Right at the very edge of Mexico there’s an area that is collectively known as the Yucatán Peninsula. It’s comprised of three other states: Campeche, Quintana Roo and Yucatán. While they aren’t that well-known internationally, they are popular tourist spots. Because of it’s location, there’s barely any communication with other smash-centric cities like Mexico City or Puebla. Still, that doesn’t stop the region for developing it’s very own competitive scene.
On Sunday, May 7th, there was a small Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament in Mérida, Yucatán. It was held in the TO’s own apartment, with a little over 15 setups. While small in size, almost all of Mérida’s top players were present at the event. And they were not alone. Players from the surrounding regions came to visit, and even top players from Mexico City and Puebla ended up coming, not caring even if the tournament was a 42-man local. And if that wasn’t enough, top Marth player Ryan “The Moon” Coker-Welch came to Mérida to participate in the tournament.
But how could a local that had below average entrants, not enough setups and a small venue attract such talent? It was thanks to the local Melee community, that thankfully never stops supporting the events.
It all started a couple of years ago when the local Melee community was pretty much on the verge of disappearing. Fabian “Frap” Jurado, a local Melee player started holding Smash fests in his apartment complex. At first, it was only for his flatmates, but it gradually grew in popularity and more and more people started coming to play. When Frap and his partner Fernando formed their crew “Depas Crew” (from the Spanish word for apartment) and started hosting bi weekly tournaments, there were up to 30 people attending.
Seeing the response from the community, Frap decided to host a big tournament, inviting players from other regions to spice up the competition. Around this time, Smash Factor Toluca was happening. Taking advantage of that, Frap decided to invite The Moon, who was attending said event, and paid for his trip out of pocket and offered him a place to stay. Ryan happily accepted.
And so came the day of the event. Of the expected 60 players, there were only 42 that showed up. This resulted in less setups and less prize money. Nevertheless, there were plenty of people that only came to watch and cheer for their favorite players, making the experience still enjoyable. With PR’d players from five different regions, they tried to their hardest to stop The Moon from having an easy way through his bracket. In true mexican fashion, a crowd of 20 sounded like one of 200 with the crazy amount of cheering that happened every time someone managed to take a stock from The Moon, all the way into Grand Finals. There, Ryan had to fight one of the locals, Rojowong, who managed to surprisingly come out on top, even though his only source of practice was his brother. Rojo managed to take a game of The Moon, with an amazing two-stock comeback which made the crowd erupt. Despite his best efforts, the visitor took the grand prize, but the crowd cheered for Ryan nonetheless, both for his amazing play and for coming all the way from New York to aid the mexican Melee scene.
The Melee Community, Photo Credit: Fabian “Frap” Jurado
“I actually like Mérida” said The Moon, “I got recommendations from Anti, Keitaro, Nakat and D1, that Mexico is amazing and that I should go. And I absolutely loved it, I think this is my best out of country experience.”
After spending a couple of days in Mérida, Ryan was treated as if he was already a member of the community. He was also impressed by the level of play. “There’s a couple of hidden bosses, like Wox and Rojo. I can see them growing, as long as they put in the work.”
At the end, everyone had a great time, having fun over the weekend, playing friendlies and enjoying the atmosphere.
“I recommend [coming here] to pretty much every United States player,” said The Moon. “I recommended DJ to come, Lucky to come… Lucky’s mexican, I didn’t know,” he added with a laugh.
In the end, the tournament was a success. The Melee scene enjoyed a ton of exposure in the community, and it helped to spark some interest in newcomers who wanted to give this old game a try. And while the organizers have no plans to continue at the time of this writing, it all depends on the efforts of the Melee community, to see if they can keep this going a little bit longer.
