Tournament:Apex 2015

Apex 2015
Dates	January 30th-February 1st, 2015
Venue	Garden State Convention Center
Address/City	50 Atrium Drive Somerset, New Jersey
Attendance	1,600+
Entry fees	Smash 64 singles: $10 Smash 64 doubles: $10 per person Melee singles: $15 Melee doubles: $10 per person Brawl singles: $10 Brawl doubles: $10 per person Smash Wii U singles: $15 Smash Wii U doubles: $10 per person
Pot size(s)	SSB64 singles: $2,129.00 Melee singles: $18,070.00 Brawl singles: $1,960.00 Smash Wii U singles: $15,055.00
Results
winners	SuPeRbOoMfAn 1v1  JaimeHR &  SuPeRbOoMfAn 2v2
winners	PPMD 1v1  Hungrybox &  Mew2King 2v2
winners	Ally 1v1  Nairo &  Ally 2v2
winners	ZeRo 1v1  Mew2King &  ZeRo 2v2
Staff
Organizer(s)	Team Apex, Alex Strife (stepped down)

Apex 2015 was the sixth edition of the Apex tournament series, a fighting game tournament held annually in New Jersey, which took place on January 30th-February 1st, 2015, at the Garden State Convention Center. Like previous tournaments of the series, Apex 2015 hosted a variety of fighting games, including singles and doubles events for Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. It currently stands as one of the largest Smash Bros. tournaments to date, with 1,037 entrants for Melee and 837 for Smash 4, previously holding the record for both until EVO 2015.

Apex 2015 was officially sponsored by Nintendo of America. Among the results of this sponsorship were a lounge where attendees could play a demo version of Splatoon; additionally, Nintendo and ScrewAttack provided a second livestream for the last day of the tournament designed to be clearer for newcomers to competitive Smash. An apparent side effect of the partnership was the absence of Project M from the tournament's lineup of games after its debut at Apex 2014.

Tournament summary

Despite being nearly cancelled entirely at the last minute, Apex 2015 has become well known for its multitude of storylines, particularly in Melee, where it is viewed as one of the most important tournaments in the game's history. This was also the first major tournament to hold a bracket for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

In Melee, PPMD, despite being relatively inactive in the Melee tournament scene over the previous months, was able to defeat Leffen in winners' finals and Armada in grand finals to take the Melee tournament for the second year in a row. Leffen also became the first player to defeat all of the Five Gods after beating Mew2King 2-1 in winners' quarters. aMSa managed to place 5th in the tournament using Yoshi, defeating Fly Amanita, Zhu, Lucky, SFAT, and KirbyKaze, before being eliminated by Mang0 in losers' quarters in a 2-3 set. Hax was notably disqualified from Melee singles after not showing at the venue due to a combination of hand pain and insomnia.

The tournament is also known for its Salty Suite, widely regarded as one of the most entertaining side events in competitive Smash history. During the Salty Suite, Leffen defeated Chillin 5-0 (with the loser being prohibited from using Fox's default color costume in tournament matches), the set was the source many popular Internet memes, including "My B." Afterwards, Mang0 challenged Leffen to a $1,000 match if they faced each other in bracket; the two eventually fought in winners' semis, which Leffen won 3-1.

Relocation of the venue

While the Apex series already had a reputation of hosting subpar tournaments, this year was particularly disastrous. Chaos surrounding the event began in late January 2015, as head TO Alex Strife became surrounded in controversy following numerous allegations of abuse and harassment, and evidence of extremely unprofessional behavior in business with CLASH Tournaments and other members of Team Apex. Alex Strife stepped down as the TO of Apex, which proceeded without him.

When the setup crew first entered the original venue, the Clarion Hotel Empire Meadowlands Hotel, they immediately noticed the entire ballroom and hotel was run down to a hazardous degree. Said hazards include dilapidated floors and walls, whole sections draped off with debris around the area, and an intense aroma of mold and mildew. Many on the site were already anticipating that the tournament would be canceled.

The day before the tournament was set to start, the nearby parking garage collapsed. Now without a dedicated place to park, attendees were forced to spread out all across the city for a place to park. This caused complaints by locals of the attendees disrupting daily affairs and parking in illegal spots out of necessity.

