By Daniel “Tafokints” Lee

Over the history of Super Smash Bros. Melee, crew battles have effectively settled the score between regions. In recent years, southern California has been dominant, featuring players such as Joseph “Mango” Marquez, Weston “Westballz” Dennis and Johnny “s2j” Kim. Last year SoCal performed as expected, winning the crew battle event at The Big House 5.

However, times have changed.

No longer is SoCal the sole powerhouse. Other regions, such as northern California, Europe, and Florida, have grown tremendously over the past year, making this year’s crew battles more exciting than ever. Thanks to the Compendium, The Big House 6 hits Michigan from October 7 – 9 with an eight-team, single-elimination crew battles event featuring a $5,000 prize pot. How do the teams stack up? Note: Alts will not be allowed to play unless a starter does not attend the event.

View photos Daniel “ChuDat” Rodriguez at CEO 2016 (Rose Silvestre) More

8. Maryland/Virginia

Kashan “Chillindude” Khan – Fox

Daniel “ChuDat” Rodriguez – Ice Climbers

Zain “Zain” Naghmi – Marth

Wenbo “Wenbobular” Dou – Fox

Maxwell “Sypher” Weand – Fox

Alt: Mike “peanutphobia” O’Mailey – Yoshi

Featuring old-school legends like Christopher “Azen” McMullen, Maryland/Virginia (MD/VA) was once the strongest region. That’s no longer the case. Chillindude and ChuDat are still active and will need to do the bulk of the heavy lifting. Zain is a rising star that still needs experience competing in out of region events, but can potentially pull upsets. Wenbobular and Sypher are experienced Foxes, but they’re nowhere near the level of competition from the other crews. MD/VA has a storied history, but they will have a tough time fighting against the likely first-seed, Florida.

View photos Jeffrey “Axe” Williamson at CEO 2016 (Rose Silvestre) More

7. Southwest

Jeffrey “Axe” Williamson – Pikachu

Robert “Wobbles” Wright – Ice Climbers

Tony “Taj” Jackson – Marth, Samus, Mewtwo

Andrew “Tai” Vo – Marth

Ammon “Ka-Master” Styles – Luigi

Alt: ???

The southwest region has potential to upset a powerhouse. Axe and Wobbles are nightmare counterpicks, since there are no stage bans in The Big House 6 ruleset. Wobbles has historically been a monster in crew battles and he can easily take as many as eight stocks by himself. As a team, they have plenty of experience in crews, reducing the possibility of jitters. Although past their primes, Taj and Ka-Master are still strong players that can hold their own against the other teams. Tai has quietly put together a solid 2016 campaign with wins over several Top 30 players. Still, the southwest will need their stars to play just about perfectly for a chance to win.

View photos Abhishek “Prince Abu” Prabhu (left) and James “Duck” Ma (second from left) at The Big House 5 (Youtube) More

6. Midwest

James “Duck” Ma – Samus

Kelly “Kels” Smith – Fox

Kalindi – “KJH” Henderson – Fox

Abhishek “Prince Abu” Prabhu – Jigglypuff

Griffin “Captain Faceroll” Williams – Sheik

Alt: David “Darkrain” John – Captain Falcon

Story continues