Tournament:Smash World Tour 2022

Smash World Tour 2022
Info
Founded	2022
Region	Global
Format	Double Elimination
Staff
Organizer(s)	VGBootCamp
Website(s)	Smash World Tour website (archive)

The Smash World Tour 2022 was a cancelled Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament circuit organized by the team behind VGBootCamp. The circuit began on March 12th, 2022 and concluded on November 20th, 2022. The championships were going to be held on December 9th-11th, 2022, with a Last Chance Qualifier held at the event. There was a pot prize starting at $250,000 ($125,000 for each game).

According to the event organizers, due to interference from Nintendo the Smash World Tour 2022 was cancelled on November 29th, 2022, weeks before the finale was set to take place.

Format

Format and Point System Explained

Official ruleset

Rulebook (Archive)

These rules were for the championships. Tournament organizers could run their own rules or stage lists.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Game settings

• Stocks: 4
• Timer: 8:00
• Handicap: Off
• Damage Ratio: x1.0
• Items: Off
• Pause: Off
• Team Attack: On

Stages

Starter	Counterpick
Yoshi's Story	Pokémon Stadium
Fountain of Dreams
Battlefield
Final Destination
Dream Land

Additional rules

• Stage Clause: A player may not pick any stage they previously won on during the set.
• Ledge Grab Limit: 60 per game, 15 in a 1-stock tiebreaker
• Wobbling and the Freeze glitch are not permitted.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Game settings

• Stocks: 3
• Timer: 7:00
• Team Attack: On
• Launch Rate: x1.0
• Items: Off and None
• FS Meter: Off
• Damage Handicap: Off
• Custom Balance: Off
• Spirits: Off
• Pause: Off
• Stage Selection: Loser's Pick
• Stage Hazards: Off
• Stage Morph: Off
• Underdog Boost: Off
• Score Display: Off
• Show Damage: Yes

Options

• Radar: Small
• Echo Fighters: Separate
• Custom Balance: Off
• Mii Fighters are permitted with any combination of specials.
• Language: To be specified by the TO based on the local region of the Tournament.

Stages

Ultimate's stage list is subject to change.

Starter	Counterpick
Battlefield	Final Destination*
Kalos Pokémon League	Hollow Bastion
Pokémon Stadium 2	Small Battlefield
Smashville
Town and City

*Ω form Battlefield may be substituted for Final Destination at the request of either player - unless one of the players is using Steve in which case the only alternative that can be used for Final Destination (should one player not want to use default Final Destination) is Ω form Wuhu Island.

Behind-the-scenes and cancellation

On November 29th, 2022, Smash World Tour released a document detailing actions behind-the-scenes that eventually led to its cancellation.

Prior to the Smash World Tour 2021 Championships, members of VGBootCamp, the SWT organizers, were invited to a meeting with Nintendo and its legal team. During the meeting, Nintendo discussed how they had no plans on shutting down the championship, but were in fact open to the possibility of having the Smash World Tour licensed by them in the future, noting that their partnership with Panda was not exclusive. Discussions continued throughout the first few months of 2022, however during this time SWT organizers learned that many other organizers were hesitant on joining the circuit due to statements from Panda's CEO Alan Bunney, who had told the organizers that SWT was not coming back. Despite Nintendo reassuring them otherwise, Bunney continued to sow doubt on the circuit's longevity and went against Nintendo's words by both preventing other organizers from joining the SWT and pressuring tournaments on the SWT to drop out of the circuit, stating that tournaments that do will not be allowed to join the Panda Cup. As a result, several tournaments decided not to take part in the SWT circuit as, from what Bunney had told the organizers, they feared legal action from Nintendo. Eventually, due to the lack of events who wanted to participate in the Panda Cup as well as failure to secure broadcasting rights from Beyond the Summit, the Panda Cup lifted their exclusivity rule.

During this time, communications between Nintendo and SWT started to slow down. After SWT ran out of time to get an official license for the year's circuit, Nintendo recommended the group to apply for a license solely for the championship tournament at the end of the year, in hopes that it could lead to a full license for the 2023 iteration. However SWT saw little communication from Nintendo in the following months, which led SWT to push back the championship's announcement until August, after which Nintendo apologized to them for the slow communication. The following month, Nintendo told them that while nothing has been decided yet in regards to their license, Bunney's conduct and the behind-the-scenes drama with the Panda Cup were coming under evaluation. Despite SWT requesting for one, Nintendo declined to have its decision makers discuss the license with the SWT organizers.

