With the first major of 2025 out of the way, and Melee on a bit of a lull, now’s about as good of a time to talk about what’s coming up next – not just in terms of majors, but in terms of regionals and everything in between. As it turns out, Melee’s spring season is set to be pretty stacked, and we may as well get right into all the tournaments that are coming up.
In this column, I’ve picked out 12 events over the next four months that I think every Melee player (and fan of the game) should look forward to. Similar to what I did in 2024, I’m going to stick to a pretty set structure here. For each event, I’ll be reviewing five core questions: who’s going, what kind of event will it be, when is it, where is it, and why should you care?
Fight Pitt 10
Who’s going?: Chem, Polish, SluG, Sirmeris, Khalid, Khryke, Zuppy, Drephen, Free Palestine, TheRealThing, Juicebox, Balloon Day, Mot$, Jude, Holiday, “The Jake” (Jmook’s Zelda), and Abate for current or “former” Top 100 players. After that, you basically have the entirety of the PGH and NEOH regions coming out, with all generations of talent, and a ton of traveling mid-level talent. Most surprisingly in attendance are the French sisters (i4 and Fecfec, the top active doubles team in Europe), Australia’s Goodie, and SoCal’s very own s-f. Yes, our dear When’s Melee writer will be at Fight Pitt.
What kind of event will it be?: This is definitely a regional, but it’s a unique one. You’re not going to find a lot of events that are this stacked across the Top 100 and just-outside-Top 100 levels of play while having this type of international and cross-regional representation. Fight Pitt 10 will simultaneously feature a lot of unique matchups between players who otherwise would never play while also including tons of cool regional rivalries too. This is an event practically made for hardcore Melee fans to nerd out about all day – and I think there’s, like, six people who could win the tournament too.
When is it?: March 1.
Where is it?: Pittsburgh, PA.
Why should you care?: In general, I’ve always had a fondness for PGH Smash, which should be no surprise given that I basically made a video entirely in tribute to this region’s unique blend of weirdness and raw love for the game. Honestly, of all the Smash regions in the world, I feel like no region really has as much of a distinct voice and style as Pittsburgh, and it’s one that I think embodies a lot of things that make our community special. Fight Pitt returning after a six-year hiatus is legitimately one of the coolest developments of this year.
Altitude Sickness 2
Who’s going?: As of right now, Cody Schwab and Jmook are the top two players at this event, which makes it an immediate draw for anyone who likes watching tournaments with major contenders (AKA anyone reading this). If no other major contenders come, then this will still be a pretty stacked tournament, as it features multiple Top 25 players (Joshman, Salt, and Spark), rising stars (Aura, Zamu, Ben, SFOP, and Preeminent), and Top 100 talent (Blue, Akir, Juicebox, Dawson, Kurv, Kacey, Slowking, Maelstrom, salami, Lowercase hero, Rocket, Azel, Stiv, Nickemwit, and Fishbait) alike. Not to mention, a potentially leading favorite to win July’s Unranked in Zealot, arguably the best player to never be ranked Top 100, as well as another contender for that title in Fizzwiggle. Yes; that Fizzwiggle.
What kind of event will it be: This fits into the “national” territory of being an event that features elite talent, but not enough overall attendance to fit major criteria; kind of like Wavedash 2022 or Santa Paws or any of the recent CEO tournaments. However, if anyone outside of Cody or Jmook wins, it would instantly be treated as a “major” (even if it isn’t really one).
When is it?: March 8.
Where is it?: Boulder, Colorado.
Why should you care?: Honestly, I just want to see an Aura vs. Cody runback. If Aura was that good with Smash as a hobby, how good will he be once he takes Smash full-time?
Battle of BC 7
Who’s going?: Zain (!!!!!), Cody Schwab, moky, Jmook, aMSa, and Joshman for active Top 10 players, but Leffen is here too! How often do we get to see Leffen competing in actual Melee sets? Beneath that, you have a slew of top eight contenders (Wizzrobe, Soonsay, Spark, Axe, a surprisingly inactive KoDoRiN this far into the year, and Aura), quiet killers we haven’t seen in quite some time (n0ne, OG Kid, and Beezy), and a bunch of West Coast talent.
What kind of event will it be?: A major, bare minimum. However, any addition of Mang0, Hungrybox, and Aklo could move this a little closer to being a supermajor than you might initially expect.
When is it?: March 28-30.
