Northern California

Northern California, commonly abbreviated as NorCal, is a Smash region located in the United States. It covers the northern half of the state of California, including the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country. While most regions are divided by state, California is split into northern and southern portions, as the state's large size has resulted in the development of two largely independent centers of Smash activity.

With a huge concentration of young people and college students, NorCal has been one of the most active Smash regions in the U.S. since the series' competitive beginnings. Matt Deezie's Tournament Go series, considered the first major Smash tournaments, were held here, and thus the region can be considered the birthplace of competitive Smash. NorCal is at present most famous for the GENESIS tournaments, considered the premiere grassroots Smash supermajor today and one of the most iconic and prestigious tournament series in history. Its Melee scene is dominated by the "NorCal trio", consisting of three of the best players in the United States: PewPewU, SFAT, and Shroomed.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Notable players

Globally ranked players

These NorCal players are ranked on the SSBMRank 2022.

SSBMRank	Name	!Notes
27	SFAT
20	Spark	Currently resides in Arizona.
50	Azel
53	Kalamazhu	Originally from Michigan.
55	Ralph
88	Umarth

These NorCal players have been ranked globally in the past; their highest placement is listed:

Azusa : 57th on the 2016 SSBMRank.
Bizzarro Flame : 94th on the 2014 SSBMRank.
Bob$ : 90th on the 2013 SSBMRank.
Bobby Scar : Notable commentator. 62nd on the 2013 SSBMRank.
Cactuar : Originally from Pennsylvania. 37th on the 2015 SSBMRank.
Darkatma : 46th on the 2013 SSBMRank.
Darrell : 61st on the 2014 SSBMRank.
dizzkidboogie : Currently resides in Tristate. 27th on the 2016 SSBMRank and 2017 SSBMRank.
HomeMadeWaffles : Notable commentator. 55th on the 2013 SSBMRank.
Hyprid : 95th on the 2014 SSBMRank.
Isai : 3rd on the RetroSSBMRank 2001-2003 and RetroSSBMRank 2005.
Justin Junio : 6th on the RetroSSBMRank 2001-2003.
L : 94th on the 2017 SSBMRank.
Laudandus : Originally from Pennsylvania. 33rd on the 2016 SSBMRank.
Lord : 29th on the 2013 SSBMRank.
Nickemwit : 58th on the 2019 MPGR.
Nintendude : Originally from New York. 17th on the 2016 SSBMRank.
PewPewU : Known for teaming with SFAT, forming one of the most dominant doubles teams in the world. 12th on the 2013 SSBMRank.
Pink Shinobi : Honorable Mention on the RetroSSBMRank 2009.
Rocky : 51st on the 2018 MPGR.
Shroomed : 7th on the 2013 SSBMRank.
SilentSpectre : 47th on the 2014 SSBMRank.
Sultan of Samitude : 5th on the RetroSSBMRank 2001-2003.
Tafokints : Notable commentator. 61st on the 2013 SSBMRank.
The King : Briefly resided in NorCal. Honorable Mention on the RetroSSBMRank 2006.
Toph : Notable commentator. 91st on the 2014 SSBMRank.
Zhu : 7th on the RetroSSBMRank 2009 and RetroSSBMRank 2011

Other notable players

Alan
Boback : One of the TOs for GENESIS.
Dr. Z : One of the TOs for GENESIS.
Germ : One of the best Link players in the world.
Tang : One of the members who participated in the Wombo Combo.

Major tournaments hosted

A list of significant regional and national Melee events hosted in NorCal; nationals are highlighted in bold.

Name	Entrants	Date	Notes
Tournament Go 1		April 6th, 2002	The first tournament in the historic Tournament Go series; considered the very first Melee major and one of the first organized Smash tournaments.
Tournament Go 2		June 15th, 2002
Tournament Go 3	~20	August 24th, 2002
Tournament Go 4	~90	January 19th, 2003	Marked the first appearance of Ken at major NorCal tournament, despite Ken being from SoCal.
Tournament Go 5	~90-110	August 2nd-3rd, 2003	One of the first two-day Smash tournaments; Maryland/Virginia player Azen notably flew to the West Coast for the event, marking one of the first cross-country travels for a Smash tournament.
Tournament Go 6	112	August 21st-22nd, 2004	The last tournament in the Tournament Go series; notably featured international competition, with Captain Jack and Takuto travelling to the U.S. from Japan for the event.
MLG San Francisco 2004	50	September 11th-12th, 2004
MLG San Francisco 2005	100+	February 26th-27th, 2005
NorCal Tournament 2	129	October 28th, 2006
GENESIS	290	July 10th-12th, 2009	Considered the first-ever "supermajor," drawing huge international attendance for both Melee and Brawl; at the time, the largest Melee tournament ever. Mango's grand finals victory over Armada has helped shape one of the most famous rivalries and storylines in Smash.
R3	70	December 19th-20th, 2009
Good Shit German	84	July 24th-25th, 2010
Don't Go Down There Jeff	108	December 18th-19th, 2010
GENESIS 2	228	July 15th-17th, 2011	A Smash supermajor; Armada defeated Mango in grand finals, a reversal of the previous GENESIS.
Rule 6: NorCal Regional	92	July 29th, 2012
NorCal Regionals 2013	73	April 26th-28th, 2013
The Next Episode	147	March 22nd-23rd, 2014
NorCal Regionals 2014	52	April 18th-20th, 2014
NorCal Regionals 2015	77	April 3rd-5th, 2015
I'm Not Yelling!	316	April 11th-12th, 2015
HTC Throwdown	386	September 19th-20th, 2015
GENESIS 3	1,828	January 15th-17th, 2016	The largest grassroots Smash tournament and the third-largest Melee tournament of all time; replaced Apex as the premiere Smash series international tournament. Originally scheduled for 2013, but postponed due to conflicting interest with EVO 2013.
NorCal Regionals 2016	38	March 25th-27th, 2016
SSS: Blood For Blood	443	October 15th, 2016
GENESIS 4	1,704	January 20th-22nd, 2017
The Holiday Bash Smash Invitational	14	December 15th-17th, 2017
GENESIS 5	1,365	January 19th-21st, 2018
Noods Noods Noods: Oakland Edition	182	April 7th, 2018
Wombo Combo: 10 Year Anniversary	202	December 8th, 2018
Pre-Genesix	169	January 31st, 2019
GENESIS 6	1,113	February 1st-3rd, 2019
GENESIS 7	1,110	January 24th-26th, 2020