Most smashers stay here forever, staying as unassuming masters of their neighborhoods while occasionally venturing out to find other Roll n' Smashers for brief bouts. It is a known fact that all Roll n' Smashers are of close-to-equal skill, so it appears to all relative beginners to be the peak of Melee play. Perhaps even the developers considered it to be such. In reality, though, there is much more, but these secrets of Smash are only found by the truly curious that actively seek out considerable improvement. Woe be to these, for what they find will immediately show them that they are still beginners to the game, and the road to improvement is slow and painful.
High Tier - Arrogant Wavedashers: These players, through coincidence, have found a few flashy tricks in their attempts to graduate from Roll n' Smash. They have endured the famous temporary dip in skill to integrate these new tricks into play, and then they relapse into a flashier version of the Neighborhood King. They teach their buddies how to use the same fancy tricks, mostly derived from universally usable exploits in the game's physics, but are always one step ahead.
Their goal stops being to win, and becomes to win spectacularly. At this stage, the Arrogant Wavedasher believes that they are quite the master. Seeing as most opponents they face have either been taught by them or are Roll n' Smashers, they become used to constant victory. However, this stage cannot last, for delving into tricks always leads to www.smashboards.com, the center of the advanced smash world.
From there, a player curious enough to seek out new tricks will always be curious enough to try to test their skills in tournaments or at nearby public places with other advanced players. And once there, these players are doomed to realize that despite their ability to consistently beat their trainees, they are still Noobs.
Higher Tier: Shuffling Maniac: These players are the most pathetic creatures of the Melee world. They've put forth effort. They've ascended past being neighborhood kings; they've graduated from their phase of using Link and into one of the characters accepted to be one of the best. They've learned and perfected fancy tricks only to be trounced by players of true quality. This is the final test to separate those of Smash spirit from the weak-willed flashy players.
At this point, the player must learn a subtle trick to keep up with the competition; a massive hybrid of three counterintuitive techniques known as "shfflc," or "shuffling." This trick does not look fancy. It uses the L-button for everything EXCEPT rolling, and the uses are numerous. This player's goal is hardly even to win anymore, but just to survive, to make the losses less brutal. If they make it through this phase, they are a true veteran. As a denizen of this section right now, I salute all others, and hope that some day we may ascend to the next tier, that of the respectable players.
Solid Tier - Skilled Player: Mostly composed of college students snatching matches between classes, this tier is for those who have learned how to do all the tricks, but don't use them constantly. They enjoy tournaments, and sometimes even win them, and they probably look on the forums a reasonably amount. They are respected and skilled, and their play-style is more focused on mind games. The technical skill is ingrained in their reflexes, and Melee finally becomes a simple, fun game again, albeit one with much deeper tactics.
Legendary Tier: These players are masters of the game, including mental aspects, by reflex. If you go to Smashboards, you will see their names everywhere. Usually, they pioneer and make up some cool new tricks of their own. Examples include PC Chris, Husband, Wife, BombSoldier, Isai, and many others. They are masters, and like masters of any sport or game, their technique is incredibly deep. Other than that, I cannot say much, because I know that I could never reach this sort of status. All I know is that I bow before them, as do all dedicated smashers, for they are the best of the best.
These are, as I have perceived, the tiers of skillful play in Melee. Many may fit in the gaps, and at heart the main purpose of this is entertainment rather than raw data, but in its way it attempts to capture the heart of what it is to play Melee on all levels. Like the game play itself, the ascendancy from Noob to master is fast-paced, chaotic, and surprisingly deep, and I'd recommend an attempt at it to any gamer.
