SmashWiki:Article of the Week/2007-21

A tournament is a competition involving a group of players designed to produce an overall skill ranking of the involved players, typically by arranging them into a structured bracket where players engage in individual matches to raise or lower their ranking. Super Smash Bros. Melee has a strong tournament scene dating back to Tournament Go in April 2002; the online community for the original Super Smash Bros. was not as large during its popular days and thus did not give rise to a significant tournament scene, though competitive SSB play does take place over the Internet through services like Kaillera.

Tournaments are considered the premier proving grounds for SSBM players. The competitive Smash community tends to look down on players who claim great ability but do not attend well-known tournaments; this is seen by some as an elitist attitude, but there is an unmistakable correlation between tournament experience and overall skill. (read further...)