By Jesse “Sweetchilli” Rosenberg

Have you ever paid good money for something and then regretted your purchase almost immediately? Maybe it was a bad meal or a car that ended up having a plethora of mechanical issues.

Regardless, if you have ever made any purchase without fully considering the consequences, then you can probably identify with myself and half of the SSB64 entrants at BAM9. Upon seeing that they are on SuPeRbOoMfAn’s side of the bracket, some have been heard muttering things like “I’m gonna make a sick losers run”, “I’m gonna tear a path through losers bracket” or, if you are like me, “Why did I contribute to the Boom fund when he’s just going to send me to losers bracket in round three?”

All bracket bitterness aside, Boom coming to Australia is easily the most exciting part of Battle Arena Melbourne 9. He is the first high-level international player to journey to the land of kangaroos and everyone attending the tournament is hoping to learn a lot from playing him over the weekend.

But Boom is by no means the only reason to watch this tournament. The lineup for this BAM is insanely stacked with Australian standards. The strong representation comes from Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and even a lonesome Queenslander. To use the words of the tournament organiser Indefa, “the bracket’s fucked”.

To add further fuel to the flame, this tournament is straight off the back of the Melbourne Monthly, where Pete – 63rd on the SSB64 League rankings – lost to DSC, bringing to an end a three year long era where he won every Australian tournament he attended.

It’s a volatile time for Australian Smash, with a range of exciting matches being played throughout the weekend. Here are some of the more hype matches you won’t want to miss:

Birdies vs Jonga – Predicted for Winners Round 3

This rematch is from the recently uncompleted Sydney regional BoomHunter, where Jonga came up and took out Birdies to sit in Grand Finals. Combo-Lord Jonga has proved that he is more than capable of dealing with Kirbys, but will Birdies bring a different mindset to a tournament with serious money on the line?

James3927 vs Quincy – Predicted for Winners Round 3

In a recent online tournament, Quincy lost to James’s DK in Grand Finals, and returned to Discord proclaiming “STFU. LUCK. I SHOULD’VE WON!”, despite the fact that he’d just been reverse 6-0’d. Quincy has had an incredible rate of improvement since joining the online scene just over a year ago, but will James’s power up from Let’s Go! in the United States be too much for Quincy’s Pikachu to handle?

Birdies vs DSC – Predicted for Losers Semifinals

I’ve got $40 riding on my boy Birdies right here, so you know where I want this to go, but what I want is completely unrelated to the outcome of this match. DSC’s Falcon has previously proven that it is able to deal with most Kirbys. But Birdies is another kettle of fish, and to take the words from the mouth of the infamous Dim Sims and Chips himself, “I might get Kirby’d.”

Kuromatsu vs Mitch – Predicted for Losers Round 7

These two have a long and colorful history. Last year, at Project Melbourne 2, Mitch overcame Kuro’s Yoshi without too much trouble in Losers Finals. But this isn’t last year, and Kuro has beaten Mitch multiple times over the last 12 months. Some say Mitch has lost his mental fortitude, while others claim that Mitch was pissed or hung over those times he lost to Kuro, and you should shut up if you know what’s good for you.

So don’t miss out on Australia’s first installment of BAM9: Here comes the Boom

Stream: twitch.tv/ssb64

Time: Saturday May 13th 5a.m. EDT