Professional Super Smash Bros. competition involves skilled players competing in the Super Smash Bros. series of crossover fighting games made by Nintendo. Organized competitions started in 2002 with Super Smash Bros. Melee, which was released for the GameCube in 2001. However, in Japan, where the series originated, tournaments for the original Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64 began as early as 1999. Later events included other games in the series, with the largest and most popular competitions focusing on Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch. Smaller competitions exist for the original game and Project M, a fan-made version of Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, and to a lesser extent, Brawl itself. Major tournaments include GENESIS, Evolution Championship Series (EVO), Super Smash Con, and The Big House annual series. Major League Gaming (MLG) also once included Super Smash Bros. games in its professional circuit.
The competitive Super Smash Bros. community is well known in the fighting game world for its community-run events. No official organization or tournament circuit exists for professional Super Smash Bros., a result of Nintendo’s long history of not directly supporting the scene.
History of competitiveSuper Smash Bros. Melee
The first public tournaments for Super Smash Bros. Melee in the West were held in early 2002. These events were part of the Tournament Go series in California, organized by Matt "MattDeezie" Dahlgren. At this time, there was no agreed-upon set of rules for tournaments, so different events often used very different rules. Players frequently argued about whether certain game items or stages were allowed. Over several years, a standard set of rules was created. This new set banned all items and limited the list of stages to a few specific ones. On March 1, 2003, the International Video Game Federation held the first corporate-sponsored Melee tournament, called the IVGF Northwest Regionals. The winner was 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 widely considered the best player in the world during this period and was called "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 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.
The competitive Melee scene struggled in the late 2000s after the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl in 2008. Brawl replaced Melee in many tournaments, but it quickly became unpopular due to its slower gameplay and features that made it less fair, such as random tripping. In 2010, MLG briefly included Brawl in its Pro Circuit, but Nintendo stopped MLG from live-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 GENESIS in 2009 and the start of the Apex and The Big House series still occurred during this time.
Melee saw a return in popularity after it was included in EVO 2013, following a charity drive that chose Melee as the final game for EVO's lineup. Because of the large number of players and viewers that year, EVO continued to include Melee for the next five years. The game also gained more attention in 2013 with the release of a documentary series called The Smash Brothers, directed by Travis "Samox" Beauchamp. 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 became 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. Also in 2016, Smash Sisters, a group promoting women's participation in tournaments, held its first all-women bracket at GENESIS 3.
From 2013 to 2018, the era was sometimes called "The Platinum Age" or "The Era of the Five Gods," referring to the top five 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," and the group of six players became known as the "Big 6." In 2017, Justin "Plup" McGrath became the second player in history to defeat all five "Five Gods" in a tournament, and the first player outside the Big 6 to beat Armada in seven years.
In the late 2010s, the "Five Gods" nickname became less relevant as some players left competitive play. PPMD took a break in 2016 due to health issues, Armada retired from singles play in 2018, and Mew2King reduced his competition schedule to focus on content creation. Leffen faced visa problems that limited his ability to compete in the U.S. This period was called "The Chaos Age" because newer players like Zain Naghmi, Jeffrey "Axe" Williamson, and Cody Schwab began to dominate tournaments. Plup won a major tournament, GENESIS 5, in 2018, becoming the first player outside the Big 6 to win a supermajor event in several 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. The Big House 10 tournament was canceled in 2020 after Nintendo sent a cease and desist notice over the use of Project Slippi. This cancellation led to widespread community backlash and the "#FreeMelee" hashtag trending 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 supermajor tournament, defeating Mango
Super Smash Bros. Ultimateand other games
Competitive play has existed for every game in the Smash Bros. series. The two most popular modern titles are Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Melee. Both games share similar basic rules and are often played together in major tournaments. However, differences in game speed, advanced techniques, and character matchups have created connected but separate competitive communities for each game. Leonardo "MkLeo" Perez is widely regarded as the top Ultimate player, along with other skilled players such as Edgar "Sparg0" Valdez, Gavin "Tweek" Dempsey, Sota "Zackray" Okada, and William "Glutonny" Belaïd, among others.
Smaller competitive scenes exist for the original Nintendo 64 version of Smash Bros. and for Project M/Project+, a fan-made modification of Super Smash Bros. Brawl designed to mimic the faster gameplay style 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. Most players from Brawl and Wii U have moved to Ultimate, with many top players from those games now competing at the highest level in Ultimate.
Relationship with Nintendo
The competitive Smash Bros. scene has had a tense relationship with Nintendo, the company that owns and publishes the game series. IGN journalist Matt Kim explained that, unlike companies such as Riot or Blizzard, which directly manage competitive play around their games, Nintendo has kept a distance from the Smash Bros. community. Nintendo has even taken steps to prevent the growth of competitive events, such as threatening legal action against major tournaments like EVO 2013 and The Big House 10. These actions often involved issues like livestreaming rights or the use of game modifications, such as Project M or Project Slippi. Many competitive players have criticized Nintendo’s actions, and some tournaments were canceled or stopped from being livestreamed as a result. While Nintendo has sometimes supported smaller community events and held its own tournaments with special rules, it has never officially approved a Smash Bros. tournament or provided financial support for prize money. This lack of support has led to the competitive Smash Bros. community being seen as independent and driven by fans. However, in November 2021, Nintendo and Panda Global announced the first officially licensed Smash Bros. tournament circuit in North America for 2022. Separately, a grassroots tournament series called Smash World Tour took place in 2022, with planned finals in December. However, legal action from Nintendo and possible interference by Panda Global caused the finals to be canceled three weeks before they were scheduled, resulting in significant financial losses for organizers.
