Professional Super Smash Bros. competition is when skilled players compete in the Super Smash Bros. series of fighting games made by Nintendo. Organized tournaments started in 2002 with Super Smash Bros. Melee, which was released for the GameCube in 2001. However, in Japan, where the games were first made, tournaments for the original Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64 began as early as 1999. Later tournaments included other games in the series, with the most popular ones focusing on Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch. Smaller groups of players compete in the original game and Project M, a fan-made version of Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, and to a lesser degree, Brawl itself. Large tournaments include events like GENESIS, Evolution Championship Series (EVO), Super Smash Con, and The Big House series. Major League Gaming (MLG) also once included Super Smash Bros. games in its professional competitions.

The Super Smash Bros. competitive community is known for being organized by players themselves rather than a single group. There is no official organization or tournament circuit for professional Smash Bros. competition, which is partly because Nintendo has not actively supported the scene in the past.

History of competitiveSuper Smash Bros. Melee

The first public tournaments for Super Smash Bros. Melee in the Western world happened in early 2002. These events were part of the Tournament Go series in California, organized by Matt "MattDeezie" Dahlgren. At that time, there were no agreed-upon rules for the game, so tournaments often had very different rules. Players frequently argued about whether certain game items or stages were allowed. Over time, a standard set of rules was created, which banned all items and limited the number of stages used. On March 1, 2003, the International Video Game Federation held the first corporate-sponsored Melee tournament, called the IVGF Northwest Regionals, which was won by Jeremy "Recipherus" Fremlin.

The years between 2003 and 2007 are known as the "Golden Age" of Melee. During this time, the game was part of the Major League Gaming (MLG) Pro Circuit from 2004 to 2006. Ken Hoang was considered the best player in the world during this period and was nicknamed "The King of Smash." Other top players included Christopher "Azen" McMullen, Daniel "ChuDat" Rodriguez, Joel Isai "Isai" Alvarado, Christopher "PC Chris" Szygiel, Daniel "KoreanDJ" Jung, and Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman. Melee was also included in the Evolution Championship Series (EVO) 2007, a major fighting game tournament in Las Vegas. However, MLG removed Melee from its circuit in 2007, though it still supported some tournaments in the underground 2007 Smash Series.

Melee’s popularity declined in the late 2000s after the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl in 2008. Brawl replaced Melee in many competitive events, but it was criticized for slower gameplay and unfair mechanics like random tripping. In 2010, MLG briefly included Brawl in its Pro Circuit, but Nintendo stopped MLG from streaming Brawl matches. From 2012 to 2013, the competitive Smash Bros. scene was called "The Dark Age" because Melee and Brawl both lost popularity. However, major tournaments like the first GENESIS in 2009 and the start of the Apex and The Big House series still took place.

Melee returned to popularity after being included in EVO 2013, which happened because the game won a charity event to decide which game would be in EVO’s lineup. EVO kept Melee in its lineup for five years after that. The game’s popularity also grew with the 2013 release of The Smash Brothers documentary series. In 2014, SmashBoards estimated that about 3,242 Smash Bros. events happened worldwide. During this time, new and revived tournament series like GENESIS, Super Smash Con, Community Effort Orlando (CEO), DreamHack, MLG, Shine, and Smash Summit became popular. Apex 2015 was the first event officially sponsored by Nintendo of America, and EVO 2016 was the largest Melee tournament ever, with 2,376 players. In 2014, Nintendo held a non-standard ruleset tournament at E3 2014 to promote Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Smash Sisters, a group that encourages more women to participate in tournaments, held its first all-women bracket at GENESIS 3 in 2016.

From 2013 to 2018, the era was sometimes called "The Platinum Age" or "The Era of the Five Gods," referring to the five most dominant players: Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman, Joseph "Mango" Marquez, Kevin "PPMD" Nanney, Adam "Armada" Lindgren, and Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma. William "Leffen" Hjelte became the first player to defeat all five, earning the nickname "The God Slayer." This led to the group of six top players being called the "Big 6." In 2017, Justin "Plup" McGrath became the second player to defeat all five "Gods" and the first outside the Big 6 to beat Armada in seven years.

In the late 2010s, the "Five Gods" became less prominent as some players left competitive play. PPMD took a break in 2016 for health reasons, Armada retired in 2018, and Mew2King reduced his competition schedule. Leffen faced visa issues in the U.S. during this time. The current era, sometimes called "The Chaos Age," has seen newer players like Zain Naghmi, Jeffrey "Axe" Williamson, and Cody Schwab rise in rankings. Plup’s first-place win at GENESIS 5 in 2018 marked the first major tournament victory by someone outside the Big 6 in years.

