How old were you when you went to your first competitive tournament?

[GreenFlame]

I haven't ever actually been to any tournaments, but I'm curious as to what the average age Smashers began their journey in competitve Smash is. So, how old were you when you went to your first competitive tournament, what was it like, and how did you do? Did you make any new friends?

 

[Death Arcana]

16 for me
it was a brawl tourney at a local gamestore
i found out through smashboards after making a second account
i initially could of been going to tourneys 2 years prior in 07 but i was way too
preoccupied with being a cool kid
i didn't make any friends right off the bat at my first tourney but i didn't really care to
i don't need to join a scene to make friends
i just wanted to see how good the players were in my area

 

[LordFluffy]

17. was a local(ish) brawl tourny where i pretty much got my ass handed to me and at that point understood why meta knight has a tier of his own.
if we're talking tournaments like School ones or self hosted friend tournys then 13, but i don't count those personally.

 

[Lukingordex]

I was 15. Good times.

 

[LoveGame]

When Melee was new-ish, GameCrazy held a small tournament for it. It was mostly kids (including me, I was either 9 or 10) and the funniest thing I remembered was that only the default cast was unlocked. That meant 2 of my mains (Mewtwo and Falco) were out of the question, so I chose Samus. I did okay but ended up losing.

The first "real" competitive thing I went to was this year, (I'm 22) some people I know IRL were organizing a local thing at his place. We got about 20ish people and it was a Project M tournament. At the time, I'd literally never touched PM, so they gave me about 5 minutes to mess around with Mewtwo and we thrust straight into it. I won a few sets here and there but overall got my ass whooped.

This sort of turned into a weekly thing and for the first 2 sessions it was my only chance to play and learn PM. I learned pretty quick and got second place at the second weekly (we usually got 20ish people iirc) and 13th out of 30+ at the most recent "bigger" one at Baylor U (I think I played my best there). All around it's a fun experience!

 

[Acedude55]

14 in NYC, first opponent ever was M2K

 

[Dagon97]

i was 13. i got 5th out of 30 something

 

[Silent Assasin]

My first took place when I 19. It was a house tournament from one of the posters on here. I performed incompetently and lost all 4 of my matches haha. I will admit though, it definitely motivated me to do better.

 

[MrJeff]

I ran a school club when I was 15, and we played Smash 64 as Melee wasn't out yet. Then we did Melee when it came out later. Later I went to a tournament as Game Crazy when I was 18; the people were a lot better at that one, but I placed in the top 8. Then I didn't do any tournaments until I was 27 (yep, I'm old, apparently). I don't attend many, especially because I'm not that great and I don't really have the time (or interest) to get at a level where I'm really competitive. I don't really think it matters whether you're young or old when you first go to your first tournament, but I do think that it's easier if you're younger and can devote the time to it (as long as you're not short on cash). Also, you will probably make friends if you want to and you're willing to chat with people. You won't if you don't. There's nothing wrong with either way, but if you're interested in getting to know people, an easy way to start is just by talking to people after you play against them. Ask them their name (real name and tag), whether they're on SmashBoards, if they have any advice for you as a player, etc.

 

[Gamers_Gauntlet]

I was 16 at my first tournament but I was hosting not competing in them. That came later.

 

[Fyrelore]

School tourney I was 16. "Real" tourney I'll end up being 19 going to my first one, don't know why it took me three years xD

 

[Jadeyes]

Between 9 and 11, for Smash 64. I remember there was about 20 entrants, and most of them "older kids" which considering how old *I* was were probably all around 16 or 17. I won. :D

But, this was in Alaska, and it was a fundraising event held at a retirement home, so the average skill level was ridiculously low.

 

[rivers]

Actual tournament?

19.

But the first tournament I technically went to was at my friend's 9th birthday party. It was a Melee tournament

There were like 15 of us, and we used tournament mode.

I won though, so I have that going for me.

 

[Jiggsbomb]

18, it was a n64 tournament. It was in 2000. Good times.

 

[Blitzern]

14, a couple weeks ago, at Shockwave 9.

 

[Nico24]

I was 16, a month ago, at a local scene. I had only been playing seriously for a few months, though I've been casually playing pm since v2.6.

 

[Deleted member]

14, with a broken wrist

 

[AirFair]

15, it was fun, even though I got bodied I learned a lot.