COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on competitive Smash

The COVID-19 pandemic was a pandemic of (COVID-19), caused by (SARS-CoV-2). The outbreak was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019, and recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020, and as a public health emergency of international concern from January 30, 2020 until it was lifted on May 5, 2023. COVID-19 has been reported in more than 200 countries and territories, with major outbreaks having occurred in most of those countries; in its first year, the most affected regions were mainland China, Europe, Iran, Latin America (especially Brazil), and the United States. Public health responses have included national pandemic preparedness and response plans, travel restrictions, quarantines, curfews, event postponements and cancellations, and facility closures.
Despite the pandemic forcing Nintendo employees into working remotely, development of Fighters Pass Vol. 2 continued without many issues. It notably caused , "Steve & Alex", and "Pyra/Mythra" to take place in Masahiro Sakurai's house instead of his studio. Sakurai also revealed in a YouTube video that there were concerns over information leaking due to work being decentralized to the homes of developers. Playtesting also had to be done online, where problems arose due to connection issues.Super Smash Bros. Ultimate [Game Concepts]
The pandemic had also affected the competitive Super Smash Bros. community through numerous tournament cancellations and postponements for public health and safety.
==Impacts on the competitive scene==
The 2020 MPGR and Spring 2020 PGRU were frozen on March 12th, 2020. No further events, including , would count towards player ranking. 
The circuit announced that there would not be any Platinum- or Gold-tier events in March and April 2020; a later update further extended the date to June 1st, 2020. Silver events would continue as normal; however, it was recommended for sick people to stay home. Several events were canceled or postponed independently of Smash World Tour's rulings. Missed point opportunities were planned to be made up later. A TO relief fund shop was later opened on Smash.gg. With the pandemic shutting down offline tournaments for the rest of the year, the circuit was effectively cancelled. Two Silver events for Melee and three Silver events for Ultimate ended up being held. 
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the evolution of the metagame in offline contexts was largely unproven until offline tournaments had returned for some time by late 2021. This included characters that received major changes during updates, but especially all downloadable characters that were released shortly before or during the global pandemic, starting with and ending with . This also applied to the legality of the stages Small Battlefield, Minecraft World, and Northern Cave, which were added to the game during that time.
, widely considered to be the best Melee player in the world, died due to COVID-19 and pre-existing health conditions in October 2022.
===Online tournaments===
While online tournaments had been a part of the scene for years, the cancellation of several high profile offline tournaments led many players to turn to online play for their tournament fixes. Many weeklies such as Xeno and Xanadu moved online, while tournaments such as the series and served as online fundraisers to help recoup losses. Several tournament series held online alternatives, including , , and . 
YouTubers and started hosting , a 4-month long circuit that has a prize pool ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 per tournament and a planned $50,000 for the finale. In the first tournament of the circuit, over 5,000 entrants registered to play, making it the largest known online Smash tournament without factoring in disqualifications, defeating 's record from a month earlier. This record was later defeated by 's tournament , which had over 8,000 entrants. Due to lots of players attending online tournaments, this led Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v5 to make its rankings from 50 to 75 players.
 was then announced on February 20th, 2021, with online qualifiers, offline regional qualifiers, and an offline finale. 
As online play rewards different tactics from offline play, the new online tournaments differ somewhat from in-person tournaments; the added input delay and lag have allowed characters such as , , and to see more success. Some controversy came about when players from distant regions such as participated in these tournaments, specifically , with many players believing tournaments should be region-locked to reduce latency. As a result, all further tournaments in The Quarantine Series (and others such as The Box) were region-locked to the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and the prize pools were extended from the top 8 to top 16 to reduce the added stress with playing online. With many more players relying on online play, frustration with the game's online service grew to a peak; the hashtag "#FixUltimateOnline" became the number one gaming trend on Twitter on April 2, 2020. Possibly as a response to this outcry, in update 8.1.0 online play stability was slightly improved, by increasing the tick rate and slightly decreasing input delay. 
After Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v5 rankings, subscriber tournaments were now included, making monthlies like , , and titles ongoing. Despite including subscriber tournaments, decreased player attendance in online tournaments made its ranking from 75 to 50 players.
As Super Smash Bros. Melee does not have native online play, players have to use netplay mods for emulators in order to compete online. The Dolphin emulator mod Project Slippi is one of such mods, and since June 2020 it features rollback netcode for Melee, allowing for stable online play across even long distances. However, the use of this mod has sparked controversy following the cancellation of The Big House Online, in response of a cease and desist from Nintendo. Regardless of these concerns, Project Slippi has continued to be very popular, and numerous online Melee tournaments have been hosted using it.
===Reopening===
In mid-2020, in regions with relatively few cases of COVID-19, such as Japan, Taiwan, Australia, the Middle East, and New Zealand, or that otherwise allowed large gatherings, such as France and Germany, offline play resumed, although with smaller entrant numbers and safety precautions enforced.