Where is it?: Vancouver, British Columbia.
Why should you care?: It will be our first major since Genesis.
Full Bloom 2025
Who’s going?: Zain, Cody Schwab, Mang0, moky, Jmook – our entire Top 5. After that, you have Aklo, Hungrybox, and Joshman for remaining Top 10 players, and then you get Wizzrobe, Ossify, MOF, and Zamu for bonafide Top 50 players
What kind of event will it be?: If the entire Top 5 shows up, this is a major (and maybe even a supermajor). If they do not, and there’s enough DQs as a result of happening the week after BOBC, this could quickly become a very annoyingly grey-area-coded event that we call a major for being exciting, but that may not technically have the depth to be considered a major, somewhat like Full Bloom 2024. Fingers crossed that this doesn’t happen though.
When is it?: April 5-6.
Where is it?: Bloomington, Indiana.
Why should you care?: This event has the entire top five. What more could you want from a tournament? The nice thing too is that Full Bloom itself has a really cool history, and this Full Bloom in particular could give Zain a chance to become “Mr. Full Bloom.” Winning this event would put him over Hungrybox for the all-time leader in Full Bloom wins. Surprisingly, there’s only four Full Bloom winners ever: those two, Lucky, and Prince Abu.
Out of the Blue 4
Who’s going?: Joshman, Ossify, Zamu, Ben, and MOF are the leading contenders to take this event, so a mix of Midwest greats and invading talent. In typically Midwest regional fashion, you’ll find Preeminent here too, with each of mayb and Zuppy as fellow invading rising stars. Beneath that though, there’s an interesting mix of borderline Top 100 to highly-ranked regional talent – ala your Blues, Michaels, Balloon Days, coffees, Slowkings, Lowercase heroes, etc. of the world. I believe this is also the first time we’ll be seeing Mr. 101 Justus all year too.
What kind of event will it be?: Classic Midwest regional.
When is it?: April 12.
Where is it?: Chicago, Illinois.
Why should you care?: Honestly, this is going to sound super nerdy of me, but even more than the Melee itself, the Midwest has so much raw aura. The region has a plethora of really great personalities who make for strong commentators. Events of this type, particularly within the Midwest, typically do a good job making you feel like you’re actually there when you’re watching from home. I personally can’t wait for Seal to commentate top eight here, though I must also say that there’s a nonzero chance that he breaks out and ends up having to play instead.
Smash Camp 2025
Who’s going?: This event doesn’t have its attendees publicly shared yet, but off the top of my head, I would be surprised if it didn’t have Axe, Medz, CPU0, or BigTimeRush (the big four of sorts within Arizona). I would similarly expect to see people like Fiction, Aura, Spark, Raz, Free Palestine, etc. come out.
What kind of event will it be?: Regional.
When is it?: April 19-20.
Where is it?: Prescott, Arizona.
Why should you care?: It’s Smash Camp, why not? Good Melee matches, great stream content, lots of personalities that go to the event every year, etc. Also, BigTimeRush is going to be here; it’s an instant draw.
Nouns Bowl 2025
Who’s going?: Zain, Cody Schwab, Jmook, moky, Aklo, Mang0, Plup, Hungrybox, and Nicki – nine people who can win the tournament. Following that, there’s Axe, Junebug, and Chickenman400 before you get into a bunch of Midwest and Mid-Atlantic names. I’d be surprised if this event didn’t eventually gain a bunch of traction among Top 25 names too.
What kind of event will it be?: Top-heavy major.
When is it?: April 26-27.
Where is it?: Canton, Ohio.
Why should you care?: It’s Nicki’s first scheduled NA appearance of this year; as far as I’m concerned, that should be enough reason for why you should care.
Valhalla V
Who’s going?: The defending champion Pricent will be there to protect their Valhalla title. Challengers for the throne here include Solobattle, Frenzy, Jadde, irfan, Sharp, Moe, Nuckels, and a bunch of Top 50 EU players. In the long run, this could become even more staCKED – not just in terms of EU representation, but because there’s a nonzero chance that this draws NA talent. It’s not confirmed yet, so take my word with a grain of salt, but last I talked to some of these players, each of Salt, MOF, and SDJ have expressed interest in a Europe trip.
What kind of event will it be?: A “regional” that becomes an “EU major” for diversity with regards to Top 100 qualifications. I think.
When is it?: April 26-27.
Where is it?: Copenhagen, Denmark.