The competitive Smash Bros. scene has also faced criticism from Masahiro Sakurai, the game’s creator and director. Sakurai has stated that competitive play does not match his original idea for the series, which was to connect casual and skilled players. His preference for casual gameplay influenced the development of Brawl, the game that followed Smash Bros. Melee. Brawl was criticized by many competitive players for being slower and more casual. This led to the creation of Project M/Project+, a fan-made modification that changed Brawl’s gameplay to resemble Melee. However, Nintendo has taken legal action against Project M/Project+ due to concerns about copyright, and many tournaments were warned to stop using the mod.
Former Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé explained that Nintendo prefers to support the community in a grassroots way rather than through large leagues or big upfront payments.
Competitive format
Competitive games are usually played with a set number of lives, called "stocks," a set time limit, and items turned off. Matches are played in a double-elimination format, where players compete in a bracket based on their performance in earlier rounds.
The original Super Smash Bros. starts with four stocks and an eight-minute time limit (the time limit was added by players because the base game does not include it). Super Smash Bros. Melee and Project M also start with four stocks and an eight-minute time limit. Super Smash Bros. Brawl begins with 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 player with the lower damage percentage wins. If both players have the same number of stocks and damage, the match may be replayed or a shorter match with one stock per player may be played. In competitive tournaments, sudden death is usually not used if the match ends in a tie.
Pausing the game during a match can cause problems. If a player pauses to gain an advantage, they may lose a stock or the game. In stricter tournaments, players must forfeit a stock if they pause, even if they did not gain an advantage. Most games starting with Melee include a rule option to allow or disable pausing.
Most matches are played in best-of-three sets, where players win by winning two games. Best-of-five sets are used in higher-level tournaments, such as top 32 to grand finals.
Tournament organizers choose legal stages for matches, called starter stages. Before a match, players randomly select stages to determine the first stage they will play on. Players must choose their characters without the other player 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 until one remains. After the first match, the losing player can choose a starter stage or a counterpick stage, such as Pokémon Stadium. The losing player then selects the stage, the winning player chooses their character, and the losing player chooses their character before moving to subsequent matches. In best-of-three sets, the winner can ban one stage to prevent the losing player from using it. Players generally cannot select 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 use a modified version called "modified Dave's Stupid Rule" (mDSR). In mDSR, players can only avoid the last stage they won on in that set. Tournaments may allow players to skip these rules if both agree, known as the "gentlemen's clause." Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma often uses the gentlemen's clause in competitive Melee, choosing to play on Battlefield instead of less popular stages like Fountain of Dreams.
Competitive play can be singles or doubles. In singles, two players face off. In doubles, two teams of two players compete. Players can share stocks with teammates. Friendly fire is allowed, meaning teammates can attack or help each other. This ensures fairness and prevents overpowered team combinations. It also creates extra strategies, such as a teammate attacking a Jigglypuff player after they use the "Rest" move to prevent damage. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U includes an 8-player mode, allowing triples and quadruples teams, though few tournaments use this format. In Ultimate, some tournaments use a mode called "Squad Strike," where players fight with squads of 3 or 5 fighters.
A player may earn port priority by winning a best-of-one match, usually through a game of rock-paper-scissors. Smasher Mew2King discovered that the player closest to Player 1 has priority in attacks or grabs that hit at the same time. A neutral start may be used if a player requests 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, certain team combinations, such as double Cloud in Wii U or double Meta Knight in Brawl, are banned due to overpowered attacks or strategies.
Wombo Combo meme
"Wombo Combo" is an online joke or trend from a December 2008 Melee doubles match held at the SCSA West Coast Circuit tournament. The match included Jeff "SilentSpectre" Leung and Mitchell Tang on one team and Julian Zhu and Joey "Lucky" Aldama on the other. During the match, when Lucky lost all of his lives, SilentSpectre and Tang quickly performed several moves together, leaving Zhu unable to react. 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 that trapped Zhu. The meme is featured in a short documentary and is included in the Wii U eShop game Meme Run. It has also been used in many parody videos called "MLG Montage."
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 committing sexual misconduct. The accusations included claims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape, and child grooming. These events led to the removal of several community members from tournaments and the cancellation of sponsorships by organizations associated with the accused. One example was Gonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios, who was widely regarded as the best Super Smash Bros. for Wii U player ever. Nintendo issued a statement addressing the allegations, stating that they strongly disapprove of all acts of violence, harassment, and exploitation, and expressed support for victims.