Super Smash Bros Melee is the Greatest Game on Earth
On June 16th, the next page in the storied history of Super Smash Bros Melee was
written. Jeffrey "Axe" Williamson won his first "Super Major" competition (super major just meaning one of the biggest competitions of the year, one filled with top players), after 13 years of struggle. He did it playing Pikachu, a character that many considered non-viable, one that is certainly not one of the best in the game. Axe has spent almost half his life competing at the highest level and was finally able to overcome the barrier that has stumped him since 2006. He is the only real representative of Pikachu in this game’s 18-year history, and it is a testament to the greatness of Super Smash Bros Melee.
After 18 years, Melee is still being played. In an era of "what have you done for me lately", of "newer is better" Melee more than any game has stood the test of time. It is the last bastion of a time before balance patches change games constantly, where characters in all other video games are constantly strengthened and weakened or even completely changed. Only Melee has stayed the same, and yet, it hasn't. The game and the mechanics are the same, but new things are being discovered, new strategies are found, and new techniques are invented all the time. Because people cannot rely on patches to change, they are forced to adapt. Axe has done that. He has shown that with enough work, with enough ingenuity, with enough perseverance, anything is possible.
Most importantly, new champions are made. Axe's opponent in Grand Finals of this tournament was Justin "Wizzrobe" Hallett, a player barely older than the game itself. Wizzrobe himself just made history a few weeks ago, becoming the first person to win a Super Major with Captain Falcon. Axe is a testament to the old, Wizzrobe is a testament to the new. After 18 years, new players and old players can still win championships for the first time, they can still reach a level no one thought possible. Characters that many thought nonviable (in an informal survey in 2015, 26 top players and community figures were asked which characters could win a super major, only seven thought Pikachu could do it) are being pushed in ways that few could imagine.
Melee has story lines that games without its longevity simply cannot have. Williamson is a prime example of that. His story arc is a long and complicated one, from just another Arizona teenager playing Melee in 2006, to becoming the best Pikachu player shortly after. A player that was always pretty good, and then always really good but never on THAT level. A player always right outside the "Five God's of Melee" (an amazing story in its own right), a semi-permanent fixture in the Elite Eight of tournaments, but never a serious contender. Ranked in the top ten players almost every year, but has also watched newer players surpass him, and never surpassing the old ones above him. In fact, 2018 was his lowest ranking in four years. A man once mistaken for Drake while bagging groceries at Walgreens because Melee couldn't sustain him. And now Axe is here. The Champion of Smash Summit 8, at this moment possibly the best player in the world. He, and his Pikachu, have entered into the ranks of a small group of players and characters that have won a tournament. The future of Melee has changed again, and no one knows where Melee will go from here, the only certain thing is that it will keep going strong. It's the best game in the world, one only need to look at Axe's face after his victory to see that.
(Originally Written June 18th, 2019.)