes to a close, one major tournament remains before Melee begins to enter a pseudo off-season and panelists for MIOM's SSBMRank submit their ballots: UGC Smash Open. Taking place in Collinsville, Illinois from December 2-4, the stakes will be high as 16 of the top 30 from the 2015 SSBMRank, including 5 of Melee's "Big 6", and more compete for $15,000+ in prizes for singles.
Stream Information
Melee at the UGC Smash Open will be streamed on two channels: UGC as the main stream and MeleeEveryday as the secondary stream, on Saturday/Sunday only. The powerhouse commentator lineup at UGC includes Brandon “HomeMadeWaffles” Collier, Phil DeBerry, D'Ron “D1” Maingrette, Arian “The Crimson Blur” Fathieh, Michael “Webs” Weber and Josh “Fendrick Lamar” Fendrick.
Here is the stream schedule, with the corresponding tournament schedule, in Central Time:
Update: Melee Top 48 will be on Sunday instead of Melee Top 32
The Final Showdown
Since his disappointing run at The Big House 6, Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma has slowly been making his way back up to the “Mount Everest” of Melee. Though he has been unable to match his dominance from the first half of 2016, Hungrybox has remained consistent with consective 2nd place finishes at Canada Cup 2016, Smash Summit 3 and DreamHack Winter. Hungrybox’s largest hurdle at UGC will be his close rival Armada, who has won six out of their last seven sets. With the right mindset and the polished play he showcased at EVO 2016, a big win at UGC would give Hungrybox the momentum he needs going into 2017.
Joseph "Mango" Marquez has had his ups and downs in the past few months. At The Big House 6, he finally brought it together to win his first supermajor tournament of the year. Since then, he has struggled to get in that same mindset, underperforming at Smash Summit 3 and DreamHack with two 4th places. Mango clearly has the potential to win UGC seeing as how he still has a winning against Armada this year and he can dominate Hungrybox, Mew2King and Leffen on a good day -- now it's just a question of whether or not he can stay in focus to reach his peak form.
While a tournament victory for Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman at UGC is fairly unlikely, his results since Shine 2016 show that he has a fair chance at making a splash. He performed well under the conditions of the Smash Summit last month where he defeated Leffen and Mango, but that may not be enough to break new grounds this time around; Armada, who he may face if he makes it into top 8 through winners side, has been Mew2King’s kryptonite for the past few years. Regardless, if he can keep up the mentality and grit that has led to multiple losers runs recently, Mew2King could shake things up.
William “Leffen” Hjelte will be competing in his first serious non-invitational American tournament of the year this weekend. Although the Leffen that stole the stage at GOML 2016 has yet to be seen since his formal return, it’s crucial not to count out the godslayer at UGC despite his weak showings at Eclipse 2 and Smash Summit 3, where he lost to the likes of Axe and Ice. Leffen recently placed at a solid 3rd at DreamHack Winter by sweeping Mango and bringing Hungrybox to game 5, and with more practice and experience under his belt, expect to see improvement from him at UGC.
The Up-and-Comers
Zac “SFAT” Cordoni will be looking to once again prove himself as a top 7 player after his uncharacteristic Smash Summit 3 showing, where he lost to Duck and The Moon. With the player field at UGC comprised of players he has historically done well against such as Axe and Shroomed, as well as top 6 players he has beaten before such as Mango, Hungrybox, Mew2King and Leffen, SFAT has a good chance to quickly get back on track.
Fan favorite Jeffrey "Axe" Williamson is hot off his Smash Summit 3 run, where he put on a show by taking down Leffen and Shroomed. However, Axe isn't without his inconsistencies -- just before Smash Summit 3, he finished at a disappointing 65th place at The Big House 6. If he can get in "the zone" that has produced the world's greatest Pikachu plays over the years, Axe could end off 2016 with a bang.
Consistent as always, DaJuan "Shroomed" McDaniel netted another top 8 placing at Smash Summit 3. His record against the players outside the top 6 is solid, making him a top 8 favorite at UGC. Despite this, Shroomed has yet to take a set from the top 6 this year -- could UGC be the time Shroomed breaks through to the upper echelon?
Similarly to Shroomed, Tristate native James "Swedish Delight" Liu will be looking to rise up at UGC by repeating his Smash'N'Splash 2 success. Swedish Delight's consistent and efficient Sheik has recently had a string of mostly 9th place finishes at majors, something that could very well be changed with the right bracket this weekend.
Ever since he broke his "9th place curse" at EVO 2016, Kevin "PewPewU" Toy has showed no signs of stopping with a win at SSS: Blood for Blood and top 8 performances at The Big House 6 and Super Smash Con 2016. Additionally, his 3-0 win over S2J at Smash Summit 3 shows that he has become stronger in the Captain Falcon matchup, one of the major factors that led to his relatively poor results earlier in the year. Expect big things from PewPewU at UGC.
