The competitive Smash Bros. community has been on the rise in recent years, and info revealed today about EVO – the largest fighting game tournament in the world – reflects that fact.
The tournament’s Twitter account announced that Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS (commonly called Smash 4) had registration numbers surpassing 2,000 entrants, making it second in registration only to Street Fighter V, which is always the main event. Meanwhile, tournament organizer Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar announced the lineup for the Sunday finals spots, and fellow Smash title Super Smash Bros. Melee is second to last in appearance – again, only SFV surpassing it to take the primest of prime time slots. Mr. Wizard also mentioned that Melee was only a few hundred entries behind Smash 4 in entries, making EVO 2016 by far the largest Smash 4 and Melee tournament of all time.
While it might seem odd for Melee to supercede the bigger Smash 4 for the Sunday spot (where the Top 8 brackets of Mortal Kombat XL, Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator, Melee and SFV will be hosted in Las Vegas’s Mandalay Bay Resort), Melee does tend to bring in higher viewership than its more modern companion, and also held the Sunday spot last year. The debate as to which game should get higher spots is up to contention between the two communities, but it would appear that Mr. Wizard has opted once more to give it to Melee. Smash 4 die-hards can at best hope for a Saturday evening showcase, while Melee fans sit happy knowing their prominence at the tournament.
Regardless of feelings on the matter, EVO is sure to bring hype matches and top players,so be sure to check it out from July 15th-17th!
Written by Amelia Fruzzetti
A writer and Nintendo fan based in Seattle, Washington. When not working for NinWire, she can be found eating pasta, writing stories, and wondering about when Mother 3 is finally going to get an official localization.