On the first day of the tournament at 8:50 a.m, the fire alarm was triggered. Witnesses have claimed a person in the hotel supposedly hung a towel on their sprinkler system and caused the sprinklers to go off, which was later backed up by the discovery of the room where the incident occurred being flooded. When the local fire marshal arrived, he declared the premises unsafe and ordered everyone to vacate immediately. Now without a venue and a potential cancellation on the horizon, every organizer and staff member spent the next several hours trying to come up with a solution. They managed to get into contact with the Garden State Convention Center, a venue roughly forty miles south-west of the original venue that was willing to take them on such short notice. Twitch would also help this transition by paying the convention center a majority of their bill. Attendees and bystanding volunteers all helped carry the equipment to the new venue, and the tournament officially began the next day with no major issues.

Official game lineup

Game	Entrants	Pot Size
Super Smash Bros. Singles	188	$2,129.00
Super Smash Bros. Doubles	41	$410.00
Super Smash Bros. Melee Singles	1,037	$18,070.00
Super Smash Bros. Melee Doubles	264	$2,640.00
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Singles	176	$1,960.00
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Doubles	41	$410.00
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Singles	837	$15,055.00
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Doubles	179	$1,790.00
Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire	98	-
Ultra Street Fighter IV	139	$3,520.00
Guilty Gear Xrd	58	$2,000.00
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3	51	$1,390.00
Killer Instinct	27	$500.00

Ruleset

Smash 64

Game settings

• Mode: STOCK
• Stocks: 5
• Team Attack: ON
• Stage Select: ON

Stages

Starter	Counterpick
Congo Jungle (doubles only)	Congo Jungle (singles only)
Hyrule Castle (doubles only)	Peach's Castle
Dream Land

2014-2015 Apex World Circuit

The 2014-2015 Apex World Circuit was a series of fourteen qualifiers for the Melee singles tournament at Apex 2015. Each qualifier featured a $1,000 prize bonus and complimentary flight and hotel for each of the winners, provided by sponsorship from Twitch.

The Apex World Circuit's qualifiers are as follows:

• Tipped Off 10 - September 20th-21st, 2014 in Doraville, Georgia
• Justice 4 - October 11th, 2014 in Scarsdale, New York
• Do You Fox Wit It? - November 15th-16th, 2014 in Oakland, California
• KTAR XI - November 22nd, 2014 in Somerset, New Jersey
• BUST - November 22nd, 2014 in Boston, Massachusetts
• The Come Up - December 6th-7th, 2014 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Super Smash Sundays 29 - December 7th, 2014 in Walnut, California
• Battle GateWay 6 - December 13th-14th, 2014 in Tokyo, Japan
• Pacific Northwest Regional - December 20th-21st, 2014 in Des Moines, Washington
• Forte 2 - December 20th-21st, 2014 in Austin, Texas
• Super Smash Sundays 30 - December 21st, 2014 in Walnut, California
• SWEET Prologue - January 3rd-4th, 2015 in Ann Arbor, Michigan
• B.E.A.S.T 5 - January 9th-11th, 2015 in Gothenburg, Sweden
• Paragon Orlando 2015 - January 17th-18th, 2015 in Orlando, Florida

The following players qualified for the final Top 48 Melee bracket by earning enough qualifier points through strong placings in the qualifying tournaments.

Player	Score	Qualifier placings
Mew2King	2280	Tipped Off 10: 2nd Do You Fox Wit It?: 13th KTAR XI: 1st The Come Up: 1st Pacific Northwest Regional: 1st Paragon Orlando 2015: 2nd
Hungrybox	1500	Tipped Off 10: 1st Forte 2: 1st Paragon Orlando 2015: 1st
Hax	1200	Justice 4: 2nd Do You Fox Wit It?: 1st KTAR XI: 2nd
Lucky	1160	Do You Fox Wit It?: 4th Super Smash Sundays 29: 2nd Super Smash Sundays 30: 1st Paragon Orlando 2015: 9th
Westballz	1120	Do You Fox Wit It?: 17th Super Smash Sundays 29: 1st Super Smash Sundays 30: 2nd Paragon Orlando 2015: 4th
Armada	1010	Justice 4: 1st B.E.A.S.T 5: 2nd Paragon Orlando 2015: 5th
KirbyKaze	850	The Come Up: 2nd SWEET Prologue: 1st
Leffen	760	B.E.A.S.T 5: 1st Paragon Orlando 2015: 3rd
HugS	750	Do You Fox Wit It?: 17th Super Smash Sundays 29: 7th Super Smash Sundays 30: 7th SWEET Prologue: 2nd Paragon Orlando 2015: 13th
SFAT	710	Do You Fox Wit It?: 3rd Pacific Northwest Regional: 2nd Paragon Orlando 2015: 9th
DJ Nintendo	660	Justice 4: 5th BUST: 1st
Axe	640	Tipped Off 10: 5th Forte 2: 2nd Paragon Orlando 2015: 7th
Silent Wolf	560	Do You Fox Wit It?: 2nd Pacific Northwest Regional: 4th
Wizzrobe	550	Tipped Off 10: 4th KTAR XI: 3rd Paragon Orlando 2015: 13th
Duck	520	The Come Up: 3rd SWEET Prologue: 3rd
Shroomed	520	Do You Fox Wit It?: 7th Pacific Northwest Regional: 3rd Paragon Orlando 2015: 7th

