by MIOM|Tafokints

cal

I remember it just like it was yesterday. I was starting my grad school program at UC Berkeley and had very little hope of finding nearby Smashers. The Super Smash Bears club was long gone and the only ranked player, Zeldafreak, had already graduated. I decided to take a long-shot by posting on the r/berkeley subreddit in hopes of finding some Cal smashers. Surprisingly, I was able to find a wealth of smashers and we later started a facebook group for the UC Berkeley campus that soon grew to over 300 members. Some of the people I ended up playing with, actually started going to real tournaments. All in all, it can be quite scary to put yourself out there, but it’s well worth it if you really want to find people to play with and build a local community.

Perhaps, you already have a group of smashers that play and you want to expand your school’s player base. Well no worries, Susanna from SLO wrote an excellent article talking about this. Maybe you’re significantly better than everyone else, but I strongly urge you to mentor and train those who want to play competitively and even casually.  As the summer of smash has come to an end, the MIOM team wishes you the best in growing your local campus communities. Never forget that it is the local communities that build the overall scene.

To commemorate the return of school, we have started a meetup thread on reddit, specifically to help you find people to play with at your local campus.

Additional Tips

1. Leave your Dorm Room Door Open

– This is important to meeting new people in general. If you’re playing smash with a buddy, the sounds of Dreamland could be the alluring call to finding people you never knew played smash otherwise.

2. Play in the Lounge of Your Building

– Set up a casual setup in the lounge of your floor or building with extra controllers. There are tons of people that go in and out of these areas.

3. Meet People Early in the Semester

– Generally speaking, most people, freshmen especially, will be really open to forming new friends and hobbies early on in the semester. Take advantage by going out to floor events, eating in groups, and making yourself available.

4. Create a Flyer of your Facebook Group or Gaming Club (if you have one)

– Leave flyers throughout campus of the place and times that your group plays at during the week.

 

Cheers!