Tournament:Apex: Difference between revisions

After a year-long absence, the Apex series returned in 2012 with [[Apex 2012]], where it became an Evo qualifier event, leading to massive ''Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3'' and ''Super Street Fighter IV'' tournaments. Apex 2012 hosted the largest ''Brawl'' tournament of all time (with 400 entrants), as well as one of the largest ''Melee'' tournaments (with 318 entrants), and the largest [[All Brawl]] tournament. It had the most attendance of foreign players in a United States tournament since [[Zero Challenge 3]]. It was also the first Apex to feature qualifiers, with a "Road to Apex" circuit featuring ''Melee'' and ''Brawl'' tournaments across the globe that gave players seeding points, which has been continued with every Apex after it.

In 2013, [[Apex 2013]] was hosted, featuring the third-largest ''Brawl'' tournament of all time (with 338 entrants), the fourth-largest ''Melee'' tournament of all time (with 336 entrants), and the second largest ''Smash 64'' tournament in the United States (with 96 entrants).

In 2014, [[Apex 2014]] was hosted, featuring the third-largest ''Melee'' tournament of all time (with 629 entrants), the second-largest ''Brawl'' tournament of all time (with 370 entrants), and the largest ''Smash 64'' tournament in the United States (with 157 entrants). It also included the ''Brawl'' mod ''[[Project M]]'' for the first time, becoming the largest ''Project M'' tournament of all time (with 382 entrants).

In 2015, the sixth tournament, [[Apex 2015]], was hosted, and it featured the largest ''Melee'' tournament of all time to date with 1,037 entrants, making it the first individual game event with over 1000 enterants. ''Smash 4'' was also introduced to the series with around 700 to 800 entrants for its first tournament. However, due to [http://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/2t1b0e/the_truth_about_apex_tournament_host_alex_strife/ numerous] [http://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/2t1r1w/its_time_for_me_to_share_my_side_of_the_alex/ allegations] of [http://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/2t1cq1/the_truth_about_alex_strife_part_2_nyani_edition/ abuse] and [http://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/2t1oj0/well_today_is_differentlets_talk_apex/ harassment], Alex Strife stepped down as the TO of Apex 2015, which proceeded without him. While the tournament was also sponsored by [[Nintendo|Nintendo of America]], it was further marred by complications during the event. On day one of the tournament, the original venue was found to be unsafe and lacking the required permits, and was shut down by the local police and fire department. The tournament and all the equipment was then relocated to a new venue, secured with the help of [[Twitch]], and the entire first day of Apex was virtually lost. The previously three-day event was condensed down to two days, leading to many delays in scheduling, and several hundred entrants were disqualified from the bracket after being unable to show up to the new venue.

The catastrophes of Apex 2015, combined with criticism of previous Apex events, as well as Alex Strife's departure from the community, have stained the reputation of the tournament series; the Apex tournaments have consistently been viewed as being poorly-run and managed by inexperienced TOs. While [[Apex 2016]] was hosted by a new team of tournament organizers, it attracted much diminished interest compared to the previous years despite being a three-day event. ''Melee'' singles shrunk to a regional-scale event, with only players from the Northeast in attendance, while only a handful of top ''Smash 4'' players travelled to the tournament. Both events were eclipsed in entrants by Texas' [[Low Tier City 4]] the same weekend.