Editing Super Smash Bros. Melee in competitive play

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' in competitive play}}
{{ArticleIcons|ssbm=y|competitive=y}}
''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'' has been played competitively since its inception in 2001 (although it started with relatively low popularity until 2003), and it continues to thrive in the competitive scene to this day. The scene has gone through several "eras" of smashers: the "Golden Age", the "era of The Five Gods", the "Platinum Age", the "Chaos Age", and the "Rise of Netplay".

==Early history (2001-2004)==
While ''Smash Bros.'' has been viewed as a "casual party game" by [[Nintendo]], [[Masahiro Sakurai]] (the series' main developer), and the general public, this did not stop fans from playing the game at a competitive level. Following ''Melee''{{'}}s release in 2001, avid players started to utilize the game's unique physics engine to generate fast movement unexpected for a game like ''Smash''. As players began perfecting newly discovered techniques such as [[wavedashing]], [[dashdancing]], and [[L-canceling]], many smashers began hosting small tournaments for the first time; these tournaments were usually held among small groups of friends in basements or video game stores. However, {{Sm|Matt Deezie}} is credited as the founder of the competitive ''Smash'' scene, when he began hosting the [[Tournament Go]] series in Northern California, in April 2002. Tournament Go helped bring to attention a standard, unified ruleset of legal stages and tournament procedures, and generate increased competitive interest in NorCal and across the United States. By the time the tournament series concluded with [[Tournament Go 6]] in 2004, Matt Deezie had hosted the first 100-man tournament with the best players from all corners of the United States, such as {{Sm|Ken}}, {{Sm|Azen}}, and {{Sm|ChuDat}}, in attendance. Meanwhile, other large nationals such as [[MELEE-FC]] and {{b|Game Over|tournament}} sprung up in different regions of the country. This initial surge of tournament activity paved the way for increased support from large video game organizations, such as [[Major League Gaming]], into the young ''Melee'' scene.

==The "Golden Age" (2004-2008)==
[[File:Pcchrislasvegas.jpg|thumb|right|{{Sm|PC Chris}} after winning [[MLG Las Vegas 2006]].]]
The '''Golden Age''' of ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' kicked off with Major League Gaming's addition of the game to its largest tournaments, such as [[MLG New York 2004]]. Following large public interest in these early events, MLG began expanding its presence in the ''Melee'' scene, featuring the Nintendo game at more and more of its big events. {{Sm|Ken}}, {{Sm|Azen}}, {{Sm|ChuDat}}, {{Sm|Isai}}, {{Sm|PC Chris}}, and {{Sm|KoreanDJ}} competed with a rising star in the form of {{Sm|Mew2King}} for the top spots at MLG tournaments in 2005 and 2006; Ken was notably dubbed the "King of Smash" for his incredibly consistent level of dominance at these events. Major League Gaming's professional sponsorship resulted in large prize pools compared to the number of competitors (PC Chris won $10,000 for his victory at [[MLG Las Vegas 2006]]), creating a solid foundation for the nation's top players and the competitive community as a whole.

While MLG dropped ''Melee'' from its tournaments in 2007, [[EVO]], another large fighting game tournament series, added the game to its roster [[EVO World 2007|the same year]], generating new waves of excitement and interest in the competitive community. Although ''Smash Bros.'' had continually been criticized and shunned by the rest of the fighting game community for its unorthodox gameplay and perceived "casual" appeal, it had still made it into the largest video game tournaments through the dedication and persistence of the grassroots community. Following Ken's retirement from the game in 2007, a new challenger, {{Sm|Mango}}, began to dominate ''Melee'' tournaments along with Mew2King, setting the stage of the competitive era in years to come.

