 The Big House 6 logo | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Game | Super Smash Bros. |
| Location | Michigan |
| Established | 2011 |
Number of tournaments | 10 |
| Administrator | Robin "Juggleguy" Harn |
| Current champion | |
| Melee: Cody Schwab Ultimate: Michael "Riddles" Kim Smash 64: Josh Brody | |
| Final champion | |
| Project M:Gonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios (2014) Wii U: Brian "Cosmos" Kalu (2018) | |
The Big House was an annualSuper Smash Bros. tournament series held inMichigan, with the first event taking place in 2011. It is considered one of the largest and most prestigiousSmash Bros. tournament series alongsideGENESIS,Evolution Championship Series (EVO) andSuper Smash Con. In 2024, The Big House was put on an indefinite hiatus by the organizers.[1]
The first Big House tournament was held on October 22, 2011, on theUniversity of Michigan campus inAnn Arbor,Michigan. 115 entrants participated inSuper Smash Bros. Melee singles and the event was won by Oscar "Lovage" Nilsson.[2][non-primary source needed] It was anApex 2012 qualifier.
The second tournament was held on October 6–7, 2012 on the campus of the University of Michigan. TheMelee event was won byJoseph "Mango" Marquez.Project M was won by Brian "metroid1117" Lin.
The Big House 3 was held from October 12–13, 2013 inAnn Arbor.[2][non-primary source needed] It was won byJason "Mew2King" Zimmerman.[3]
The Big House 4 was held from October 4–5, 2014, inRomulus. It was won byJoseph "Mango" Marquez.[4][5][6][7][8]
The fifth edition of The Big House was held from October 2–4, 2015, inDearborn. Prior to the tournament, top Swedish playerLeffen was denied entry into the United States at customs because of lack of a properwork visa due to his affiliation with an American company,Team SoloMid.[9] The tournament was won byAdam "Armada" Lindgren overJuan "Hungrybox" Debiedma in the grand finals.[10]Super Smash Bros. for Wii U was featured for the first time, and was won byGonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios, who also won all nationals he attended up to that point, including the super majorsApex 2015 andEVO 2015.[11] There were 1,317 singles entrants forMelee and 512 forWii U. This iteration of the tournament droppedProject M as an official event.
The sixth Big House was held on October 7–9, 2016.[12] It was the first American tournament thatWilliam "Leffen" Hjelte attended since HTC Throwdown 2015.Melee was won byJoseph "Mango" Marquez, marking it as his third win at The Big House.[13]Wii U was won byGonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios and was his third consecutive title at The Big House.[14]
The seventh Big House was held on October 6–8, 2017, at theCobo Center in Detroit.[15][16]Melee was won byJuan "Hungrybox" Debiedma overJustin "Plup" McGrath.[16]Wii U was won bySamuel "Dabuz" Buzby over Tyler "Marss" Martins.
The Big House 8 was held on October 5–7, 2018, and it was once again held at the Cobo Center in Detroit.[17][18]Melee was won byJuan "Hungrybox" Debiedma overJustin "Plup" McGrath.[18]Wii U was won by Brian "Cosmos" Kalu over Eric "ESAM" Lew. The originalSuper Smash Bros. was won by Daniel "SuPeRbOoMfAn" Hoyt over Josh Brody.
The Big House 9 was held on October 4–6, 2019, at theCobo Center in Detroit.[19][20]Melee was won byJoseph "Mango" Marquez overZain Naghmi.Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was featured for the first time, and was won by Sota "Zackray" Okada over Samuel "Dabuz" Buzby.Smash 64 was won by Josh Brody over Prince.[21] There were also smallerSuper Smash Bros. Brawl andWii U side events, respectively won by Hunter "Player-1" Rogers over Will "Lain" Vetter and Brenden "ShyDude" King over "AFMbot".
The Big House cancelled its 2020 tournament in July due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. Tournament organizers later announced an online tournament for December 2020. The tournament was again cancelled after they received acease and desist letter fromSuper Smash Bros. publisherNintendo. Nintendo took concern with the tournament's plans to use anemulator that enablesnetplay andmatchmaking forMelee but requires use of a ripped copy of the game, citing piracy concerns.[22][23]
The Big House returned to an offline format for its tenth iteration, held on October 7–9, 2022. at theHuntington Place in Detroit as part of the Nintendo-sponsored Panda Cup.Melee was won by Masaya "aMSa" Chikamoto overJoseph "Mango" Marquez, marking the first time "aMSa" and a Yoshi player won a major tournament in the game's competitive lifespan; Cody "iBDW" Schwab,Zain Naghmi and Miles "Soonsay" Foster qualified for theMelee bracket of the Panda Cup Finale.Ultimate was won by Michael "Riddles" Kim over Paris "Light" Ramirez; Ramirez,Gavin "Tweek" Dempsey and Antony "MuteAce" Hoo qualified for theUltimate bracket of the Panda Cup Finale.Smash 64 was won by Josh Brody over Keanu "OJ" Betancourt.[24][25][26][27] As with the previous tournament, there were smallerBrawl andWii U side events, respectively won by Christina "Chia" Korsak over "Merrick" and "Mr. Spikes" over "Arico". On July 9, 2024, the organizers announced that the series would be placed on an indefinite hiatus.
| Event | Dates | Venue | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Big House | October 22, 2011 | University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| The Big House 2 | October 6-7, 2012 | University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| The Big House 3 | October 12-13, 2013 | University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| The Big House 4 | October 4-5, 2014 | Sheraton DTW Hotel | Romulus, Michigan |
| The Big House 5 | October 2-4, 2015 | Adoba Hotel Dearborn | Dearborn, Michigan |
| The Big House 6 | October 7-9, 2016 | Edward Hotel & Convention Center | Dearborn, Michigan |
| The Big House 7 | October 6-8, 2017 | Cobo Center | Detroit, Michigan |
| The Big House 8 | October 5-7, 2018 | Cobo Center | Detroit, Michigan |
| The Big House 9 | October 4-6, 2019 | TCF Center | Detroit, Michigan |
| The Big House 10 | December 4-6, 2020 (cancelled) | Virtual | Virtual |
| The Big House 10 | October 7-9, 2022 | Huntington Place | Detroit, Michigan |
| The Big House 11 | October 20-22, 2023 | Huntington Place | Detroit, Michigan |