Up until October, Mustafa "Ice" Akcakaya's narrative generally stayed the same -- he was seen as a very technical Fox with high potential that often choked in high pressure situations. However, Ice broke out in October with two extremely impressive performances at The Big House 6 and Eclipse 2, where his new and improved mental game led to wins over Leffen, SFAT and more. Though he went out at 7th place at DreamHack Winter last weekend losing to Professor Pro, Ice still has a good chance of duplicating his October results this weekend.
Midwest defender James "Duck" Ma is looking great going into UGC. Not only has he been scarily consistent at majors this year, almost always finishing at 7th to 13th place, but Duck is also hot off his top 8 finish at Smash Summit 3, where he beat SFAT and Westballz. Moreover, his improved approach to his historically weak Captain Falcon matchup will only help Duck end off his great year this weekend.
Johnny "S2J" Kim will be aiming to replicate his historic EVO 2016 performance this weekend. Since EVO, S2J has frequently underperformed at majors, placing 17th at Super Smash Con 2016, 33rd at The Big House 6 and 13th at Smash Summit 3. Nevertheless, the rest of the competition at UGC better make sure not to sleep on S2J -- when he's on point, all it takes is one Johnny Stock to take the set.
Also representing Southern California is McCain "MacD" LaVelle, who has had his fair share of outlier performances after skipping out on EVO 2016. He has seen mixed results a majors, finishing 7th at Shine 2016 while also going out at 33rd at The Big House 6 and 17th at DreamHack Winter. MacD can bounce back this weekend as long as his aggressive Peach stays focused the entire time.
Officially now a signed player, Ryan “The Moon” Coker-Welch will be looking to continue his great results under the Misfits banner. Ever since GOML 2016, The Moon has shown why he’s one of the best Marth mains in the world, lately beating SFAT at Smash Summit 3. With his confident mindset and Summit practice under his belt, The Moon has a good chance at ending 2016 on a high note.
Although his tournament attendance has been fairly minimal this year, Daniel “ChuDat” Rodriguez is still a force to be reckoned with many years out of his prime. At the tournaments he has attended, ChuDat has pulled off wins against players such as SFAT and Axe while rarely being receiver of upsets. Though he didn’t manage to take any big names at The Big House 6, ChuDat’s smart style has proven catch competitors off guard in the past, and UGC could be no different.
Canadian and Nicaraguan representative Edgard “n0ne” Shelby put on a show at Super Famicon two weeks ago by 6-0ing DruggedFox in grand finals after months of average results. n0ne’s explosive and creative Captain Falcon can be hot or cold, and judging by his Super Famicon win, peak n0ne may be back to play this weekend.
Kyle “Dizzkidboogie” Athayde is one player everybody should look out for this weekend. This year, he has evolved from the “wobbler” stereotype to one of the most fearsome players around. Furthermore, Dizzkidboogie has a significant amount of momentum going into UGC after his big win at Olympus where he beat The Moon twice, Lucky and Professor Pro, so keep an eye out for this rapidly improving ICs main.
Sami “DruggedFox” Muhanna has quietly been coming into his own as a Fox player, though he still hasn’t reached the peaks his Sheik did. However, DruggedFox has consistently shown up at majors such as CEO 2016, EVO 2016 and Super Smash Con 2016, giving proof that you can expect another deep run from him at UGC.
“Beat who you are expected to beat and lose to who you are expected to lose to” has been the name of the game for Colin “Colbol” Green in 2016, though his losses to ycz6 and Taj at The Big House 6 show that there are still exceptions to the rule. Nonetheless, Colbol has still managed to remain consistent at majors this year, and as long as he can get through his shaky spacies matchup, yet another solid placement will be in store for Colbol this weekend.
One of SoCal's many rising stars, Michael "Mike Haze" Pulido has consistently been placing high at nationals throughout the year. His clean Fox has yet to make top 16 at a national -- could this finally be the time Mike Haze causes a huge upset and mixes up the bracket?
Speaking of Fox mains, Britain's #1 player Aaron "Professor Pro" Thomas has quietly been putting himself on the map. Between beating The Moon at Shine 2016, placing 4th at Olympus and beating Ice last weekend at DreamHack Winter, his technical Fox has a strong chance adding another top player to his list of notable wins at UGC.
Some more players to look out for at UGC include:
- Hugo "HugS" Gonzalez: The neutral-heavy Samus main who won Battlegrounds 3 two weekends ago.
- Kelly "Kels" Smith: Illinois' defender who has come close to top 32 finishes at EVO 2016 and The Big House 6.
- Andreas "Android" Lindgren: Armada's younger brother and teammate who made his American return at The Big House 6 and finished at 25th place.
- Abhishek "Prince Abu" Prabhu: Michigan's resident Puff main who has recently seen good performances at Shine 2016, The Big House 6 and Canada Cup 2016.
- Justin "Syrox" Burroughs, David "4%" Long, Erik "Rik" Gerlitz, Charlie "AbsentPage" Mckinley, Brandon "HomeMadeWaffles" Collier and more.
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Excited for the UGC Smash Open? Tweet out your thoughts with the hashtag #UGCsmash and stay tuned for our upcoming doubles preview.
