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The effort to keep Melee ’s competitive scene alive is entirely grassroots. Unlike other competitive games today, Melee can only be played sharing a system with an opponent. Players will haul old-fashioned televisions to tournaments just because they allow the game to run better than modern flat screen televisions. Despite these logistical challenges of creating a tournament for this game, fans put in the entirety of the work to make it happen. Support from the game’s developers ended early on as the competitive side of the game began to flourish. Beyond a simple disinterest in seeing the game played competitively, Nintendo attempted repeatedly to ban larger tournaments from including Melee . Never dissuaded from continuing the competitive side of Melee , fans have pulled incredible feats such as donating a collective total of nearly one-hundred-thousand dollars to save Melee a seat in the EVO World Championship tournament. This prestigious tournament series was a step up for the Melee community, and attendance was at a record high. A sequel to Melee released in 2008. This third installment of the series Super Smash Bros. Brawl was set to replace Melee as the popular game in the series, and the excitement for its release captivated all audiences. In the first few tournaments it became apparent that Brawl was not like Melee . There was none of the fast-paced action or thrilling exchanges that drew players and spectators in. Brawl seemed to have killed the excitement that kept the Smash Bros. community thriving for so long. After the disappointing addition to the franchise, Melee ’s competitive scene had no major tournaments for a year. Revival of Melee was the first major tournament to host top players after the release of Brawl . Taking place one year after that date, this tournament reaffirmed to the fans of the series that Melee would continue to be played seriously. Since the Revival of Melee tournament series, the community of fans has grown immensely. Thanks in part to a crowd funded documentary, many new players entered the scene with ease after seeing the way the game was being played in 2009. After returning, the scene has become much more legitimate in terms of sponsorship and support. Competitive gaming teams such as “Could 9” and “Team Liquid” have picked up Melee players, prize pools at tournaments continue to increase as eSports become more popular, and new streaming options are available to broadcast tournaments as they happen. All of these promote Melee as a sort of spectator sport rather than just a game. Before I knew about the depth of Melee, or the intensely passionate fan base, I played casually with my brother. Naturally, competition grew between us, and while looking up tutorials to help us improve we stumbled upon so much more than we expected. The speed and precision that some people had while playing our favorite game was stunning, and the practice to improve started right away. I went to my first tournament a year ago, and wasn’t

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