After two years of cancellations, Australia’s premier fighting game tournament will return to Melbourne this weekend. This time, Battle Arena Melbourne 12 will be a gold event and the first Australian major of the 2022 Smash World Tour.
Alongside its Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Melee brackets, this event will feature a number of additional games, including Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64, Project+, Guilty Gear Strive, Street Fighter V: Champion Edition and more. Here’s everything to know going into Battle Arena Melbourne 12.
Players to watch in Smash
With 185 registered players, Smash Ultimate will be the main event at Battle Arena Melbourne 12 by far. As the current No. 1 player in Australia, Jonathan “Jdizzle” Douglas will be the favorite to win the Ultimate bracket. On his most recent trip to the United States, Jdizzle racked up wins against players like James “Peli” Hunt, Varun “varun” Rao, Nicholas “Gidy” S. and more.
Another player to watch is Japanese Snake main Kinaji. Although he previously won the 2021 Smash World Tour Oceania Ultimate Online Qualifier, Kinaji never got a shot at the global finals since Oceania’s offline regional finals were canceled. As a result, the 14-year-old up-and-comer could look to make a splash at one of his first post-quarantine offline majors.
Battle Arena Melbourne 12’s Melee bracket will be comparatively minor; with only 33 registered players, every Melee entrant is guaranteed to earn Smash World Tour points. Since Australia’s best player, Josh “Sora” Lyras, will be at Smash Summit 13 in the United States, Jacob “Sock” Hunter will be the favorite to win in Melbourne.
POLITELY GRINDING FOR SUMMY! https://t.co/eRDLjmQLGghttps://t.co/eRDLjmQLGghttps://t.co/eRDLjmQLGg pic.twitter.com/HL9pgc8RKc
— Joshman (@LilTrickshot) May 8, 2022
How to watch Battle Arena Melbourne 12
Battle Arena Melbourne 12 will kick off at 4 a.m. ET on Friday with Melee Doubles. The second day of competition will begin at 8 p.m. on Friday with Ultimate Singles and conclude with the end of Ultimate Doubles around 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Finally, the third day of competition will start with Ultimate Singles top 64 at 8 p.m. on Saturday. Top eight for both Melee and Ultimate Singles will begin at midnight on Sunday. For a full schedule of every bracket at the event, see here.
SCHEDULE: #BAM12 Powered By @ASTROTR
View the schedule post here, click through for larger versions https://t.co/nNecXrdOvR pic.twitter.com/SZxYFJJiQ1
— CouchWarriors (@CouchWarriors) May 5, 2022
The tournament organization team, CouchWarriors League, has not officially announced any information regarding the tournament broadcast. Nevertheless, CouchWarriors League has its own Smash and Melee channels on Twitch. As a result, fans should be able to tune into these channels this weekend to catch the latest tournament in the Smash World Tour.
