News

After successful outings at DreamHack London and Winter, Melee will be returning to the world famous DreamHack gaming expo this weekend in Austin, Texas. This will be the first time DreamHack will take place in North America, meaning that a plethora of America's best in Melee will be competing for $10,000 in prizes. Here is everything you need to know about DreamHack Austin, including the stream information and major player storylines.

As mentioned in a previous article, the visa application of Melee pro-player, Leffen, was denied recently. He had applied for a P-1 visa, which allows sports players entry into the United States. However, the government did not consider Super Smash Bros. Melee a legitimate sport, much to the dismay of the community.

Fortunately, Team Solo Mid recently announced some good news: Leffen has obtained a short term, P-1 visa, which will allow him entry into the United States until the end of July. This means that Leffen can now enter EVO and other American tournaments.

About a week ago, Reddit user QuasarQuon posted a thread talking about his newest project.

With Project Phoenix, Quasar brings an alternative to both GameCube and Wii users by providing a platform much, much smaller than the usual.

Melee is a tough game in many different ways no matter if you are a newcomer, an up-and-comer, or a long-time veteran. 60 Frames highlights this by following the journeys and thoughts of three different players: Kenji (newcomer), Squid (rising star), and HugS (veteran). Sit back and enjoy the fantastic insight from all three players in 60 Frames.

The opening sequence to Super Smash Bros. Melee is one of the most iconic intros in all of gaming. That's why over 30 animators from The Reanimation Station have teamed up to put their own twist on the intro! Prepare to be amazed and consider subscribing to The Reanimation Station for more animated goodness.

Smash Shorts is out with an all new look! This episode's Top 5 Smash Shorts introduces a new design along with a very special Pro Play by CLG's NAKAT! We definitely had to do it big for Episode 20.

What is a Smash Short? As the name suggests, it's a quick moment or series of events in Smash that is so good, you have to share it with someone. We're giving you (yes, you) the opportunity to share those moments for a chance to be selected as one of the Top 5.



Check the links below to learn how you can submit your content right here on Smashboards...

The yearly multi-game tournament KVOxTSB 2016 will be hosted in Osaka from April 29th to May 1st. In addition to a first look at the new King of Fighters and a chance to play the console version of the latest BlazeBlue, KVOxTSB will host Smash 4 and Melee tournaments on Sunday, May 1st.

Currently, the event for Smash 4 is set at 116 entrants. Smashboards user @Djent has kindly given us a preview of the big names to look for in this tournament.

God-slayer William "Leffen" Hjelte has shaken up the world of competitive Melee in the last few years. Aside from his pristine Fox play, the 21-year-old Swede is well known for his often times villainous persona and for being the first player to take down all five of Melee's "Gods". Leffen was on a tear in 2015, winning many major tournaments such as CEO 2015, HTC Throwdown, BEAST V, and more. As Leffen was hot off his HTC Throwdown win, many were looking to him as one of the favorites to win The Big House 5. However, he was rejected entry into the US when travelling to The Big House 5 -- and it was announced today that his subsequent Visa request has been denied.

Competitive Melee has often been compared to jazz music, and drummer Andrew Barhite has taken that analogy to an entirely new level. Listen and watch as he brilliantly performs Armada's iconic 4-stock on Leffen at BEAST V on the drums.

Melee’s elite with face off this weekend at the Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo (EGLX), one of Canada’s biggest gaming conventions. EGLX will feature 8 of the current MIOM top 10 and many more of the world's best, making this tournament a must-watch. Here is everything you need to know about EGLX, including the major storylines and stream/schedule information.

And we’re back with the last installment in the Venezuela’s Triple Crown series, featuring the biggest Venezuelan tournaments this year. Today, we’re taking a look at Dragon Ascent, the 6th edition of the National Tournament; this year's tournament will be taking place in Caracas and it will feature players from the whole territory.

Let’s begin:

The Spring 2016 Top 20 Melee Ranking done by Smash Europe has concluded. While some of the top placements might not come as a surprise to many overseas, the ranking does provide valuable insight on those players who are bubbling under. Sweden keeps a firm hold on the top ranks with @Armada and @leffen ranking at number one and two respectively. Below them are frequent travelers to the US: @-Ice- and @Professor Pro. The remainder of the Top 10 includes strong shows from Amsah, Zgetto, Android and more.



The rankings go into detail on notable tournament finishes as well as pivotal sets between the European powerhouses. Catch a full listing of the articles on SmashEurope to find out how Europe stacks up...

Welcome back to another edition of Weekly Character Showcase! This is a series where we analyze the playable characters in Smash 4 and what they can do with both general and character-specific advanced techniques.

Like Mewtwo last week, we have another top-tier threat!* Greninja arrives this week at full power, and while he may not have much, the Ninja Pokemon will use everything to his advantage. To help us with this article we got Drystan from the Greninja Discord.

The Smashified Team, known for their top-tier art has premiered their latest entry in the Smashified series -- Masked Man from Mother 3. The commentary features the founder of Smashified, Omni Jacala (Artsy Omni), co-lead Chris Szczesiul, and special guest ChuggaaConroy. Within the video, the team announced that there will be more Mother content in May, such as additional characters and trophy renders. This time lapse video also contains a remixed theme created by Omni Jacala!

Throughout the years, the Smash community has grown to be more than just the players, housing others who contribute in different but equally respectable ways. The art community is growing and with last week's spotlight being on a graphic artist, we went and conducted an interview with a man who is part of MuffinBros Graphics. This group does their art in a different form, so today in this Smash Art Spotlight, we will be talking with Muffin_Man, one of three "muffins."

Star Fox has always been an important series to Smash. Fox McCloud was one of the first four original characters programmed in the prototype that Satoru Iwata and Masahiro Sakurai made to pitch Smash 64. In every Smash iteration, the Star Fox series has generally seen an increase in the amount of references it contains -- whether it be through fighters, items, stages, music, trophies, or even stickers. With the newest release, Star Fox will surely continue to play an important role in both Nintendo and Smash's history.

Should Halberd be legal? Are Delfino’s tiny blast zones a deal breaker? Are Castle Siege’s walk-offs such a bad feature? We’re here to settle this once and for all; and what other way to do it than the Smashing Debate! As always, we’re joined by other writers or a special guest to chime in on the subject; today, we are joined by One Hit Smash. But, before we get into discussing, a friendly warning and disclaimer:

Last November in Los Angeles, Beyond the Summit hosted their first Melee event, Smash Summit. With only 16 players, 6 of whom were voted in, Summit’s intimate scale alone separated it from any other tournament with its budget. Smash Summit 2 will follow suit, holding its players in one big house with opportunities for unlimited friendlies. As a four day event, Smash Summit 2 will feature a singles bracket, doubles bracket, and multiple side events.

Smash YouTuber, @RelaxAlax (Channel Link) has premiered a new entry into his Know Your Moves series. This time, he's covered the two protagonists from the Earthbound series -- Ness and Lucas. RelaxAlax has covered the origins of their movesets, and how they reference various aspects of the Earthbound series. The video goes in-depth, but RelaxAlax provides some lighthearted comedy to make the viewing experience extremely enjoyable.

Another Smash player has joined True AmBition! This time, it's Georgia native and Smash 4 Captain Falcon pro Griffin "Fatality" Miller; who is best known for being the #1 Smash 4 Captain Falcon main with high placements at tournaments such as Genesis 3 and Super Smash Con. Here's what the co-owner/CFO of True AmBition had to say about this new sponsorship: "Picking up Fatality is huge for us since he is such a phenomenal player. His results at various nationals speak for themselves, and he's also done it with such an underutilized character as well."