Apex (tournament)

For South Korean Overwatch tournament series, see Overwatch Apex.

Apex is an annual esports tournament held in New Jersey that is focused on Super Smash Bros. The event's first incarnation was in 2009 with Jesus "Jman" Fernandez as the champion of Super Smash Bros. Melee and Elliot "Ally" Carroza-Oyarce as champion of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Each year the event grew with more competitors entering. Apex 2014 garnered 629 entrants and was the 2nd largest tournament for Melee at the time after EVO 2013. Though the tournament initially focused on Brawl, the feature game has since switched to Melee due to its popularity.^[1] In 2010, an event for Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64 was added. In 2014, the fan modification of Brawl, Project M was added for singles only. Project M has recently been removed as an official event out copyright concerns under Nintendo of America^[2] sponsorship and Third Party relations.

Apex

Game	Super Smash Bros.
Founded	2009
Founder	Johnathan Lugo (resigned)
Country	United States
Most recent champion(s)	SSBM: Masaya "aMSa" Chikamoto SSBWU: reflection SSB64: KD3 SSBB: Cody “Cody” William PM: Adam "Armada" Lindgren (discontinued after 2014)
Most titles	Adam "Armada" Lindgren (3 titles) (SSBM: 2012, 2013) (PM: 2014)
Official website	Apex

Apex 2015 was officially sponsored by Nintendo of America^[2] and was the largest tournament for Super Smash Bros. in history until it was surpassed by EVO 2015.^[3][4] Apex has been described as the "Super Bowl of 'Super Smash Bros.'" by Ben Lindbergh of sports website Grantland.^[5]

History

Apex was founded in 2009 by Johnathan Lugo, known by his alias "Alex Strife", as a Super Smash Bros. tournament. The tournament also hosts side events which include fighting games such as Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom, Tekken, and others.

2009

Apex 2009 was hosted at the Clarion Hotel Palmer Inn in Princeton, New Jersey. The tournament featured Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Melee, and Brawl+. Melee singles was won by Jman and doubles was won by Mew2King and Jman. Brawl singles was won by Ally and doubles was won by Ally and Mew2King. Brawl+ singles was won by ChuDat. In Brawl crews, MD/VA won.

Super Smash Bros. Melee Singles (52 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Jesus Fernandez	Jman	Fox
2nd	Jason Zimmerman	Mew2King	Marth, Sheik, Fox
3rd	Daniel Rodriguez	ChuDat	Ice Climbers
4th	Aziz Al-Yami	Hax	Captain Falcon
5th	Roustane Benzeguir	Kage	Ganondorf
5th	Charles Meighen	Cactuar	Fox
7th	Bobby Scarnewman	Scar	Captain Falcon
7th		Hazz	Fox

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Singles (210 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Elliot Carroza-Oyarce	Ally	Snake
2nd	Jason Zimmerman	Mew2King	Meta Knight
3rd		lain	Ice Climbers
4th	Jason Bates	Anti	Meta Knight
5th	Trevor Hirschen	Atomsk	King Dedede
5th	Kelvin Quezada	Ksizzle	Meta Knight
7th	Wyatt Beekman	ADHD	Diddy Kong
7th	Antoine Sledge	Anther	Pikachu

2010

Apex 2010 was hosted in New Brunswick, New Jersey at Rutgers University–New Brunswick's College Avenue Student Center. It featured Melee, Brawl, and Super Smash Bros. 64. It also featured the Brawl mods Brawl+ and Brawl-.

Super Smash Bros. Melee Singles (220 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Juan Debiedma	Hungrybox	Jigglypuff
2nd	Adam Lindgren	Armada	Peach
3rd	Jason Zimmerman	Mew2King	Sheik, Marth, Fox
4th	Kevin Nanney	Dr. PeePee	Falco
5th	Jeffrey Williamson	Axe	Pikachu
5th	Robert Wright	Wobbles	Ice Climbers
7th	Jesus Fernandez	Jman	Fox
7th	Julian Zhu	Zhu	Falco

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Singles (269 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Larry Holland	DEHF	Falco
2nd		Brood	Olimar
3rd	Jason Zimmerman	Mew2King	Meta Knight
4th	Lee Martin	Lee Martin	Lucario, Meta Knight
5th	Elliot Carroza-Oyarce	Ally	Snake
5th		lain	Ice Climbers
7th	Tetsuhisa Kosaka	RAIN	Falco, Meta Knight
7th	Trevor Hirschen	Atomsk	King Dedede, Ice Climbers, Wario

