The Southwest is a Smash region located in the United States. It includes the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and the southern tip of Nevada, while the rest of Nevada, Colorado, and Utah, and are often, but not always, grouped in as well. The region is bordered by Texas, the Mid-South state Oklahoma, and the Midwest states Kansas and Nebraska to the east; SoCal to the west; the Rocky Mountain states Wyoming and Idaho to the north; and the Northwest Mexican states Chihuahua and Sonora to the south. Within the region, the most active Smash communities are found in the Phoenix and Las Vegas metropolitan areas.

The Southwest is most well known as the home of EVO, an annual fighting game tournament in Las Vegas that has featured different Smash titles, spanning the years 2007 and 2008, as well as from 2013 to 2019; many of the largest Smash tournaments in history, including the largest Smash tournament in history, were EVO events hosted in Las Vegas. The region has also hosted other fighting game events, including MLG and the LVL UP EXPO series, as well as grassroots regionals and majors such as 2GGT: ZeRo Saga, Ascension, Double Down 2022, DVDA, Ludwig Smash Invitational, Sandstorm, and Smash Camp.

The region has also been the home of many globally recognized players, most notably Axe, BassMage, FOW, and Wobbles.

Smashers

See also: Category:Arizona smashers, Category:Colorado smashers, Category:Nevada smashers, Category:New Mexico smashers, Category:Utah smashers

The following players are currently or were previously ranked. Their highest placement is listed.

Globally ranked players

Tag Character(s) Best placement Notes
  Axe (Arizona)     MPGR 2019: 4th
  BassMage (Arizona)     OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse: 31st
  Blue (Arizona)     PMRank 2023: 9th
  Ca$ino Wolf (Arizona)     PMRank 2019: 44th
  Chronos (Colorado)     UltRank 2022: 93rd
  Cloudburst (Arizona)     PMRank 2023: 13th
  CPU0 (Arizona)     SSBMRank 2023: 41st
  DOGG (Colorado)     2016 64 League Rankings: 62nd
  DTan (Colorado)     2017 64 League Rankings: 26th
  emptyW (New Mexico)     2021-2022 Smash 64 Power Rankings: 39th
  Filthy Casual (New Mexico)     PMRank 2018: 18th
  Fishbait (Colorado)           SSBMRank 2023: 89th
  Fizzwiggle (Colorado)     MPGR 2019: HM
  Forward (Arizona)     RetroSSBMRank 2007: HM
  FOW (Nevada)        SSBBRank 2014: 25th
  PGR v1: 12th
  Freean (Arizona)     2021-2022 Smash 64 Power Rankings: 35th
  ilovebagelz (Arizona)     PMRank 2019: 29th
  Jackie Tran (Arizona)     SSBMRank 2015: HM
  JK (Nevada)     PGR v4: 37th Banned from competitive play following alleged attempt at vehicle homicide and death threats.
  K9sbruce (Arizona)      SSBBRank 2014: 82nd Moved to SoCal for Smash 4.
  Kacey (Colorado)     SSBMRank 2024: 70th
  KiraFlax (Arizona)       SSBBRank 2014: 75th
  Luhtie (Arizona)     PGR v4: Area 51
  Logos (Utah)     SSBMRank 2022: 95th
  Madrush (Colorado)     2018 64 League Rankings: 41st
  Medz (Arizona)      MPGR 2019: 32nd
  MFA (Nevada)     UltRank 2022: 101st
  MVD (Nevada)     OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse: 20th Originally from Florida and moved to Nevada around 2020.
  Rocket (Arizona)     SSBMRank 2023: 89th Originally from Chile, but also resides in Arizona.
  Saiki (Arizona)      OrionRank 2016: 76th
  Scend (Utah)      OrionRank 2018: 47th
  OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse: 37th
  Schythed (Arizona)     MPGR 2019: 96th
  SK92 (Nevada)     SSBBRank 2014: 88th
  Spark (Arizona)     SSBMRank 2023: 24th Moved to Arizona in 2022.
  SS (Arizona)      OrionRank 2016: 65th
  Strawberrow (New Mexico)     2023 SSBBRank: 11th
  Stroder (Arizona)          PGR v4: Area 51
  OrionRank 2019: 27th
  Syrox (Colorado)     SSBMRank 2017: 33rd
  Tai (Arizona)    SSBMRank 2013: 71st
  Taj (Arizona)      RetroSSBMRank 2007: HM
  varun (Colorado)     OrionRank Mid-Year 2022: 115th Originally from NorCal.
  ven (Nevada)     OrionRank Ultimate: Six Months In: 83rd
  Wobbles (Arizona)    RetroSSBMRank 2012: 6th
  Wfycat (Arizona)     PMRank 2019: 43rd
  X (Utah)     SSBBRank 2014: 72nd
  Z (Nevada)       SSBBRank 2014: 51st

Nationally ranked players

Tag Character(s) Best placement Notes
  Dakpo (Utah)     OrionRank North America Top 200: 82nd
  Frawg (Nevada)     LumiRank 2023 North America: 134th
  rydra (Colorado)     LumiRank 2023 North America: 151st
  Shoe (Colorado)     LumiRank 2023 North America: 71st
  SilentRain (Arizona)     OrionRank North America Top 200: 195th
  Silver (Arizona)     OrionRank North America Top 200: 178th
  Smirk (Colorado)     OrionRank 2022 North America: 135th
  Sticccy (Utah)     OrionRank 2022 North America: 187th
  VaLoR (Utah)     OrionRank North America Top 200: 161st

Other notable players

Tag Character(s) Notes
  Bear (Nevada)   Prominent Las Vegas tournament organizer, having organized Smash at EVO and GENESIS.
  EazyFreezie (Nevada) Co-founder of OrionRank and one of the organizers behind LumiRank.
  Galaxia (Arizona)    Prominent tournament organizer in Arizona.
  Jim Jam Flim Flam (Arizona/Colorado)   One of the few notable Ness players in competitive Melee.
  Lycan (Nevada)    Known as one of the best Wolf players in the United States.
  Nicknyte (Arizona)   Known as one of the best Pichu players in the world while active.
  V3ctorman (Arizona)   Once known as one of the best Yoshi players in the United States.

