Shears
Smash Master
Smash 64 to most people has always been a game of nostalgia. Played competitively within friend groups, dormitories, and online through Kaillera. But unlike Melee, 64 has never really had a big presence on the spectator level, because there were just no streams nor demand for hosting 64 tournaments. Before Apex 2014 there were some locals in NJ and a couple tournaments here or there, but 64 lacked a consistent presence on the competitive level and rarely had any exposure to the casual viewing Smash fan. For the people that play 64 it is a game of absolute purity. It is an escape, a hobby, a passion. There is a reason most 64 players don't play other games, and why even without the money, competition, or the popularity they will continue to play it until the day they die. For 64 players the game is their alpha and omega. Since most players were lost in their own nirvana of 64, they never really cared to take it to the levels of Melee, but slowly the game started getting bigger thanks to its inclusion in some majors (and Apex 2014 had record numbers).
For me, I got into 64 competitively around the summer of 2013 making my first appearance at a tournament in Maryland. I ended up buying a console and cartridge and for the most part only played the game when I went to tournaments, which was maybe once every couple months. I didn't see myself improving, but I still had a lot of fun and felt like I really got along with many people in the community. After Apex 2014 I really saw this game as the next big thing and really wanted to get better. I tried playing online, but it just wasn't the same for me. Around this time I started working to make websites and online resources for the community, because I wanted to contribute and see this game grow.
My playing time was still limited to once every couple months, and when Zenith 2014 came around I realized the meta was evolving faster than I expected since the community itself was growing with it. I realized I just had no familiarity with matchups at higher levels and wasn't refined in any of my execution. After Zenith I became really motivated to start playing the game more and finding people to play and get better with, but unfortunately, Baltimore was a wasteland for smash. My inspiration to build a scene and get better was from Zenith 2014 coupled with seeing Karajan host a tournament in NH and find smashers so soon after just moving there. Knowing he lived in Maryland previously, I contacted him to try and find other 64 players he might know in the area. He directed me to a couple guys, but it unfortunately never amounted to anything. Determined to build a scene, I started thinking of other avenues to take. LA and eastern Canada started building a presence, and I was envious of what they had. I wasn't certain at the time, but I had a feeling Xanadu was coming and the rise of 64 in Baltimore was imminent.
Xanadu was the face of Melee weeklies and just about all other smash games except 64. After Apex 2014 I tried bringing 64 setups to find people to play, but unfortunately there just wasn't any interest. Some kids would play friendlies with me, but never really cared to take it seriously nor help me start a 64 side event at the tournaments. I was able to gauge interest and found that if I could get a group of people together, some Melee players would join in. The problem was finding a group of 64 players.
I had tried Craigslist before, simply asking if anyone liked the game and wanted to play Smash with me. I got a couple replies, but no one willing to meet, and so I started to think having a 64 crew in Baltimore would be hopeless. I began thinking of what it would take to get people to play me, and I realized no one wanted to play some stranger in smash for fun from craigslist. For all anyone knew, I was a 14 year old kid with no friends, or some deadbeat loser with no friends and a sketchy Craigslist maniac. In order to get people to play me I would have to pay for it and really stir up the pride in strangers on the internet. I made a Craigslist post that was incredibly cocky. The exact words I can't remember, but it went something like this:
"Do you play smash bros? Do you enjoy losing like a little *****? Well I'm basically god at smash and I challenge any noob to a game. If you can beat me I will give you $20. If you can't beat me you don't have to give me anything except your self respect and dignity. You either make $20 or go home in shame. Rules are simple, best 2 out of 3, 5 stocks, no items. You can be any character you want. I play blue hat pika so if you want to play pika and lose thats fine but you'll have to be ugly green hat. Get rekt noobs".
Immediately I got tons of replies and I made an effort to meet every person and play them. A couple weeks went by and I was embarrassing and 5 stocking every person I met. Then I got a couple replies from a few kids talking about how they play every week at a bar and how they're all really good. I met with one of the kids, and he was the first person I didn't 5 stock. He told me I had to go to the bar and play everyone, and so I did. The bar played FFAs on laggy TVs with bad controllers, all items on very high, and random stages. Not a great competitive environment, but to my surprise a few people who were really good with a lot of potential. These guys were none other than @Bark Sanchez and @
Dark Horse
, and after a couple weeks of playing at the bar, Sticky Rice in Baltimore on Wednesday nights, I felt I finally had a chance for a scene and a way to start up 64 at Xanadu.
Since Apex 2014, 64 communities were starting to grow across the country. Shortly after Zenith 2014, the known scenes with regular tournaments and streams were Baltimore, LA, and eastern Canada (thanks to @Soto and @
pidgezero_one
, respectively) as well as a few others. However, there were still a lot of underground scenes, or scenes that had little activity despite having a lot of players (like NY/NJ). As I became more invested in 64 and the community I really looked forward to the expansion of the game across the country, and made contact with a lot of people running underground scenes. Some of these have really good talent with low activity, or a lot of activity with mediocre talent, but what they all had in common was a love for 64 and the desire to get better. To my count, there is a smash presence in Baltimore, LA, eastern Canada, NY/NJ, Chicago, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas, IA/KS/MO/NE, Washington, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire. When I went up to PA for their Central PA Smashfest, I was so excited to see fresh faces that were coming out the woodwork to be thriving members of the 64 community. When Georgia hosted a tournament that attracted Tennessee players, it was encouraging to see the growth of scenes in barren Smash areas as well as people travel to play the game. Texas has frequently had tournaments, sometimes streamed. The question started to change from "are there Smashers in all these places?" to "are any of these Smashers any good?"