Super Smash Bros. Singles (22 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Will Engel	Sensei	Fox
2nd	Michael Brancato	Nintendude	Captain Falcon
3rd	Joe Franks	m3gav01t	Captain Falcon
4th	Jerry Liu	valoem	Pikachu

2012

After a one-year hiatus, Apex 2012 returned to New Brunswick, New Jersey at Rutgers University's College Avenue Student Center. It featured Melee, Brawl, and 64. Melee Singles was won by Armada and doubles by Armada and Mew2King. Brawl was won by Otori in singles and Otori and Kakera in doubles. Smash 64 was won by SuPeRbOoMfAn and doubles was won by Isai and Nintendude. In Melee USA v the World, USA won by a massive 8 stocks. Brawl was set to have a crew battle, but it was cancelled due to time constraints. The tournament was criticized because Brawl did not have enough setups, causing delay in pool matches and necessitating the cancellation of the crew battle.

Super Smash Bros. Melee Singles (318 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Adam Lindgren	Armada	Peach, Young Link
2nd	Juan Debiedma	Hungrybox	Jigglypuff
3rd	Joseph Marquez	Mango	Falco, Fox
4th	Javier Ruiz	Javi	Fox
5th	Kevin Nanney	Dr. PeePee	Falco
5th	David MacDonald	KirbyKaze	Sheik
7th	Aziz Al-Yami	Hax	Captain Falcon
7th	DaJuan McDaniel	Shroomed	Dr. Mario

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Singles (400 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Ishikawa Kenta	Otori	Meta Knight
2nd	Yuta Uejima	Nietono	Olimar
3rd	Nairoby Quezada	Nairo	Meta Knight
4th	Eric Lew	ESAM	Ice Climbers, Pikachu
5th	Elliot Carroza-Oyarce	Ally	Snake
5th	Ishikawa Shota	Kakera	Meta Knight
7th	Timothy Campos	UltimateRazer	Snake
7th	Wyatt Beekman	ADHD	Diddy Kong

Super Smash Bros. Singles (64 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Daniel Hoyt	SuPeRbOoMfAn	Captain Falcon, Fox
2nd	Isai Alvarado	Isai	Link
3rd	Jaime Rodriguez	JaimeHR	Captain Falcon, Fox, Samus
4th		Kefit	Pikachu
5th	Michael Brancato	Nintendude	Pikachu, Mario
5th	Will Engel	Sensei	Pikachu, Fox
7th	Joe Franks	m3gav01t	Captain Falcon
7th	Julius Vissing	King Funk	Captain Falcon

2013

Apex 2013 was again hosted in the College Avenue Student Center at Rutgers University featuring Melee, Brawl, and 64. It also featured USA v The World crew battles for both Melee and Brawl. In addition, Melee had The Links v The Stinks crew battle, in which a team of seven Links challenged team of six well known low tier mains and were joined by "The Final Boss," Kage, to a crew battle.

Super Smash Bros. Melee Singles (336 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Adam Lindgren	Armada	Peach, Young Link
2nd	Kevin Nanney	Dr. PeePee	Falco, Marth
3rd	Jason Zimmerman	CT.EMP|Mew2King	Marth, Sheik
4th	Joseph Marquez	Mango	Fox, Falco
5th	Juan Debiedma	Hungrybox	Jigglypuff
5th	DaJuan McDaniel	Shroomed	Dr. Mario
7th	Aziz Al-Yami	Hax	Captain Falcon
7th	David MacDonald	KirbyKaze	Sheik

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Singles (338 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Saleem Young	Salem	Zero Suit Samus
2nd	Jason Zimmerman	CT.EMP|Mew2King	Meta Knight
3rd	Ishikawa Kenta	Otori	Meta Knight
4th	Nairoby Quezada	Nairo	Meta Knight
5th	Jason Bates	Anti	Meta Knight
5th	Takeshi Gomota	Mikeneko	Marth
7th	Samuel Buzby	Dabuz	Olimar
7th	Ramin Delshad	Mr. R	Marth

Super Smash Bros. Singles (96 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Nico Watanabe	Kikoushi	Kirby
2nd	Isai Alvarado	Isai	Mario
3rd	Daniel Hoyt	SuPeRbOoMfAn	Captain Falcon, Fox, Pikachu
4th	Akio Tamowo	Ruoka Dancho	Captain Falcon, Luigi
5th	Jaime Rodriguez	JaimeHR	Captain Falcon, Fox
6th	Hugo Morgan	Sensei	Pikachu, Fox, Captain Falcon
7th	Dennis Keith	Kefit	Pikachu
8th		Nangoku	Ness

2014

Apex 2014 was hosted at the DoubleTree hotel in Somerset, New Jersey featuring Melee, Project M, Brawl, and 64.