Results

Note that all of the first round winners matches listed in the final brackets for every event are placeholders.

Super Smash Bros. singles

(188 entrants*)
Top 16 Bracket
Grand Finals

Place	Name	Character(s)	Earnings
1st	SuPeRbOoMfAn		$852.00
2nd	tacos		$426.00
3rd	Wizzrobe		$319.00
4th	Mariguas		$212.00
5th	LD		$107.00
5th	KeroKeroppi		$107.00
7th	Dext3r		$53.00
7th	Fireblaster		$53.00
9th	Star King
9th	The Z
9th	Banze
9th	Cabelo
13th	clubbadubba
13th	Killer
13th	Revan
13th	Stranded
17th	Cobr
17th	Firo
17th	Hero Pie
17th	JaimeHR
17th	Jam
17th	Lord Narwhal
17th	Spikytorn
17th	YBOMBB
25th	Komotonoto
25th	Mandino
25th	Greginator
25th	Kabal
25th	Near
25th	Shears
25th	Snorlax
25th	Czar
33rd	KnitePhox
33rd	Bloodpeach
33rd	Herbert Von Karajan
33rd	Hipstur
33rd	Kyle Tree
33rd	Amida
33rd	Combo Blaze
33rd	Horbie
33rd	Bark Sanchez
33rd	JimmyJoe
33rd	Maliki
33rd	Shalaka
33rd	Skyfire
33rd	Smash Jesus
33rd	SotoH
33rd	MrMarbles

*[with 68 DQs, so 120 person bracket]

Super Smash Bros. doubles

(41 teams)
Top 16 Bracket
Grand Finals

Place	Name	Character(s)	Name	Character(s)	Earnings
1st	JaimeHR		SuPeRbOoMfAn		$164.00 ($82.00 each)
2nd	tacos		The Z		$102.00 ($51.00 each)
3rd	Killer		Star King		$61.00 ($30.50 each)
4th	Dext3r		Wizzrobe		$41.00 ($20.50 each)
5th	Banze		Cabelo		$21.00 ($10.50 each)
5th	Firo		Nintendude		$21.00 ($10.50 each)
7th	JimmyJoe		clubbadubba
7th	Shalaka		Mariguas
9th	Hipstur		LD
9th	Near		Hero Pie
9th	Smash Jesus		Shears
9th	YBOMBB		I LOVE SMASH

Super Smash Bros. Melee singles

(1,037 entrants*)
Top 48 Bracket
Grand Finals (part 1)
Grand Finals (part 2)

