Why play
Once a fortnight, Leeds sees 15-20 entrants at our ‘locals’, regular in-person events for players to socialise, play friendlies, and compete. The local is Melee’s bread and butter, and focuses on having fun but also improving at the game. Our inclusive community provides a home for many and has built countless friendships. You might have seen us at BrewDog or Geek Retreat with our retro TVs and a big bag of GameCubes. The offline social aspect of Melee is often the number one reason people play.
“I started with Smash 4, and got sucked into Melee when I saw ‘The Smash Brothers Documentary’. An endless level of expression got me hooked, but the community kept me here.” – Neproxin, Leeds
Melee still thrives all over the world a whopping two decades later, regularly surpassing viewership numbers on Twitch of the most recent Smash release, Ultimate on the Switch. Over 1500 players entered the U.S tournament ‘GENESIS X’ in 2024. ‘Slippi’ was released in 2020, a community project that added online play on Windows/Mac GameCube emulators, making it easier than ever to start by removing the need to find retro equipment. Melee has even captured the interest of big online personalities such as Ludwig, MoistCr1TiKaL and Ninja.
“I've been playing this game for 8 years and I still suck. 10/10.” - sloth, Sheffield
Larger UK ‘regionals’ and ‘nationals’ provide all day or weekend party experiences anywhere from 48 entrants (Storm IX, 2024, Newcastle) to 548 entrants (Fête 3, 2023, East Sussex). Travel and see the country in the company of like-minded individuals. Prove yourself at big events and the UK Melee committee may officially rank you a top player and lobby donations to send you abroad to represent us. Leaving home to study or relocating for work? A Melee local is not far around the corner. Cities have more grassroots scenes than you can count on your fingers (Bristol, Bournemouth, London, Manchester, and Birmingham to name a few).
