The Carolinas is a Smash region that encompasses the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina, combined together into a single region due to their close proximity to each other and constant crossovers between their individual Smash scenes. The region borders Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia to the south. Tournament activity primarily takes place in North Carolina, especially in Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, and the three cities' corresponding metropolitan areas, though South Carolina also has notable tournament activity in their portion of the Charlotte metropolitan area, Charleston, and Charleston's corresponding metropolitan area.
Due to being sandwiched between the larger MD/VA and Georgia/Florida regions, the Carolinas had a smaller scene compared to other American regions in early competitive play. Despite their smaller activity, the early 2010s saw the rise of several Smashers in the region, most notably PPMD, who became one of the Five Gods of Melee, and ESAM, a Florida native whose tournament career began while he went to school in South Carolina. The scene eventually became one of the fastest-growing scenes in the 2010s, with notable tournaments and tournament series such as Bad Moon Rising and Bad Moon Rising 2, Clash of the Carolinas, and Just Roll With It! attracting sizeable entrant numbers, including some from outside their region, and the tournament debuts of players such as Logan and Peabnut. The release of Ultimate especially saw the scene flourish like never before, thanks to greater success from the Just Roll With It! series and its spiritual successor, Patchwork. As such, though the Carolinas remain smaller than the United States' historically largest scenes, their growth throughout the 2010s have made them formidable in competitive play.
SmashersEdit
The following players are currently or were previously ranked. Their highest placement is listed.
Globally ranked playersEdit
| Tag | Character(s) | Best placement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 $mike (North Carolina) |
 |
 SSBMRank 2015: 85th |
|
| Anarchy (South Carolina) |
 |
 LumiRank 2024.2: 148th |
Originally from Newfoundland and moved to South Carolina in 2023. |
| Donquavious (North Carolina/South Carolina) |
 |
OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse: 122nd |
|
| ESAM (South Carolina) |
    |
SSBMRank 2015: 81st SSBBRank 2014: 6th PGR v1: 14th |
Originally from Florida and eventually moved back in 2015, but started his competitive career while residing in South Carolina. |
| Logan (South Carolina) |
 |
SSBMRank 2022: 64th |
Moved to Pennsylvania in 2024. |
| lord narwhal (North Carolina) |
 |
 2017 64 League Rankings: 29th |
|
| Mekos (North Carolina) |
   |
SSBBRank 2014: 69th OrionRank 2017: 117th |
|
| Panko (South Carolina) |
 |
SSBMRank 2023: 68th |
|
| Peabnut (South Carolina) |
  |
OrionRank 2017: 85th LumiRank 2024.1: 47th |
|
| PPMD (North Carolina) |
 |
RetroSSBMRank 2012: 2nd |
One of the Five Gods of Melee. |
| Regalo (North Carolina) |
|
UltRank 2022: 97th |
|
| RFang (South Carolina) |
  |
Fall 2019 PGRU: 45th |
|
| Sharkz (North Carolina) |
   |
MPGR 2019: 93rd |
|
| Toast (North Carolina) |
|
UltRank 2022: 67th |
Originally from North Carolina and went to university in Ohio during the height of his competitive activity. |
| Twitch (North Carolina) |
 |
SSBMRank 2015: 62.5th |
Accidentally omitted from the SSBMRank 2015, and would have been ranked 63rd. |
Nationally ranked playersEdit
| Tag | Character(s) | Best placement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benny&TheJets (South Carolina) |
 |
OrionRank North America Top 200: 134th |
|
| Eldin (South Carolina) |
  |
OrionRank North America Top 200: 199th |
Moved to Thailand. |
| NoTag (South Carolina) |
  |
OrionRank 2022 North America: 128th |
Moved to South Carolina from Virginia in 2022. |
Other notable playersEdit
| Tag | Character(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kam Steele (North Carolina) |
  |
Tournament organizer for the Just Roll With It! series. |
| Savestate (North Carolina) |
 |
Responsible for discovering several notable Link tech in Melee. |
| SmashBob SquarePants (South Carolina) |
|
One of the best Melee players in South Carolina. |
| Zasa (North Carolina) |
|
North Carolina's best Melee player in the post-Slippi era. |
TournamentsEdit
Notable tournament seriesEdit
Tournament series that have achieved recognition outside their local region.
| Tournament | Games | Type | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clash of the Carolinas (North Carolina/South Carolina) |  |
Annual | Discontinued |
| Clemson Series Smash (South Carolina) |  |
Monthly | Ongoing |
| Just Roll With It! (North Carolina) | |
Unscheduled | Discontinued |
| Patchwork (North Carolina) | |
Annual | Ongoing |
Notable tournamentsEdit
Tournaments that featured at least one game at a superregional level.
| Tournament | Date | Entrants | Supermajor | Major | Superregional | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLG Raleigh 2010 (North Carolina) | August 27th-29th, 2010 | 148 | — | |
— | — |
| Bad Moon Rising (North Carolina) | March 14th-15th, 2015 | 220 | — | — | |
— |
| Bad Moon Rising 2 (North Carolina) | July 1st, 2017 | 385 | — | — | |
— |
| Super FamiCon 2017 (North Carolina) | November 17th-19th, 2017 | 516 | — | — | |
|
| Just Roll With It! 11 (North Carolina) | June 15th, 2019 | 359 | — | — | |
— |
| 2GG: Grand Tour - South Carolina (South Carolina) | June 15th-16th, 2019 | 209 | — | — | |
— |
| Just Roll With It! 12 (North Carolina) | January 11th, 2020 | 426 | — | — | |
— |
| The Peabnut Formal (North Carolina) | February 5th, 2022 | 223 | — | — | |
— |
| Just Roll With It! 2022 (North Carolina) | July 16th-17th, 2022 | 294 | — | — | |
— |
| Rock the Winds (South Carolina) | March 25th-26th, 2023 | 168 | — | — | |
— |
| Patchwork (North Carolina) | July 15th-16th, 2023 | 318 | — | — | |
|
| Patchwork 2024 (North Carolina) | July 6th-7th, 2024 | 429 | — | |
— |
|
Largest singles eventsEdit
| Rank | Tournament | Date | Game | Attendance | Winner | Character(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Just Roll With It! 12 | January 11th, 2020 | |
419 | Wrath |
|
| 2 | Bad Moon Rising 2 | July 1st, 2017 | |
369 | Hungrybox |
|
| 3 | Just Roll With It! 11 | June 15th, 2019 | |
352 |  Abadango |
 
|
| 4 | Patchwork 2024 | July 6th-7th, 2024 | |
330 | MuteAce |
|
| 5 | Just Roll With It! 13 | November 6th-7th, 2021 | |
323 | Lima |
|
| 6 | Just Roll With It! 2022 | July 16th-17th, 2022 | |
291 | MuteAce |
|
| 7 | Clash Of The Carolinas III | February 29th, 2020 | |
287 | Kola |
  
|
| 8 | Patchwork | July 15th-16th, 2023 | |
240 | MuteAce |
|
| 9 | Just Roll With It! 10 | February 9th, 2019 | |
242 | Puppeh |
  
|
| 10 | Bad Moon Rising | March 14th-15th, 2015 | |
220 | Hungrybox |
|