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Tournament:Apex

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Apex
Apex2016.png
Info
Founded 2009
Region United States
Format Double elimination
Super Smash Bros. winners USA Sensei (2010)
Canada SuPeRbOoMfAn (2012, 2015)
Japan Kikoushi (2013)
USA Isai (2014)
USA Stranded (2016)
USA KD3 (2022)
Super Smash Bros. Melee winners USA Jman (2009)
USA Hungrybox (2010)
Sweden Armada (2012, 2013)
USA PPMD (2014, 2015)
USA Mew2King (2016)
Canada aMSa (2022)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl winners Canada Ally (2009, 2015)
USA DEHF (2010)
Japan Otori (2012)
USA Salem (2013)
USA Nairo (2014)
USA Cody (2022)
PM Icon.png winners Sweden Armada (2014)
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U winners Chile ZeRo (2015)
USA Dabuz (2016)
USA reflection (2022)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate winners Japan Miya (2022)
Most successful player(s) Sweden Armada (Melee 2012, Melee 2013, and Project M 2014)
Website(s) http://apex-series.com/

Apex is a tournament series held in New Jersey, that has attracted worldwide attention. The series was founded by Alex Strife, and throughout most of the Brawl era was renowned as the pinnacle Smash tournament series, with it routinely featuring the largest and most stacked Brawl tournament each year and Melee tournaments that were only exceeded by each year's EVO, while additionally having set several attendance records in its time. The series was poised to remain the Smash community's biggest tournament brand going into Smash 4, but after severe controversies with its management and its 2015 iteration the brand was irreparably tarnished, and 2016 was smaller than the previous events. Following Apex 2016, the series went under hiatus until 2020, where they announced their return under new management. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Apex 2020 was ultimately postponed to 2022.

History

The Apex series started in 2009 with Apex 2009, mainly featuring Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. Melee, as well as other side games, including the Brawl mod Brawl+.

In 2010, Apex 2010 was hosted, once again featuring Brawl and Melee, as well as brackets for Smash 64, Brawl+, and Brawl-.

Apex took an eighteen month absence after Apex 2010 and no tournament was held in 2011, as Alex Strife wanted to increase the scale of the tournament to become an international spectacle; furthermore, he wanted to move the tournament from summer to winter. The Apex series returned in 2012 with Apex 2012, where it became an Evo 2012 qualifier event, leading to massive Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Super Street Fighter IV tournaments. Apex 2012 featured an explosive growth in entrants compared to Apex 2010, hosting both the largest Brawl tournament of all time with 400 entrants, and what was then one of the largest Melee tournaments with 318 entrants. It also had the greatest attendance of foreign players in a United States tournament since Zero Challenge 3. It was also the first Apex to feature qualifiers, with a "Road to Apex" circuit featuring Melee and Brawl tournaments across the globe that gave players seeding points, which has been continued with every Apex after it.

In 2013, Apex 2013 was hosted, featuring the third-largest Brawl tournament of all time with 338 entrants, the then-second-largest Melee tournament of all time with 336 entrants, and the then-largest Smash 64 tournament of all time with 96 entrants.

In 2014, Apex 2014 was hosted, featuring the then-second-largest Melee tournament of all time with 629 entrants, the second-largest Brawl tournament of all time with 370 entrants, and the then-largest Smash 64 tournament in the United States with 157 entrants. It also included the Brawl mod Project M for the first time, and was the largest Project M tournament at the time, with 382 entrants.

In 2015, the sixth tournament, Apex 2015, was hosted, and it featured the then-largest Melee tournament of all time, with 1,037 entrants, making it the first individual game event with over 1000 enterants. Smash 4 was also introduced to the series, with around 700 to 800 entrants for its first tournament. The tournament was also notably sponsored by Nintendo of America, who allowed players to playtest the then-unreleased Splatoon.

Apex 2015, however, quickly became embroiled with controversy. The first was the hasty exclusion of Project M from the tournament's lineup after featuring the largest Project M tournament of the time in Apex 2014, a decision that was reportedly demanded by Nintendo. Furthermore, due to numerous allegations of abuse and harassment, Alex Strife stepped down as the TO of Apex 2015, making it the first time the tournament proceeded without him; the allegations of sexual harassment from Alex Strife also began to spread to how the tournaments themselves were run under him, with a number of players claiming that previous Apex events were poorly run and managed by inexperienced and sometimes rude TOs, as well as allegations that a number of setups at Apex used pirated versions of the game. Apex 2015 was later marred by a number of complications on its first day, as the original venue was found to be unsafe for occupation, as well as lacking a number of required permits for a public event, leading to the local police and fire departments to cancel the event due to safety concerns. The tournament and all equipment were then relocated to a new venue, secured with the help of Twitch, but the entirety of the first day of Apex 2015 was lost. The three-day event was condensed down to two days, leading to many delays and complications in scheduling; the sudden change in venues also led to hundreds of entrants being disqualified from various brackets for the various games after being unable to show up to the new venue, with the Melee bracket losing upwards of 200 players and the Smash 4 bracket losing upwards of 100 players.