Place	Name	Character(s)	Earnings
1st	PPMD		$7,228.00
2nd	Armada		$3,614.00
3rd	Leffen		$2,711.00
4th	Mango		$1,807.00
5th	Hungrybox		$903.00
5th	aMSa		$903.00
7th	KirbyKaze		$452.00
7th	Shroomed		$452.00
9th	Nintendude
9th	PewPewU
9th	SFAT
9th	Mew2King
13th	Ice
13th	Lucky
13th	Axe
13th	The Moon
17th	Swedish Delight
17th	Cactuar
17th	Colbol
17th	Fly Amanita
17th	Silent Wolf
17th	MacD
17th	S2J
17th	Zhu
25th	Bladewise
25th	ChuDat
25th	DJ Nintendo
25th	HugS
25th	Kalamazhu
25th	Larry Lurr
25th	Slox
25th	Eddy Mexico
33rd	C!Z
33rd	Wizzrobe
33rd	Drephen
33rd	Duck
33rd	Fiction
33rd	Wobbles
33rd	KJH
33rd	Chillin
33rd	KoreanDJ
33rd	Redd
33rd	SwiftBass
33rd	Tafokints
33rd	th0rn
33rd	Hax (DQ)	n/a
33rd	Blea Gelo
33rd	Westballz
49th	Zanguzen
49th	PC Chris
49th	HomeMadeWaffles
49th	MattDotZeb
49th	Twitch
49th	Android
49th	Reno
49th	Laudandus
49th	Plup
49th	G$
49th	A Rookie
49th	Kels
49th	Bizzarro Flame
49th	Lord HDL
49th	Sung666
49th	Mayhem

*While 1,037 players had registered for the tournament, as many as 200 players were estimated to have not shown up at their matches due to the sudden venue and schedule change the Apex staff were forced to make due to condemnation of the previous venue.

Super Smash Bros. Melee doubles

(264 teams)
Top 16 Bracket
Grand Finals

Place	Name	Character(s)	Name	Character(s)	Earnings
1st	Mew2King		Hungrybox		$1,056.00 ($528.00 each)
2nd	Armada		Android		$528.00 ($264.00 each)
3rd	Ice		Leffen		$396.00 ($198.00 each)
4th	Chillin		ChuDat		$264.00 ($132.00 each)
5th	Mango		Lucky		$132.00 ($66.00 each)
5th	PewPewU		SFAT		$132.00 ($66.00 each)
7th	Alan		HomeMadeWaffles		$66.00 ($33.00 each)
7th	MacD		Fiction		$66.00 ($33.00 each)
9th	Professor Pro		Fuzzyness
9th	Shroomed (DQ)		S2J (DQ)
9th	s0ft		Flow
9th	Vish		Bladewise
13th	Colbol		Plup
13th	Gahtzu		Wizzrobe
13th	Kuja		Dev
13th	ZoSo		th0rn
17th	Codi		Animal
17th	Duck		Darkatma
17th	Axe		Tagless Kyle
17th	Taj		Wobbles
17th	Tope		Cyrain
17th	Westballz		Larry Lurr
17th	Calle W		Random-ness
17th	Redd		Tafokints
25th	Sung666		MikeHAZE
25th	Zero Omega		Fiya
25th	Ken		KoreanDJ
25th	Porkchops		Harriettheguy
25th	DJ Nintendo		The Moon
25th	Green Ranger		Bizzarro Flame
25th	Reno		Aniolas
25th	Tian		SwiftBass

Super Smash Bros. Brawl singles

(176 entrants)
Top 16 Bracket
Grand Finals

Place	Name	Character(s)	Earnings
1st	Ally		$784.00
2nd	Nairo		$392.00
3rd	MVD		$294.00
4th	Salem		$196.00
5th	V115		$98.00
5th	Vinnie		$98.00
7th	cyve		$49.00
7th	Shimitake		$49.00
9th	Chrim Foish
9th	LOE1
9th	Mr. R
9th	Player-1
13th	Alphicans
13th	Eddy
13th	K9
13th	Toronto Joe
17th	Darkflame
17th	Seibrik
17th	Berserker Swordsman
17th	8BitMan
17th	Stridez
17th	Firefly
17th	Gadiel_VaStar
17th	Seagull Joe
25th	Greward
25th	Ralph Cecil
25th	Pane
25th	Kero
25th	Shaky
25th	Astro
25th	Death Arcana
25th	Bill

Super Smash Bros. Brawl doubles

(41 teams)
Top 16 Bracket

Place	Name	Character(s)	Name	Character(s)	Earnings
1st	Nairo		Ally		$164.00 ($82.00 each)
2nd	Salem		Mew2King		$102.00 ($51.00 each)
3rd	Seibrik		MVD		$61.00 ($30.50 each)
4th	MJG		FOW		$41.00 ($20.50 each)
5th	ChuDat		Chibo		$21.00 ($10.50 each)
5th	Shaky		V115		$21.00 ($10.50 each)
7th	Player-1		DRN
7th	Zinoto		LOE1
9th	Firefly		Alphicans
9th	Ralph Cecil		Mister Eric
9th	ScaryLB59		GDX
9th	Xaltis		8BitMan
13th	Loota		Gardex
13th	JAKAT		Chrim Foish
13th	Tane		Rockmix
13th	Marz		Death Arcana

