Tournament:Smash Masters League

Smash Masters League, or SML, was a Super Smash Bros. Melee and circuit of tournaments held throughout the world in 2018. It was a partnership between ESA Smash and eSports Arena in an effort to make the first Super Smash Bros. global circuit. It was announced on February 11th, 2018, and is the spiritual successor to the 2GGC series of tournaments.

On October 4th, 2018, ESA Smash announced that they were halting Smash Masters League due to "unforseeable circumstances." Although they announced a special event for those who had qualified, the event never came to fruition.

Format
Smash Masters League hosted tournaments for both Super Smash Bros. Melee and around the world. Players competed for points to qualify for the finale, Smash Worlds, where the top 32 players in each game played for a $50,000 prize pool for each game; Smash 4 was subject to change to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. ESA Smash-partnered local events also earned points towards the leaderboard.

Four categories of tournaments were in Smash Masters League: eSports Arena events, national tournaments, regional tournaments, and local tournaments. Playing at ESA events, national tournaments, and regional tournaments had opportunities to earn leaderboard points. ESA events offer the most points, and the winners of them auto-qualify for Smash Worlds. Local communities made Top 8 rankings, though they did not count for points. Instead, a double-elimination final between the top 8 players near the end of the year would qualify for regional tournament-level points.

Global leaderboard

 * * Winning ESA events auto-qualifies for Smash Worlds. However, 2nd place at ESA events does not qualify for Smash Worlds if the winner is already auto-qualified.

Local leaderboards

 * Local leaderboards are unique to individual regions.
 * Each local has its own local leaderboard, where points cannot transfer to the global leaderboard or other local leaderboards.
 * Near the end of the year, the top 8 players on the local leaderboard will play in a final. This is an invitational where points will be added to the global leaderboard at a regional level. If any of the top 8 cannot attend, the next available players will take their place.
 * Tiebreakers are up to ESA's discretion.

Super Smash Bros. Melee standings

 * * Auto-qualifying from winning an ESA event
 * Only the Top 32 will play in Smash Worlds.

standings

 * * Auto-qualifying from winning an ESA event
 * Only the Top 32 will play in Smash Worlds.