The catastrophes and controversies of Apex 2015, combined with criticism of previous Apex events and Alex Strife's departure from the community, have negatively impacted the Apex name. While Apex 2016 was hosted by a new team of tournament organizers, it attracted considerably less interest compared to the previous years, despite being a three-day event. Melee singles shrunk to a regional-scale event, with only players from the Northeast in attendance, and only a handful of top Smash 4 players travelled to the tournament; furthermore, after years of hosting among the largest Brawl tournaments, Brawl was dropped from Apex 2016 due to a lack of entrants. Despite the tepid attendance of Apex 2016, several players who attended the event praised the event and how it was run compared to previous Apex tournaments.

Even though Apex 2016 was generally praised by its attendants, the series became dormant. While the people behind the brand have insisted that Apex 2016 wouldn't be the last Apex tournament and that they were working on bringing the next iteration together, nothing came to fruition for over 4 years until Apex 2020 was announced as part of the Smash World Tour 2020. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Apex 2020 was postponed until 2022, to be once again part of Smash World Tour 2022.

List of tournaments

Event Date Attendance Games
Apex 2009 May 9th-10th, 2009 200+ Super Smash Bros. MeleeSuper Smash Bros. Brawl
Apex 2010 August 6th-8th, 2010 400+ Super Smash Bros.Super Smash Bros. MeleeSuper Smash Bros. Brawl
Apex 2012 January 6th-8th, 2012 1,000+ Super Smash Bros.Super Smash Bros. MeleeSuper Smash Bros. Brawl
Apex 2013 January 11th-13th, 2013 500+ Super Smash Bros.Super Smash Bros. MeleeSuper Smash Bros. BrawlPM Icon.png
Apex 2014 January 17th-19th, 2014 700+ Super Smash Bros.Super Smash Bros. MeleeSuper Smash Bros. BrawlPM Icon.png
Apex 2015 January 30th-February 1st, 2015 1,600+ Super Smash Bros.Super Smash Bros. MeleeSuper Smash Bros. BrawlSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U
Apex 2016 June 17th-19th, 2016 500+ Super Smash Bros.Super Smash Bros. MeleeSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U
Apex 2022 November 18th-20th, 2022 1087 Super Smash Bros.Super Smash Bros. MeleeSuper Smash Bros. BrawlSuper Smash Bros. for Wii USuper Smash Bros. Ultimate

Champions

Super Smash Bros. Smash 64 Winners Super Smash Bros.

Year Event Entrants Player Tag Character(s) Runner-up Character(s)
2010 Apex 2010 22 Will USA Sensei Pikachu's head icon from SSB. USA Nintendude C. Falcon's head icon from SSB.
2012 Apex 2012 64 Daniel Hoyt Canada SuPeRbOoMfAn C. Falcon's head icon from SSB.Fox's head icon from SSB. USA Isai Link's head icon from SSB.
2013 Apex 2013 96 unknown name Japan Kikoushi Kirby's head icon from SSB. USA Isai Mario's head icon from SSB.
2014 Apex 2014 157 Joel Alvarado USA Isai Jigglypuff's head icon from SSB. Japan Moyashi Kirby's head icon from SSB.Pikachu's head icon from SSB.
2015 Apex 2015 188 Daniel Hoyt Canada SuPeRbOoMfAn C. Falcon's head icon from SSB.Pikachu's head icon from SSB. USA tacos Yoshi's head icon from SSB.C. Falcon's head icon from SSB.Kirby's head icon from SSB.Jigglypuff's head icon from SSB.
2016 Apex 2016 54 unknown name USA Stranded Pikachu's head icon from SSB.C. Falcon's head icon from SSB.Kirby's head icon from SSB. USA Star King Kirby's head icon from SSB.Fox's head icon from SSB.
2022 Apex 2022 59 unknown name USA KD3 C. Falcon's head icon from SSB.Jigglypuff's head icon from SSB.Pikachu's head icon from SSB. USA Lowww Pikachu's head icon from SSB.C. Falcon's head icon from SSB.Fox's head icon from SSB.

