I would have posted this entry yesterday, but my head decided to transform into an anvil for a cold to strike down upon. I was sick three days before Christmas, and now, 17 days later from yesterday, I’m sick once again.

The other reason was the bracket for Apex  2012 had yet to be completely updated, which is what I’ll be writing about today. In the world of competitive fighting games, Super Smash Bros. has never really received a lot of attention (at least from I’ve seen. I could be wrong here). That ended last weekend when Over 1,300 entrants for both Brawl and Melee came (around 50 of those being international players) to attend Apex 2012, Smash’s biggest tournament in history.

While I wasn’t in attendance (I compete in Brawl), watching the stream was a lot of fun. I watched both Melee and Brawl, with a little bit of SFIV: 2012 and UMvC3 (two of the more traditional fighters that were also being played at Apex 2012). The highlight for me was Nairo vs Otori (Apex 2012’s Brawl champion). I usually don’t enjoy MK dittos due to most players not being too aggressive, but these two put on a show of skill souped up with flash, and it was very, very exciting.

If you’d like to see most of the videos from Apex 2012 (including Brawl, Melee, SFIV: 2012, and UMvC3), the links to those channels will be below!

Now, let’s get into one of the more interesting topics that I felt Apex 2012 really brought to the table: America‘s ban on MK.

Let me catch those who don’t know up. MK is the best character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. As such, a lot of players use him, and a lot feel that he is too good a character. Ever since I joined the Smash community a year and a half ago the debate for MK has been strong, and it had only continued to escalate in the past couple of months. After pages upon pages of debate, a consensus was reached: after Apex 2012, MK would be banned from all URC-run (Unity Ruleset Committee) tournaments.

Now, at Apex 2012 we had two Japanese players in Grand Finals for Brawl: Nietono, an Olimar player, and Otori, a MK player. While Otori plays MK, Nietono ran through many of America’s top MK players. I realize that Nietono is only one player, but this still brings a big question to the front lines of the ban debate – is the ban really the best choice?

I think it is, but not because of how good MK is. I’ll admit, I hate playing against MK, and all around me I saw players put in the work and beat him while I continued to lose to him. Apex 2012 gave me some new insight into how much work you need to put in to be the best of the best, and so I withdrew my stance that MK should be banned because of how good he is. Clearly, he can be beaten. You just need to put in the work. The Japanese have proven that.

However, I still support the ban because of how over centralizing he is. That’s simply it. A lot of players use MK. I believe over half of the players in America either main MK or use him as a secondary. And I believe that’s poisonous to a meta game in itself. I like variety, so I’m hoping there’ll be a lot more variety of characters now. I’m crossing my fingers that everyone doesn’t pick up Olimar.

What are your thoughts on Apex 2012? On the MK ban? Let me know!

Oh, and I think double MK is actually too good in doubles. One MK per team would be brilliant.

Just sayin’.

Link to apextournament:

http://www.youtube.com/user/apextournament?feature=g-u

Link to Jaxelrod:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Jaxelrod?feature=g-u