Why should you care?: European Melee events feature a ton of interesting personalities and players that we don’t often get to see compete at a high level. More than that though, Valhalla is one of the few remaining annual series across the continent that’s continued to see modest success and return despite logistical issues that have ended other EU series. Also, if people from North America end up going, we could finally see a fitting conclusion to the Salt-Kingu beef.
Full House 2025
Who’s going?: The entire Top 5 (Zain, Cody Schwab, Mang0, moky, Jmook), and then Aklo, Hungrybox, Joshman, Soonsay, and Junebug. There’s five additional spots that I’m not sure on with regards to how they’ll be determined, and there’s also a final LCQ spot.
What kind of event will it be?: Major invitational.
When is it?: May 15-19.
Where is it?: Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania.
Why should you care?: If you like major invitational events, this is an easy draw. I’m especially curious to see how this goes though, because to my knowledge, Full House is the first real event of its scale that Lucky 7s has ever run. I mention this not to doubt their ability to run an exciting event, but because I want to support relative newcomers to the major ecosystem and think it’s a good thing for the community that invested members be able to run cool events like this.
Combo Breaker 2025
Who’s going?: Entrants aren’t public, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hungrybox return to defend his reigning title, nor would I be surprised to see Magi come back for another year. I think most Midwest or Illinois Melee players should be here though; expect to see people like Ben, Preeminent, Blue, or Grab attend, among hundreds of other people.
What kind of event will it be?: Probably a regional, but it should draw way more top-level talent. This is a premier cross-community event, and it’s not a good thing that Smash is as insular as it is from other fighting games.
When is it?: May 23-25.
Where is it?: Schaumburg, Illinois.
Why should you care?: Even as the platform fighter sub-genre continues to develop with the release of Rivals 2, I still think it’s worth it for Melee to have a presence in other communities. From everything I’ve heard, Combo Breaker is a well-run event for all its games. While this tournament is not necessarily “for” Melee players in the same way as others, it does have quite a bit of status and prestige in other fighting games. Yes, Melee is not really in the FGC, and yes, Smash is kind of its own thing now, particularly with the rise of platform fighters. However, it seems really silly, to me, to see a potential opportunity for introducing people to our sick game (or learning about other games) and to go “nah, I’m good,” the way that so many top players have seemingly done. Evo’s not coming back any time soon, but there’s no good reason this can’t be something kind of close to capturing a decently sized audience and being a fun event.
Tipped Off 16: Safari
Who’s going?: Almost everyone who could win a major. That’s Zain, Cody Schwab, Mang0, moky, Jmook, Hungrybox, Aklo, aMSa, Nicki, Plup, Trif, Nicki, and Wizzrobe. The only person missing from this list is Leffen, and keep in mind that registration is still open. Beneath the major contenders and dark horses are currently Junebug and Aura, but I’d expect this list of notable players to skyrocket.
What kind of event will it be?: Of all the events after Genesis, this is the first one I’d consider a definitive supermajor.
When is it?: June 7-8.
Where is it?: Atlanta, Georgia.
Why should you care?: Because if you’re reading this, you presumably have functioning eyes and saw the player list. At the top level, this is going to be the most stacked event of the year, arguably even more than Genesis considering who is attending.
CEO 2025
Who’s going?: Entrants aren’t currently public, but I’d expect to see each of Hungrybox and Wizzrobe return, as well as most of top Florida Melee talent (like Krudo, Panda, MOF, Akir, Gahtzu, etc.). For what it’s worth, there’s a nonzero shot that Jmook, who has attended the last two CEOs, goes to this one as well.
What kind of event will it be?: Like Altitude Sickness 2, this will probably be a “national” or something similar to that. But that could change this year – instead of happening in Daytona Beach, this year’s CEO is coming back to Orlando. That alone might draw enough top player interest for this event to quickly enter major status.
When is it?: June 13-15.
Where is it?: Orlando, Florida.
Why should you care?: In a similar way to Combo Breaker, CEO is a great cross-community event, but it’s also one with quite a bit of history in Smash itself, having involved the series in most years since 2010. I’m fairly curious to see how the change in venue (the return to Orlando specifically) impacts attendance. Also, in a very strange twist of events, Hungrybox hasn’t won a CEO since winning CEO Dreamland 2020. It feels like yesterday when Hungrybox seemed indestructible in Florida, but truthfully, he’s actually underperformed relative to his expectations here.