SWT's last few discussions with Nintendo came in November, a month before the championship. Nintendo confirmed that they were still figuring out the license while noting that people they were discussing with have advocated for the SWT, community, and grassroots organizers; despite this, Nintendo still declined to have their decision makers discuss with the SWT organizers. The following and final conversation came with a verdict: Nintendo would not license both the championship and any tournament activity from the SWT in 2023, with Nintendo giving little reason as to why, and according to the SWT organizers Nintendo also refused to allow SWT to run the circuit without a license, effectively changing their view a year prior and forcing the team to cancel the championship.

The shutdown cost VGBootCamp hundreds of thousands of dollars and led VGBootCamp to release a statement on their uncertainty for the organization's future, as well as the cancellations of Glitch: Duel of Fates and Double Down 2023.

In response, Nintendo released a response on Kotaku, stating that although a partnership with the Smash World Tour did not come to fruition, they did not request the cancellation of the 2022 circuit nor the cancellation of the championship, as they knew that it would have negatively impacted those who had already qualified. Smash World Tour released a follow-up statement holding onto their claim that Nintendo sent to them in writing that they would not grant their license to run the Smash World Tour 2022 Championships or any SWT activity in 2023. This was without them applying for a 2023 license at all, and despite applying for the championships' license seven months prior in April, Nintendo wanted them to secure a license well in advance of any public announcement. When asked if they were able to operate without a license like past years, Nintendo stated that those "times are over."

Reactions

The announcement led to an outcry from the community, particularly those who had qualified for the tournament. Many players once again accused Nintendo for hurting Smash's grassroots scene and criticized the company for continuing their out-of-touch behaviors with the community. Esports organizations such as beastcoast and Paragon released statements urging Nintendo to reverse their decision.

Many others also criticized Panda, more specifically Bunney, for using the Panda Cup's partnership with Nintendo to undermine and shut down the Smash World Tour in order to promote the Panda Cup and intimidate other tournaments to exclusively join the Panda Cup. This has led to calls to boycott Panda and the finale, and many players in the Panda Cup Finale or the Last Chance Qualifier have since dropped out. However, there is no evidence Panda's CEO had any influence on Nintendo not granting a license for the Smash World Tour.

In response to the championship's cancellation, Beyond the Summit reopened Mainstage 2022 registration for a day and gave free entry to SWT participants who had yet to register for Mainstage. All entry fees paid during this time were donated directly to SWT.

List of tournaments

Melee

Platinum and Gold tournaments

Event	Date	Tier	Attendance	Winner
Ultra Hard	April 1st-3rd	Platinum	24	Amida
Pound 2022	April 22nd-24th	Platinum	284	Zain
Battle Arena Melbourne 12	May 13th-15th	Gold	94	Sock
Battle of BC 4	June 10th-12th	Gold	281	Leffen
Get On My Level 2022	July 1st-3rd	Platinum	493	Hungrybox
Double Down 2022	July 8th-10th	Platinum	368	iBDW
Phantom 2022	July 16th-17th	Platinum	188	iBDW
Fête 2	July 29th-31st	Platinum	330	aMSa
Smash Factor 9	July 29th-31st	Platinum	100	Wizzrobe
Super Smash Con 2022	August 11th-14th	Platinum	713	Mango
Battle GateWay 35	August 28th	Gold	34	Inngenn
Uprising 2022	September 2nd-4th	Gold	16	Sala
TRETA 2022	September 10th-11th	Gold	12	McS33
Zenkoku Taikai	September 24th-25th	Gold	45	Chape
Lost Tech City 2022	September 30th-October 2nd	Gold	153	Mango
First Attack 2022	October 7th-9th	Platinum	15	Excel Zero
DreamHack Rotterdam 2022	October 14th-16th	Gold	217	Leffen
Viva la Smash	October 22nd-23rd	Gold	70	Mew2King
Battle GateWay 37	November 5th-6th	Platinum	48	Inngenn
Saving Mr. Lombardi 3	November 12th	Gold	153	KoDoRiN
HFLAN 2022: Golden Melee Edition	November 11th-13th	Gold	167	Trif
Apex 2022	November 18th-20th	Gold	461	aMSa

