I attended my first tournament today, and they had no clue what they were doing

[ewItsBoo]

I saw an advertisement for a "qualifying round" at my local library to go to a bigger tournament at a different library. I thought it would be nice with well set-up equipment so I could have fun. Most of my friends were busy except one who decided to go also. When we got there, they listed out the rules.

-Double Elimination
-3 stocks, 8 minutes
-6/7 player FFA for EVERY game
-Items set to high
-DLC characters banned
-Wired controllers are banned (only pro controllers and Wiimotes without nunchucks were allowed)
-Top 4 from the games in Round 1 would advance to winner's brackets in Round 2 and bottom 3 would go to loser's bracket
-Top 2 from every Round 2 match would go to Round 3
-1st place from both Round 3 matches would face in a 1v1 4 stock 10-minute match, winner went to the finals sometime in August

Everything from the rules from my knowledge was stupid besides the first 2. We convinced the organizers to let us use GameCube controllers as they didn't give us an "unfair advantage" as they said about them and that it wouldn't mess up the synchronization of the Wiimotes and Pro controllers they set up. They said they didn't have a GameCube Controller Adapter, but thankfully someone brought his so we could use GameCube controllers.

My friend and I ended up getting knocked to losers in Round 1, and fell in Round 2 losers by 2 camping Sheiks and spammy Down+B Kirbys and Bowsers getting us before we could recover.

We were so enraged that we left as soon as we got eliminated. What are your guys thoughts on this tournament? As far as my knowledge goes this isn't how Sm4sh tournaments usually go.

 

[RayNoire]

Wait a minute. This sounds familiar. If you don't mind me asking, where was this?

 

[Abyssal Lagiacrus]

Honestly, I give you major props for actually sticking around and competing.

If I ever went to a tournament and items were on at all, I would just leave, let alone all the other BS that was going on at yours.

 

[ewItsBoo]

Honestly, I give you major props for actually sticking around and competing.

If I ever went to a tournament and items were on at all, I would just leave, let alone all the other BS that was going on at yours.

I was hyped since it was my first Sm4sh tournament and my first one in 2 years, the 7 player smash was just unbearable and my friend and I weren't the only ones that thought it was retarted.

 

[ewItsBoo]

Wait a minute. This sounds familiar. If you don't mind me asking, where was this?

Northern VA near DC

 

[RayNoire]

Northern VA near DC

How strange, they must be having these across the country (or it's a bizarre coincidence). The exact same tournaments are being held in Madison, WI.

It's a shame they're so poorly run, because it's a great idea.

 

[Pixel_]

I feel like it's not actually a bad tournament.

It's just a really bad competitive tournament.

 

[ewItsBoo]

I feel like it's not actually a bad tournament.

It's just a really bad competitive tournament.

It sucks because there were some kids there USED to items and 8-player smash so they easily made top 8...
By kids I mean like legit 8 and 9 year olds.

 

[AlMoStLeGeNdArY]

You're probably better off going to Xanadu. That sounds horrible man.

 

[Abyssal Lagiacrus]

Items and 8-player smash are literal killers of any competitiveness

 

[ewItsBoo]

You're probably better off going to Xanadu. That sounds horrible man.

Thanks for the suggestion, didn't even know Xanadu was in Maryland! It's about an hour and a half away from my house, I should go someday!

 

[Untamed]

This doesn't even sound a like a tournament, it sounds more like a friendly get together.

 

[BeetleJoJo]

Man, that sounds terrible. I hope that didn't persuade you from joining any other Local Tours.

 

[Pippin (Peregrin Took)]

The fact that it was held at a library tells me that competitive smashers like us were probably not the target audience, but this reminds me a lot of Nintendo's invitational. Definitely get to Xanadu if you get a chance

 

[ewItsBoo]

The fact that it was held at a library tells me that competitive smashers like us were probably not the target audience, but this reminds me a lot of Nintendo's invitational. Definitely get to Xanadu if you get a chance

Well, they advertized it as a competitive event so I was really hyped and thought it would be my first real tournament for Sm4sh...

