The Biggest Smash Bro's Tournament in Western Canada is Back

Written for Daily Hive by Jonah Lee-Ash of Akshon Esports

British Columbia’s biggest Super Smash Bros tournament is back. Battle of BC 5 is set to run from May 19 to 21, 2023, at the Vancouver Convention Centre. 

Since 2016, Battle of BC has been held at the UBC Nest. However, as the event has grown each year, a new venue was in order for 2023. Kevin Dhir, head event organizer for BoBC5, said, “this is a dream come true … When I think of the Vancouver Convention Center, it’s the most prestigious venue in all of BC and one of the most prestigious venues in Canada. It is truly the peak of where we can be hosting this event.”

The battle is back and bigger than ever.

Battle of BC returns for its fifth installment on May 19-21, brought to you by @galintgaming! #BoBC5 pic.twitter.com/zg0V35zTfv

— Battle of BC 5 🎉 REG OPEN!! (@battleofbc) January 23, 2023

The larger venue has more than 4x the square footage of last year’s room, meaning a far higher capacity for attendees and vendors. With a venue in the heart of downtown, the event hopes to bring in competitors from all around the world. “We’re really trying to solidify ourselves as an international event,” says Dhir, “we’re getting a ton of the Japanese top players in because Japan is one of, if not the best regions in the world. But you don’t always see a lot of those guys come out here and get to face head to head with the best players from North America and the best players from Europe.”

To this end, Battle of BC 5 aims to be accessible to as many fans as possible and to curate an online experience like no other. “One thing we’re trying to pioneer is multilingual streams. We already have streams confirmed in French, Spanish, and Japanese, and we’re trying to confirm even more languages in the near future. I think Smash is such a global game, so we really want to have global eyes on it.”

BoBC4 Day 2 (Bekah)

The tournament will feature brackets for both Smash Melee and Smash Ultimate, with talent from around the world flying to BC to compete. Already confirmed for Melee are the likes of Zain “Zain” Naghmi, Cody “iBDW” Schwab” Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma, and Vancouver’s own Masaya “aMSa” Chikamoto. 

BoBC4 Day 1 (Bekah)

On the Ultimate side, there will be a number of top Japanese players flying over for the event, including Kengo “KEN” Suzuki and Shuto “Shuton” Moriya. BoBC 5 will also be the international debut for one of the most hotly anticipated players in recent memory, Yoshidora. Touted as one of the best players in Japan, this will be his first time travelling to North America to compete, and fans are very excited to see how he performs.

With these players and more already confirmed, BoBC5 is shaping up to be a highly competitive event.

For those attending in person, there will be tons of live events, vendors, and a boat cruise afterparty. If you can’t make it, no worries, the event will be live-streamed on Twitch.

To find out more information and to register for the event, head over to Start.gg and follow them on Twitter.