In early 2021, vaccines for COVID-19 began to roll out, and by May 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced fully vaccinated adults could stop wearing masks and social distancing. https://www.npr.org/2021/05/13/996582891/fully-vaccinated-people-can-stop-wearing-masks-indoors-and-outdoors-cdc-says Despite continued safety concerns, some American locals reopened during this time with safety precautions. The first national tournament in the United States and worldwide for Ultimate since the beginning of the pandemic was , held in Florida on June 5th-6th, where 422 people attended, by a large margin the highest amount of any tournament since , almost 14 months prior. It was followed by numerous other large scale tournaments like , and . The Smash World Tour 2021 regional finals were also held during this period, though many faced delays and other significant issues; the South American and Oceanian offline finals were cancelled, while the Southeast Asia players were unable to attend the East Asia Regional Finals in Japan. To make up for this, the qualified players for the Championships were selected either via an online qualifier ( for South America Ultimate) or by the tournament organizators ( and for South America Melee, and for Oceania, and for Southeast Asia). The were eventually able to be held at the planned date without any significant issues, besides some of the previously qualified players being unable to attend. 
By comparison, Melees tournament scene has been more sparse and limited to small locals and invitationals until . Even afterwards, the recovery of the Melee scene has been slightly slower, with major tournaments having a smaller scale and top players attending less often.
Smash 64 has been similarly slow to recover its scene, not being featured at a major event until . Brawl and Smash 4 were both already largely dormant before the pandemic and were not featured at a major until , which traditionally hosts tournaments for every official Smash game; however, Brawl would later have its largest post-Smash 4 or -Ultimate tournament at .
On November 19th, 2021, the MPGR and PGRU was announced to return on January 1st, 2022 after a two-year hiatus. Due to travel concerns, the rankings would be separated into three regions: North America, Europe, and Japan. Minimum activity requirements would be loosened to lessen the pressure on players to travel. PGstats stated that depending on international travel restrictions, a global PGR may resume as soon as the end of 2022. On December 28th, 2021, PGstats announced the MPGR and PGRU would not be reopening on January 1st, 2022 due to the rise of COVID cases globally. On February 2nd, 2022, PGstats announced they would be looking at starting the new MPGR and PGRU season on March 1st, 2022 with a four-month period spanning from March to June 2022. They monitored the state of the pandemic and announced they would give final confirmation of the new start date on February 17th, 2022. Although the date came and passed without a confirmation, the season nevertheless resulted in MPGR Summer 2022 and PGRU v3, spanning March 1st-July 11th, 2022 and March 1st-June 13th, 2022 respectively. Between January to February 2022, a series of articles and videos titled PGRContenders were published, looking at some of the biggest PGR contenders from North America and Europe heading into the new season. Panelists of the tier list considered tournaments in 2021 for the list, and the tournaments in early 2020 remained permanently unranked.
On May 11, 2023, the United States Department of Health and Human Services declared the COVID-19 pandemic officially over, with the rest of the world following suit by that September.Declaration of end of Pandemic by Center for Disease Control All remaining restrictions on public events were lifted, meaning all Smash tournaments can now operate as they did pre-pandemic.
====List of offline tournaments during the pandemic====
The following is a list of notable tournaments that were held offline during the pandemic, starting from the PGR freeze period on March 12th, 2020.