==The "Dark Age" and the era of "The Five Gods" (2008-2013)==
[[File:GENESIS grand finals.jpg|thumb|right|A photo of the crowd reaction during the grand finals between {{Sm|Mango}} and {{Sm|Armada}} at [[GENESIS]], the largest tournament of 2009.]]
After Nintendo released its [[Super Smash Bros. Brawl|newest]] ''Smash Bros.'' game in March 2008, ''Melee'' players questioned the survivability of their game as much of the community moved on to the new title. These fears turned out to be true, as 2008, commonly known as the '''Dark Age''' of ''Melee'', became completely dominated by the ''Brawl'' scene; not a single ''Melee'' major was held for around a year, and the few small tournaments held registered paltry attendance numbers compared to those of just the year before. The ''Melee'' scene remained stagnant until {{sm|Alukard}} held [[Revival of Melee]] in Nanuet, New York, in March 2009. This tournament was the first American event to feature ''Melee''{{'}}s best players from across the country (such as {{sm|Mew2King}}, {{sm|Mango}}, {{sm|PC Chris}}, and {{sm|Azen}}) since [[Pound 3]] in February 2008, and was the beginning of a gradual revival in tournament attendance back to pre-''Brawl'' levels. The renewed surge in attendance was aided by the fact that many ''Melee'' players disliked the slower, less combo-oriented gameplay of ''Brawl'' and returned to the former game shortly after its release. While [[EVO]] and [[Major League Gaming]] added ''Brawl'' to their major tournaments, the ''Melee'' community held on through a strong grassroots presence. ''Melee'' players' desires to remain a strong presence in the ''Smash'' scene led to the hosting of bigger and bigger tournaments, including [[GENESIS]] and [[Pound 4]], and ''Melee'' was able to maintain tournament numbers similar to those of ''Brawl'', even though the 2008 game attracted more newer ''Smash'' players than its predecessor.

Following the declining activity of ''Melee''{{'}}s strongest players, such as {{Sm|Ken}}, {{Sm|KoreanDJ}}, Azen, and PC Chris, the tournaments of this age were dominated by '''The Five Gods''': the five very best players of ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' throughout this time period. These five players, {{Sm|Armada}}, {{Sm|Hungrybox}}, {{Sm|Mango}}, {{Sm|Mew2King}}, and {{Sm|PPMD}}, won nearly every ''Melee'' tournament where at least two of them were in attendance from 2008 to 2015, while rarely losing tournament sets to players not among the gods themselves. The sole exception was {{Trn|Don't Go Down There Jeff}}, where Mango sandbagged for part of the tourney.

==The "Platinum Age" (2013-2018)==
[[File:Mango Evo 2013.jpg|thumb|right|{{Sm|Mango}} celebrates his victory at [[EVO 2013]].]]
[[File:TSBLogo.jpg|thumb|right|{{Sm|Samox}}'s documentary ''[[The Smash Brothers]]'' helped lead to a huge increase in ''Melee''{{'}}s popularity.]]
The era of ''Melee'' after 2013 became known as the '''Platinum Age''', characterized by an unprecedented, explosive spike in attendance numbers, and another transition from a largely grassroots scene to an increased connection and involvement with the rest of the eSports community. After EVO's announcement of a donation drive to feature an eighth title at the world's largest fighting game tournament, [[Melee It On Me]] and other groups organized efforts that raised nearly $95,000, allowing ''Melee'' to become the final featured game at EVO. Hosted from July 12th-14th, 2013, EVO drew a staggering 709 entrants, becoming the largest ''Melee'' tournament of all time. The tournament surpassed [[Pound 4]], the previous record holder, by twice as many entrants, and was the third largest game at EVO, even though it had not been featured in the series since 2007. 

This landmark tournament, coupled with the October 2013 release of {{Sm|Samox}}'s ''[[The Smash Brothers]]'' documentary, which detailed the history of the competitive ''Melee'' scene, is often attributed with creating a rejuvenated interest in the ''Melee'' scene that continued to break new grounds. [[Apex 2014]] again topped the 600-entrant mark in January 2014, and the number of majors held sharply increased, but the biggest highlight of the year was the "Summer of Smash": ''Melee'' was to be featured at three of the world's largest fighting game tournaments in June and July. [[MLG Anaheim 2014]], held from June 20th-22nd, marked the return of ''Smash Bros.'' to the stage of [[Major League Gaming]] after four years; this major was followed up by ''Melee''{{'}}s appearance at [[CEO 2014]]. [[EVO 2014]] continued to surpass expectations of the previous year's event by attracting nearly 1000 entrants, raising prospects over the potential of a game over a decade old. 

The excitement and energy generated by these three tournaments led to increased attention from the eSports scene as a whole, despite the fighting game community's persistent refusal to recognize ''Smash'' as one of their own. Many of the largest names in the competitive gaming industry, such as [[Cloud 9]], [[Team Curse]], and [[Evil Geniuses]], began sponsoring ''Melee''{{'}}s top players, creating further growth and interest from other members of the gaming community. [[Nintendo]] was initially extremely hostile towards the competitive ''Melee'' scene, as showcased by its attempt to block the streaming of the ''Melee'' portion of EVO 2013 (and, as later discovered, to shut down the event entirely). However, 2014 saw a completely unexpected turnaround, as [[Reggie Fils-Aimé]] of Nintendo of America made a guest appearance through video at EVO 2014 just a year later, congratulating the tournament's top eight finalists, and the company has even sponsored tournaments such as [[Apex 2015]]. 2014 also marked the release of ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]'', but the game's release had no real effect on attendance for the ''Melee'' scene, as the ''Melee'' fanbase continued to play the older game instead of moving onto ''Smash 4'' due to the latter game lacking the speed and technical demand that ''Melee'' had, similar to ''Brawl'' (but not to the same extent). Since ''Smash 4''{{'}}s release, ''Melee'' has continued to set new attendance milestones; Apex 2015 broke the 1,000 entrant mark in the winter of 2015, and [[EVO 2015]]'s 1,869 entrants topped even its previous years, setting a record for the largest ''Melee'' tournament of all time.  

