Vayseth's Voyage: The Struggling Japanese Melee Community

Vayseth's Voyage is an article series written by The Big House Wii U Head TO Vayseth straight from Japan. Every week, he will be bringing you articles on various topics regarding the Japanese Smash Community. Bringing Smash Communities around the world closer and closer together with every article!

Previous Articles:
Vayseth's Voyage: Japan's Top 3 Wii U Tournament Series
Vayseth's Voyage: KARISUMA 6 Results and Review
Vayseth's Voyage: SUMABATO 9 Results and Review
Vayseth's Voyage: Japanese Game Bars
Vayseth's Voyage: KVOxTSB 2016 Review and Results
Vayseth's Voyage: Japan's Love of Team Tournaments
Vayseth's Voyage: Vayseth Visits Umebura 23
Vayseth's Voyage: Japan's Lack of Consistency

A look at the entire tournament space for Japan's most successful Melee tournament series @Master Hand.​

The difference between Japan's Smash 4 scene and Melee scene is simply staggering. While the die-hard Melee players who regularly attend Japanese tournaments have also made their way to American major tournaments before, their numbers are few and their local tournaments are infrequent. @Master Hand, the only remaining monthly Melee series in Japan, gets roughly 30 players a month and @Sumabato, the Wii U monthly tournament series in the same Kansai region, gets anywhere to five to ten times those numbers. Many names from the King era of Melee either have completely moved on to Smash 4 or have retired from competitive play, but there are still some who strive to improve their tech skill and dream of reaching that Melee major top 8 stage.

Japan has two MIOM ranked players: @VGBC|aMSa (#24) and @Rudolph (#88). Almost everyone knows who aMSa is due to his ability to use Yoshi at such a high-level, but few know that Rudolph is currently Japan's best player. Rudolph took a long vacation in America and during that time he went to many tournaments, took plenty of match up notes, and had reasonable placings. Ever since returning from the US no one in Japan has been able to touch him. Rudolph went on an undefeated streak that ended only very recently, with aMSa finally dethroning him at KVOxTSB 2016. I am definitely excited to see those two battle it out again soon. However, there are still many amazing players in Japan who give those two a fight every time they meet up in bracket.

@Kounotori, Master Hand's TO and one of West Japan's top players, informed me that the Japanese metagame is a little different. High-level spacies are few and far between and Japan's top players play very unique characters. Japan's top player roster includes Rudolph who primarily plays Marth, @K.F who plays Jigglypuff, aMSa who plays Yoshi, @Gucci who plays Captain Falcon, @Shippu who plays Peach, and @Nanashi who plays Samus. This small community is made up of a very diverse cast of characters who all play the game at a very high level which produces really interesting results.

Unfortunately, we do not get to see that happen very often. Master Hand runs every month and gets an average of 30 players. They run two special Crazy Hand tournaments a year where players from all over the country show up, but even so the turnout is only 60 or so players. @BattleGateWay (BGW) in Tokyo runs maybe two to three times a year and can get some of the biggest numbers for a Melee tournament in Japan at around 80 entrants. The TOs are dedicated and make at least one trip a year to US majors; the players are talented and have even made it onto the MIOM rankings. Despite that, they do not have the player base to host tournaments as often as the Smash 4 community, so be sure to check them out on aMSa's Twitch Channel when you have the chance!

I finally was able to attend a dedicated Japanese Melee tournament and traveled to Master Hand 14 this past weekend. Immediately what stood out to me was the rules were almost exactly the same as the ones used by the rest of the world and they were available in both English and Japanese. Every Gamecube was also set to the English language setting and everyone played it completely in English. Since the inception of the Master Hand series the organizers have paid special attention to what is going on in the US and have long since abandoned the single-elimination, Final Destination only tournament formats of the past.

Unlike the majority of Smash 4 tournaments I have attended, Master Hand ran doubles, even though Kounotori admitted teams is not a very popular format in Japan. Like Sumabato and other Japanese monthlies, Master Hand runs the A Class and B Class tournament bracket system as well. The schedule is packed and players are in the tournament from the early am hours until the late evening and there is always something to do! As a TO I especially loved their table number system, which had a triangle stand which on one side said "TOURNAMENT MATCH" and the other side said "FRIENDLY MATCH". It was easy to switch CRTs from tournament set ups to friendly set ups and everyone knew exactly what was going on without having to ask or check in with the TO staff.
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The Top 4 of Master Hand 14 (from left to right): Nagaimo, Kounotori, s-royal, Tapioka.
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However, it is all about the tournament and here are the results:

1st Kounotori 》M.Hand (Kansai; Falco/Fox)
2nd s-royal (Kansai; Fox)
3rd Tapioka (Kansai; Falco/Fox)
4th Nagaimo (Chubu; Captain Falcon)
5th Yopple (Kansai; Captain Falcon)
5th K.F 》 M.Hand (Kansai; Jigglypuff)
7th Hino (Kansai; Marth)
7th Sahara (Chubu; Sheik)
9th Kaja (Kansai; Falco)
9th dano (Chugoku; CF)
9th So-ten 》 M.Hand (Kansai; Fox/Marth)
9th Zer0 (Kansai; Dr.Mario)

There where 25 total entrants and only 12 made it out of pools. The majority of the top players were not in attendance and the tournament felt eerily like locals I used to run back in Michigan. It was a very welcoming environment and I cannot wait until the last weekend of August where players from all over Japan will be coming to attempt to win a free trip to The Big House 6. I am looking forward to learning more about Japan's top Melee players and their community before then!