Tournament 	Dates 	Location 	Attendance	Games
 	March 14th, 2020 	Corsicana, Texas 	89 	
 	March 13th-15th, 2020 	Orlando, Florida 	970 	
 	March 14th-15th, 2020 	Hatboro, Pennsylvania 	50 	
 	March 14th, 2020 	Mexico City 	138 	
 	March 21st, 2020 	Fujisawa 	64 	
 	July 25th, 2020 	Villeneuve-d'Ascq 	144 	
 	August 30th, 2020 	Thonon-les-Bains 	128 	
 	September 20th, 2020 	Osaka 	65 	
 	September 26th, 2020 	Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois 	121 	
 	September 26th-27th, 2020 	Düsseldorf 	150 	
 	October 10th, 2020 	Créteil 	179 	
 	October 11th, 2020 	Osaka 	96 	
 	October 24th, 2020 	Kanto 	12 	
 	October 31st, 2020 	Atlanta, Georgia 	47 	
 	October 31st-November 1st, 2020	Osaka 	128 	
 	November 15th, 2020 	Osaka 	160 	
 	November 22nd, 2020 	Tokyo 	41 	
 	November 29th, 2020 	Aichi Prefecture 	128 	
 	December 13th, 2020 	Tokyo 	133 	
 	December 20th, 2020 	Peachester 	131 	
 	December 26th, 2020 	Miyagi Prefecture 	136 	
 	December 26th, 2020 	Osaka 	128 	
 	January 24th, 2021 	Lima 	20 	
 	March 7th, 2021 	Osaka 	128 	
 	March 26th-27th, 2021 	Tokyo 	132 	
 	April 27th, 2021 	Overland Park, Kansas 	192 	
 	May 15th, 2021 	Provo, Utah 	26 	
 	May 29th, 2021 	Lille 	139 	
 	May 30th, 2021 	Lille 	135 	
 	June 5th-6th, 2021 	Tallahassee, Florida 	422 	
 	June 5th-6th, 2021 	Colorado Springs, Colorado 	186 	
 	June 12th, 2021 	New York City, New York 	16 	
 	June 19th-20th, 2021 	Hatboro, Pennsylvania 	42 	
 	June 19th-20th, 2021 	Johns Creek, Georgia 	16 	
 	June 20th, 2021 	Créteil 	267 	
 	June 20th-21st, 2021 	Los Angeles, California 	69 	
 	June 26th, 2021 	Lexington, Kentucky 	200 	
 	June 26th, 2021 	Monterrey 	12 	
 	June 26th, 2021 	Alachua, Florida 	183 	
 	June 26th-27th, 2021 	Tokyo 	386 	
 	June 26th-27th, 2021 	Paris 	187 	
 	July 3rd, 2021 	Tokyo 	8 	
 	July 3rd-4th, 2021 	Osaka 	128 	
 	July 3rd-4th, 2021 	Narbonne 	120 	
 	July 10th, 2021 	Overland Park, Kansas 	239 	
 	July 11th, 2021 	Melbourne 	128 	
 	July 15th-18th, 2021 	Los Angels, California 	16 	
 	July 23rd, 2021 	Osaka 	128 	
 	July 24th, 2021 	Osaka 	128 	
 	July 24th, 2021 	Waitham, Massachussets 	129 	
 	July 24th-25th, 2021 	Wichita Falls, Texas 	149 	
 	July 25th, 2021 	Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania 	194 	
 	July 31st, 2021 	Laurel, Maryland 	243 	
 	July 31st, 2021 	Montreal 	153 	
 	July 31st, 2021 	Pachuca 	64 	
 	August 7th, 2021 	Mexico City 	16 	
 	August 6th-8th, 2021 	Houston, Texas 	113 	
 	August 7th-8th, 2021 	Düsseldorf 	318 	
 	August 14th, 2021 	Birmingham 	193 	
 	August 12th-15th, 2021 	Créteil 	532 	
 	August 14th-15th, 2021 	Chicago, Illinois 	149 	
 	August 21st, 2021 	Nuremberg 	126 	
 	August 21st, 2021 	Houston, Texas 	137 	
 	August 21st-22nd, 2021 	unknown 	16 	
 	August 23rd, 2021 	La Mirada, California 	320 	
 	August 28th, 2021 	Portland, Oregon 	223 	
 	August 28th, 2021 	Mainz 	128 	
 	August 26th-29th, 2021 	Los Angeles, California 	16 	
 	August 28th-29th, 2021 	unknown 	16 	
 	August 28th-29th, 2021 	Thonon-les-Bains 	128 	
 	August 27th-30th, 2021 	Derby 	134 	
 	September 4th-5th, 2021 	Villeneuve-d-Ascq 	863 	
 	September 5th, 2021 	Moncton 	143 	
 	September 11th, 2021 	Sandusky, Ohio 	195 	
 	September 10th-12th, 2021 	Sandusky, Ohio 	1,776 	
 	September 18th-19th, 2021 	Montville, Connecticut 	370 	
 	September 18th-19th, 2021 	Vienna 	16 	
 	September 18th-19th, 2021 	Overland Park, Kansas 	207 	
 	September 18th-19th, 2021 	Concord 	161 	
 	September 25th, 2021 	Croydon 	138 	
 	September 24th-26th, 2021 	Laurel, Maryland 	421 	
 	October 2nd, 2021 	Lausanne 	128 	
 	October 2nd, 2021 	Saint-Luc 	137 	
 	October 1st-3rd, 2021 	Round Rock, Texas 	1,406 	
 	October 9th, 2021 	Liège 	138 	
 	October 8th-10th, 2021 	Vancouver 	321 	
 	October 9th-10th, 2021 	Laurel, Maryland 	16 	
 	October 9th-10th, 2021 	Las Vegas, Nevada 	133 	
 	October 10th, 2021 	Tokyo 	192 	