While The Five Gods had continued to dominate ''Melee'' majors in the new era, notably featuring {{Sm|Mango}}'s two wins at EVO 2013 and 2014, {{Sm|Leffen}} and {{Sm|Plup}} had emerged as true challengers to them, and are the only two players who have defeated all five in a tournament set. Following his rise in 2014, Leffen won [[B.E.A.S.T 5]], marking the first non-God victory at a major with at least two in attendance since 2008; he won his first American major, [[CEO 2015]], that same year, with three of the gods present. He also won [[Get On My Level 2016]], defeating four gods all in a row without dropping a set. Plup became the second player after Leffen to win a major with two or more gods in attendance, taking [[DreamHack Atlanta 2017]] over Hungrybox and Mew2King; he would go on to win [[GENESIS 5]], winning over Mango and Armada, and double eliminating Hungrybox.

There are several players whose level of skill lies just below the top players; {{Sm|iBDW}}, {{Sm|S2J}}, {{Sm|Fiction}}, and {{Sm|SFAT}} are currently the players most commonly considered the "demi-gods". These four players are known to frequently earn high placings in large tournaments, as well as for occasionally taking sets off of the gods and Leffen/Plup, but have yet to achieve the skill level or consistency of the players above them. In addition, {{Sm|Fly Amanita}} and {{Sm|Wobbles}} have each taken sets off of four of the gods, except for {{Sm|Armada}}. <!--https://twitter.com/TempoAxe/status/556216820450209793 Axe does not consider his Pound 4 win over PPMD to be a "god victory".-->{{Sm|Axe}}<!--Please do not add wins against PPMD that happened prior to Revival of Melee 3 (for example, don't include Lucky's or Axe's wins from Pound 4 against him, as PPMD was not considered in contention for "god status" at the time) or wins where Mango was playing as Scorpion Master.-->, {{Sm|Zain}}, {{Sm|aMSa}}, {{Sm|Westballz}}, {{Sm|Shroomed}}, {{Sm|PewPewU}}, SFAT, {{Sm|ChuDat}}, {{Sm|Lucky}}, and {{Sm|Hax}} have each beaten three of the gods.

Moreover, the ''Melee'' metagame has seen a major shift towards {{SSBM|Fox}}, the current undisputed best character in the game, sitting at the #1 spot on the [[tier]] list. Fox's incredible speed, mobility, combo ability, and KO power has given him a major increase in popularity far above the rest of the top tiers. Many former mains of other characters have picked up Fox as a main, attempting to improve their results by playing a more tournament-viable character. Most notably, Armada picked up the character to complement his {{SSBM|Peach}}, while {{Sm|Hax}} switched over completely from {{SSBM|Captain Falcon}}.

===Tournaments in which all five gods participated===
{|class="wikitable sortable"
! Tournament
! Date
! Armada
! Hungrybox
! Mango
! Mew2King
! PPMD
|-
| [[Pound 4]]
| January 16th-18th, 2010
| 4th
| 2nd
| 1st
| 5th
| 9th
|-
| [[Apex 2010]]
| August 6th-8th, 2010
| 2nd
| 1st
| 25th**
| 3rd
| 4th
|-
| [[Pound V]]
| February 19th-21st, 2011
| 2nd
| 3rd
| 17th**
| 5th*
| 1st
|-
| [[GENESIS 2]]
| July 15th-17th, 2011
| 1st
| 4th
| 2nd
| 5th
| 7th
|-
| [[Apex 2012]]
| January 6th-8th, 2012
| 1st
| 2nd
| 3rd
| 17th<nowiki>*</nowiki>
| 5th
|-
| [[Apex 2013]]
| January 11th-13th, 2013
| 1st
| 5th
| 4th
| 3rd
| 2nd
|-
| [[EVO 2013]]
| July 12th-14th, 2013
| 4th
| 3rd
| 1st
| 5th
| 5th
|-
| [[MLG Anaheim 2014]]
| June 20th-22nd, 2014
| 2nd
| 7th
| 1st
| 3rd
| 4th
|-
| [[EVO 2014]]
| July 11th-13th, 2014
| 3rd
| 2nd
| 1st
| 5th
| 4th
|-
| [[Apex 2015]]
| January 30th-February 1st, 2015
| 2nd
| 5th
| 4th
| 9th
| 1st
|-
| [[GENESIS 3]]
| January 15th-17th, 2016
| 1st
| 3rd
| 2nd
| 9th
| 6th
|-
| [[Battle of the Five Gods]]
| March 17th-19th, 2016
| 3rd
| 1st
| 2nd
| 7th
| 10th
|}

