History of competitive Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee has been played competitively since its inception in 2001 (although it started with a relatively low popularity until 2003), and it continues to thrive in the competitive scene to this day. The scene has gone through several "eras" of smashers, most notably the "golden age" and the "era of The Five Gods".
The "Golden Age" (2003-2008)
The Golden Age of Super Smash Bros. Melee is the first era of competitive Smash brothers during the years 2003 to 2008. Major League Gaming professionally sponsored Smash resulting in large prize pools compared to the number of competitors. Ken Hoang, Azen, ChuDat, Isai, PC Chris, KDJ and Mew2King were considered the best players of this age, Hoang notably being dubbed the "King of Smash".
The "Dark Age" and revival (2008-2013)
Following the release of Nintendo's latest Smash Bros. game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, in March 2008, Melee players questioned the survivability of their game as much of the community moved on to the new title. These fears turned out to be true as 2008 became completely dominated by the Brawl scene; not a single Melee major was held for around a year, and the few small tournaments held registered paltry attendance numbers compared to those of just the year before. The Melee scene remained stagnant until Alukard held Revival of Melee in Nanuet, New York, in March 2009. This tournament was the first American event to feature Melee's best players from the across the country (such as Mew2King, Mango, PC Chris, and Azen) since Pound 3 in February 2008, and was the beginning of a gradual revival in tournament attendance back to pre-Brawl levels. The renewed surge in attendance was aided by the fact that many Melee players disliked the slower, less combo-oriented gameplay of Brawl and returned to the former game shortly after its release. The Melee community's desire to remain a strong presence in the Smash scene led to the hosting of bigger and bigger tournaments, including GENESIS and Pound 4, and Melee was able to maintain tournament numbers similar to those of Brawl, even though the 2008 game attracted more newer Smash players than its predecessor.
Following the retirement of Melee's strongest players, such as Ken, KoreanDJ, Azen, and PC Chris, the tournaments of this age have been dominated by The Five Gods: the five very best players of Super Smash Bros. Melee. These five players, Armada, Mango, Mew2King, Hungrybox, and PPMD, have consistently dominated tournaments from around 2008 to the present, while rarely losing tournament sets to players that aren't among the gods themselves. These five players won every major with at least two in attendance from 2008 to 2014.
The "Platinum Age" (2013-present)
The era of Melee since 2013 has become known as the Platinum Age, and has been characterized by an explosive spike in attendance numbers to a level never seen before, and increased connections and involvement with the rest of the eSports community. EVO 2013 was the tournament that sparked the massive growth of the Melee scene. After EVO's announcement of a donation drive to feature an eighth title at the world's largest fighting game tournament, Melee It On Me and other groups organized efforts that raised nearly $95000, allowing Melee to become the final featured game at EVO. Hosted from July 12th-14th, 2013, EVO drew a staggering 709 entrants, becoming the largest Melee tournament of all time. The tournament surpassed Pound 4, the previous record holder, by twice as many entrants, and was the third largest game at EVO, even though it hadn't been featured in the series since 2007.
This landmark tournament, coupled with the October 2013 release of Samox's The Smash Brothers documentary, which detailed the history of the competitive Melee scene, created a newly sparked interest in the Melee scene that continued to break new grounds. Apex 2014 again topped the 600-entrant mark in January 2014, and the number of majors held sharply increased, but the biggest highlight of the year was the "Summer of Smash:" Melee was to be featured at three of the world's largest fighting game tournaments in June and July. MLG Anaheim 2014, held from June 20th-22nd, marked the return of Smash Bros. to the stage of Major League Gaming after four years; this major was followed up by Melee's appearance at CEO 2014. EVO 2014 continued to surpass expectations of the previous year's event by attracting nearly 1000 entrants, raising prospects over the potential of a game over a decade old.
The excitement and energy generated by these three tournaments led to increased attention from the eSports scene as a whole, despite the fighting game community's persistent refusal to recognize Smash as one of their own. Many of the largest names in the competitive gaming industry, such as Cloud 9, Team Curse, and Evil Geniuses, began sponsoring Melee's top players, creating further growth and interest from other members of the gaming community. Nintendo was initially extremely hostile towards the competitive Melee community, as showcased by its attempt to block the streaming of the Melee portion of EVO 2013 (and, as later discovered, to shut down the event entirely). However, 2014 saw an completely unexpected turnaround, as Reggie Fils-Aimé of Nintendo of America made a guest appearance through video at EVO 2014 just a year later, congratulating the tournament's top eight finalists, and the company has even sponsored tournaments Apex 2015. 2014 also marked the release of Super Smash Bros. 4 for the newer Wii U console, but the game's release had no real effect on attendance for the Melee scene, as the Melee fanbase continued to play the older game instead of moving onto Smash 4, whose gameplay more closely resembles that of the heavily criticized Brawl. Since Smash 4's release, Melee has continued to set new attendance milestones; Apex 2015 broke the 1,000 entrant mark in the winter of 2015, and EVO 2015's 1,869 entrants topped even its previous years, setting a record for the largest Melee tournament of all time.
Tournaments in which at all five gods attended
| Tournament | Date | Armada | Hungrybox | Mango | Mew2King | PPMD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pound 4 | January 16th-18th, 2010 | 4th | 2nd | 1st | 5th | 9th |
| Apex 2010 | August 6th-8th, 2010 | 2nd | 1st | 25th** | 3rd | 4th |
| Pound V | February 19th-21st, 2011 | 2nd | 3rd | 17th** | 5th* | 1st |
| GENESIS 2 | July 15th-17th, 2011 | 1st | 4th | 2nd | 5th | 7th |
| Apex 2012 | January 6th-8th, 2012 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 17th* | 5th |
| Apex 2013 | January 11th-13th, 2013 | 1st | 5th | 4th | 3rd | 2nd |
| EVO 2013 | July 12th-14th, 2013 | 4th | 3rd | 1st | 5th | 5th |
| MLG Anaheim 2014 | June 20th-22nd, 2014 | 2nd | 7th | 1st | 3rd | 4th |
| EVO 2014 | July 11th-13th, 2014 | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 5th | 4th |
| Apex 2015 | January 30th-February 1st, 2015 | 2nd | 5th | 4th | 9th | 1st |
| GENESIS 3 | January 15th-17th, 2016 | 1st | 3rd | 2nd | 9th | 6th |
| Battle of the Five Gods | March 17th-19th, 2016 | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 7th | 10th |
*Mew2King forfeited in losers after losing to Hungrybox at Pound V and Wobbles at Apex 2012.
**Mango was sandbagging under his Scorpion Master alias.
See also
- The Smash Brothers - documentary about the seven greatest players before the era of the gods, Mew2King and Mango are part of both groups