 	October 15th-17th, 2021 	Herndon, Virginia 	1,030 	
 	October 16th-17th, 2021 	Paris 	116 	
 	October 17th, 2021 	Tokyo 	48 	
 	October 23rd, 2021 	Osaka 	320 	
 	October 23rd, 2021 	Phoenix, Arizona 	238 	
 	October 22nd-24th, 2021 	Nuremberg 	114 	
 	October 23rd-24th, 2021 	Laurel, Maryland 	16 	
 	October 23rd-24th, 2021 	London 	16 	
 	October 24th, 2021 	unknown 	8 	
 	October 30th, 2021 	London 	128 	
 	October 29th-31st, 2021 	Cretèil 	260 	
 	October 30th-31st, 2021 	Tokyo 	512 	
 	October 30th-31st, 2021 	San Juan 	174 	
 	October 30th-31st, 2021 	New Orleans, Louisiana 	253 	
 	October 30th-31st, 2021 	Tukwila, Washington 	647 	
 	November 6th, 2021 	Nepean 	210 	
 	November 6th-7th, 2021 	Morrisville, North Carolina	323 	
 	November 6th-7th, 2021 	Laurel, Maryland 	16 	
 	November 7th, 2021 	Tokyo 	192 	
 	November 12th-14th, 2021 	Ontario, California 	1,330 	
 	November 20th, 2021 	Gainesville, Florida 	242 	
 	November 20th-21st, 2021 	Vienna 	512 	
 	November 20th-21st, 2021 	Noisy-le-Grand 	206 	
 	November 27th, 2021 	Osaka 	192 	
 	November 27th, 2021 	Portland, Oregon 	218 	
 	November 27th, 2021 	Lyon 	166 	
 	November 27th-28th, 2021 	Tokyo 	16 	
 	December 4th, 2021 	Gentilly 	129 	
 	December 4th, 2021 	Fukuoka 	192 	
 	December 4th, 2021 	Québec City 	145 	
 	December 4th, 2021 	Lexington, Kentucky 	207 	
 	December 3rd-5th, 2021 	Orlando, Florida 	777 	
Eastern Powerhouse Invitational 2 FINAL	December 11th, 2021 	Kanto 	12 	
 	December 12th, 2021 	San Pedro Sula 	142 	
 	December 18th, 2021 	Leander, Texas 	229 	
 	December 17th-19th, 2021 	Orlando, Florida 	718 	
 	December 18th-19th, 2021 	Modena 	161 	
 	December 22nd-23rd, 2021 	Créteil 	194 	
 	December 25th-26th, 2021 	Daito 	199 	
 	December 26th, 2021 	Sapporo 	192 	
 	January 8th, 2022 	Birmingham 	192 	
 	January 7th-9th, 2022 	New York City, New York 	687 	
 	January 8th-9th, 2022 	Tokyo 	768 	
==List of tournaments affected by the pandemic==
Below is a list of tournaments that were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic through cancellations, postponements, or major players dropping out.
===March 2020===
Tournament 	Original Dates 	Region 	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
Umebura SP 8 	March 7th, 2020 	Japan 	 	>800 	style="background-color:red;"	PGRU A-tier prior to cancellation 	
Emerald City 9 	March 7th, 2020 	Washington 	 	470 	 	PGRU C-tier prior to cancellation. Project+ was still run. 	
 	March 13th-15th, 2020	Florida 	 	971 	Affected 	Several players dropped out; no longer Gold stop for SWT. 	
Poravaunu 9 	March 14th-15th, 2020	Finland 	 	~80 	 	SWT Silver prior to cancellation. 	
Shack Smash Ultimate invitational 	March 20th-21st, 2020	Texas 	 	16 	Postponed 	Postponed to an unknown date. 	
Rock N' Roll 	March 21st, 2020 	Spain 	 	144 	Postponed 	Postponed initially to May 16th, but current status unknown; PGRU C-tier prior to postponement. 	
Confluence 	March 21st, 2020 	Illinois 	 	115 	style="background-color:red;"	Postponed to an later date, ultimately cancelled. 	
Home Sweet Home 	March 21st, 2020 	Alabama 	 	187 	style="background-color:red;"	SWT Silver prior to cancellation. 	
PRESS LESS 2020 	March 21st, 2020 	Canada 	 	231 	Postponed 	Postponed indefinitely. PGRU C-tier prior to PGRU hiatus; SWT Silver prior to cancellation. 	
Smashmania XIII 	March 21st, 2020 	Texas 	 	??? 	Postponed 	Postoponed to an unknown date; SWT Silver prior to postponement. 	
Smash 'n Warp 4 	March 21st, 2020 	France 	 	??? 	style="background-color:red;"	SWT silver prior to cancellation 	
DAT BlastZone 31: Revival 	March 21st, 2020 	England 	 	128 	Postponed 	Postponed to October 31st, 2021. PGRU C-tier prior to PGRU hiatus. 	
 	March 22nd, 2020 	Japan 	 	320 	Postponed 	Postponed thrice, first to April 4th, then to July 24th, finally held on September 20th; PGRU B-tier prior to postponement. 	
