Tournament:Apex: Difference between revisions

Apex took an eighteen month absence after Apex 2010 and no tournament was held in 2011, as Alex Strife wanted to increase the scale of the tournament to become an international spectacle; furthermore, he wanted to move the tournament from winter to summer. The Apex series returned in 2012 with [[Apex 2012]], where it became an Evo qualifier event, leading to massive ''{{s|wikipedia|Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3}}'' and ''{{s|wikipedia|Super Street Fighter IV}}'' tournaments. Apex 2012 featured an explosive growth in entrants compared to Apex 2010, hosting both the largest ''Brawl'' tournament of all time with 400 entrants, and what was then one of the largest ''Melee'' tournaments with 318 entrants. It also had the greatest 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 then-second-largest ''Melee'' tournament of all time with 336 entrants, and the then-largest ''Smash 64'' tournament of all time with 96 entrants.

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

In 2015, the sixth tournament, [[Apex 2015]], was hosted, and it featured the then-largest ''Melee'' tournament of all time, 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. The tournament was also notably sponsored by [[Nintendo|Nintendo of America]], who allowed players to playtest the then-unreleased ''{{s|wikipedia|Splatoon}}''.

Apex 2015, however, quickly became embroiled with controversy. The first was the hasty exclusion of ''Project M'' from the tournament's lineup after featuring the largest ''Project M'' tournament of the time in Apex 2014, a decision that was reportedly demanded by Nintendo. Furthermore, 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, making it the first time the tournament proceeded without him; the allegations of sexual harassment from Alex Strife also began to spread to how the tournaments themselves were run under him, with a number of players claiming that previous Apex events were poorly run and managed by inexperienced and sometimes rude TOs, as well as allegations that a number of setups at Apex used pirated versions of the game. Apex 2015 was later marred by a number of complications on its first day, as the original venue was found to be unsafe for occupation, as well as lacking a number of required permits for a public event, leading to the local police and fire departments to cancel the event due to safety concerns. The tournament and all equipment were then relocated to a new venue, secured with the help of [[Twitch]], but the entirety of the first day of Apex 2016 was lost. The three-day event was condensed down to two days, leading to many delays and complications in scheduling; the sudden change in venues also led to hundreds of entrants being disqualified from various brackets for the various after being unable to show up to the new venue, with the ''Melee'' bracket losing upwards of 200 players and the ''Smash 4'' bracket losing upwards of 100 players.

 

The catastrophes and controversies of Apex 2015, combined with criticism of previous Apex events and Alex Strife's departure from the community, have negatively impacted the Apex name. While [[Apex 2016]] was hosted by a new team of tournament organizers, it attracted considerably less 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, and only a handful of top ''Smash 4'' players travelled to the tournament; furthermore, after years of hosting among the largest ''Brawl'' tournaments, ''Brawl'' was dropped from Apex 2016 due to a lack of entrants. Despite the tepid attendance of Apex 2016, several players who attended the event praised the event and how it was run compared to previous Apex tournaments.