Long considered one of the most meme-ridden regional Smash communities in the United States, New England’s Melee scene developed a serious threat in the form of Jack “Crush” Hoyt, a young Fox main who skyrocketed into prominence when he made his debut into the SSBMRank top 20 in January of this year. Now, the time has come for New England’s Smash 4 killers to share the spotlight with their Melee-playing regional comrade.
On Saturday, March 30, New England Smash 4’s top players took Tri-State by storm at Collision XV, a 256-entrant regional tournament in the heart of New Jersey.
The first upset of the night came in Winner’s Round 1, when New England veteran Darius “Koolaid” Hill 3-0ed Saleem “Salem” Young, Panda Global Rankings’ No. 2 ranked player. Although Koolaid would eventually lose a tight Top 8 qualifier to his regional comrade Paris “Light” Ramirez, he ended his tournament run at a respectable 9th place.
The carnage didn’t end there. In Top 8, Light took consecutive sets off of Samuel “Dabuz” Buzby and Nairoby “Nairo” Quezada to find himself waiting in winner’s side of Grand Finals.
In loser’s side of Top 8, longtime New England champion Tyler “Marss” Martins went on a tear of his own, defeating both Salem and Dabuz 3-1 to set up a rematch with Nairo, who he had already defeated at Smash 4 Bootcamp a few months ago. Marss’ win over Dabuz is particularly notable, since Dabuz has been known as Marss’ demon, often coming out on top when the two players meet in bracket.
Unfortunately, Marss was unable to squeak out the win against Nairo, who went on to defeat Light in two sets of Grand Finals and win the tournament. Regardless, the results of Collision XV are proof that New England is becoming one of the country’s most formidable Smash 4 regions.