 

[Pippin (Peregrin Took)]

Dang, that's pretty sad then Hope to see you at Xanadu soon though :D

 

[Rhus]

This happened to me in the beginning of Brawl, actually.

Except it was time matches.

And they just put every entrant as random character in the tourney mode.

It was pretty legit.

 

[Raijinken]

That sounds like a fairly enjoyable tournament from a "have casual fun" stance. But as far as serious competition goes, it couldn't be much worse.

 

[Zionaze]

One nasty Brawl tournament i went to made everyone pull cards from a lot to decide what character we were to choose.

I picked ganondorf. :l

 

[Shaya]

Nearly everything in Smash can be done competitively, and although things like free for alls, items, weird stages, etc it is very feasible for the best player to come out on top.

Depending on how long you've played or how you think about the game, a tournament doesn't necessarily mean the standard and that doesn't mean they shouldn't be supported. They're gold mines for new blood and having some not-usually-essential skill sets tested; "oh yeah I usually play in 1v1 tournaments, you're good, did you know about them [wording being important: positive manipulation]?"

You'd be surprised how often people don't know about the grass root scene or those who are interested in areas of game play not in uber casual terms.

Usually veteran smash players will attend these things when they hear about them, either for the opportunity for the above as mentioned or they're "free" to reap rewards from. To players newer to the scene it isn't the type of experience you were looking for but it still can be good and fun.

 

[Divemissile]

this kind of reminds me of the Nintendo World Championships Smash 4 part

 

[CrazyPerson]

I have yet to enter a tournament... I need to go get pwned at some point in the near future.

Anyway... Smash Bros is amazing how it can be played both as a crazy chaotic party game and a tactical competitive one.

Most tournaments try for the latter, remove as much randomness, the crazy stages, the unbalanced stages, and other stuff.

The tournament described here seemed to be going for the chaotic style of play. Personally, I see nothing wrong with events with some fun chaos in them knowing the best player may not win for hundreds of reasons. Butt he true pure test of skill needs all those restrictions.

There is room in the world for both styles... but I don't blame players from one side not wanting to cross into the other.

 

[Mikey Da Bawse]

I'm sorry for your terrible experience.
Something similar happened here locally over a year ago, and it was the driving force towards my city creating it's own Smash scene, since there wasn't one here beforehand.

 

[Jon_14]

I had the same thing happen to me too when I went to my library's Brawl tournament last year. This was before Smash 4 was out(beginning of August I believe), so I was pretty hyped. Disappointed at the free-for-all, no timer, items on, the TO never capped the event so more people could just jump in, and ONE SETUP on a projector.

Dude get yourself to Xanadu for a better experience. I've been going there constantly since school let out for the summer and it's a fun place to be! Can get a bit crowded though... >.>

EDIT


You should also get in on Super Smash Con too! It's in the same city you live in! There will be tournaments for all four Smash games, but registration for the pass that also gives you access to compete in them ends today so if you want to get in on it do it now.

 

[Yoshi Kirishima]

Did you check what kind of tournament it was before hand? Especially since it was at a library, and I assume not posted in any place online for competitive players, it is no surprise that it would be a casual tournament.

I don't mean to be rude but you shouldn't say they had no clue what they were doing, you simply didn't go to the right kind of tournament.

 

[TheHypnotoad]

One nasty Brawl tournament i went to made everyone pull cards from a lot to decide what character we were to choose.

I picked ganondorf. :l

I remember doing this whenever I got together with friends back in middle school.

Good times...

 

[ewItsBoo]

I had the same thing happen to me too when I went to my library's Brawl tournament last year. This was before Smash 4 was out(beginning of August I believe), so I was pretty hyped. Disappointed at the free-for-all, no timer, items on, the TO never capped the event so more people could just jump in, and ONE SETUP on a projector.

