If I Can, You Can: A Journey To Start A Smash Scene

[LiteralGrill]

Two of the most common sentences I have seen spoken and written within the Smash community are "I wish I had some people to play Smash with" and "There isn't a scene in my area". There is a solution to both of these problems: start a scene, and play with the people in it. Now this may not be as easy as it sounds but I believe anyone even with limited resources and a reasonable amount time can get a Smash scene started in their area.

I really plan to back up this statement as well, as If I Can, You Can will not only be showing readers how to get a local Smash scene started in their area like many articles before it, it will be showing this to the readers as I actually go out and do it myself. You can follow along with my struggles and triumphs as I hopefully inspire you towards starting a scene of your own learning everything you need to know along the way.

The best place to start with anything is at the beginning. The first real question you have to ask is:

Should I Even Start A Scene?

A large portion behind this is if you actually do have the time and resources to be able to start. It may be difficult but a small starting event could be ran off of a single setup (a television and console) which is something all Smash players are incredibly likely to have. To prove you can start with that limited of a resource, that is what I will be starting with for getting my locals going during the series. The biggest issue will really be in the time. Now this doesn't just include the time it takes to run the event the day of, but there is the time spent organizing it prior by arranging a venue, promoting the event, connecting to the community, and more.

Time Keeps On Slippin... Into The Future...​

For the very well organized this can still be done even with limited time for those who are working or going to school but be honest with yourself. If you don't have the time to properly dedicate to the event the event will falter and do more harm to the possibility of a smash scene forming than just not running the event. So the next thing to think about is what are you actually capable of hosting?

If after really thinking about it you realized it's really not possible for you personally to start the scene in your area that's okay, there are other ways to get things moving in your area and other places you can manage to play Smash but I'll cover that at a later. So you have the time and resources to run a Smash event, but do you have the mentality to run an event? Can you disqualify someone for coming to a match late, even though they are a close friend? Are you going to be able to set up and tear down an event all by yourself if people are too selfish to help? Sometimes TOing can be quite the thankless job as well, people do not always appreciate the hard work you put in, will you be able to handle that? Not to mention the stress of running the event itself, making brackets, and most of the time not being able to even play at your own event.

It's a real mental transition changing the game you love from something you play just for fun into a business of sorts and it is something that can honestly make the game less fun for you if you aren't prepared. You can reflect on yourself a long time to see if this is really right for you, but if you really want to test it in a small safe setting without getting your hands too dirty you could always host a tournament online. Now these have their own unique struggles but a basic tournament just starting out will probably have a decent enough size of entrants to get that first taste of what TOing is really like and if it is right for you. Plus hosting online events can help those people that want to play Smash but lack the time to host their own events a place to play as well, so you're doing a great service to the community while you're at it!

"So SmashCapps, how do I start an Online Tournament though?" That is a GREAT question, and is going to be the subject of my next If I Can You Can Article! I'm going to host an online event to show you a lot of things you will need to know to prepare not only for an online event but your live event including designing a ruleset, promoting an event, and the big one of actually hosting and organizing the event. Hopefully my online event will not only be something many people can join, but can help be educational for starting tournament organizers as well. I have ran several tournaments before from things like collectible card games, Playstation All Stars Battle Royale, Beyblade, and previous online Smash events so I'm excited to share my knowledge with people in a live setting so people can experience things as they happen.

So be sure to tune back in on Thursday for the second article in the series: If I Can, You Can: How To Host An Online Tournament. If you want to keep up with the progress of my own efforts live, follow me on Twitter! Also, if you have any questions or suggestions related to the article please voice them in the comments below! Until next time don't forget: If I Can, You Can!

 

[Ganreizu]

Could probably publish a book with this topic.

 

[The-Jester]

We have a great scene here in Amherst. In fact, we have a whole club. I am running for an executive position in this club, and hopefully we can extend our community further into SmashBoards and our town!

 

[LiteralGrill]

We have a great scene here in Amherst. In fact, we have a whole club. I am running for an executive position in this club, and hopefully we can extend our community further into SmashBoards and our town!

That's awesome! Sorry if this is a bad assumption, but seeing the word club is this a school ran thing? I wanted to run an article in the series eventually about starting a Smash club at school but since I'm not in school anymore I could use extra insight.

 

[KH1COM2]

This is awesome! My friends and I are trying to get a scene started here in North Carolina since the only 2 places here to be really are Geeksboro and Bad Moon Rising.