<small><nowiki>*</nowiki>Mew2King forfeited in losers after losing to PPMD at [[Pound V]] and Wobbles at [[Apex 2012]].</small>

<small><nowiki>**</nowiki>Mango was sandbagging under his Scorpion Master alias.</small>

==The "Chaos Age" and "The Fall of the Five Gods" (2018-2020)==
Towards 2016 and onward, many of the Five Gods stepped out of competitive ''Melee'' play. {{Sm|PPMD}} announced a hiatus in March 2016, citing numerous health issues. He would return to streaming ''Melee'' in 2019, though he is unsure of his future in bracket. {{Sm|Armada}} formally retired from ''Melee'' once again in September 2018.

The release of ''Ultimate'' saw many top ''Melee'' players give the new game a fair shot, as was done with ''Brawl'' and ''SSB4''. Unlike with those games, however, a significant portion of those ''Melee'' players continued to play ''Ultimate'' well after its release. All of the Five Gods, save for PPMD, and many other top Melee players have frequently live streamed the game and have entered ''Ultimate'' singles. Mew2King took a hiatus from ''Melee'' to play ''Ultimate'' and did not compete in ''Melee'' singles for 8 months until {{Trn|The Big House 9}}. Although {{Sm|Leffen}} continued to play ''Melee'', he put a large amount of focus on ''Ultimate'' and achieved moderate success in bracket, culminating in him winning {{Trn|DreamHack Winter 2019}}. He ultimately redirected his focus back to ''Melee'', citing issues with ''Ultimate''’s online service and his small local scene making it difficult for him to improve, among many other factors. After deciding to play ''Smash'' full-time, {{Sm|Hungrybox}} picked up {{SSBU|Jigglypuff}} and decided to commit more time to ''Ultimate'' while also commentating at several ''Ultimate'' tournaments. Several players have made good bracket runs as well: Wizzrobe impressively making top 8 for both ''Melee'' and ''Ultimate'' at {{Trn|Smash 'N' Splash 5}}; Plup had placed 17th at {{Trn|EVO 2019}} and The Big House 9; and {{Sm|Armada}} had placed 17th at {{Trn|Mainstage}} and The Big House 9. Still others have seen less success in the game but acknowledge its importance, with {{Sm|Mango}} commonly stating that ''Ultimate'' has made him a better ''Melee'' player.

2018 and 2019 marked a period of Hungrybox’s dominance; he won 9 Melee tournaments in a row, starting from {{Trn|DreamHack Montreal 2018}} to {{Trn|Pound 2019}} before finally placing 2nd at {{Trn|Come to Papa 3}}. He would still continue to place well and win other majors, placing 1st at {{Trn|CEO 2019}}, {{Trn|Low Tier City 7}}, {{Trn|Shine 2019}}, and Mainstage. This has sparked renewed discussion on {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}}’s placement on the tier list, with Armada claiming that Jigglypuff is currently the best character in the game. Hungrybox’s dominance with what many perceived to be a highly defensive play style sparked discussion of a ledge grab limit, with one later being enforced at {{Trn|Super Smash Con 2019}} and Mainstage. 

Many new players would also go on to defeat the remaining gods and win majors, some with unconventional characters. At {{Trn|EVO 2018}}, {{Sm|Swedish Delight}} defeated {{Sm|Armada}} early in winners, and Armada would make an impressive losers run only to lose to {{Sm|Leffen}} in Grand Finals, marking Leffen’s first EVO win. {{Sm|Zain}} would claim victory at {{Trn|Shine 2018}} over Mango and Hungrybox and has continued to be a threat to the gods; he would later go on to win his first supermajor at {{Trn|GENESIS 7}} as well, once again defeating Mango and Hungrybox. Wizzrobe would get his first supermajor victory at {{Trn|Smash 'N' Splash 5}} by double-eliminating Hungrybox, marking the first ''Melee'' supermajor won by a solo {{SSBM|Captain Falcon}} main since {{Sm|Isai}} at {{Trn|MOAST 3}} all the way back in 2005. Similarly, {{Sm|Axe}} would take 1st at {{Trn|Smash Summit 8}} while defeating Zain, Mango, Leffen, and Wizzrobe, marking Axe’s first supermajor win and the first ever major win by a solo {{SSBM|Pikachu}}. The rise of unorthodox characters has spurred renewed interest in Melee, and rise of many new challengers to the Gods has signaled the end of their reign. 

