Editing Midwest

The '''Midwest''' is a ''Smash'' region located in the United States. It is by far the largest ''Smash'' region in the United States in terms of size, encompassing fourteen different states. Due to this, the region has sometimes been split into four additional regions: '''Great Lakes East''', which includes Kentucky, Ohio, and west Pennsylvania, primarily the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, and sometimes includes West Virginia; '''Great Lakes West''', which includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin; '''Heartland North''', which includes Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota; and '''Heartland South''', which includes Iowa, Nebraska, and northern Kansas and Missouri, primarily the Greater St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas. Tournament activity in the Midwest is the biggest in the Chicago and Detroit metropolitan areas, although metropolitan areas such as Cleveland and Madison also have notable scenes.

Historically, the Midwest was a strong yet relatively secluded region, with many notable top players during ''Melee''{{'}}s Golden Age such as {{Sm|Darkrain}}, {{Sm|Drephen}}, and {{Sm|Vidjogamer}} and several tournament series such as the long-running {{Trn|Show Me Your Moves}} series, but the scene's overall size being less than that of the other major American ''Smash'' scenes at that time. This began changing around the early 2010s with the rise of {{Trn|The Big House|series}} series in Michigan, which eventually grew to one of ''Melee''{{'}}s premier events. Many other big tournament series began appearing as the decade progressed, including {{Trn|Frostbite|tournament series}} in Michigan, {{Trn|Midwest Mayhem|series}} in Illinois, and {{Trn|Smash 'N' Splash|series}} in Illinois and Wisconsin, and many FGC events such as {{Trn|Combo Breaker|series}} and {{Trn|Frosty Faustings|series}} in Illinois began seeing greater entrants count for their ''Smash'' events, all the while many more Midwest players began making their mark on competitive play, such as {{Sm|Ginger}}, {{Sm|KJH}}, {{Sm|Lunchables}}, {{Sm|Ned}}, and {{Sm|Zinoto}}. At its peak, the Midwest's tournament activity rivaled some of the US's biggest regions.

Following the pandemic, however, the Midwest's impact on the tournament scene began diminishing, in part due to the conclusion or hiatus of many big tournament series such as Frostbite, The Big House, and Smash 'N' Splash, while newer tournament series such as {{Trn|Riptide|series}} were unable to properly fill that void. As such, the Midwest scene in ''Ultimate'' infamously failed to see a single major between {{Trn|The Big House 10}} in October 2022 and {{Trn|Riptide 2024}} in September 2024 despite having held three supermajors in just the game's first year. Nevertheless, the Midwest retains a slew of strong talent that have found great success in competitive play, including {{Sm|ApolloKage}}, {{Sm|Onin}}, and {{Sm|Ossify}}.

|{{Sm|Cosmos|USA}} (Ohio)||{{Head|Corrin|g=SSB4|s=20px}}{{Head|PyraMythra|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|Inkling|g=SSBU|s=20px}}||{{GameIcon|SSB4}} [[PGR v5]]: 7th<br>{{GameIcon|SSBU}} [[OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse]]: 11th||Originally from [[Texas]] but better known for his performances in Ohio. Moved to [[Mexico]] in 2024.

|{{Sm|Darkatma|USA}} (Missouri)||{{Head|Sheik|g=SSBM|s=20px}}{{Head|Peach|g=SSBM|s=20px}}{{Head|Fox|g=SSBM|s=20px}}||{{GameIcon|SSBM}} [[SSBMRank 2013]]: 46th||Originally from [[NorCal]], he resided in Missouri until moving back to NorCal in 2016.

|{{Sm|Kalamazhu|USA}} (Michigan)||{{Head|Peach|g=SSBM|s=20px}}||{{GameIcon|SSBM}} [[SSBMRank 2015]]: 57th||Moved to [[NorCal]] in 2015 and was last ranked while in Michigan that year.

|{{Sm|Lux|USA}} (Kansas)||{{Head|Meta Knight|g=SSBB|s=20px}}||{{GameIcon|SSBB}} [[SSBBRank 2014]]: 61st||Known as DeLux in 2014. He has since moved to [[SoCal]] and remains active in competitive ''Brawl''.

|{{Sm|Toast|USA}} (Ohio)||{{Head|Young Link|g=SSBU|s=20px}}||{{GameIcon|SSBU}} [[UltRank 2022]]: 67th||Originally from [[North Carolina]] and went to school in Ohio during the height of his competitive activity.

|{{Sm|Tweek|USA}} (Ohio)||{{Head|Cloud|g=SSB4|s=20px}}{{Head|Bayonetta|g=SSB4|s=20px}}{{Head|Wario|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|Wolf|g=SSBU|s=20px}}||{{GameIcon|SSB4}} [[PGR v5]]: 2nd<br>{{GameIcon|SSBU}} [[Spring 2019 PGRU]]: 2nd||Originally from [[New Jersey]] and lived in Ohio during ''Smash 4'' and the first half of 2019 before moving back to New Jersey.

|{{Sm|AlphaZealot|USA}} (Ohio)||{{Head|Peach|g=SSBM|s=20px}}{{Head|Diddy Kong|g=SSBB|s=20px}}{{Head|Donkey Kong|g=SSBB|s=20px}}||Tournament organizer for the ''Brawl'' MLG Pro Circuit and on [[AllIsBrawl]]. Owner of [[SmashBoards]] from 2012 to 2023.

|{{Sm|Foghorn|USA}} (Iowa)||||Notable tournament director in Iowa in the late-2000s. Better known on the wiki as Clarinet Hawk.

|{{Sm|LSDX|USA}} (Illinois)||{{Head|Roy|g=SSBM|s=20px}}{{PMHead|Snake|s=20px}}||Previously ranked as a HM on the [[PMRank 2019]], however his ranking was rescinded after being banned for sexual misconduct.

*[[Philadelphia Power Rankings]]