This weekend, New England’s premier Super Smash Bros. major will return to Worcester, Massachusetts, for the first time in three years. Shine 2022 will feature Melee and Ultimate brackets, and is even slated to be the final Splatoon LAN before Splatoon 3 launches next month.
Although it is not a part of either of the ongoing Smash circuits, this tournament has still attracted a number of top-level players. Here’s everything viewers should keep in mind about Shine 2022 before the tournament begins this weekend.
Players to watch at Shine 2022
After a slump-ending win at Super Smash Con earlier this month, Joseph “Mang0” Marquez will aim to accomplish something he hasn’t done since 2015: win back-to-back Melee majors. With wins this year over prospective top seeds like Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma, Jake “Jmook” DiRado, John “KoDoRiN” Ko, and Johnny “S2J” Kim, the biggest question mark surrounding Mang0’s chances is how he will fare against a slumping Zain “Zain” Naghmi.
Even though he consistently beats other top players to secure high placements, Jmook still has yet to win a major this year. While Jmook’s winning record against Zain bodes well for him, a resurgent Mang0 could threaten his chances of winning. Even more importantly, Jmook will likely have to overcome a brutal 0-5 record against Hungrybox if he wants to win Shine 2022.
MPGrrrrr that ain't my rank pic.twitter.com/G1fhIRZYM3
— FLY | Jmook (@jakedirado) August 14, 2022
The Ultimate bracket will be comparatively less stacked. Since Leonardo “MkLeo” López Pérez is not attending, Paris “Light” Ramirez will be the favorite to win. As the top player in the United States, Light has a strong chance of beating out a field of predominantly American players at Shine.
How to watch Shine 2022
The Shine 2022 tournament organizers have not yet shared the stream schedule for the event. However, Beyond the Summit has provided the Twitch streams for previous iterations of Shine and will likely do the same this year.
Shine will begin with Melee and Ultimate Doubles pools at 10 a.m. ET on Friday. Top cut for both brackets will run from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Then, there will be Melee and Ultimate crew battles from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Singles pools for both games will run concurrently starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Round two pools will kick off at noon, followed by top 48 at 6 p.m. Finally, Championship Sunday will conclude with Ultimate top 12 at noon and Melee top 12 at 5 p.m.
