This series is a tribute to standard “Monday Morning Quarterback” columns in traditional sports. In it, I discuss my quick takeaways from the last week of the Smash community. Consider this a mix of news and mild takes.

In the weekend of “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,” the Melee community still had many tournaments of note. New Zealand’s pride and joy Spud took Bridgetown Hyper Blitz by storm, finishing first at the stacked Oregon regional.

Over in NorCal, the HomeMadeWaffles-ran Wombo Combo: 10 Year Anniversary tournament ended with PewPewU defending the region’s home turf and taking home gold. AbsentPage beat up the rest of the attending Midwest at Indianapolis’ Outfoxx’d 2018 while New Hampshire Fox and current state No. 3 GHETTOWARMACHINE420 won the New England Arcadian.

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1. Top takeaways from the weekend

Spud’s victory at Bridgetown Hyper Blitz is, bar none, the biggest tournament an Australia/Oceania representative has ever won in Melee history. Depending on how he performs at Don’t Park On The Grass 2018, Spud could potentially sneak his way into the Melee Top 100, as this tournament alone gives him wins over Moky, n0ne and Professor Pro. Based off the eye test, he’s probably around the same level of someone like Stango or Tai.

Speaking of Bridgetown Hyper Blitz, how about Dacky, defeating both Nebbii and Frenzy to make it to winner’s semifinals? The Washington Fox, ranked No. 5 in-region, finished an impressive fifth.

If you’re a Fox looking for sets to study against Captain Falcon, check out Moky’s beatdown of n0ne in loser’s semifinals. The same goes for Moky defeating Nebbii 3-0 the round before, if you’re looking for how to destroy Yoshi.

PewPewU’s victory at Wombo Combo, which included wins against SFAT and S2J, gives him a great finish to the year. Don’t be surprised to see him finish in the top 15 for Top 100!

Heartbreaking sets against SFAT aside, this tournament was totally winnable for Fiction. Strong sets against Ryan Ford and S2J.

How did this happen?

Props to GWM420 for calling his shot before the tournament!

Ultimate’s pretty fun!

2. Update on The Book of Melee

It’s done. Last weekend, my editor and I made final changes to the last draft. As far as the book itself goes, all it needs is a finalized cover and formatting.

For the people who already ordered the book on The Big House 8 compendium, I have your names in a list of people to mail physical copies to once the printing process is complete. It’s just a matter of waiting until the right time to publish.

Thanks again to everyone who has supported me throughout the last two years in my Smash writing, as well as my attempts to chronicle all of Melee history. I’ll keep you guys posted on a release date – expect it by some time in February.

3. Monday Morning Mailbag

Considering that SSBM Rank does not mention doubles at all, what are your top 5 doubles teams for the year? – andresalejandro1120

I’ve talked to Wheat, the head data tracker for SSBMRank, about this. He attempted to make an extensive doubles ranking not too long ago, but the fact of the matter is that there’s not enough static doubles team to make a definitive list that goes for too long.

That said, you asked me a question, so I’ll do my best to answer. I think I’d pick the following, in order, as my top five: PewFat, Plup2King, Team UGS, Chungrybox and then probably Axe and aMSa for the fifth spot. For another outside name, KFC (Shroomed and S2J) is probably there too. Keep in mind that this is also me avoiding repeated players, as well as rare combinations of players (like Leffen and Armada).

Lets say Melee HD was released by Nintendo, which fixes every glitch/issue (dropped frames, freeze glitch on IC’s, PS being buggy as hell, G&W l-cancels) and buffs low tiers (g&w and dk shield, etc) without implementing the PAL nerfs to top tiers. Would you be willing to make the switch? – willthan10

Definitively no. If balance mattered that much to me, I’d play Project M.

Do you feel as a whole in the past couple months that New England and North East America has been getting stronger or weaker? – Raycu

Why focus on the past couple months? We lost our best player (Crush) midway through the year.

On a serious note, I feel like the North East has always been strong, so not sure how to answer this question.

This may have been in a previous mailbag, but what’s the actual process that goes into making an official tier list? – DrJisFTW

I’d be lying if I said I knew for sure. This thread should prove a good, although flawed explanation for what worked in the past.