Final Round 2020 	March 20th-22nd, 2020	Georgia 	 	64 	style="background-color:red;"	SWT Silver prior to cancellation 	
 	March 21st-22nd, 2020	Connecticut	 	157 	Postponed 	Postponed to September 12th-13th, 2020, then later March 13th-14th, 2021, then to September 18th-19th, 2021; PGRU C-tier prior to postponement. 	
WANTED Saison 3 - Chap 8: Invasion de l'Ouest II	March 21st-22nd, 2020	France 	 	146 	style="background-color:red;"	SWT Silver prior to cancellation. 	
NCS Major: Smashdown 	March 21st-22nd, 2020	Colorado 	 	80 	style="background-color:red;"	SWT Silver prior to cancellation. 	
Smashdown 2020 	March 21st-22nd, 2020	Colombia 	 	149 	Postponed 	PGRU C-tier prior to PGRU hiatus; SWT Silver prior to postponement. 	
BIT MASTER MTY 10 	March 27th-28th, 2020	Mexico 	 	264 	Postponed 	Postponed to a later date; SWT Silver prior to cancellation, and PGRU B-tier prior to PGRU hiatus 	
CGN OPEN 	March 28th, 2020 	Germany 	 	105 	Postponed 	Postponed to an unknown date. SWT Silver prior to initial cancellation. An online alternative was also created. 	
Seibugeki 5 	March 28th, 2020 	Japan 	 	138 	style="background-color:red;"	 	
Michigan M@sters 2020 	March 27th-29th, 2020	Michigan 	 	??? 	style="background-color:red;"	SWT Silver prior to cancellation 	
Full Bloom 6 	March 28th-29th, 2020	Indiana 	 	485 	style="background-color:red;"	PGRU C-tier prior to cancellation. 	
 	March 28th-29th, 2020	France 	 	193 	Postponed 	Initially postponed to an unknown fall date. Later postponed to March or April 2021, then November 20th-21st, 2021. Originally first SWT Platinum event.	
2GG: Final Saga 	March 28th-29th, 2020	SoCal 	 	732 	style="background-color:red;"	Postponed a couple of times prior to its eventual cancellation. PGRU S-tier prior to PGRU hiatus. 	
Union 	March 28th-29th, 2020	England 	 	128 	Postponed 	Postponed to an unknown date, later to 2022. PGRU C-tier prior to PGRU hiatus; SWT Silver prior to cancellation. 	
===April 2020===
Tournament 	Original Dates 	Region 	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
 	April 4th, 2020 	England 	 	192 	Postponed 	All Italians dropped out; renamed from "Invasion: Italy". Later postponed to November 14th. Later postponed again to June 26th, 2021. Later postponed again on August 14th, 2021.	
Smash Clash Munich 	April 4th, 2020 	Germany 	 	46 	style="background-color:red;"	SWT Silver prior to cancellation. 	
HSTSP Extend 	April 4th, 2020 	Japan 	 	192 	style="background-color:red;"	PGRU C-tier prior to PGRU hiatus 	
Pound 2020 	April 3rd-5th, 2020 	MD/VA 	 	911 	style="background-color:red;"	PGRU B-tier and SWT Platinum prior to cancellation. Later replaced by . 	
Golden Flame 	April 4th-5th, 2020 	France 	 	64 	Postponed 	Postponed to an unknown date. 	
Smash Odyssey: Ghent 2 	April 11th, 2020 	Belgium 	 	34 	Postponed 	Postponed to an unknown date 	
NorCal Regionals 2020 	April 10th-12th 	NorCal 	 	37 	style="background-color:red;"	SWT Silver prior to cancellation 	
Tech Republic V 	April 11th-12th, 2020	Spain 	 	218 	style="background-color:red;"	PGRU B-tier prior to cancellation. 	
Atlantis 	April 18th, 2020 	Netherlands 	 	66 	Postponed 	Postponed to an unknown date. SWT Silver prior to postponement. 	
Collision 2020 	April 18th-19th, 2020	New Jersey 	 	390 	style="background-color:red;"	Initially postponed to August 22nd-23rd. PGRU A-tier prior to PGRU hiatus. 	
Boss Battle Remix 	April 24th-25th, 2020	Indiana 	 	31 	style="background-color:red;"	Postponed to an unknown date, later cancelled. 	
Nick Yingling Experience	April 25th, 2020 	Arizona 	 	70 	style="background-color:red;"	SWT Silver prior to cancellation. 	
Karisuma SP 9 	April 25th, 2020 	Japan 	 	160+ 	style="background-color:red;"	PGRU C-tier prior to PGRU hiatus. 	
OVERDRIVE 	April 25th-26th, 2020	France 	 	106 	style="background-color:red;"	Solary Circuit frozen as well. 	
