Southern California

Southern California, abbreviated as SoCal, is a Smash region located in the United States. "SoCal" is generally defined to include the southern half of the state of California, centered on the Los Angeles and San Diego metropolitan areas. It deliberately excludes Northern California and the San Francisco Bay Area, as the state's large size has resulted in the development of largely separate Smash scenes in its two halves.

Since the inception of competitive Melee, Southern California has been home to one of the largest and most active Smash scenes. This can be attributed to the huge population of the Los Angeles area, as well as its prominent air hub and heavy usage of the automobile facilitating transportation to tournaments. SoCal has long been considered the strongest Melee in the world, home to both Ken, one of the strongest and most iconic players of the pre-Brawl era, and Mango, one of the Five Gods. The region is also known as one of the strongest Smash 4 regions, and was considered the second-strongest Brawl region in the United States (after the Tristate Area) during the game's competitive lifetime. Fueled by its large population, SoCal is home to some of the U.S.'s largest tournament activity, hosting both frequent locals and large nationals. It is one of the two strongest regions for Project M as well (the other being the Tristate Area), having numerous national threats.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Notable players

Globally ranked players

See also: SoCal Power Rankings and Category:Southern California smashers

These SoCal players are ranked on Melee It On Me's 2016 SSBMRank.

SSBMRank	Name	Characters	Notes
1	Mango		One of the Five Gods of Melee; considered the best player in the world at various stages of his career, with EVO 2013 and EVO 2014 championships under his belt.
8	Westballz		One of the best Falco players in the United States; considered at a level just below that of the Gods.
16	S2J
19	Lucky		One of the best Fox players for a good portion of Melee's history.
26	MacD		The best American Peach main.
28	Mike Haze		Also known as a top Marth player in Brawl and a veteran tournament director for the region.
38	HugS		One of the best Samus players in the world.
43	Santiago
45	Captain Faceroll
46	CDK
56	Eddy Mexico		While technically residing in Mexico, he is currently ranked 14th on the SoCal Power Rankings.
69	Squid
73	Lovage
79	Alex19
83	Reno
84	Tafokints		Known as a prominent Smash writer, analyst, and Mango's coach under Cloud9; the creator of SSBMRank.
86	Kira
87	Ken		Considered the best player in the world from 2003-2006, earning him the nickname "The King of Smash".

Other top players

• Bizzarro Flame: Formerly ranked 98th in the 2015 SSBMRank, now lives in NorCal
• DieSuperFly: Known as a top Sheik in the pre-Brawl era; ranked 23rd on the Smash Panel Power Rankings.
• Fiction: Formerly ranked 38th on the 2015 SSBMRank
• Fly Amanita: Considered among the best Ice Climbers mains in the world; currently ranked 11th on the SoCal Power Rankings and formerly 30th on the 2015 SSBMRank.
• Recipherus: during 2001-2003 era he was one of the top players, winning Snexus 2, Tournament Go 3, and IVGF Northwest Regionals

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Notable players

Globally ranked players

See also: SoCal Power Rankings and Category:Southern California smashers

The following players were ranked on CLASH Tournaments' 2014 SSBBRank.

SSBBRank	Name	Characters	Notes
13	Tyrant		Considered the best player on the West Coast and one of the best Meta Knights in the country in Brawl's later stages.
17	Larry Lurr		The best Falco in the United States, famous for winning Apex 2010; previously known as DEHF.
28	Rich Brown		One of the best Olimars in the United States.
38	SlayerZ		Considered one of the best Peach players in the United States.
46	mikeHAZE		The best Marth main in the United States; also known as a prominent tournament director in SoCal.
63	Tearbear		Known as one of the best players on the West Coast during his prime from 2010-2011.
82	K9		Originally from Arizona, but has also lived in SoCal.

Other top players

• DSF: Known as one of the best players in United States when he was active in Brawl's early days, with notable placings such as 1st at AxisGaming.

Super Smash Bros. 4

Notable players

Globally ranked players

See also: SoCal Power Rankings and Category:Southern California smashers

These players are ranked on Panda Global's Panda Global Rankings for January - June 2017.

PG ranking	Name	Characters	Notes
6	Larry Lurr		The best Fox main and one of the best players in the world.
13	VoiD		Known as one of the best Sheik mains and one of the best players in the world.
25	Elegant		The best Luigi player in the world.
28	falln		One of the best Rosalina & Luma players in the world.
38	Rich Brown		One of the two best Mewtwo players in the United States and among the best ones in the world.
42	NAKAT		One of the best Fox players in the world, and formerly one of the best Ness players as well; now mainly reserves him for doubles.
45	AC		One of the best Meta Knight players in the world and the best Falco in the world.

Other top players

• K9sbruce: Ranked in the "Area 51" section of the Panda Global Rankings, and was formerly as high as 27th.
• Nicko: One of the two best Shulk players in the world.
• Tyrant: One of the best Meta Knight players in the United States and the world. Ranked in the "Area 51" section of the Panda Global Rankings, and was formerly as high as 22nd.
• Zenyou: One of the best and most technical Mario players in the world.

Project M

Notable Players

Globally Ranked Players

These players were ranked on the PMRank 2016.

PMRank	Name	Characters	Notes
3	Sosa		The best Wario main in the world.
9	Jose V		The best Ness main in the world.
15	iPunchKidsz		The best Lucario main in the world, but is currently very inactive.
22	Boringman		Ranked in both SoCal and NorCal.
25	Venom		The best Captain Falcon main in the world.
26	Machiavelli		Formerly the best Ivysaur in the world, is now inactive.
27	Aero		Very solid Diddy Kong, is now retired.
38	Jason Waterfalls
42	Aion		One of the best Sonic players in the world.

Other notable players

• Blank:Never travels, but is one of the best Zero Suit Samus players in the world.
• Red Ranger:The best Ganondorf main in the world.
• YadoR:The best Kirby main in the world.
• Loyal
• Tealz
• Burntsocks:The best Yoshi main in the world.
• Sneez:One of the best R.O.B. mains in the world.
• Dr.:The best active Zelda main in the world.
• Zenokids
• Lucky
• Westballz