Super Silver and Silver 4 tournaments

Super Silver and Silver 4 tournaments
Event	Date	Tier	Attendance	Winner
The Nightclub S2E14 @ OS NYC	March 16th	Silver 4	76	JoJo
DSEA Smash Spring 2022	March 19th	Silver 4	56	Aaron
Domino Effect 20	March 19th	Silver 4	93	FatGoku
Minnesota Monthly Melee #2	March 19th	Silver 4	77	Ben
CT Gamercon 5	March 19th-20th	Silver 4	94	Skerzo
RCADIA SMASH 2	March 24th-27th	Silver 4	60	Meruem
Arts'Cade Open Cup 1	March 26th-27th	Silver 4	59	Jah Ridin'
The Nightclub VIP: iBDW	April 3rd	Silver 4	118	Aklo
Starstruck	April 9th	Silver 4	66	Mot$
Mass Madness 35	April 9th	Silver 4	72	Wally
Guildhouse Pre-Genesis 8 Tournament	April 14th	Silver 4	80	Hungrybox
The Nightclub S3E3 @ OS NYC	April 20th	Silver 4	74	2saint
Emerald City X	April 30th	Silver 4	149	Spark
Arcamini X	April 30th	Silver 4	49	Jah Ridin'
The Nightclub S3E5 @ OS NYC	May 4th	Silver 4	96	2saint
The Function 2	May 7th	Super Silver	201	Ginger
Welcome to Guam	May 14th	Silver 4	64	Zasa
Lawless Melee #8	May 14th	Silver 4	64	S2J
Lan ETS 2022	May 13th-15th	Silver 4	66	Lunar Dusk
The Nightclub S3E6 @ OS NYC	May 18th	Silver 4	66	2saint
Creed!	May 21st	Silver 4	84	Bbatts
The Nightclub S3E7 @ OS NYC	May 25th	Silver 4	77	2saint
Domino Effect 21	May 28th	Silver 4	92	Aura
Lift-Off	May 29th	Silver 4	65	Mad Tyro
The Nightclub S3E8 @ OS NYC	June 1st	Silver 4	77	2saint
Lawless Melee #10	June 4th	Silver 4	75	S2J
Hold That L #7	June 4th	Super Silver	218	Ben
Athina	June 4th	Silver 4	64	Professor Pro
The Nightclub S3E9 @ OS NYC	June 8th	Silver 4	80	Chem
EMUSC Summer of Love	June 11th	Silver 4	77	essy
Samus' Lair	June 18th	Silver 4	77	raoul
The Nightclub S3E10 @ OS NYC	June 15th	Silver 4	75	Jflex
The Nightclub S3E11 @ OS NYC	June 22nd	Silver 4	81	Jflex
MMOM 2022	June 25th	Silver 4	102	2saint
The Nightclub S3E12 @ OS NYC	June 29th	Silver 4	80	2saint
The Nightclub S4E1 @ OS NYC	July 6th	Silver 4	78	Bbatts
Summer Crusade	July 16th	Silver 4	69	Rocket
Invincible VI	July 16th	Silver 4	138	100 Grand
The Trail Invitational 2	July 16th	Silver 4	76	2saint
Warehouse War 2	July 16th	Silver 4	133	Colbol
The Nightclub S4E2 @ OS NYC	July 20th	Silver 4	77	TheSWOOPER
Minnesota Monthly Melee #6	July 23rd-24th	Silver 4	109	Zuppy
The Nightclub S4E3 @ OS NYC	July 27th	Silver 4	70	2saint
Smash @ Pat's 50: The Patio	July 30th-31st	Silver 4	87	Slowking
Wavedash 2022	August 6th-7th	Super Silver	350	Hungrybox
Sunshined 2	August 13th	Silver 4	75	Zamu
Kings of Hali 5: Return of the King	August 14th-16th	Silver 4	111	Secrets
The Grand FinALe	August 18th	Silver 4	76	essy
Lawless Melee #15	August 20th	Silver 4	70	Franz
We Need Some Space 3	August 20th	Silver 4	132	Fiction
Run, Don't Walk	August 27th	Silver 4	90	Zamu
The Nightclub S4E7 @ OS NYC	August 31st	Silver 4	69	Rishi
The Nightclub S4E9 @ OS NYC	September 14th	Silver 4	88	Rishi
Domino Effect 22	September 17th	Silver 4	130	Aura
Frame 11	September 17th	Silver 4	75	Jmook
South Coast Regionals: Reloaded	September 17th	Silver 4	49	Frenzy
Midgard 2022	September 17th-18th	Silver 4	48	Pipsqueak
Minnesota Monthly Melee #8	September 18th	Silver 4	65