Quitting Melee and Leaving Socal

TL;DR at the bottom.



By now some of you may know that I can no longer play Melee competitively. Since Summit 4, my left index finger joint has been in pain and, despite resting it for a month and icing it and everything, has not really gotten any better. Since then I've been using my middle finger to play Melee, which is not only awkward but also changes my thumb position on the control stick, effectively setting me very far back in terms of accuracy and tech skill. Anything dealing with wavedashes, accurate dashdancing, angles, etc is very inconsistent and slower and requires focus that I should be using on decision making. Despite what you may have thought watching me play (I somehow have pulled off some weird wins despite this), I eventually became extremely frustrated and upset that I could not play even close to my potential.



If that wasn't enough some IRL stuff came up that made me depressed for about a week (from what I've been told). We've all been sad before but this time I felt actually physically drained- If that's what depression actually feels like then I can't imagine how depressed people go day-to-day, that feels impossible to me. Huge props to you guys I would not be able to make it. It's all completely fine now though.



If you've been following me for awhile you may know I do believe a God exists and that he's out to help us all (just in a weird way that nobody expects). There are a lot of misconceptions about God out there, but basically it's not about feeling guilty that you're a "bad person" or having to follow rules or anything like that. It's more like a peace of mind knowing that everything will be great in the end no matter what. No matter how fked up you think you are, nobody is beyond hope. Obviously nobody is perfect and so we can't judge anyone and we're all just trying our best.



I only mention that because this was honestly the biggest hidden blessing I could have gotten.

There are a ton of ways I can grow and evolve by moving on and so it's time to hang up the dream of becoming the best. I think I would have moved up there even if I could continue playing (I realized I learn fastest when playing new people), but there are a lot of personal reasons as well. While I do believe I still could've made it (or really, still COULD make it if I worked ultra hard), I'm not as upset about quitting as I theoretically should be. I've always said that Melee isn't the most important thing in life. I'd rather use that status to help others and change lives instead of just having it for it's own sake.



So what I'm gonna do now is move up to San Francisco for a UX Design course. I leave Socal on June 12th and the course is 3 months long. The program basically guarantees a job but all their recruitment and connections are in Norcal so most likely I'll be staying up there for a while. Hopefully once I'm done I can land a job back in Smash, or E-sports, but I might not. I will rarely be attending tournaments. The Socal Colosseum series will end and someone else will take its place. SSBM Tutorials will go on as much as I can, though I may be more busy than before. Maybe I'll TO something if the opportunity comes up.



This next part is a bit superfluous, but I want you all to know that I love the Melee community more than anything, and especially everyone in Irvine. I know I'm not very outgoing and I'm an asshole a lot to people and I talk a lot of trash and I get more salty than I should and I have a fat ego and everything, but also this is the best group of friends I've ever had and I'm gonna be really really sad to leave.





TL;DR

- Hands broken after Summit 4, can no longer compete

- Moving to Norcal for a UX Design program to get a big boy job

- No longer playing or running events, SSBM Tutorials will continue

- God is real and pretty dope honestly

- I love the Melee community more than you'll ever know

Reply · Report Post