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U singles

(837 entrants*)
Top 16 Bracket
Grand Finals

Place	Name	Character(s)	Earnings
1st	ZeRo		$6,022.00
2nd	Dabuz		$3,011.00
3rd	Mr. R		$2,258.00
4th	6WX		$1,506.00
5th	Nietono		$753.00
5th	Mew2King		$753.00
7th	Abadango		$376.00
7th	MVD		$376.00
9th	AeroLink
9th	NAKAT
9th	Nairo
9th	aMSa
13th	Ally
13th	Jtails
13th	False
13th	NinjaLink
17th	Player-1
17th	Shaky
17th	Choco
17th	Fliphop
17th	Xzax
17th	J.Miller
17th	Vinnie
17th	FOW
25th	K9
25th	falln
25th	Tyrant
25th	ChuDat
25th	Phuzix
25th	Rich Brown
25th	Zinoto
25th	Denti
33rd	Shimitake
33rd	BengalsRZ
33rd	Akiro
33rd	8BitMan
33rd	Fatality
33rd	Angel Cortes
33rd	Plup
33rd	gsmVoiD
33rd	Ribs
33rd	Will
33rd	Larry Lurr
33rd	cyve
33rd	StaticManny
33rd	Nick Riddle
33rd	Dao
33rd	Myran
49th	Zucco
49th	Tweek
49th	True Blue
49th	Chrim Foish
49th	SuperGirlKels
49th	Pink Fresh
49th	Master Raven
49th	Bladewise
49th	Angbad
49th	Strong Bad
49th	Koolaid
49th	MikeKirby
49th	Tenuhe
49th	Akashic
49th	Sky
49th	Seagull Joe

*[with 103 DQs, so 734 person bracket]

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U doubles

(179 teams)
Top 32 Bracket
Grand Finals

Place	Name	Character(s)	Name	Character(s)	Earnings
1st	Mew2King		ZeRo		$716.00 ($358.00 each)
2nd	MJG		FOW		$358.00 ($179.00 each)
3rd	Mr. R		cyve		$269.00 ($134.50 each)
4th	Nietono		Choco		$179.00 ($89.50 each)
5th	Ally		Boss		$89.00 ($44.50 each)
5th	Nakat		False		$89.00 ($44.50 each)
7th	Tyrant		Nairo		$45 ($22.50 each)
7th	Dabuz		Denti		$45 ($22.50 each)
9th	ScaryLB59		6WX
9th	PB&J		Dark Wizzy
9th	StaticManny		Phuzix
9th	Zucco		Koolaid
13th	Wizzrobe		Plup
13th	Zinoto		Xatic
13th	Mr. ConCon		Acid
13th	aMSa		Abadango
17th	Sai		Day?!
17th	SuperGirlKels		CrazyLittleJay
17th	Sync		Asa
17th	Tearbear		Xzax
17th	Nick Riddle		Shaky
17th	Widl		Gardex
17th	Punishment Divine		KirinBlaze
17th	Vinnie		Will
25th	Junebug		Seagull Joe
25th	ChuDat		Larry Lurr
25th	Shugo		Nicole
25th	Ken		KDJ
25th	Meekspeedy		Audio
25th	Vex Kasrani		Thunderst0rm
25th	Chibo		MVD
25th	True Blue		Kipa

Side events

Salty Suite

The Salty Suite was run by VGBootCamp during the after hours of Saturday, and featured various money matches and other exhibition sets.

Winner	Character(s)	Loser	Character(s)	Score	Amount
Bizzarro Flame		Eikelmann*		3-0	$100
Westballz		Colbol		3-0
Axe		Silent Wolf		3-1
PC Chris		Ken		3-2
Leffen		Chillin		5-0	$100 + rights to Fox's default costume

*Eikelmann was a replacement for Kage, who had become very ill prior to the tournament.

External links

• SmashBoards thread
• Results thread
• Official website
• 2014-2015 Apex World Circuit announcement
• Official trailer
• Official rulebook