-Bobby Wesley Cruz
AKA The Blacktastic
The year 2012 is upon us, which means another chance for the fighting game community to become one of the most prominent video game communities in the world. Last year was a time when the fighting game community thrived; the major tournaments held all year-round were a clear example of how we have evolved in contrast to ten (or even five) years ago. From the East Coast’s NECXII to the West Coast’s ReveLAtions, even from the Toronto’s Fighting Game Championships in Canada to the Midwest’s all-star tournament Season’s Beatings in Columbus, the 2011 tournament season has had its fair share of hype moments from each of these respective tournaments and more. It’s only going to get better from here, but where does it all begin in 2012? Say hello to APEX.
This Friday, January 6, 2012 marks a new entry in the lineup of tournament majors on the road to the Evolution 2012 Championship Series. Dating back to its inception in 2008, Apex was held in the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, and the name of the game then was Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The idea for Apex was that it presented an opportunity for the New York City community to come together in one place and test their mettle and skill against many others in order to come out on top as the best of the best. The tournament held there proved to be rather successful despite its small size and paved the way to many more successful tournaments that were to be organized in the forthcoming years.
Apex 2009 featured a new fighting game to its lineup: Super Smash Bros. Melee, Brawl’s predecessor. Held in Princeton, NJ at the Palmer Inn, the turnouts for these respective tournaments had grown exponentially compared to the year before. This was the tournament where Mew2King (M2K for short) relinquished his tournament winning streak to have a new competitor, Ally from Canada, take 1st place. A very hype moment for the Super Smash Bros. community, indeed, and marked Apex as the top (if not one of the top) majors for the Smash heads not only across the nation, but around the entire world.
It was only going to get better from there. The following year’s Apex would be one of the largest Smash Bros. events in the entirety of the Apex Tournament Series. This event would draw in players not just from across the country, but around the entire world. With over 500 entrants in the tournaments for Brawl, Melee, and even Super Smash Bros. 64 combined, Apex 2010 was the grand slam of any tournament major that hosted these games.
For the Melee tournaments, low-tier was the name of the game as a Pikachu, Peach, and Jigglypuff were among the Top 5 in the tournament bracket; 1st place went to Hungry Box (Jigglypuff), an international player who bested Armada (another international player) and his Peach in what was claimed to be one of the most insane grand finals in Melee’s history as a tournament game! Brawl’s competition was just as fierce. With over $1700 in winnings going to first place in the singles tournament, over 263 competitors rose to the occasion to claim the prize and glory for themselves. The grand finals itself was hype, as the winner of that set would prove not only who the best Smash player was, but which side between Japan and the USA was home to the best Smash player. It was a battle of wits and skill between the Olimar player Brood from Japan and the Falco-sporting DEHF from our homeland. Brood, who emerged from the loser’s bracket, did so by eliminating M2K 3-2 in a very suspenseful loser’s finals. DEHF, however, came out on top above all others by besting his opponents and taking the title of Champion of Apex 2010.
So what’s in store for the 2012 iteration of the Apex series? This is the first-ever apex tournament where even more familiar fighting games join SSBB in its lineup: Super Street Fighter IV – Arcade Edition 2012 ver., Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Mortal Kombat 9. Even Pokémon Black and White are among Apex’s main events! Apex is striving to become embraced by the fighting game community as a whole and to do so the organizers have gained the partnerships of a variety of big-names in order to make sure this is the biggest and best Apex yet.
Alex Valle and the Level|up Live crew have teamed up with Apex to bring the hype from the West Coast to New Jersey! As you may have seen from the recently held SoCal Regionals in late 2011, advertisements for Apex were run frequently on their streams, as well as every player who attended SoCal Regionals received a 50% discount off Apex2012’s venue fee! SoCal Regionals was also treated as an Apex qualifier for UMvC3, MK9, and SSFIV: AE2012. The top 8 placers in these respective tournaments received seeding points for the Apex 2012 tournament brackets.
Jaxel Rod and 8WAYRUN.com will be the ones streaming the event, the games being split up into two streams. Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl will be the primary stream while Stream #2 will be home to AE2012, UMvC3, and MK9. 8WAYRUN does its best to provide the audience with a crystal-clear quality of sights and sounds, and it goes without saying that they will work hard to make Apex2012 an enjoyable experience for those watching at home.
Last, but certainly not least, we have our very own Dominion Method Gaming stepping up to the plate as one of Apex’s sponsors. We will be sending some of our best competitors there in hopes that other FGC teams will follow suit. We strongly believe that Apex2012 will be a very successful tournament as both a standalone Smash major and a fighting game major as a whole. DMG|Hyena has worked very closely with the organizers of Apex in order to bring the attendees the best experience that the Apex Tournament Series has ever offered!
It goes without saying that Apex is better than it’s ever been. With adding games that are embraced by our fighting game community to their lineup of main events, the organizers hold their hopes high for a result that would have Smash Bros. embraced by the fighting game community as well. They no longer want the Smash community and our fighting game communities to be two separate things (which I personally support 100%). As the day draws ever-so-closer, the suspenseful hype is building to an immaculate amount. This Friday, tune in to the 8WAYRUN stream to see the best of the best battle it out in their respective games; a great kick-off to the new year and starting off the tournament major season with a bang! With its successful tournaments before it, Apex 2012 is guaranteed to not disappoint.
