Duke University vs University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in a previous crew battle

Summer has come and passed since UC Berkeley claimed the title of National Champions of The Melee Games. Students have returned for the Fall, and with the coming semester is a new team’s opportunity to shine. The Melee Games has improved, expanding dramatically; at current count we’re up to 175 approved school teams, with a total of 2153 players registered. We’ve grown into 10 regions of competition, and in the upcoming months we’ll be seeing matches played all across the country.

But it’s not just new participants joining the fray this time around. The Melee Games has found a home at smash.gg/tmg, where you can view the updated ruleset and expanded stagelist – Yoshi’s Island, Pokemon Stadium, and Fountain of Dreams are all legal this time around, and are sure to make for some exciting moments. Soon to come the site will also receive an update that will let you check out which matches are coming up, watch vods, and view statistics.

The time for competition is already fast approaching, as The Melee Games actually kicks off this weekend: Saturday, Sept 5, at Duke University. The Carolinas region will be beginning their round robin tournament at 12:00 PM EST, with live coverage done by twitch.tv/kneedeepgaming. You can tune in that day to see the classic sports rivalry Duke vs UNC reborn into the world of Melee! After a crushing loss in their first ever crew battle with UNC while visiting Chapel Hill in the Spring, Duke is looking for revenge on their home turf. With even more pride at stake thanks to The Melee Games, tensions will be high and the competition will be fierce, so don’t miss it! Here are the lineups for all five matches taking place at Duke University today! You can also vote for how the teams will do.

Until SmashGG goes live with updates to view the upcoming matches, be sure to keep up with The Melee Games through social media – Facebook and Twitter. Huge contenders like GC | Silent Wolf, Kirby Kaze, SFAT, Lord, BERT | Swedish Delight, PG | ESAM, Druggedfox, Gahtzu, and Hungrybox are all aiming to take their teams to the championship, but UC Berkeley proved to us last season that even a school with a new scene and fresh faces has the potential to rise to the top. Expect upsets and unknowns to make their mark, because this is looking to be the wildest season of The Melee Games yet!

I’ll be following up with you week to week with articles recapping the highlights of each region. Till then, be sure to tune into http://twitch.tv/kneedeepgaming at 12PM EST to catch five straight crew battles. Enjoy, and I hope you’re looking forward to the coming season as much as I am!

-Tyrø
TMG: Carolinas Director
smash.gg/tmg/contact