Super Smash Bros. Melee Singles (629 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Kevin Nanney	VGBC|Dr. PeePee	Falco, Marth
2nd	Jason Zimmerman	CT.EMP|Mew2King	Sheik, Marth, Fox
3rd	Joseph Marquez	MIOM|Mango	Falco, Fox
4th	William Hjelte	Leffen	Fox
5th	Juan Debiedma	CT|Hungrybox	Jigglypuff
5th	Colin Green	Colbol	Fox
7th	Joshua Davis	SS|s0ft	Jigglypuff
7th	Shephard Lima	Fiction	Fox

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Singles (370 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Nairoby Quezada	Nairo	Meta Knight
2nd	Gonzalo Barrios	CT|ZeRo	Meta Knight
3rd	Eric Lew	ESAM	Pikachu, Ice Climbers
4th	Jason Zimmerman	CT.EMP|Mew2King	Meta Knight
5th	Elliot Carroza-Oyarce	Ally	Meta Knight, Snake
5th	Wyatt Beekman	ADHD	Diddy Kong
7th	Eric Legesse	Tyrant	Meta Knight
7th	Vincent Cannino	Vinnie	Ice Climbers

Project M Singles (382 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Adam Lindgren	CT.EMP|Armada	Pit
2nd	Jason Zimmerman	CT.EMP|Mew2King	Fox, Marth, Mewtwo
3rd	Larry Holland	DEHF	Falco, Fox
4th	Brandon Nunnenkamp	Rolex	Snake
5th	Jeremy Westfahl	Fly Amanita	King Dedede
5th	Alexander Maguire	Sethlon	Roy
7th	Elliot Carroza-Oyarce	Ally	Ike
7th	Rob Dickson	Oracle	R.O.B.

Super Smash Bros. Singles (157 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Isai Alvarado	CT|Isai	Jigglypuff
2nd		Moyashi	Pikachu, Kirby
3rd	Daniel Hoyt	SuPeRbOoMfAn	Captain Falcon, Fox, Pikachu, Kirby
4th	Arturo Hernández	Mariguas	Captain Falcon, Pikachu
5th	Eduardo Tovar	tacos	Captain Falcon, Yoshi, Kirby
5th	Justin Hallett	CT|Wizzrobe	Yoshi
7th		Ruoka Dancho	Captain Falcon, Kirby
7th	Jaime Rodriguez	JaimeHR	Fox, Captain Falcon, Samus

2015

Apex 2015, which ran from January 30 to February 1, included Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. 64, Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Ultra Street Fighter IV, Guilty Gear Xrd, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Killer Instinct. It was initially hosted at Clarion Hotel Empire Meadowlands in Secaucus, New Jersey and featured the first Melee tournament with over a thousand entrants with 1037 players participating.^[6] Super Smash Bros. for Wii U included over 800 entrants.

The tournament was officially sponsored by Nintendo and included a playable demo of Splatoon.^[7] Apex dropped Brawl fan mod Project M from its 2015 lineup and all of its qualifiers.^[8] Streaming for fangame, Super Smash Bros. Crusade, has also been denied.^[9] Lugo alleged he received death threats for the dropping of Project M from some members of the community.^[10][11] In January 2015, Lugo announced he was stepping down from Apex after multiple media reports alleging sexual harassment by tournament attendees.^[12][13]

After a false fire alarm occurred on the morning of January 30, fire marshals discovered that parts of the hotel were in violation of safety codes. The marshals removed access to the ballrooms, which had a partially collapsed roof.^[14] The main tournament was delayed for a day and was moved 40 miles away to the Garden State Convention Center in Somerset, New Jersey.^[15]