In February 2019, it was revealed that {{Trn|EVO}}, the tournament series responsible for ''Melee''{{'}}s rise in popularity in 2013, would not feature the game in its [[Tournament:EVO 2019|next incarnation]], instead relegating it to a side event. While arguably inevitable, this announcement drew some concern from the ''Melee'' fanbase, for it could possibly compel other fighting game tournaments to drop the game as well and thus lead to its eventual demise. Observers remarked, however, that worry over the exclusion of ''Melee'' from larger tournaments would do more damage to its popularity than the exclusion itself. ''Melee'' remained strong throughout the year even with the noticeable decline in interest thanks to the release of ''Ultimate'' and the reduced prominence of the Five Gods.

==The "Diamond Age" and The Rise of Netplay (2020-present)==
{{main|COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on competitive Smash}}
Going into 2020, ''Melee'' retained its stature from the previous year. The {{Trn|Smash World Tour 2020}} circuit, with tournaments for both ''Ultimate'' and ''Melee'', was established to provide players with a large, formalized prize pool across several major tournaments.

Similar to ''Ultimate''{{'}}s competitive scene, tournament activity for ''Melee'' took a hit as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with numerous tournaments being either delayed or cancelled, players remaining inside and not travelling abroad to attend the few tournaments that were open, and the [[MPGR]] and Smash World Tour being suspended to further dissuade players from attending in person events. Many ''Melee'' players began shifting to online netplay via modified versions of the [[Dolphin]] emulator, thus formally beginning an online tournament scene for the game. The use of delay-based netcode, however, meant international play was nearly impractical due to the drastic latency such long distance connections would introduce. Because of this, online tournaments were restricted to certain regions and as such ''Melee'' tournament activity became far less common than that of ''Ultimate''. Despite this, several tournament series such as {{Trn|Rona Rumble|series}}, {{Trn|Untitled}}, and {{Trn|East Coast Fridays}}, managed to garner a regional-level size of attendance and many top players. Outside of these smaller scale tournaments, in place of Pound 2020 was {{Trn|Pound Online}}, which drew nearly 1000 entrants for ''Melee'' and had {{Sm|Zain}} beat out Hungrybox in grand finals.

As frustration with the state of netplay grew and online attendance waned, a surprise announcement was made on June 22nd, 2020. {{Sm|Fizzi}} had announced that the team behind [[Project Slippi]] had managed to introduce [[Wikipedia:GGPO|rollback netcode]] into ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'', allowing ''Melee'' netplay to work over large distances with little latency. With the arrival of a viable, practical alternative to major international tournaments, many ''Melee'' players, along with some ''Ultimate'' players who were frustrated with the game's online service, began flocking to the netplay scene, thus allowing it to thrive.

With the increased attention to Project Slippi, however, came concerns that Nintendo would soon go after it and cancel events running it. On November 19th, 2020, the team behind The Big House, a series which saw tournaments sponsored by Nintendo, announced that Nintendo had sent them a {{Iw|wikipedia|cease and desist}} letter over their use of Slippi for {{Trn|The Big House Online}}, the online replacement to the cancelled 10th installment of the tournament. This sparked outrage amongst the community and the hashtag "#FreeMelee" began trending on [[Twitter]] within minutes.

==See also==
* [[The Smash Brothers]] - documentary about seven of the greatest players before the era of the gods, with Mew2King and Mango being part of both groups
*[[Tournament rulesets (SSBM)]]
*[[Super Smash Bros. 64 in competitive play]]
*[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl in competitive play]]
*[[Super Smash Bros. 4 in competitive play]]
*[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in competitive play]]

==External links==
* [http://smashboards.com/threads/history-of-a-smasher.290961/ Chillindude's ''History of a Smasher'' on SmashBoards]
* [https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/348106 Wife's ''Team Ben: A Year as a Professional Gamer'', an autobiography on the Golden Age of Melee]
* [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzEAb-P9zkFw3mWc1792QBYWWMcbyAFEF YouTube playlist with nearly every single tournament set ever recorded with the Big Six]

[[Category:Super Smash Bros. Melee]]
[[Category:Competitive play]]
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