Super Smash Bros. Melee Melee Winners Super Smash Bros. Melee

Year Event Entrants Player Tag Character(s) Runner-up Character(s)
2009 Apex 2009* 52 Jesus Fernandez USA Jman FoxHeadSSBM.png USA Mew2King MarthHeadSSBM.pngSheikHeadSSBM.pngFoxHeadSSBM.png
2010 Apex 2010 220 Juan Debiedma USA Hungrybox JigglypuffHeadSSBM.png Sweden Armada PeachHeadSSBM.png
2012 Apex 2012 318 Adam Lindgren Sweden Armada PeachHeadSSBM.pngYoungLinkHeadSSBM.png USA Hungrybox JigglypuffHeadSSBM.png
2013 Apex 2013 336 Adam Lindgren Sweden Armada PeachHeadSSBM.pngYoungLinkHeadSSBM.png USA Dr. PeePee FalcoHeadSSBM.pngMarthHeadSSBM.png
2014 Apex 2014 629 Kevin Nanney USA Dr. PeePee FalcoHeadSSBM.pngMarthHeadSSBM.png USA Mew2King MarthHeadSSBM.pngSheikHeadSSBM.pngFoxHeadSSBM.png
2015 Apex 2015 1,037 Kevin Nanney USA PPMD MarthHeadSSBM.pngFalcoHeadSSBM.png Sweden Armada FoxHeadSSBM.pngPeachHeadSSBM.png
2016 Apex 2016 159 Jason Zimmerman USA Mew2King SheikHeadSSBM.pngMarthHeadSSBM.png USA Mafia PeachHeadSSBM.png
2022 Apex 2022 461 Masaya Chikamoto Canada aMSa YoshiHeadSSBM.png USA Zain MarthHeadSSBM.png

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Brawl Winners Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Year Event Entrants Player Tag Character(s) Runner-up Character(s)
2009 Apex 2009 210 Elliot Carroza-Oyarce Canada Ally SnakeHeadSSBB.png USA Mew2King MetaKnightHeadSSBB.png
2010 Apex 2010 269 Larry Holland USA DEHF FalcoHeadSSBB.png Japan Brood OlimarHeadSSBB.png
2012 Apex 2012 400 Ishikawa Kenta Japan Otori MetaKnightHeadSSBB.png Japan Nietono OlimarHeadSSBB.png
2013 Apex 2013 338 Saleem Young USA Salem ZeroSuitSamusHeadSSBB.png USA Mew2King MetaKnightHeadSSBB.png
2014 Apex 2014 370 Nairoby Quezada USA Nairo MetaKnightHeadSSBB.png Chile ZeRo MetaKnightHeadSSBB.png
2015 Apex 2015 176 Elliot Carroza-Oyarce Canada Ally SnakeHeadSSBB.png USA Nairo MetaKnightHeadSSBB.png
2022 Apex 2022 54 Cody William USA Cody MetaKnightHeadSSBB.pngToonLinkHeadSSBB.png USA Hoenn MetaKnightHeadSSBB.pngIceClimbersHeadSSBB.png

SSBB Icon.png Brawl+ Winners SSBB Icon.png

Year Event Entrants Player Tag Character(s) Runner-up Character(s)
2009 Apex 2009 36 Daniel Rodriguez USA ChuDat IceClimbersHeadSSBB.pngKirbyHeadSSBB.pngCaptainFalconHeadSSBB.pngIvysaurHeadSSBB.png USA Yes! FoxHeadSSBB.pngSnakeHeadSSBB.png
2010 Apex 2010 25 Elliot Carroza-Oyarce Canada Ally SnakeHeadSSBB.png Canada HolyNightmare ROBHeadSSBB.png

SSBB Icon.png Brawl- Winners SSBB Icon.png

Year Event Entrants Player Tag Character(s) Runner-up Character(s)
2010 Apex 2010 49 Nairoby Quezada USA Nairo PikachuHeadSSBB.png USA Zucco WolfHeadSSBB.pngNessHeadSSBB.png

PM Icon.png Project M Winners PM Icon.png

Year Event Entrants Player Tag Character(s) Runner-up Character(s)
2013 Apex 2013* 16 Luis Torres USA TheReflexWonder WarioHeadSSBB.png USA Wizzrobe SonicHeadSSBB.png
2014 Apex 2014 382 Adam Lindgren Sweden Armada PitHeadSSBB.png USA Mew2King FoxHeadSSBB.pngMarthHeadSSBB.pngMewtwoHeadPM.png

*Project M was a side-event at Apex 2013.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Smash 4 Winners Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Year Event Entrants Player Tag Character(s) Runner-up Character(s)
2015 Apex 2015 837 Gonzalo Barrios Chile ZeRo Diddy Kong's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. USA Dabuz Rosalina and Luma's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.Olimar's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
2016 Apex 2016 309 Samuel Buzby USA Dabuz Rosalina and Luma's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. USA VoiD Sheik's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.Fox's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
2022 Apex 2022 58 unknown name USA reflection BayonettaHeadSSB4-U.png USA Joshathan Gamer Diddy Kong's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Ultimate Winners Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Year Event Entrants Player Tag Character(s) Runner-up Character(s)
2022 Apex 2022 607 unknown name Japan Miya MrGame&WatchHeadSSBU.png USA Jakal WolfHeadSSBU.png

External links