Super Smash Bros. Melee Singles (1,037 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Kevin Nanney	EG|PPMD	Falco, Marth
2nd	Adam Lindgren	[A]|Armada	Peach, Fox
3rd	William Hjelte	Leffen	Fox
4th	Joseph Marquez	C9|Mango	Fox, Falco
5th	Masaya Chikamoto	VGBC|aMSa	Yoshi
5th	Juan Debiedma	Liquid|Hungrybox	Jigglypuff
7th	David MacDonald	EMG|KirbyKaze	Sheik
7th	DaJuan McDaniel	Shroomed	Sheik

Super Smash Bros. For Wii U Singles (837 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Gonzalo Barrios	ZeRo	Diddy Kong
2nd	Samuel Buzby	PL.XFIRE|Dabuz	Olimar, Rosalina and Luma
3rd	Ramin Delshad	LLL|Mr. R	Sheik
4th	Wesley Alexander	6WX	Sonic
5th	Yuta Uejima	DtN|Nietono	Sheik
5th	Jason Zimmerman	PL.MVG|Mew2King	Diddy Kong
7th	Yuta Kawamura	Abadango	Pac-Man
7th	Jestise Negron	AO.CT|MVD	Duck Hunt, Little Mac

Super Smash Bros. Singles (188 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Daniel Hoyt	TEG|SuPeRbOoMfAn	Captain Falcon, Pikachu
2nd	Eduardo Tovar	tacos	Yoshi, Kirby, Captain Falcon, Jigglypuff
3rd	Justin Hallett	COG|Wizzrobe	Yoshi
4th	Arturo Hernández	Mariguas	Pikachu, Kirby, Captain Falcon
5th	Abacus Zilch	TR3G|LD	Fox
5th		KeroKeroppi	Kirby, Pikachu
7th	Yoshua Castillo	SF|Dext3r	Pikachu
7th	Javier Romero	Fireblaster	Yoshi, Mario

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Singles (176 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Elliot Carroza-Oyarce	Boreal|Ally	Snake
2nd	Nairoby Quezada	Nairo	Meta Knight
3rd	Jestise Negron	AO.CT|MVD	Snake
4th	Saleem Young	CT|Salem	Zero Suit Samus
5th	Vishal Balaram	V115	Zero Suit Samus
5th	Vincent Cannino	PL.XFIRE|Vinnie	Ice Climbers
7th	Ufuk Fidan	cyve	Diddy Kong
7th	Takeshi Shimizu	Shimitake	Pikachu

2016

After the controversies surrounding the 2015 event, there were doubts over the future of the Apex tournament. However Andre "Bifuteki" Augustin announced that the event would continue under his leadership.^[16] Apex 2016 was the seventh edition of the Apex series which took place on June 17–19, 2016 under the new management of the Bifuteki crew.^[17] The event was considerably smaller the previous incarnation and even had to cancel its Brawl event due to low turnout.^[18]

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (309 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Samuel Buzby	Dabuz	Rosalina
2nd	James Makekau-Tyson	CLG|VoiD	Sheik, Mewtwo, Fox
3rd	Yuta Uejima	DNG|Nietono	Diddy Kong
4th	Jason Zimmerman	FOX.MVG|Mew2King	Cloud
5th	Tyler Martins	Marss	Zero Suit Samus
5th	Kelsy Medeiros	Circa.HoH|SuperGirlKels	Sonic
7th	Gavin Dempsey	DMG|Tweek	Cloud
7th	James Wade	DMG|James	Cloud, Diddy Kong, Luigi

Super Smash Bros. Melee (159 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Jason Zimmerman	FOX.MVG|Mew2King	Sheik, Marth
2nd	James Lauerman	Mafia	Peach
3rd	Ryan Coker-Welch	CT|The Moon	Marth
4th	Hendrick Pilar	DJ Nintendo	Fox
5th	John Daily	GG|Minty	Samus
5th	Nick Stango	Stango	Marth
7th	Michael Serpico	PudgyPanda	Ice Climbers
7th	Bryan Somaiah	Kaeon	Fox

Super Smash Bros. 64 (55 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Tommy Speziale	Koroshiyo|Stranded	Pikachu, Captain Falcon, Kirby
2nd	Maxim Korobskiy	Sedda|Star King	Kirby, Yoshi
3rd	Javier Romero	Fireblaster	Yoshi, Mario
4th	Rob Stone	cobr	Kirby, Captain Falcon, Samus, Pikachu
5th	Steve Pisano	DFX	Fox, Pikachu
5th	Gerald Thomas	GIMP|NTA	Captain Falcon, Mario, Samus
7th	Keefe Mitman	Nebs|Zeppelin	Captain Falcon
7th	Hernan Sedda	Sedda	Fox

2022

Apex 2022 took place on November 18th-20th, 2022 in Secaucus, New Jersey. It featured Melee, Ultimate, Smash 64, Brawl, and Smash 4 events.

