What problems do ladders solve?

Availability of matches. Casual games are not always guaranteed and have lengthy wait times in between.

Competitiveness of matches. Non-Tournament games are often not treated as seriously as tournament games.

Lack of activities for players beyond standard tournament structures.

Potentially scarce competitive matches. Ladders can be used in place of pools to increase the number of opponents and matches for players, or as a side event to provide competitive games after brackets.

Testimonials/Success

The Big House 6

The Big House 6 Event Director Robin “Juggleguy” Harn had this to say about the ladders:

I thought The Big House 6 ladder was a great step in the right direction for grassroots Smash majors. As these tourneys grow into the thousands of attendees, we need to keep attendees busy with enjoyable activities throughout the weekend besides purely spectating. The ladder did that while also maintaining a competitive environment due to the hierarchy of ranks and potential for prizes at the end.

673 players, more than ⅓ of total Melee players at the event, played in the ladder

Over 200 earned prizes with 1711 sets being played.

UGC Smash Open

43% of the 461 attendees participated with 1006 sets played.

UGC attendees were asked about their experiences with ladders, 87% of survey respondents feel their experience at the event was improved by ladders.

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