The competitive scene was greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which stopped most in-person tournaments. However, a major development occurred in 2020 with the creation of rollback netcode for Project Slippi, a fan-made version of Melee. This allowed low-latency online matches for the first time. While this improved accessibility during the pandemic, it also caused legal issues, leading to the cancellation of The Big House 10 in 2020 after Nintendo sent a cease-and-desist notice. This decision angered the community, which used the hashtag "#FreeMelee" on social media. In 2021, Panda and Nintendo announced an officially licensed Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament circuit for 2022, the first of its kind. The Big House 10 became part of the Panda Cup and was held in 2022, where Masaya "aMSa" Chikamoto won his first major tournament, defeating Mango and Hungrybox, and marking the first major victory for the character Yoshi.

The relationship between the community and Panda became tense after Nintendo allegedly forced the cancellation of the Smash World Tour in late 2021. Panda’s CEO, Alan "Dr. Alan" Bunney, was accused of sabotaging the event. Both Panda and Nintendo faced backlash for not being transparent. Many players, including aMSa and Hungrybox, withdrew from the Panda Cup Finale in protest. Sponsored players like Cody Schwab and Plup also left Panda. In response, Panda removed Dr. Alan as CEO and postponed the Panda Cup Finale due to security concerns.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimateand other games

Competitive play has been a part of every game in the Smash Bros. series. The two most popular modern games are Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Melee. Both games have similar rules and are often played in the same tournaments, but differences in how fast the games are played, advanced techniques, and character matchups have created separate but connected competitive scenes for each game. Leonardo "MkLeo" Perez is widely recognized as the top player in Ultimate, along with other skilled players like Edgar "Sparg0" Valdez, Gavin "Tweek" Dempsey, Sota "Zackray" Okada, and William "Glutonny" Belaïd.

Smaller competitive scenes also exist for the original Nintendo 64 version of Smash Bros. and for Project M/Project+, a fan-made version of Super Smash Bros. Brawl that mimics the faster gameplay of Melee. Previously active competitive scenes included Brawl (2008–2014) and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (2014–2018). However, in Norway, Brawl events remain as large as those for Melee and Ultimate. Many players from Brawl and Wii U have moved to Ultimate, with some top players from those games now competing in Ultimate as well.

Relationship with Nintendo

The competitive Smash Bros. scene has had a tense relationship with Nintendo, the game's owner and publisher. IGN journalist Matt Kim explained that, unlike companies such as Riot or Blizzard, which help manage competitive events for their games, Nintendo has kept a distance from the Smash Bros. community and sometimes acted against it. In the past, Nintendo threatened legal action against major Smash Bros. tournaments, including EVO 2013 and The Big House 10. These threats often involved issues like livestreaming rights or the use of modified game versions, such as Project M or Project Slippi. These actions caused frustration among competitive players, leading to some tournaments being canceled or not livestreamed. While Nintendo has sometimes supported smaller community events and held its own tournaments with non-standard rules, it has never officially approved a Smash Bros. tournament or provided financial support for prizes. This lack of support has made the competitive Smash Bros. community appear more grassroots and community-driven. However, in November 2021, Nintendo and Panda Global announced the first officially licensed Smash Bros. tournament circuit for North America in 2022. Separately, a grassroots tournament series called Smash World Tour took place in 2022, with planned finals in December 2022. However, legal action from Nintendo and possible interference by Panda Global caused the finals to be canceled three weeks before they were scheduled. This decision reportedly cost tournament organizers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The competitive Smash Bros. scene has also faced criticism from Masahiro Sakurai, the game's creator and director. Sakurai argued that competitive play moves away from his original goal of connecting casual and skilled players. His focus on casual gameplay greatly influenced the development of Brawl, the game that followed Melee. Many competitive players criticized Brawl for being slower and less focused on skill. This criticism led to the creation of Project M/Project+, a fan-made modified version of the game that made gameplay more similar to Melee. However, Nintendo has taken legal action against Project M/Project+ due to copyright concerns, sending cease-and-desist letters to tournaments that included the mod in their events.

Former Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé defended Nintendo's approach to the competitive community, stating, "We want to do this much more at a grassroots level than others’ visions around leagues and big up-front payments and things of that nature."

Competitive format

Competitive games in Super Smash Bros. typically use lives, called "stocks," with a set time limit and items disabled. These games are played in a Double-elimination format or a bracket organized from initial group standings.

The original Super Smash Bros. starts with four stocks and an eight-minute time limit (the time limit is added by players since the base game does not include it). Super Smash Bros. Melee and Project M also begin with four stocks and an eight-minute time limit. Super Smash Bros. Brawl uses three stocks and an eight-minute time limit. The 3DS and Wii U versions start with two stocks and a six-minute time limit. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate begins with three stocks and a seven-minute time limit.