 

[Protom]

"TOing can be quite the thankless job"
I hear you. Organizing pokemon and smash tournaments at my school takes up a lot of time and effort (and feeling guilty for pestering people until they agree to help promote it), and people who lose often call bullsh*t on the organizer (me) usually because of "this bracket is crap!! Why do I have to face this guy first round! It's rigged" or "why is x not banned yet y is!! Wtf!?!". It especially sucks when u spent weeks preparing and organizing it and spending money on some nice prizes, and the. No one appreciates Ur efforts.
I feel ya @ LiteralGrill ..

 

[Chukkaque]

There was a very small scene in my town and then we stepped in and started advertising it and making it bigger with monthlies. Sometimes the problem about these is the communities themselves. Constantly putting down melee, smash 4, PM, etc. It's a nightmare trying to cater to multiple "communities" and someone always dislikes what you're doing especially if you're not a melee focused group.

 

[Kevdo]

applause I think this is an excellent idea. I support it 100%

 

[The-Jester]

That's awesome! Sorry if this is a bad assumption, but seeing the word club is this a school ran thing? I wanted to run an article in the series eventually about starting a Smash club at school but since I'm not in school anymore I could use extra insight.

Indeed it is a school-related club (college)! Do you have any questions?

 

[Xavix]

Smash Capps my school (high school) also has a "games council" (fancy for smash club), if you want to know anything about it let me know!

 

[KRBAY101]

Welp. I'm from the DFW. The scene is fully blown here. I can't believe people can't find a scene and for me, I got introduced to smash by just accidentally running into it.

 

[TM_icecream]

I started a scene and I can confirm that scenes grow pretty much on their own

And I live in kind of the boonies!

 

[Iceweasel]

How much does running a tourney cost, on average? I'm currently between jobs and can't afford to host an event out of pocket.

 

[Captain Zack]

if you host it they will come

 

[Colonel Shubb Shubb]

Can't wait to read! I've been thinking about starting a scene where I'm at. I've got quite a few friends that play and I do seem to spot pass a lot of players, just need to take the initiative.

 

[LiteralGrill]

@ Iceweasel VERY much keep an eye out then. I plan to write an article on hosting a tournament for free, since it IS doable.

If you do a good job there's always the possibility of asking for a venue fee too to help offset costs.

 

[Jaxas]

This is straight up the story of the Salem Smashfests, and shoutouts to @ LiteralGrill for writing this up as an already-solid guide; looks like you beat me to this one too!

Started because I was sick and freaking tired of fighting bots, and the first of the weeklies was 11 people, ran from a notebook by hand in a room the size of 2 closets, and only had a single setup. But people enjoyed it, and we're now approaching the 1-year mark (April 22nd HYPE!) with a special edition tournament. We have a solid community of 40+ people throughout the games, even players driving from Washington to Salem, Oregon, and this is for $1 weeklies.

The players are there, and from what I've seen they care (...relatively...) little about the prize support; they just want a place to play and a community.

Tl;dr - Take your time, do things right, have fun. The players will come if you provide a fun place, and the community will thrive from there.

 

[NLGTCG.COM]

Smash scenes are always coming and going it seems like

 

[fromundaman]

People underestimate how easily you can build a scene anywhere. I've done it 3-4 times now for multiple games; just find like-minded people and ease them into competitive gaming.
Smash is really easy to do this with as EVERYONE plays smash.

 

[Able]

Welp. I'm from the DFW. The scene is fully blown here. I can't believe people can't find a scene and for me, I got introduced to smash by just accidentally running into it.

Hey, same here friend! Maybe I'll see you around sometime!

 

[JeffsMov]

Now now... I think is time to start a Project M scene at my high school. I mean, everyone here knows about smash and have played Melee or Brawl, I just need time, space, and people with the motivation and mentality.

The wiis and tvs will come alone :v

 

[N.T.A.O ChangeOfHeart 死の剣]

Already tried what Uncle Sam is ranting about, four years ago, the mission collapsed in a few days, the mission was a failure.

 

[Benny P]

Thanks for making this, i look forward to reading more!

I want to make a small scene whilst living in Nyora (Australia) so i can still get the practice without travelling so hard :/

 

[LiteralGrill]

Thanks for making this, i look forward to reading more!

I want to make a small scene whilst living in Nyora (Australia) so i can still get the practice without travelling so hard :/

You're lucky I happen to know a lot about the Australian Smash scene! Check out this article I wrote recently about their upcoming national. At the end there's a bunch of resources for people to connect to the AUS community with, use em and see if you can find something close!

 

[Aninymouse]

Already tried what Uncle Sam is ranting about, four years ago, the mission collapsed in a few days, the mission was a failure.

Why did it fail?

 

[Benny P]

You're lucky I happen to know a lot about the Australian Smash scene! Check out this article I wrote recently about their upcoming national. At the end there's a bunch of resources for people to connect to the AUS community with, use em and see if you can find something close!