Dude get yourself to Xanadu for a better experience. I've been going there constantly since school let out for the summer and it's a fun place to be! Can get a bit crowded though... >.>

EDIT


You should also get in on Super Smash Con too! It's in the same city you live in! There will be tournaments for all four Smash games, but registration for the pass that also gives you access to compete in them ends today so if you want to get in on it do it now.

TYSM, I had no clue registration ended today, was gonna buy it later, just bought it.

And Xanadu is only a little over 1 hour away from me so I will be there soon! (Not tomorrow though, going on vacation)

 

[Dsull]

Honestly, I give you major props for actually sticking around and competing.

If I ever went to a tournament and items were on at all, I would just leave, let alone all the other BS that was going on at yours.

what he said

that tournament sounds like total bs. Banning wired controllers? So no Gamecube controllers...automatic downvote to any feedback i'd give that tournament. I simply cannot play without a GC controller or the 3DS oddly enough.
I dont get why they would ban dlc characters. Thats kinda unfair to people who got a character theyve been rooting for to get in the game. They arent even broken, in fact i'd say Roy is the closest to it and hes nowhere near broken either.

Props for sticking it out. I would have lost my redheaded temper before the first match lol

 

[Kaibo]

Casuals, CASUALS EVERYWHERE

 

[CrazyPerson]

what he said

that tournament sounds like total bs. Banning wired controllers? So no Gamecube controllers...automatic downvote to any feedback i'd give that tournament. I simply cannot play without a GC controller or the 3DS oddly enough.
I dont get why they would ban dlc characters. Thats kinda unfair to people who got a character theyve been rooting for to get in the game. They arent even broken, in fact i'd say Roy is the closest to it and hes nowhere near broken either.

Props for sticking it out. I would have lost my redheaded temper before the first match lol

The only reason I can think of a TO (tournament organizer for the sake of this post, not sure im using the lingo right) would do this would be if he wasn't sure what set ups he could get a hold of. The banning of wired controllers makes no sense when saying "If you plan to use a gamecube controller, bring your adapter." It wouldn't be at all hard for players to transport them.

As for DLC Characters... If the TO wasn't sure he could get a hold of enough set ups with all DLC I can see the reasoning behind saying no. Telling players "If you plan to use Mewtwo, Roy, Ryu, or Lucas bring your system." would suck... those things are a bit more difficult to haul around, and I wouldn't want to take my eyes off of mine to play if I did bring it. (different if I knew it would be in use the entire time.)

With the very casual chaos rule set, it wouldn't surprise me if the TO didn't think he could track all that down.

Still agreed that being told no gamecube controllers, and no DLC characters would really remove a lot of fun that comes from a tournament.

 

[ewItsBoo]

The only reason I can think of a TO (tournament organizer for the sake of this post, not sure im using the lingo right) would do this would be if he wasn't sure what set ups he could get a hold of. The banning of wired controllers makes no sense when saying "If you plan to use a gamecube controller, bring your adapter." It wouldn't be at all hard for players to transport them.

As for DLC Characters... If the TO wasn't sure he could get a hold of enough set ups with all DLC I can see the reasoning behind saying no. Telling players "If you plan to use Mewtwo, Roy, Ryu, or Lucas bring your system." would suck... those things are a bit more difficult to haul around, and I wouldn't want to take my eyes off of mine to play if I did bring it. (different if I knew it would be in use the entire time.)

With the very casual chaos rule set, it wouldn't surprise me if the TO didn't think he could track all that down.

Still agreed that being told no gamecube controllers, and no DLC characters would really remove a lot of fun that comes from a tournament.

By they had no clue what they were doing i mean they had no clue what they were doing they played like smash twice ever and had no knowledge of anything, and there was only 1 setup, no excuse for banning DLC

 

[Jon_14]

Did the setup have the DLC characters by any chance?