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.[1] Among the results of this sponsorship were a lounge where attendees could play a demo version of Splatoon;[2] additionally, Nintendo and ScrewAttack provided a second livestream for the last day of the tournament designed to be clearer for newcomers to competitive Smash.[3] 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[edit]
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.[4] 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[edit]
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,[5][6][7][8] 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.[9]
Official game lineup[edit]
| 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[edit]
Smash 64[edit]
Game settings[edit]
- Mode: STOCK
- Stocks: 5
- Team Attack: ON
- Stage Select: ON
Stages[edit]
| Starter | Counterpick |
|---|---|
| Congo Jungle (doubles only) | Congo Jungle (singles only) |
| Hyrule Castle (doubles only) | Peach's Castle |
| Dream Land |
2014-2015 Apex World Circuit[edit]
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 |
1780 | Tipped Off 10: 2nd Do You Fox Wit It?: 13th KTAR XI: 1st (Split; points revoked) 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 |
| 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 |
| Hax |
850 | Justice 4: 2nd Do You Fox Wit It?: 1st KTAR XI: 2nd (Split; points revoked) |
| 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[edit]
Note that all of the first round winners matches listed in the final brackets for every event are placeholders.
Super Smash Bros. singles[edit]
(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 |
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| 9th | The Z |
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| 9th |  Banze |
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| 9th | Cabelo |
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| 13th | clubbadubba |
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| 13th | Killer |
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| 13th | Revan |
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| 13th | Stranded |
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| 17th | Cobr |
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| 17th | Firo |
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| 17th | Hero Pie |
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| 17th | JaimeHR |
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| 17th |  Jam |
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| 17th | Lord Narwhal |
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| 17th | Spikytorn |
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| 17th | YBOMBB |
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| 25th | Komotonoto |
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| 25th | Mandino |
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| 25th | Greginator |
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| 25th | Kabal |
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| 25th | Near |
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| 25th | Shears |
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| 25th | Snorlax |
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| 25th | Czar |
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| 33rd | KnitePhox |
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| 33rd | Bloodpeach |
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| 33rd | Herbert Von Karajan |
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| 33rd | Hipstur |
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| 33rd | Kyle Tree |
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| 33rd | Amida |
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| 33rd | Combo Blaze |
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| 33rd | Horbie |
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| 33rd | Bark Sanchez |
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| 33rd | JimmyJoe |
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| 33rd | Maliki |
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| 33rd | Shalaka |
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| 33rd | Skyfire |
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| 33rd | Smash Jesus |
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| 33rd | SotoH |
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| 33rd | MrMarbles |
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*[with 68 DQs, so 120 person bracket]
Super Smash Bros. doubles[edit]
(41 teams)
Top 16 Bracket
Grand Finals
| Place | Name | Character(s) | Name | Character(s) | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | JaimeHR |
|
SuPeRbOoMfAn |
|
$164.00 ($82.00 each) |
| 2nd |