Good age to get into competitive smash?

[danny135]

Just wondering how old most people were when they started getting into tournaments.

 

[Bad Cupboard]

If you didn't start as an infant it's a waste of time

 

[Mr.Jackpot]

Depends on how your household is run when you're younger and your scene/monetary situation when you're older.

If you can go to a tournament you're good.

 

[Jiv]

Well I'm 18 and I'm starting right now

Are you an older person planning on getting into melee?

 

[prog]

I went to my first tournament at 18/19, and ran into 12/13 year old Hax. Any age is the right age.

 

[Sephirothxxx]

I honestly ask myself this question all the time. I'm 16 and I feel too young to get into the scene. I think most people get into the scene around 17 or 18, or at least when they can drive.

 

[oukd]

I believe that the younger you get into Melee the faster you'll pick things up. Of course, not everyone is able to start competitive Melee until a certain age depending on their circumstances.

 

[Nintendude]

Some of the most talented players in Smash history started going to tournaments when they were like 13-14, but there's also a lot of older players who are in their mid to late 20s.

 

[RFrizzle]

I think I went to my first fest at 15. I'm almost 17 now but I'm glad I started young because my improvement is awesome.

 

[Jolteon]

I went to my first tournament when I was 13.

I didn't get back into Melee again until I was about 16 though, which I really regret.

 

[R2_GP]

early/mid 10's i think, i was 15 in my first tournament

 

[t3h Icy]

Any age really. If you're young, you have a lot of years of free time to learn and spend time on Melee. Plus if you turn out amazing like Hax, you'll get a huge confidence boost which makes high school funner.

If you're older, you're likely more mature and more capable at figuring things out faster, though you probably don't have as much free time. A lot of players at this age can learn about the game without necessarily playing it all the time.

That said, I wish I could have started going to tournaments with an active scene at a much younger age. University is kind of in the way now.

 

[HyugaRicdeau]

I was 22 when I really started going to tournaments. I'm 30 now.
Whippersnappers, etc.

 

[J.Shadows]

Started when I was 15

 

[MasterShake]

First tourney was at 16, had to convince my parents that it wasn't that dumb lol.

 

[Massive]

As early as possible.
Get some good muscle memory built up before your reflexes start to decline in your early 20s.

Also, starting younger means life is less likely to get in the way of practice time.

 

[Zodiac]

just make sure you get good before you graduate highschool, otherwise you won't have the time.

 

[JKJ]

I started playing Melee at 5. I started to get good (like knowing at least what L-canceling and Wavedashing were) around 13, and I started to play competitively at 15. I went to my first tournament at 15. Any age is a good age, but not being able to drive really sucks for younger smashers. For instance, I can't go to Apex because my parents can't/won't drive me and I can't drive myself.
But being younger as I practiced made it so much easier to get better.

 

[Ryobeat]

Started at 13 :3 what players started at 16/17 that are really good now?

 

[Theftz22]

I think it's obvious that from a smash perspective, the earlier the better.

From a life perspective, debatable.

*Started at 16.

 

[Wretched]

When you start at 12/13 and you play with good people, you learn really fast. However, when you learn young, the fundamentals of the game sorta become embedded in you. When that happens, it becomes hard to break bad habits, especially if you play with the same people a lot.

When you're older, the game becomes a lot less about constant performance and memory and more about good decision making.

If it were up to me, I would start when I was older so I learned the game from the ground up with a really open perspective, and then I would go back to when I was younger and had great execution and muscle memory.

 

[danny135]

Yeah, I've been practicing Smash for a year or two (for real, not just playing casually, been playing since 2001) and I'm pretty decent considering I don't have anyone good to practice with because a) none of my friends except one really play smash competitively (he'd like to go to tournaments, too), and b) I haven't really seen much competitive smash here in Puerto Rico.

We play my custom hacked Melee at school every day (we have been playing free-for-all for a while, but I found Zauron's Dual 1v1 AR code, so now we do that), so I can live with that until I can drive (which I should be soon, because I'm already 16) or go to college (probably in the US).

 

[Ryobeat]

I think it's also dependent on when Melee "clicks" . Like exactly your goal and everything about the game hits you, and you know what you need to do.

 

[EndlessSummer101]

I started playing the game casually when I was eight years old. As for the competitive scene, I'm slowly coming in.

 

[DerfMidWest]

I went to my first tournament at 15 or 16...
Wish I'd started younger.
Now that I'm older, life stuff gets in the way a lot.

 

[JacopeX]

I'm 21 and started two years ago.

 

[ShrieK1295]

I didn't go to any tournaments until I was 22, and though I'm not good, I'm still glad I started going last year. It's not like you can make a real living playing smash, so it's all for fun anyway

 

[The Star King]

I have a theory that the younger you start the better

no one will believe me though

but as far as I know nearly all the top (and I mean the best of the best) players started when they were like 12 or something

and of course being older has the advantage of being to travel more and stuff but I'm talking purely based on learning rates

 

[rawrimamonster]

Some of the most talented players in Smash history started going to tournaments when they were like 13-14, but there's also a lot of older players who are in their mid to late 20s.

Makes you wonder how long we'll continue, I mean I'm already 26 and as long as smash is good I'll continue.

 

[Kellz]

I remember watching competitive videos way back when I was like 9 or 10, and I was blown away by the level that Melee players can play on. I eventually learned the AT's and all that, and for my age, I think I was damn good. I'm kinda out of touch now though XD So yeah, pretty early.

 

[PureYeti]

I just started to get into the scene at the age 22. The difficult part is to relearn everything and have a free time to sit down to practice

 

[~Twitch~]

wow i think i got everyone in this thread beat.

went to my first tourney when i was 11. if i could do it over again...i wouldn't have started smash when i was 11. maybe 14 or something but 11 is just too young imo.

@star king: your theory sucks cuz i'm 16 now and i can still barely play this game.

 

[The Star King]

My theory rules stfu. I don't know about your circumstances but maybe you don't play enough or something, idk. I'm not saying if you start young you will magically become godly with no effort put in.

 

[Sixth-Sense]

My theory rules stfu.

Lol i think i got my first sig
anyways, i started when i was 14, i'm 16 now and from the one tournament i went to, the guys there said i got some serious potental, either way i think getting into smash at like 13 years of age is pretty good, although it sucks that you probably won't be able to go to any tournaments.

 

[Doomolish]

I'm training a 31 y/o guy, and my brother started at 12.

 

[Fortress | Sveet]

Started playing with 64 when I was in my single digits. Played melee when it came out. Played "competitively" with my friends throughout highschool. Couldn't wavedash til like 05-06 though. So like when I was 16 or 17?

 

[SaixXIsaVII]

Age doesn´t matter at all imo. A dude startet to play MVC at the Age of 10, and he *****. lol

 

[Laijin]

I went to my first tournament at the age of 14. My parents were supportive of my hobbies and I got a couple of friends to host local tournaments at the time. Most players at the time were in HS, very few college. This was like 2004 btw lol.

Age doesn't really matter though.

I can imagine being a kid and playing this game is a lot easier than being an adult. As a kid you get all the free time in the world to sit around and practice.

 

[pokemongeof]

Went to my first tournament at 12, right now im 12!

 

[AXE 09]

I started when I was 15/16

And now I'm 21

I think the best time for you to get super competitive is when you have the freedom from your parents to travel and stay out late. That's when I started meeting up with other smashers and staying out playing Melee all night until early in the morning lol