Super Smash Bros. Melee was originally a party game released for the Nintendo GameCube, dating all the way back to 2001. The game united characters from all of Nintendo's franchises, which included; Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda and F-Zero. At its launch, it was critically acclaimed by many gaming outlets and to this day holds a metascore of 92 (metacritic). Within its first year of release the game was mostly played at a casual level, with a group of friends. Shortly after, a revolution in support of competitive Melee sparked on the East and West coasts of the country.
An elite group of competitive Melee players would leave their mark on the game forever. Players like Azen, Ken, Chudat, Isai and Chillindude would lay the foundation for transforming Melee into a competitive fighting game. They unintentionally discovered techniques such as L-cancelling and Wavedashing which would further complicate the game. The community began to recognize the potential that Melee possessed and thus one of the most incredible gaming communities was established.
Since the beginning, the Melee community has had to fight for everything that they have. Venues, prize pools, transportation and equipment were scarce at that time. Tournaments were typically held in people's homes and worn down buildings. These venues couldn't hold more than a few hundred people. Prize pools only consisted of a few hundred dollars and tournaments were rarely recorded. These grassroots events were the heart and soul of Melee. Many of us take these things for granted today.
Eventually, Melee was taken under the wing of Major League Gaming. A variety of improvements were made to the tournament scene. Venues had now transformed into convention centers which could hold several hundred to even a couple thousand people. MLG introduced play by play commentary and had the ability to record all tournament matches. Prize pools also increased from a few hundred dollars to several thousands. All the Melee communities hard work had payed off. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever.
In late 2006, MLG would drop Melee from its professional gaming circuit. Everything they had accomplished to that point all but disappeared. An even greater obstacle loomed on the horizon in the release of a new Super Smash Bros. game. Brawl was released in 2008 to widespread critical acclaim. A majority of the community moved on to Brawl in the hopes that it would improve upon its predecessor. During that year the size of the community significantly shrunk and nearly died altogether. Pound 3 was the only major tournament held that year. MaNg0, a rising star at the time would make one of the greatest losers bracket runs in order to win the tournament. He would establish himself as one of the pillars that kept the Melee scene from dying. Shortly after, a new era of Melee was established. An era of revival.
The greatest highlight of the Melee communities dedication was demonstrated during Evolution 2013s charity drive. Evolution's tournament organizers wanted to hold a charity drive in order to determine the final game for its lineup. The race came down to Melee and Skullgirls. Ultimately, Melee conquered by raising over $94,000 for Breast Cancer Awareness (polygon). As always, the community had to fend of yet another threat. Nintendo forced Evolution to not stream Melee during their event. Through a concentrated effort of social media bombardment, Nintendo revoked these statements within a few hours. Time and time again the Melee community has been able to persevere and grow despite all of these obstacles. Everyone's love and support for the game has kept Melee's flame alive for nearly 15 years.
I have personally only been involved with the community for a little over a year. A high school friend of mine introduced my friends and I to the competitive scene. He showed us an iron man match between Mew2King and MaNg0. I was mesmerized and could not fathom the speed and movement of the characters. My eyes were opened to an entirely new world of Super Smash Bros. I ended up buying Melee for $80 at Jay Street Video games and have had no regrets of that decision. I started off playing against the CPUs with characters such as Jigglypuff and Peach. Occasionally, my roommate Tim and our friend Seth would join in and play. I really enjoyed the game but felt an emptiness inside of me.
During the Summer of 2015, I began practicing tech skill to cull the loneliness. I picked up Falco and Marth and began learning how to SHFFL, Wavedash and manevour the ledge. I really wanted to go to tournaments but had no friends to go with nor could drive to these events. Heading into my sophomore year of college everything changed.
One day at dinner I was watching the top 8 for Paragon Los Angeles when someone asked, "Who's playing?" I turned around in awe and met my friend Micah for the first time. He invited me to eat dinner with his group of friends and I met also met my good friend Luke in the process. They one about tournaments and tech skill and for once I felt whole. I was surrounded by friends that loved the game as much as I did.
Eventually, my friend Luke established a Facebook page and we would come in contact with a guy named Vgp_ Wyre (Barbin). He had some experience with organizing tournaments and agreed to help us out. We held our first tournament in October of 2015. We featured both Melee and Smash 4. It was a huge success and we had over 30 entrants total. I had placed 3rd losing to Barbin in an epic set with him winning 3-2. Micah would end up taking the tournament over Barbin 3-2 in grand finals. Since then my entire outlook of the game has completely changed.
I am so thankful for meeting this group of amazing people! For the longest time I felt so alone when playing this game. I felt like I was the only one that cared about the game. The Smash community here at Eastern has reinvigorated my love for the game. I love all of you and sincerely thank you guys for accepting me for the socially awkward mess of an individual that I am. I also can't forget to thank the entire community for paving the way for future generations of Smashers. Your hard work will forever be appreciated for molding such a loving and accepting community.