Sayonara until next week.

 

It's hard to imagine where Melee often regard as the most competitive Smash game in the US, whereas Japan's Melee community isn't looking too well…

 

It's hard to imagine where Melee often regard as the most competitive Smash game in the US, whereas Japan's Melee community isn't looking too well…

it shows differences in culture, somethings pick up in some areas where as others don't.

 

it shows differences in culture, somethings pick up in some areas where as others don't.

Exactly, most Japanese players don't get with the "Wombo combo" meme, they want games with more characters and features.

 

One thing I love about Japan from the many articles I've read and just based on what I've seen is the solid character diversity between all games. Like dang, when was the last time you saw a flippin' Dr. Mario at any level of play in Melee?

Is it just one winner that can win a flight down to The Big House 6 by the way?

 

One thing I love about Japan from the many articles I've read and just based on what I've seen is the solid character diversity between all games. Like dang, when was the last time you saw a flippin' Dr. Mario at any level of play in Melee?

Is it just one winner that can win a flight down to The Big House 6 by the way?

The invitational allows only one player to be flown out. Others may fly out with them at their own expense if they want.

 

Yeah the japanese character diversity is just awesome. Especially in smash 4. It just shows how good they actually are, because placing high with a mid or low tier is exceptionally difficult. Especially with other high level players using high tiers. Wow

 

and the japanese were the ones to figure out melee DI

 

They just move on to what's current. Melee, then Brawl, now Smash4. Melee used to be very competitive in Japan. Being someone who started back in 05, there was a lot of content to learn from Japanese players.

-Tetsuya's IC infinite grab combo (Wobbling)
-Shino Stalling (Sheik UpB ledgestall)
-Thunder's Combo (Waveshine to jabreset)
-DK's Cargo setups (by Captain Jack)
-Falco combo setups (by Bombsoldier)
-Mario's grab setups (by BrownMario)
-YLink/Link's airdodge->hookshot->2nd airdodge (by Aniki. Axe is the only one still using this)
-Any sort of Yoshi tech (Fumi, now Amsa)

 

Exactly, most Japanese players don't get with the "Wombo combo" meme, they want games with more characters and features.

That's not necessarily true. Japan is vastly better at Smash 64 than the US and any other region except maybe Peru, and their Kansai tournament series reaches hundreds of entrants.

 

I personally would like to believe that japanese folks are a little more willing to think outside the mold for the best plan to a problem... as opposed to the "fight fire with fire" mentality that permeates a majority of the US fanbase...

here in the US, you have to pay very close attention to really see any difference in a player's playstyle, and even then, it's still the same tools regardless of how it's used...and I for one have gotten burned out on it and prefer a change of pace now and then. sure, the top tiers have the best tools, but how how far can everyone else below them really go if someone spent their time with it?

Personally, American players will never find out, and if they don't know why, they haven't really given it much thought.

 

I don't know a lot of smash stuff, but what I have seen from these front page articles about Japan is that Japanese players generally like to use a variety of characters. In a game like melee, where only about half of the roster is considered "viable," I think that melee doesn't fulfill the players' desires to play as many characters the way a game like smash 4 does. Idk tho

 

I don't know a lot of smash stuff, but what I have seen from these front page articles about Japan is that Japanese players generally like to use a variety of characters. In a game like melee, where only about half of the roster is considered "viable," I think that melee doesn't fulfill the players' desires to play as many characters the way a game like smash 4 does. Idk tho

I actually really like that theory. I am not sure if it is true myself, but it is definitely a good theory.

 

ROM Japan desperately needed.

 

Any way to get in contact with some of these smash players? Im gonna be staying in tokyo for a few weeks

 

Dang..I would love to go to a Melee tournament in Japan.. ;A ;

 

I don't know a lot of smash stuff, but what I have seen from these front page articles about Japan is that Japanese players generally like to use a variety of characters. In a game like melee, where only about half of the roster is considered "viable," I think that melee doesn't fulfill the players' desires to play as many characters the way a game like smash 4 does. Idk tho

Doesn't really explain why Brawl was so popular in Japan. Then again, looking at the results of Sumabato X Final, there was a reasonable amount of character diversity.

 

The Melee community is slowly dying...help

 

The Japanese know how to move on and not be stuck in the past

 

The Japanese know how to move on and not be stuck in the past

Lol. You'd think if that was an actual mind set that meant something, that nobody would play traditional sports anymore.

 

Lol. You'd think if that was an actual mind set that meant something, that nobody would play traditional sports anymore.

Except that traditional sports don't have sequels like smash does LOL

 

Except that traditional sports don't have sequels like smash does LOL

I don't know about you, but I can't get enough of Basketball II. I like how they brought Kobe back and gave him a new moveset. SO HYPE

 

Except that traditional sports don't have sequels like smash does LOL

Those sequels are very different from Melee. There is no reason to move on.

 

The Japanese know how to move on and not be stuck in the past

unnecessary melee hate, huh?

 

unnecessary melee hate, huh?

It's the hip, edgy thing to do these days.

 

unnecessary melee hate, huh?

Not hate just fun trolling

 

I always wondered why Japan was never in top 8 at evo

 

ROM Japan desperately needed.

not everyone can be so lucky

 

Now, this only proves my theory...

Germans Love David Hasselhoff!