 	April 25th-26th, 2020	Massachusetts	 	N/A 	Postponed 	First postponed to October 17th-18th, 2020, then to April 24th-25th, 2021; then to November 6th-7th, 2021. 	
Polish Smash Phoenix 2 	April 25th-26th, 2020	Poland 	 	48 	Postponed 	Postponed to an unknown date. SWT Silver prior to postponement. 	
===May 2020===
Tournament 	Original Dates 	Region 	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
Kings of Hali 5 	May 1st-3rd, 2020 	Canada 	 	201 	style="background-color:red;"	PGRU C-tier prior to PGRU hiatus; SWT Silver prior to cancellation. 	
ICARUS VI 	May 2nd-3rd, 2020 	Italy 	 	217 	Postponed 	Postponed to October 9th-10th, but current status unknown. 	
Umebura Japan Major 2020	May 4th-6th, 2020 	Japan 	 	? 	style="background-color:red;"	SWT Platinum then removed from SWT prior cancellation. 	
Crown II 	May 9th-10th, 2020 	Utah 	 	117 	style="background-color:red;"	SWT Silver prior to cancellation. 	
Stunfest 2020 	May 15th-17th, 2020	France 	 	156 	style="background-color:red;"	PGRU C-tier prior to PGRU hiatus 	
Get On My Level 2020 	May 15th-17th, 2020	Canada 	 	N/A 	style="background-color:red;"	Initially postponed indefinitely; every tournament states that Get On My Level 2020 will not happen. PGRU S-tier prior to PGRU hiatus; SWT Platinum prior to SWT hiatus.	
MomoCon 2020 	May 21st-24th, 2020	Georgia 	 	? 	style="background-color:red;"	SWT Gold prior to cancellation. 	
 	May 23rd-24th, 2020	Germany 	 	166 	Postponed 	Postponed to September 12th-13th, then finally held on September 26th-27th. PGRU C-tier prior to PGRU hiatus. 	
 	May 29th-31st, 2020	Australia	 	~100 	Postponed 	Postponed a threetimes, eventually to May 13th-15th 2022; SWT Platinum prior to postponement. 	
===June 2020===
Tournament 	Original Dates 	Region 	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
 	June 5th-7th, 2020 	Nevada 	 	??? 	Postponed 	Postponed to March 25th-27th, 2022, then July 8th-10th, 2022. SWT Platinum prior to first postponement.	
COST 2020 	June 7th, 2020 	Ohio 	 	173 	style="background-color:red;"	 	
 	June 11th-14th, 2020	SoCal 	 	16 	Postponed 	Initially postponed, later cancelled, then later reopened for August 26th-29th, 2021. 	
Battle of BC 4	June 19th-21st, 2020	Canada 	 	158 	style="background-color:red;"	SWT Gold prior to cancellation. 	
e-Caribana 	June 21st, 2020 	Switzerland	 	16 	style="background-color:red;"	2020 iteration cancelled. PGRU B-tier prior to PGRU hiatus. 	
CEO 2020 	June 26th-28th, 2020	Florida 	 	??? 	style="background-color:red;"	Postponed to December 11th-13th, 2020 and later cancelled. SWT Gold prior to cancellation. 	
===July 2020===
Tournament 	Original Dates 	Region 	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
Low Tier City Expo 2020	July 10th-12th, 2020 	Texas 	 	330 	style="background-color:red;"	2020 iteration cancelled. SWT Platinum prior to cancellation 	
COLOSSEL 2020 	July 11th-12th, 2020 	France 	 	348 	style="background-color:red;"	2020 iteration cancelled. 	
Fête 2020 	July 23rd-26th, 2020 	United Kingdom	 	N/A 	style="background-color:red;"	SWT Gold prior to cancellation. 	
 	July 24th-26th, 2020 	Mexico 	 	N/A 	Postponed 	Postponed indefinitely. SWT Platinum prior to postponement. 	
EVO 2020 	July 31st-August 2nd, 2020	Nevada 	 	N/A 	style="background-color:red;"	Replaced with online event, but Smash Ultimate was cut from lineup. Online event was later cancelled due to sexual misconduct allegations.	
===August 2020===
Tournament 	Original Dates 	Region 	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
Super Smash Con 2020	August 6th-9th, 2020 	Virginia 	 	N/A 	style="background-color:red;"	SWT Platinum prior to cancellation. 	
FESTA 	August 16th-22nd, 2020	Sweden 	 	N/A 	Postponed 	Postponed to August 15th-21st, 2021, then later to July 17th-23rd, 2022. 	
 	August 21st-23rd, 2020	New Zealand 	 	87+ 	Postponed 	Postponed to February 5th-7th, 2021 due to confirmed community transmmission in New Zealand.	
Shine 2020 	August 28th-30th, 2020	Massachusetts	 	N/A 	style="background-color:red;"	 	
===September 2020===
Tournament 	Original Dates 	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
Standoff 2020 	September 4th-6th, 2020 	Texas 	 	N/A 	style="background-color:red;"	 	
DreamHack Montreal 2020	September 11th-13th, 2020	Canada	 	N/A 	Postponed 	Postponed until 2021, will likely keep current name. 	
 	September 11th-13th, 2020	Ohio 	 	N/A 	Postponed 	Cancelled, then reopened for September 10th-12th, 2021 	
Smash Dream Cup 	September 12th-13th, 2020	Mexico	 	48 	Postponed 	Postponed until March 13th-14th 2021, but current status unknown. 	
 	September 19th-20th, 2020	MD/VA 	 	N/A 	Postponed 	Postponed to an unknown date, then January 14th-16th, 2022, then February 18th-20th, 2022. SWT Gold prior to postponement.	
===October 2020===
Tournament 	Original Dates 	Region 	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
 	October 2020 	Michigan 	N/A 	N/A 	Postponed 	Scheduled for October prior to cancellation. It was then replaced by . The Big House Online was then canceled by Nintendo of America, due to the usage of Project Slippi. This caused heavy backlash towards the cease and desist from Nintendo, with the trending use of #FreeMelee. The tournament was later announced to be held on October 7th-9th, 2022.	
Ultimate Fighting Arena 2020 	October 4th-6th, 2020 	France 	 	N/A 	style="background-color:red;" 	 	
Phoenix Revengeance 	October 10th-11th, 2020 	Chile 	 	40 	Postponed 	Postponed to October 9th-10th, 2021, SWT Silver prior to postponement 	
The Script Trilogy 	October 10th-11th, 2020 	Maryland 	 	N/A 	style="background-color:yellow;"	Postponed indefintely, SWT Gold prior to postponement 	
DreamHack Rotterdam 2020 	October 16th-18th, 2020 	Netherlands 	 	N/A 	Postponed 	Postponed to 2021 	
Overlords of Orlando: OCTOBERLORDS 2	October 16th-18th, 2020 	Florida 	 	N/A 	style="background-color:red;" 	 	
Revival: A SmashUK Invitational 	October 17th-18th, 2020 	United Kingdom	 	16 	Postponed 	The tournament, which was to feature some of the United Kingdom's best players, was announced hours before the United Kingdom government restricted social gatherings to 6 people. The decision to postpone indefinitely was announced the next day. 	
Mainstage 2 	October 23rd-25th, 2020 	SoCal 	 	N/A 	Postponed 	Cancelled, then was later held on November 12th-14th, 2021. 	
First Attack 2020 	Octoer 24th-25th, 2020 	Puerto Rico 	 	N/A 	style="background-color:red;" 	Replaced by Online event of the same name. 	
United LAN 2020 	October 23rd-27th, 2020 	Germany 	 	52 	style="background-color:yellow;"	Postponed to Summer 2021. 	
 	October 31st-November 1st, 2020	Washington 	 	N/A 	style="background-color:yellow;"	Postponed to October 2nd-3rd, 2021, later to October 30th-31st. SWT Gold prior to postponement 	
===November 2020===
Tournament 	Original Dates 	Region 	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
DreamHack Atlanta 2020	November 13th-15th, 2020	Georgia 	 	N/A 	style="background-color:red;" 	2020 iteration cancelled and moved to 2021 	
Apex 2020 	November 20th-22nd, 2020	New Jersey	 	N/A 	style="background-color:yellow;"	Postponed to 2021. SWT Gold prior to postponement.	
===December 2020===
Tournament 	Original Dates 	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
2GG 5th Anniversary Saga	December 5th-6th, 2020 	SoCal 	 	N/A 	style="background-color:red;"	Postponed to an unknown date, later cancelled.	
Crossover Summit 	December 10th-13th, 2020	SoCal 	 	32 	style="background-color:red;"	 	
===January 2021===
Tournament 	Original Dates 	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
 	January 9th, 2021 	Japan 	 	N/A 	style="background-color:yellow;"	Initially cancelled due to a state of emergency from a surge of infections. Later held on March 7th.	
Kagaribi 1.5	January 10th, 2021	Japan 	 	N/A 	style="background-color:red;" 	Cancelled due to a state of emergency from a surge of infections. 	
Kagaribi 2 	January 24th, 2021	Japan 	 	N/A 	style="background-color:red;" 	Cancelled due to a state of emergency from a surge of infections. 	
===February 2021===
Tournament	Original Dates 	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
 	February 23rd, 2021	Japan 	 	N/A 	style="background-color:yellow;"	Delayed repeatedly, finally set to take place on July 3rd-4th, 2021.	
===April 2021===
Tournament	Original Dates 	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
 	April 24th, 2021	Japan 	 	N/A 	style="background-color:yellow;"	First postponed to May 29th, then postponed until further notice. The final date was announced to be July 23rd, 2021, with to be held the very next day.	
 	April 25th, 2021	Japan 	 	N/A 	style="background-color:yellow;"	First postponed to May 22nd, then postponed to June 26th-27th. 	
===May 2021===
Tournament	Original Dates 	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
15th Kanto	May 2nd, 2021 	Japan 	 	N/A 	style="background-color:red;" 	Cancelled due to an emergency declaration in Tokyo. Now planned to be held in summer or autumn.	
 	May 29th-30th, 2021	France	 	N/A 	style="background-color:yellow;	Postponed to September 4th-5th, 2021. 	
===June 2021===
Tournament 	Original Dates 	Region 	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
SWT: Oceania Melee & Ultimate Regional Finals	June 25th-27th, 2021	Australia	 	32 	style="background-color:red	Postponed to August 27th-29th, 2021, then postponed to November 12th-14th prior to cancellation. for Melee and for Ultimate were invited as finalists.	
===July 2021===
Tournament	Original Dates 	Region 	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
 	July 3rd-4th, 2021 	Japan 	 	16 	Postponed 	Postponed to September 25th-26th, 2021, then to November 6th-7th, 2021, then to November 27th-28th, 2021. The eight players from Southeast Asia were unable to attend due to travel restrictions. Eight competitors from took their place while was invited as the sixth qualifying spot, bringing the total number of qualifying spots for the finals to five.	
 	July 10th-11th, 2021 	Japan 	 	16 	Postponed 	Postponed to October 2nd-3rd, 2021, then postponed to November 20th-21st, 2021, then anticipated to November 13th-14th, 2021. 	
 	July 17th-18th, 2021 	Europe 	 	16 	Postponed 	Postponed to September 18th-19th, 2021. 	
 	July 31st, 2021 	Japan 	 	N/A 	Postponed 	Postponed to August 29th, 2021, then postponed to October 31st, 2021. 	
 	July 30th-August 1st, 2021	South America	 	32 	style="background-color:red	Cancelled due to severe COVID-19 transmission in South America. Ultimate finals were held online on August 1st. Melee finals cancelled, and selected as the finalists by the Melee panel. 	
===August 2021===
Tournament	Original Dates 	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
 	August 7th-8th, 2021	Europe	 	16 	Postponed	Postponed to August 14th-15th, then to October 23-24th.	
===September 2021===
Tournament	Original Dates 	Region 	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
 	September 4th-5th, 2021 	Central America	 	16 	style="background-color:green	Anticipated to August 28th-29th, 2021 due to the rescheduling of other tournaments.	
 	September 25th-26th, 2021	United States 	 	16 	Postponed 	Postponed to October 9th-10th, 2021. 	
===January 2022===
Tournament 	Original Dates 	Region 	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
 	January 15th, 2022 	New York	 	N/A 	Postponed	Postponed to Spring 2022, then held on May 7th, 2022. 	
Reta Mítica 2022	January 15th, 2022 	Mexico 	 	64 	Postponed	Postponed to April 2022. 	
 	January 28th-30th, 2022	NorCal 	 	4,444 	Postponed	Postponed to April 15th-17th, 2022. A charity event called was made to help the GENESIS 8 crew with the six-figure cost of postponing GENESIS 8, which partnered with the online Melee tournament .	
===February 2022===
Tournament	Original Dates 	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
 	February 12-13th, 2022	Canada	 	N/A 	Postponed	Indefinitely postponed. Project+ national tournament prior to postponement. 	
 	February 13th, 2022 	Japan 	 	N/A 	Postponed	Cancelled with its original dates, then held on May 3rd, 2022. A Seibugeki event for March 19th, 2022 was still under consideration between being held and postponement, and was later cancelled.	
===May 2022===
Tournament	Original Dates 	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
 	May 12th-15th, 2022	SoCal 	 	16 	Affected	Broadcast postponed after a COVID-19 outbreak on Day 3, , , and dropped out which resuled in a final bracket of 13 players, took Day 3 off, and several events were cancelled, like the VIP bracket stopping at top 8.	
===July 2022===
Tournament	Original Dates 	Region	Games	Tentative Attendance	Status 	Notes 	Source
 	July 23rd, 2022	Japan 	 	N/A 	Postponed	Postponed to September 25th, 2022. At , COCOA, a COVID-19 contact reporting app in Japan, notified some attendees of positive COVID-19 cases near them. Though the app might have been inaccurate and there were no reports of positive COVID-19 cases, there was still the chance there was an infection, making Seibugeki Rising 1 postponed.	
==References==
Category:Competitive play