So Games Done Legit’s first Cleveland Clash is over, and it was pretty sweet. Before posting the results and everything, A: I want to thank the guys who are making Cleveland videogames a thing again, and B: Tell you the story of why. Gino Zaccardelli‘s stream Dirty Nerds (twitch.tv/dirtynerds) did an incredible amount of work to showcase our event and players, and in fact ran a Nidhogg tournament as well on stream that was one of the highlights of the entire day and night. We’ll have video up soon! Gino is a huge believer in the retrogaming scene, and is doing everything he can to partner with us in making our events more fun for you attending and everyone at home. And thanks to Andre “OmgitzAndre” Howard, Cory “Yeti” Grant, Harmon “nomrah” Tam, The Kiest for contributing and running brackets. Josh “Coffeemug” Lozar gets a special thanks because he’s been a huge reason the Cleveland scene for Melee is so big — and we’re losing him to Baltimore! He was offered a fantastic opportunity out there, and we’ll really miss his T.O. skills and his awesome personality. This was our final event together — at least for now! Alex “Ajax” Cantrell is a talented filmmaker, actor and videogame lover, and captured tons of interviews and lots of crowd hype on film. Another reason to come out: you can see yourself on TV after! Share his love of gaming by checking out his Instagram. So, the why: This is my (Chris) return to a “competitive” event. We ran Season’s Beatings for 7 years, and accomplished way more than we set out to do. It became the 2nd-largest fighting-game event in the world, and my co-directors Fugee and Harmon Tam and I got to see the best players in the world competing in dream event matches we arranged. Most importantly, people seemed to really love SB, and I realized what a great honor and responsibility it is to entertain people — especially when they’re traveling to attend, whether it’s from 15 minutes or 10 hours away. However, our enthusiasm eroded each year. First, there was (and is) an insurmountable barrier between the tournament directors across North America on almost every key topic of event direction, that in our opinion were going to keep the fighting-game community in indefinite stagnation. We wanted this stuff to be on League of Legends or Blizzard level — selling out the Staples center, stuff like that. In our opinion, the personalities needed to cooperate, put ego aside, and realize the big picture to reach those goals just don’t exist in the fighting-game scene. Even at the local level, after SB our goal was to support Console Combat, the team who hosted Cleveland’s monthly event, and produce an annual major with them. That didn’t happen as Console Combat disbanded. The qualities that can make you good at fighting games — Type A, relentless, unwavering, ego-driven — do not translate to creating a healthy, fun, sustainable local or international community. We came from an arcade culture — no teammate, success up to you only, no prize on the line except the feeling of winning and seeing your opponent take a long walk back to the token machine. But it’s not 1993 anymore. That approach — mistrusting, hoarding power, ego-driven decision-making — does not breed long-term success in the business world. It’s also a stark contract to the Super Smash Bros. scene (the closest thing I can compare the FGC to). The Melee scene is also pretty insular, but I’ve been amazed at how welcoming most players are to new players, even in tournament play. They swap tips. They want new people to enjoy the game as much as they do. They teach. The NEOH/PGH Smash Bros Melee Facebook group, as of this blog, has about 1,100 members. That’s Cleveland and Pittsburgh players alone. (The open Facebook group I started across all gaming, Cleveland Videogames, has a mere 228.) Videogames have incredible social power to unite us. We all have stories of friends we’ve met and great memories made possible because a couple guys in another country did some programming for some chips on a PCB. And over GDL’s first year of functioning as a full-time events company, I’ve met so many awesome new people who want competitive gaming events without the culture of the past poisoning it. And so many people I’ve known for years in the scene do already get it. I wish more did in the FGC. But as a huge believer in all the positives videogames bring to our lives — and because the fighting-game scene literally has changed my life and I’ll always owe everyone in it — I want to build a new monthly event that’s worth your time and can help foster a healthy culture. Not only that, being able to benefit Pilgrim Congregational Church is just a blessing. Forget what you think “church” is: Pilgrim is a community of loving, progressive, open, non-judgemental, charitable people, and my girlfriend and I are fortunate to have found a home there. They run tons of social programs that directly help those in need, so by attending, watching or especially playing in our 50/50 Tournaments, you’re making a positive difference in someone else’s life. So that’s the idea. Our event went great, and they will just get bigger and better as we march on! We’ve got tons of players invested in making this event a success. Make sure to sign up for our eNewsletter so you don’t miss any news on the next Clevleand Clash, our weekly bar gaming events like our Retrogaming leagues, and our partnerships and event details that benefit YOU and your love of gaming. So, the results: Ohio (and Indiana’s) top fighting-game and Smash Bros. players got together to compete, see friends and take home some prizes. Even better, Pilgrim Congregational Church benefitted from not just funds for the venue, but also from our 50/50 Coin Flip Tournament, for which half the proceeds went to its Bradley Fund, which provides assistance with food, utilities, transportation and jobs for those in the community. Feel free to congratulate our winners on Twitter or Facebook. They’d appreciate it and they definitely earned it! Want to know when the pics and video are posted? Want to attend the next one? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter (sidebar)! You can also hit me up on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram! Stream arhive coming when I get it from our streamer, Dirty Nerds (twitch.tv/DirtyNerds). Results: SmashBoards Results Thread Cleveland Videogames Facebook Group Super Smash Bros. Melee (Singles) 1. S1 2. Sweet 3. Beegs (@MMGBeegs) Super Smash Bros. Melee (Doubles) 1: S1 + Sweet 2: Impp + Steve 3: Beegs (@MMGBeegs) + Ojanya Super Smash Bros. 4
| 1st | suyon | 25 |  Suyon | |
| 2nd | Frame Rate | 19 | ||
| 3rd | Did Someone Order Chinese? |