Note:  This is a guest article by Carni at Smash en Español.

It was last fall when I first heard of a Captain Falcon that seemed to have appeared out of thin air, suddenly wreaking havoc in a very skilled Ontario scene. With his reckless and swaggy playstyle, Edgard “n0ne” Sheleby quickly made a name for himself in the area, and in the following months he solidified himself as a player on the rise, one to watch, as he went head to head with the likes of Kage, S2J, Hax, Lucky and many other of the big names we have known for years. This alone makes for an interesting story, the quick rise of a dark horse, but what really caught my attention was that he was not Canadian. He came from Nicaragua.

Earlier this year, I decided to start a smash podcast in Spanish with the idea of the Latin American community having content of their own, and telling stories of our players and scenes.

The timing seemed appropriate as all the Facebook Smash communities seemed to have been waking up from a deep slumber ever since the announcement of Smash 4, and gradually becoming more active as the release date grew nearer. As a retired Melee player of the “Golden Era”, this gave me hope, and I prayed that the release of this new game would spark life into our comatose Melee communities. I started contacting key figures from different countries in Central America and talking to them about their scene, the history, the players, and plans for upcoming events. The response was very encouraging. Tourneys were being planned, local leagues and ranking had started to take place, players were coming out of retirement… Smash 4 had brought Melee back to the main stage.

I sat down to talk to Edgard for our podcast. It is one of my favorite episodes because it gave you a real feel of what it was like for avid Melee players to keep playing the game in their home country for years with no support, no organization, no streaming, no tourneys… just the players and their controllers, going at it, driven by their love of the game. Nicaragua has no organized active scene, even today. The serious players discuss the game in Costa Rica’s Facebook page. Edgard and his segregated group of friends developed their own playstyle among them, even their own rules. If you played them and by any chance you happened to roll, or do get up attacks, your controller would be unplugged and you were bound to be sent to play in the kiddie leagues and come back when you were ready.

Nicaragua is the land of the Falcons and Ganondorfs, and they developed the local meta their own way. If you have ever seen a n0ne combo video, you know it’s just something else. His tag is a shortened version of “no knee”, and if you pay close attention you’ll see that he sometimes prefers not to use his fair in situations where every other falcon would. But what really struck awe into my heart, was the fact that even though he was ranked #1 on his community, he admitted that his group of friends were pretty much on the same level, and he was bested by some of them and even from other countries, like an event he attended in Costa Rica. How do we not know about these high level players? Well, it all comes down to exposure. Edgard moved to Canada last year, and one of the first things he did was to find a smash scene to participate in. The exposure of streaming and a real well-oiled and organized community, plus his unmatched skill and hype playstyle that spectators love so much, helped put his name out there.

The stars aligned just right for the Nicaraguan champion. But, the way he puts it…there are plenty of good players in our countries that would bring some of the top names to tears if they were given the chance to participate in the major events.

Yes, Latin America is the land of hidden bosses.

Case in point: El Salvador’s own Luis Fernando “Luisfer” Orellana. With the release of Smash 4, we saw the rise of different ideas to support online tournaments and rankings. I believe most would agree that Anther’s Ladder sticks out above the rest. A site where you can match up with people from all over the world and compete for ranking was a godsend to players that wanted to get serious about their game. We have even seen Hungrybox (Argentinian, in case you didn’t know) take up the site and fight through the ranks to become #1 on the Melee section. Season 1 of Anther’s Ladder just finished a couple of weeks ago, and Luisfer ended taking the #1 spot on the Smash 4 section, the biggest section, having only lost 1 out of his 126 matches.

Let that sink in for a moment. He bested very, very good and serious players from all over the world, and he did it decisively. What’s even crazier is he’s currently ranked nationally as both #1 in Smash 4 and Melee, which as you may know, is just plain crazy to be competing at high level on both engines. Luisfer is a bright, young engineering student, passionate and very dedicated to each of the Smash titles. He has plowed through every tournament he has entered, including a Mexican online national a couple of months ago, where he tied in first place after not being able to fight Mexican brawl legend Waymas due to connectivity issues. Zaga Talent Management (ZTG), a talent group with an up and coming gaming section mainly for LoL, took a notice on his performances and turned him into the first professionally sponsored player in the country.

Things are happening for Smash in Central America. With the help of game center UPlanet, El Salvador will be hosting the largest Melee and Smash 4 tournaments in the region this coming May 17^th. Top players from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras will be present. The community has opened their homes for visitors, provided transportation, rallied up CRT’s and Gamecube adapters. We will even have the first all-female Smash 4 tourney taking place that same day. It is a fantastic feeling, seeing the game you love, the community you love, getting back on its feet and trying to make things happen under their own efforts. Smash en Español took up some of the best players and sponsored them for the event as a show of support for their efforts.

Some of the scene in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador

Ugames Planet’s UFEST in El Salvador will be home to the biggest international Melee and Smash 4 tourney in the region. It is what many dreamed of years ago, and the fulfillment of a goal that was thought lost after the release of Brawl and the decline of Melee’s scene.  Four countries being represented by their absolute best in both games is reaching World Cup levels of hype in the region.

Some of the key players from each country include:

El Salvador:

Ñ | Fercho. A versatile Melee Sheik and Marth main from the capital, he pushed the Melee scene even during its down time. He has been winning every local tournament he has entered. Currently tied in the stadings for #1 in the country with…

Fercho on the left, Luisfer on the right

ZTG | Luisfer. As explained before, the wonderkid is proficient in both Smash 4 and Melee. Earned #1 spot in Anther’s Ladder season 1 for Smash 4. Won every local single Smash 4 tournament he has entered. First place in Mexico’s online national. First place in Smash en Español Central American Smash 4 online tournament. Hands down the favorite to take 1^st in Smash 4.

Guatemala:

Adam, guns blazing.

Adam. Undisputed best Melee player in the country. Trained in Sweden, even partnering with Armada and the likes. Legend has it he has won crew battles all by himself. Falco dominates Guatemala, thanks to this man.

Player5, a world warrior.

4F | Player5. Eric single handedly dominated the Brawl era in Guatemala, winning just about everything that came his way. Traveled abroad to El Salvador, Costa Rica and Mexico to represent his country in tournaments. His transition to Smash 4 came naturally and he found his main in Ness.

Honduras:

AJ91, the slickest Fox in Honduras.

AJ91. One of the most technical Fox’s in the region, the Honduran champ has earned his title. He has had the opportunity to attend events in America and is coming to prove why he considers himself the best in the area.

Nicaragua:

Underestimating Bubu’s Falcon would be quite the boo boo.

Ñ | Bubu. Don’t let the cute tag fool you, this Falcon main has his rivals sobbing at the end of his matches. A good friend and rival of n0ne, he comes to represent Nicaragua, a country with no organized smash scene, but boasts the highest level of play.

We’ve grown a lot, but there is still a lot more to do.  The podcast is featured on our YouTube channel, and it will also house the videos from this weekend’s tournament and many others to come.  Also on our YouTube channel, we subtitled The Smash Brothers documentary series for the many Smash fans who speak Spanish and want to understand it.

So don’t be surprised if on your next tourney, you get beat by an unknown player that doesn’t speak a lick of English.  It’s only a matter of time until all of us open your eyes.  Look out for myself and Luisfer at EVO 2015!

Editor’s Note:  If you want to follow the scene, stay tuned to Smash in a selection of Spanish speaking countries, or know someone who wants to get into Smash but Spanish is their main language, here are a few resources: