On the weekend of June 24-26, the Panda Cup had its inaugural event in CEO 2022 hosted in Daytona Beach, Florida. CEO, short for Community Effort Orlando, is one of the largest fighting game tournaments of the year, and it was the perfect place to kick off the first officially licensed circuit for Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in North America. The Super Smash Bros. brackets at CEO took place in the main ballroom and featured best of five sets for the entirety of top 64. We were also able to enhance the tournament experience with a 4,000 square foot, 24-hour dedicated friendlies room for competitors to play before and after their tournament matches.
Who will take first place at the first stop of the Panda Cup?
— Panda Cup (@PandaCup) June 26, 2022
Top 8 of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate at @CEOGaming is starting now. pic.twitter.com/UXWOPHiAco
As the first stop on the Panda Cup circuit, there were three qualifying spots up for grabs for the top three placing players of each game. For Super Smash Bros. Melee, these spots went to Andrew “Chem” Khalili, Sasha “Magi” Sullivan, and Justin “Plup” McGrath, who took first place. For Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the qualifying spots were claimed by Toriano “Toast” Warren Jr., Michael “Riddles” Kim, and tournament winner Carlos “Sonix” Pérez. These players will be among the 32 for both Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate who will compete at the Panda Cup Finale in December for a piece of the $100,000 prize pool.
Super Smash Bros. at CEO 2022 was streamed on the official Panda Cup channels on Twitch and YouTube, and peaked at over 40,000 concurrent viewers including official restreams. The broadcast also featured a number of enhancements such as analyst spots on commentary and statistical breakdowns powered by PGstats. The Panda Cup stream enhancements at CEO included head-to-head record slides, tournament performance graphics that showcased each player’s path through the bracket, and instant replays after each streamed set. We were also able to get interviews with a number of players in attendance for the PGstats channel, including the winners of both Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Following CEO 2022 as the second stop on the Panda Cup was Get On My Level on July 1-3 in Ontario, Canada, where two more players for each game qualified for the Panda Cup Finale. Jake “Jmook” DiRado and Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma took the spots for Super Smash Bros. Melee, while Dawson “Big D” Perron and Angel “Onin” Mireles qualified for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The next stop on the Panda Cup is Smash Factor 9 taking place on July 29-31 in Puebla, Mexico, and online qualifiers for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate are also underway for every North American region. For more information on upcoming Panda Cup stops and online qualifiers, head to pandacup.com.