If the time runs out, the player with more stocks wins. If both players have the same number of stocks, the one with the lower damage percentage wins. If both players have the same number of stocks and damage, the match is replayed or a shorter match with one stock each is played. In competitive settings, sudden death is usually not used if the match ends in a tie.

Pausing during a match can disrupt the game. If a player pauses to gain an advantage, they must lose a stock or the game. In stricter tournaments, players must lose a stock even if they did not gain an advantage. Most games from Melee onward include a setting to enable or disable pausing.

Most matches are played in best-of-three game sets. Best-of-five sets are used in higher-level tournaments, such as top 32 to grand finals.

Tournament organizers approve specific stages for use in matches. These are called starter stages. Before a match, players choose from starter stages to determine the first stage they will play on. Players also select their characters without the other person knowing for the first match. In later matches, counterpick stages are allowed. For example, in Melee singles, starter stages include Battlefield, Final Destination, Dream Land N64, Yoshi's Story, and Fountain of Dreams. Players use a 1-2-1 format to eliminate stages they do not want to play on until one remains. After the first match, the losing player can choose any starter stage or a counterpick stage, such as Pokémon Stadium. The losing player then selects a stage, the winning player chooses their character, and the losing player chooses their character before the next match. In best-of-three sets, the winner can ban one stage to prevent the loser from using it. Players are generally not allowed to choose a stage they previously won on, a rule called "Dave's Stupid Rule" or the "Stage Clause." Most Melee tournaments use this rule, while Ultimate tournaments often use a modified version, called "modified Dave's Stupid Rule" (mDSR). In mDSR tournaments, players can only avoid the last stage they won on in that set. Most tournaments allow players to skip these rules if both agree, known as the "gentlemen's clause." Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma is a well-known player who uses the gentlemen's clause in competitive Melee, often choosing to play on Battlefield instead of Fountain of Dreams, a less popular stage.

Competitive play can be singles or doubles. In singles, two players compete against each other. In doubles, two teams of two players fight. Teammates can share stocks and help each other. Friendly fire is allowed, meaning teammates can damage or save each other. This ensures fairness, as some character combinations might be too strong. It also prevents unfair advantages in two-on-one situations and adds extra strategies. For example, if a Jigglypuff player uses the move "Rest," which makes her unable to move, a teammate can attack her with a weak move to stop enemies from hurting her more. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U includes an 8-player mode that allows teams of three or four players, though such tournaments are rare. In Ultimate, many tournaments use a mode called "Squad Strike," where players fight with squads of three or five fighters.

A player may gain port priority if they win a best-of-one match, usually decided by rock-paper-scissors. Smasher Mew2King discovered that the player who is Player 1 or closest to Player 1 has priority in attacks or grabs that happen at the same time. A neutral start, where neither player has an advantage, may be used if one player suggests it.

In some Brawl rulesets, Meta Knight is banned from certain stages or entirely from tournaments because his attacks are too strong. In doubles rulesets, some team combinations, like double Cloud on Wii U or double Meta Knight in Brawl, are banned due to teamwork advantages, powerful attacks, and strategies that become stronger with more fighters.

Wombo Combo meme

"Wombo Combo" is an Internet meme from a December 2008 Melee doubles match held at the SCSA West Coast Circuit tournament. The match included two teams: Jeff "SilentSpectre" Leung and Mitchell Tang on one side, and Julian Zhu and Joey "Lucky" Aldama on the other. During the match, as Lucky lost all of his lives, SilentSpectre and Tang performed several moves quickly together, leaving Zhu unable to respond. The match commentators—Brandon "HomeMadeWaffles" Collier, Phil DeBerry, and Joseph "Mang0" Marquez—said, "Happy Feet, Wombo Combo. That ain't Falco." They then shouted excitedly as SilentSpectre and Tang used a winning move against Zhu. The meme is featured in a short documentary and appears in the Wii U eShop game Meme Run. It has also been used in many "MLG Montage" parody videos.

Sexual abuse allegations

In July 2020, several well-known members of the Super Smash Bros. competitive community, including top players and commentators, were accused of various forms of unwanted sexual behavior. These accusations included claims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape, and child grooming. A series of these accusations led to the banning of several important community members from tournaments and the ending of sponsorship deals with organizations for some accused players. One example was Gonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios, who was seen as the best Super Smash Bros. for Wii U player of all time. Nintendo released a statement addressing the accusations, stating that they condemn "all acts of violence, harassment, and exploitation against anyone" and affirm that they "stand with the victims."

Tournament results

• Brawl
• Melee
• Project M
• Super Smash Bros.
• Ultimate (games played in large competitions)
• Wii U (games played in large competitions)