I posted once asking for people in the area, but no luck. Everyone is at least an hour away. That's not bad, but fitting practice in with life is gonna be tricky

 

[JayTheUnseen]

"Ask not what your Smash scene can do for you, but what you can do for your Smash scene."

 

[mario123007]

"Ask not what your Smash scene can do for you, but what you can do for your Smash scene."

Nice quote. Re adapted from president John F. Kennedy right?
Well I hope I can start a Smash scene in my own country, even though Smash isn't popular in my country that much.

 

[assassin_marth]

I feel ya on TO'ing. I hosted a tournament at our school last Friday, and someone called me a *** idiot because he lost and we didn't have time for a loser's bracket But a great way to start a smash club, or finding people to play smash is by going to a school club (video game/Anime), there's bound to be some smashers there.

 

[MookieRah]

I actually started a scene in Umeå and it's now thriving. It's way simpler than you think, as long as you have an event. Thankfully, there was a retro gaming convention that was held bi-yearly, and they featured a smash tournament. All I did was go around, talk to people, played them in friendlies, showed them and talked about advanced techniques, and told them I was going to make a facebook group called "Umeå Smash" when I got home. After the tournament something around the number of 10 people had joined the group, and from there it's been all kinds of crazy.

Since then, we've had a stronger player than myself move into the area, we've joined with a fighting game club, and now they are all hosting several mini-tournaments for power-rankings and such. It's still going strong after 2+ years and we get fresh blood often. Sadly I'm rarely able to participate these days, but they are self-sufficient at this point.

There is almost bound to be an anime-convention or some kind of pop-culturey convention somewhat near you that would host game tournaments if you are in the US. If you wanted to get something going I'd suggest trying to get a mini melee event going at one of those.

 

[Takehiko]

What if you're in my position where you're smack dab of the scene, have a way to contact the players in your area. But can't get a ride (because not being amongst the top 4 players in your scene) to any tourney and every time you try to contact one, you're ignored and seen as a bother.

 

[BONG X]

Im very glad to have a smash community in my city, hopefully i can start going regularly to tournaments soon and get some experience in the MUs. I have never been in a smash tourney before but two months ago i met one good player in my city and played some matches with him and since that day he started coming to my house often to play Melee along with some other players. At first he just completely destroyed me, we played quite some time and yet i could not beat his samus but i have been improving and now i can compete and take sets, our matches are very close now. So im going to my first tournament this saturday and i know im still new to competitive smash but im gonna try to get the most out of it and improve as much and as fast as i can. I feel super lucky to have the chance to assist to this tourneys and have a community to play and have fun with

 

[TheArabSamurai]

I'm glad to see this guide being made, thank you. This past year I've been working quite hard creating a community and scene for Qatar, and even working on a large regional scale, all over the Middle East, working with community leaders from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE. Players from that region should hit me up. I implore all of you who don't have a community that is active to get it started, if a high school student can get something started in the Middle East, I'm sure you can start something too.

 

[SoulOfSmash]

This is awesome! My friends and I are trying to get a scene started here in North Carolina since the only 2 places here to be really are Geeksboro and Bad Moon Rising.

NC has a really good scene that just keeps building. Raleigh, Greensboro, Charlotte, and Asheville all have good communities with regular tourneys

 

[necroTaxonomist]

I recently helped in organizing a Smash club at my school, but I've noticed that the first meeting we had 20 people, the second meeting we had 10, and the next one we had 6. I think we need to do some advertising...

 

[ZomBiehn]

I'm owner of VVSP which is a very large smash group located in So Cal, I ran it +6 years strong, 50-100+ people every event, I moved with my wife and child to the east coast and I recently been trying to get something going, I'm hoping the smash scene is as strong here as it was on the west coast

 

[Mr. Cuddles]

this is cool. I already started a smash club in my school. its actually really easy. you just have to get up and do it.

 

[Mr. Cuddles]

I recently helped in organizing a Smash club at my school, but I've noticed that the first meeting we had 20 people, the second meeting we had 10, and the next one we had 6. I think we need to do some advertising...

That could help but attendance will naturally decease in schools as people have sports they want to play or have make up work/tutoring. Dont let it get to you , if people dont come that okay, you will get SOME people and thats all that matters.

 

[Ninja!]

I would start one if I could get adequate help

 

[N.T.A.O ChangeOfHeart 死の剣]

Why did it fail?

Mm, not many of players showed up, me and another dude who live in the same location dedicated to work together and bring Brawl in our scene but it didn't work. We also tried Melee and 64 but it failed as well. My scene is brain-dead towards Smash and focus all there time in CoD games and such.