Smash of Ages featured some of the top players in North America and players traveling from across the country. The hype and scope of this tournament was covered in a well written and informative article by @Sedda, @Cobrevolution, and others, but the biggest thing about Smash of Ages was how it brought out some players from scenes that were relatively unknown and untested. Aside from the most well known players in attendance, Texas, North Carolina, Maryland, Nevada, Arizona, Illinois, Washington, players from all around California, and I'm certain elsewhere, came out to make Smash of Ages one of the largest 64 tournaments North America had ever seen. It featured upsets, rivalries, and outstanding hospitality by the LA crew once again. With the chance to play Texas I was again excited about how not only was there a scene in one of the biggest states in the country, but that all these players were very good despite not having exposure to players outside their own crew. It was encouraging to know that anywhere and everywhere there were good players and large smash scenes, even if they aren't streamed or popular on Smashboards. This had me asking myself, "what other scenes are out there?" and "how many people are like me looking to start their own scene?"
The Scene At Smash Of Ages 64
With Super Smash Con around the corner I'm hoping to see a few more scenes and unknown players come out, and with the preferential treatment 64 is getting I really look forward to where this community is going and what awaits it in the future. I hope this article and I can be an inspiration to the current communities that exist and the ones that are standing on the doorstep waiting to come in. From my own experience, starting a community and finding good players and getting better at the game really wasn't all that difficult, I just think most people don't know where to begin and what to do. So I would like to conclude this with some instructions and advice on building a scene. I've talked to other TOs and other players and what it really comes down to is commitment. Taking the time and setting a schedule to host tournaments, find players, and help everyone improve. Below I will list some things I have done that helped build 64 at Xanadu and has been used by others before and after me to build their own Smash 64 scenes:
1. Establish a core group of players. Ideally you want this to be 8+ people but you can work with less. They don't necessarily need to be better or as good as you, they just need to be 8 people that can consistently play the game and love playing it. They will improve on their own, trust me, so no need to make your core exclusive to good players.
2. Expand your group through social media, Craigslist, etc. and continue to have the advertisement out there because people may overlook an initial search for players or may not feel comfortable joining in until they've seen that the scene isn't just a one time thing. Be outgoing, even if that's not who you normally are, and make a drive to pick up someone to play if they are on the fence about it. Be willing to train with players and spend your free time meeting people and giving advice to bring anyone and everyone in. Make sure you have a Facebook group, Craigslist ads, Twitter account, etc., to connect with people and spread the word of your scene.
3. Host weekly or monthly tournaments. You can secure a venue very easily. It can be done at a variety of places but typically game stores and/or card/comic shops are the most accommodating and most likely to have casuals interested in the tournaments.
4. Stream and record. The best way to give your scene a reputation is to have the scene public. There are many unknown scenes that do 1, 2, and 3 but because they don't stream consistently and put their matches on YouTube, the rest of the community doesn't know about them, so they might be overlooked when big majors happen or when casuals join the boards looking for local Smashers. Additionally, recording allows everyone in the scene to study their game play and develop their meta. The cost of streaming and setting up is fairly cheap and simple. In total it can be done for $150 or less and if thats split between the core players its almost nothing. All you need is a capture card, which can be a dazzle or elgato or something else, a/v splitters, and a computer. There is a lot of hardware and software out there, but to get your foot in the door just download obs, buy an elgato and a/v splitters, and connect it all up. Make a twitch account and start streaming. It doesn't have to look good to start, and it doesn't need microphones and webcams right away, but just getting out there will make a huge difference. For Xanadu, the total cost of the equipment and software to run our stream was $150 and the setup takes 5 minutes to get it all together. (Ed. note: a concise starting guide to budget stream equipment can be found here.)
5. Maintain a power rankings. This can be done through a number of ways, but in order to keep people coming back and to determine the validity of a scene, everyone needs to know who is the best. These rankings help settle arguments on who is better as well as create them. Players are more encouraged to try harder and be better when they don't like a certain person being ranked ahead of them. They may not want to be the best but to know they are better than their brother, cousin, or their melee rival and it will help them keep coming back to prove it week in and week out.
6. Make the scene fun. This can be done by having friendly Smashfests, YOLO tournaments*, races, or $1 low tier nights. The hardest thing for a casual smasher or someone who is new to the game is to come in, get beat, and come back for seconds the next week. Getting completely dismantled by players that know what they're doing can be very discouraging for a beginner, so having low tier nights allows for everyone to take the game a little less seriously and a lot more fun. It helps improving the meta, developing other characters, and putting the top players on an even playing field with the new players just for a night. Improvement can be easy, but trying to improve too much can be overwhelming. With low tiers, it gives the casual players a stepping stone where they can work on little things instead of not knowing where to start after getting 5 stocked. Also, make friends with your fellow smashers and have nights where you all hang out and drink and do things outside of smash. Go to the bar after the tournament or go out to do a group dinner or play sports.
*(one-stock, best of 1, single elim, random character, character locked, random stage, items on medium)
7. Don't be afraid to ask for help or get advice from anyone in the community. You may not know me or anyone else in 64, but everyone is extremely helpful and friendly. Any question, if asked politely, is not a dumb question. It can be tough trying to make contact with someone who is a complete stranger but don't be afraid and just do it. Everyone here loves 64 and wants to make it bigger and better, so if that's what you want and you have a question about doing it, just shoot anyone a message and get the ball rolling. No one knows you exist so no one will come find you and bring you into the community, you need to puff out your chest, lift your head up, and introduce yourself.
Welcome to Smash 64, the future of the community is now.
Editors Note: this was originally just a post within the Smash 64 forums here on Smashboards. This post was so phenomenal we wished to share it on the front page and @
Shears
agreed so we spruced it up with minor edits and a few pictures to present it here. We hope readers enjoyed it as much as we did. Be sure to follow Shears' future work by following him on Twitter.