Tournaments

See also: Category:Arizona tournaments, Category:Colorado tournaments, Category:Nevada tournaments, Category:New Mexico tournaments, Category:Utah tournaments

Notable tournament series

Tournament series that have achieved recognition outside their local region.

Tournament Games Type Status
Ascension (Arizona)    Monthly Ongoing
Crown (Utah)    Annual On hiatus
DVDA (Nevada)   Bi-weekly Discontinued
EVO (Nevada)      Annual Discontinued
Flatiron (Colorado)    Annual Discontinued
GameTyrant Expo (Utah)       Annual Discontinued
LVL UP EXPO (Nevada)     Annual Ongoing
Operation Desert Smash (Arizona)   Annual Discontinued
Rise (Arizona)   Annual Discontinued
Smash Camp (Arizona)      Annual Ongoing
Salty Juan's (New Mexico)     Annual Discontinued

Notable tournaments

Tournaments that featured at least one game at a superregional level.

Tournament Date Entrants Supermajor Major Superregional Other
MLG Las Vegas 2006 (Nevada) November 18th-19th, 2006 ???  
EVO 2009 (Nevada) July 17th-19th, 2009 128  
EVO 2013 (Nevada) July 12th-14th, 2013 709  
EVO 2014 (Nevada) July 11th-13th, 2014 970  
Sandstorm (Arizona) April 18th-19th, 2015 231+     
EVO 2015 (Nevada) July 17th-19th, 2015 3,284   
Operation Desert Smash (Arizona) August 29th, 2015 31  
LVL UP EXPO 2016 (Nevada) May 14th-15th, 2016 200  
EVO 2016 (Nevada) July 15th-17th, 2016 4,497+   
Operation Desert Smash II (Arizona) September 9th-11th, 2016 59  
Salty Juan's 3 (New Mexico) October 8th-9th, 2016 152    
Rewired 2016 (Arizona) November 19th-21st, 2016 398     
2GGT: ZeRo Saga December 16th-18th, 2016 367  
Flatiron 2 (Colorado) April 22nd, 2017 239  
Runback 2017 (Arizona) May 20th-21st, 2017 236    
EVO 2017 (Nevada) July 14th-16th, 2017 2,693   
Salty Juan's 4: Southwest Battle Royale (New Mexico) October 14th-15th, 2017 207     
DreamHack Denver 2017 (Colorado) October 20th-22nd, 2017 708    
GameTyrant Expo 2017 (Utah) September 29th-October 1st, 2017 603    
Smash 4 Boot Camp (Nevada) December 7th-10th, 2017 16  
Smash Masters League: Battle for Vegas (Nevada) March 24th-25th, 2018 154  
Flatiron 3 (Colorado) April 21st, 2018 431    
Runback 2018 (Arizona) July 14th-15th, 2018 158    
Operation Desert Smash 3 (Arizona) July 13th-15th, 2018 54  
EVO 2018 (Nevada) August 3rd-5th, 2018 2,515   
GameTyrant Expo 2018 (Utah) November 2nd-4th, 2018 314      
Smash Camp 2019 (Arizona) January 5th-6th 2019 247    
EVO 2019 (Nevada) August 2nd-4th, 2019 3,534  
Smash Camp: End of Summer (Arizona) September 14th-15th, 2019 267     
Super Ascension (Arizona) December 14th-15th, 2019 307     
LVL UP EXPO 2022 (Nevada) February 25th-27th, 2022 413    
Crown 2 (Utah) June 18th-19th, 2022 445    
Double Down 2022 (Nevada) July 8th-10th, 2022 1,337    
Ludwig Smash Invitational (Nevada) October 21st-23rd, 2022 32   
Mile High Club (Colorado) February 25th, 2023 124  
LVL UP EXPO 2023 (Nevada) February 17th-19th, 2023 485    
Smash Camp 2023 (Arizona) April 15th-16th, 2023 210    
Crown the Third (Utah) June 3rd-4th, 2023 443    
LVL UP EXPO 2024 (Nevada) April 26th-28th, 2024 410  
The Bigger Mile High Club (Colorado) April 20th-21st, 2024 136  

Largest singles events

Rank Tournament Date Game Attendance Winner Character(s)
1 EVO 2019 August 2nd-4th, 2019   3,534   MkLeo  
2 EVO 2016 July 15th-17th, 2016   2,662   Ally  
3 EVO 2016 July 15th-17th, 2016   2,372   Hungrybox  
4 EVO 2015 July 17th-19th, 2015   1,926   ZeRo   
5 EVO 2015 July 17th-19th, 2015   1,869   Armada   
6 EVO 2017 July 14th-16th, 2017   1,508   Salem  
7 EVO 2017 July 14th-16th, 2017   1,428   Armada  
8 EVO 2018 August 3rd-5th, 2018   1,358   Lima  
9 EVO 2018 August 3rd-5th, 2018   1,353   Leffen  
10 Double Down 2022 July 8th-10th, 2022   987   ProtoBanham   

See also