Did you know over fifteen major Super Smash Bros. Melee tournaments will have been played before this month is over? I'm not talking about friendly tournaments with a few of your best friends. I mean full-blown, ultra-competitive tournaments for major cash and prizes.
The game has been out for almost four years now... what makes this game so appealing? What's it like to partake in an official Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament? How can you participate in such events held across the world?
N-Philes attended one of these tournaments and chatted with a big-shot Smasher to give you inside access to the Melee phenomenon. Why? Because we love you.
The Man
Kyle Thomas... most know him as "Teflon", but everyone knows him as one of the best Smash Bros. players in the United States. He's pretty much a legend in the underground Melee community (a majority of whom can be found frequenting the Smash Boards), which is exactly why we pounced on the opportunity to interview him.
When he isn't playing in his college's band as a bassoonist, you can find him feverishly planning for his monthly Smash tournament. "Teflon_climbers" (that's what the cool people call him) hosts Melee tournaments at his small college in Eau Claire, Wisconsin where participants (mostly from the Midwest) attend.
He's a skinny kid with Ronald McDonald-like hair and an unusually witty, yet obnoxious, personality that's sure to get him in trouble some day. Of course, when he joins the fray as Falco, he's the one dishing out the trouble.
Teflon likes to sport his Burger King polo shirt whenever he gets the chance.
The Inside Access
N-Philes: Thanks for sitting down with us, Teflon. We're told it's a pleasure and honor to be talking with you.
Teflon: Damn right. I don't sit down too much. I'm too busy ventilating my derriere.
N-Philes: For those who don't know you, describe yourself to them in two words or less.
Teflon: Sooooooo coooooooool!!!!!!
N-Philes: Perfect. Now T-dawg... can I call you T-dawg?
Teflon: It's fine.
N-Philes: T-dawg, you've been participating in Melee tournaments nearly since the day the game came out, don't you ever get sick of them?
Teflon: Sometimes the burden of hosting tournaments gets to me, but it's definitely a rewarding experience either going to or hosting these events. Personally I'm in it for the upsets! Seeing upsets like Ken lose at TG6 is one of the coolest things ever!
N-Philes: "TG6"? "Ken"? C'mon now, we are not as cool and up-to-date as you are when it comes to Smash tourneys.
Teflon: Ken wins almost every tourney he goes to. He plays as Marth. Don't really know how he does what he does, but it feels like you've gone to church when you see him play. His innate abilities are just better than everyone else's.
N-Philes: And TG6?
Teflon: TG6 stands for "Tournament Go 6." The tournament hosts about 120 competitors. TG has a special meaning for older Smashers, as it was really the first set of major tourneys out there. Hell, Ken's first major victory was at TG4 and that's what put him and his Marth on the map!
N-Philes: So you're saying...
Teflon: Ken is also the cover boy for us Smashers. Him and another great player had photos in an article in Nintendo Power recently.
Literally dozens of Cubes and TV's line the walls, all playing one game – Melee.
N-Philes: No kidding. So help me out here, Melee has been out for almost four years now - why are we still wasting our time playing it?
Teflon: It's an extremely deep game. Just a few months ago, we discovered a new tactic to use with Samus. It's called "super wave-dashing."
N-Philes: You're still discovering new techniques? Give me the goods on the "super wave-dashing" technique.
Teflon: You use Samus' down + B-button attack (bombs), and quickly press away then towards the direction you wish to "super wave-dash." The timing on this move is tough, but you get it after a while. I'm guessing there are still a lot of things we have no clue about.
N-Philes: Our readers will love you for that. So, just how big is the Smash tournament phenomenon becoming?
Teflon: I'm guessing over 1,000 tourneys have occurred worldwide, being that there's a tourney or ten pretty much every weekend. I've personally attended six or seven tourneys not including my own, which would probably be about ten more.
Signing up for a Melee tourney is easy. Winning one is the hard part.
N-Philes: That's huge. I'm told a Smash tournament wouldn't be complete without a little side action. How much money is being thrown around by participants?
Teflon: A ton. Myself, I'm probably right around even. Most money I won at one time was $100 from this random scrub. He thought he was the bomb so I put him in his place.
N-Philes: Speaking of random scrubs and all, what's it like to partake in a tournament?
Teflon: The thing I relate them to is performances. I'm a musician, so I'm in practices every day of the week with other musicians, honing our art [Teflon hopes to become a professional bassoonist some day]. Then for one night, we give it our all and then we move onto the next repertoire set in front of us. In the same way, before you go to a Smash tournament, you practice with your friends.
1 | 2