Super Smash Bros. Melee (461 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st	Masaya Chikamoto	aMSa	Yoshi
2nd	Zain Naghmi	Zain	Marth
3rd	Juan DeBiedma	Hungrybox	Jigglypuff
4th	Cody Schwab	iBDW	Fox
5th	Jeffrey Williamson	Axe	Pikachu
5th	Dawud Rahman	Aklo	Fox, Link
7th	Jake DiRado	Jmook	Sheik
7th	Kurtis Pratt	Moky	Fox

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (607 entrants)
Place	Player	Alias	Character(s)
1st		Miya	Mr. Game & Watch
2nd	Jude Harris	Jakal	Wolf
3rd	Anthony Casale	MPg	Mega Man
4th	Samuel Robert Buzby	Dabuz	Rosalina & Luma, Min Min
5th	Darrell Boone	Quandale Dinglelingleton	Steve
5th		Syrup	Ness
7th	David Leon	LeoN	Bowser
7th	Gakuto Ito	Gackt	Ness

References

1. Chris Higgins (26 January 2015). "The battle for best brawler continues at Apex 2015". Red Bull. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
2. Steve Watts (2015-01-09). "Nintendo Sponsoring Smash Bros. Tournament". IGN. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
3. Omar Sohail (2015-01-16). "Super Smash Bros. Tournament start date Jan. 30; : Nintendo to sponsor Apex 2015 tournament". Christian Today. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
4. Rob Crossley (2015-01-12). "Super Smash Bros Tournament Endorsed by Nintendo". GameSpot. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
5. Lindbergh, Ben (2015-02-18). "Fight Club: Catching a Beating at the Super Bowl of 'Super Smash Bros.'". Grantland. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
6. Garrett Jutte (2015-01-25). "Apex 2015 Will Be the Biggest Super Smash Bros. Melee Tournament Yet". Guardian Liberty Voice. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
7. Jason Gallagher (2015-01-21). "Rumor Patrol: Nintendo to Show Off Surprise Game at Apex 2015?". Game Rant. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
8. Joe LoGuidice (November 17, 2014). "Project M expunged altogether from Apex 2015, including Salty Suite". Esports Heaven. Archived from the original on 2015-02-02. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
9. Chris Priestman (2015-01-26). "Super Smash Bros. Fan Project Told Not To Stream During Apex 2015". Siliconera. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
10. Ian Walker (2015-01-12). "Apex 2015 Becomes Largest Super Smash Bros. Melee Tournament of All Time, Registration Extended One Day". Shoryuken. Archived from the original on 2015-01-20. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
11. Ian J. Barker (2014-11-10). "Fighting game organizer targeted with death threats". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
12. Daniel Lee (2015-01-20). "Melee It On Me – Alex Strife steps down from Apex". MeleeItOnMe. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
13. Schreier, Jason (2015-01-20). "Smash Tourney Organizer Steps Down Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations". Kotaku. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
14. Schreier, Jason (2015-01-30). "Smash Tournament Relocates After Hotel Violates Safety Codes". Kotaku. Retrieved 2015-01-30.
15. Wilson Conde (2015-01-30). "Apex 2015 video gaming tourney moved after Secaucus hotel cited for fire code violations". NJ.com. Retrieved 2015-01-31.
16. Bahn, Chris. "Why Does Everyone Still Hate Apex? An Interview with Bifuteki". PVP Live. Archived from the original on 2016-08-18. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
17. Apex Series [@apex_series] (2016-01-25). "Apex will go down this summer June 17th - 19th" (Tweet). Retrieved 2016-02-08 – via Twitter.
18. Jurek, Steven (May 29, 2016). "Apex cancels Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament due to lack of entrants". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on July 4, 2016.

External links

• Official website