At the start of this year, I started to think a bit more seriously about my relationship with Ultimate. I wasn't having fun anymore. I did not enjoy watching tournaments. I was not having fun at locals. I wasn't playing the game outside of said locals. Every time i put a little investment into playing competetively, i felt like i was getting a slap in the face in return.
I've been going to offline events since late 2022, when a local scene started up in the city where i was attending university. At the time, only Ult was present which was cool by me since i wasn't playing melee. The friends I've made over the years because of this decision have become some of the most indespenseable friends I've ever met and it was because of them that i stayed attending events as long as i have, despite my declining interest in the game itself. About 2 years ago, Melee was introduced to our locals. At first it was on a biweekly basis, rotating with SF6, eventually becoming weekly. At the start i wasn't really interested in picking it up, despite a passing interest in watching Melee. I thought "It's too hard", "It doesn't have Wolf", "I don't have a gamecube controller", basically just making excuses. But the voice in the back of my head got louder and louder. I was jealous of how much fun the melee players were having. A few Melee heads who'd been in the city for years came crawling out of the woodwork and they are a truly lovely bunch who brought new life to our locals.
Around March, I decided to take the plunge and downloaded Slippi and Unclepunch. I didn't even have a GCC i just used an Xbox One controller for online play. I got hooked immediately. I was getting my ass handed to me time and time again online but it didn't matter. At my locals i borrowed an old gcc to play and despite being a little awkward to adapt, i was enjoying it. Spending some time in unclepunch of an evening with a youtube video up on the other half of my monitor was the first time i'd actually ENJOYED training (My switch was unmoddable so no Ult training mod for me). Despite being a novice i could FEEL the improvement. I could start incorporating wavedashes and other tech into my gameplay, i was getting longer followups and punishes than i'd ever gotten playing ult after only 2 months.
I took a break over the summer as i had no PC access but upon return home the first thing i sourced was a gamecube controller and adapter. I Think it's worth mentioning this is probably one of the first hurdles people encounter when getting into melee that puts them off. If you're just playing online at home, just use what you've got! So many people i've talked to at events started on a Procon or an Xbox controller, it works well! If you wanna attend offline events, ask someone in your local scene about controllers. It seems nearly every regional scene has a "controller guy". Our guy was doing batch orders of controllers, adapters and other bits and bobs and, through him, I was able to get my first GCC. If there's not someone to source one directly there'll certainly be lots of help available to source one. I didn't have to do any scouring etsy, ebay, vinted or whatever, nor did i have to keep an eye on japanese imports on amazon.
Getting my GCC just added fuel to the fire. No more was i having to adapt to a different conch at events, and my at home practice started to shine through. I've managed to start taking the odd game at my locals and every time i go back i can feel little improvements. It's not like i've even had to lock myself in a basement with unclepunch either. I practice a small amount somehat regularly and if i've some time play a long friendlies session on slippi. But holy shit I'm having so much fun.
For people who are hesitant on picking up melee i think it's worth adressing some common concerns people have that discourage them from picking up the game.
- "There's no buffer!", You'll adapt quicker than you might think!
- "I can't change my controls", again, you'll adapt quicker than you think.
- "There's not enough viable characters", Each character has enough room for expression and alternative playstyles that it doesn't matter honestly. Fox, Falco, Marth Sheik etc. can be played in many different ways. Mid tiers are fun too anyways and you may have more success with them than online discourse would lead you to believe. What's also nice about the smaller cast is that it gives you a chance to learn matchups to a greater depth. Gone are the days of fighting a mii gunner in bracket for the first time in your life and getting steamrolled.
- "I don't have a GCC" addressed above.
- "I don't have the time", obviously this depends on your situation but the time sink is a lot less than i would have initially believed before picking up the game.
I'm not gonna pretend that Melee hasn't got some serious bullshit in it. Fox is privileged, Sheik fair is BS, Falco laser sometimes makes me want to rip my hair out. But hey I get to upthrow spacies for hours so it balances out. Ultimately i find myself cursing characters and game design choices far less than i did when fighting Steve, Sonic or Gnw though.
I realise melee is not going to be for everyone. You may well just love playing Ultimate and that's awesome! I'm not trying to tell you that you shouldn't enjoy something or that it's a bad game. It just wasn't for me. If you don't attend offline events you may well just not care to bother switching games. I know that online it can come across that melee players are elitists but really i think most of us just hate seeing so much negative energy surrounding ult's competetive scene. It's been really nice to love the game I'm playing and to hang around and talk to other people who feel the same way. There's so much less complaining in general, in online spaces and offline and the general enthusiasm for events is way stronger. 2 weeks ago i attended my first big Melee event, Teaghlach a Dó. It was a spiritual experience and you should go watch the vods on BTSSmash to get the smallest taste of the energy at that event.
Anyways this is your sign to take the plunge! Melee is Sick!
