The WORST Smash Brothers Tournament: Olympus 2015

Smash Bros is one of the most popular video game franchises in the world, and in 2014 I dove head-first into the cottage industry of smash tournaments. I learned quickly and had a lot of success, but in 2015 I helped to organize and run one of the biggest tourneys in South Carolina: Olympus. But the event would devolve into chaos just a few hours into its run and kill off the smash scene in SC for years. Here's how it all happened, and what went wrong.
Special thanks to Evan Tripp in helping write this script and even bigger thanks to him, Andrew Zah, and Chris O'Rourke for all the photos and video.
#SmashBros #TheWorst #Melee
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Music in order of appearance:
APM Music: Tension Flyby
Matt Sibley: Tired of Saying
HOME - Head First
Yakuza Zero OST - Money Makes Money (Extended)
CrossBreed Music - Celestial Future
CrossBreed Music - Pulsating Immersion
Marcus Fjellström - Regal Procession
1985 - 80s Type Trap Beat
Follow me here:
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[@S1apShoes]

This script was put together with the best recollection of events by me, Evan, and Josh. We might have missed a few things, or over-embellished a few details, but for the most part we tried to put together the best re-telling of events from that day 6 years ago. I'd like to thank ESAM and FatalityFalcon for their constructive criticism after it all happened. Evan definitely learned from his mistakes and made some massive improvements. If you'd like to check these people out, here's their links: Fatality: kzbin.info/door/7mksrlMjfc2N7GUE_YK42g ^^^(closing in on 100k subs!)^^^ ESAM: kzbin.info Evan: instagram.com/impunny88/

[@ANDRESLOPEZ_24]

No John's pls

[@foxwolf316]

by the way were those video clips you showed us were from that event in 2015?

[@S1apShoes]

@@foxwolf316 Pretty much all of them were from that tourney.

[@noviranger239]

ZeRo = Joseph Lombard

[@alexk4661]

Are you gonna make a video for the news on north wilkesboro?

[@FatalityFalcon]

Whoa what a nostalgia trip, it was a mess at the time, but the people and memories are pretty cool to look back on.

[@S1apShoes]

At the time it was one of my worst days, but today it's an oddly fond memory. Learned a lot, and vowed to learn from the mistakes. Glad you're doing so well now, and good luck on closing in on 100k subs!

[@kirya312]

Look back on??? 2015 was like yesterday...

[@KonkeyDongkey]

@@kirya312 it was 6 years ago man

[@KonkeyDongkey]

@@kirya312 I'm sorry I have to be the one to tell you this

[@themidgarbadass2517]

@@KonkeyDongkey what year are you in? It’s October of 2016 rn

[@teej7081]

EmpLemon makes a NASCAR video, S1apSh0es makes a gaming tournament video. Perfectly balanced.

[@shreknskrubgaming7248]

Both videos extremely good, too. EmpLemon's Never Ever series is fantastic.

[@GeorgePerakis]

EmpLemon did ANOTHER NASCAR video now, so S1apshoes is obligated to make at least one more gaming video.

[@bobross4449]

@Jayy Menace welcome to the channel

[@st1220]

@@GeorgePerakis exactly

[@quinnlay2150]

As all things should e

[@TheMissingLink2]

Longest ad for _Jack in the box_ I've ever watched.

[@drpuggles6218]

But you watched it

[@MyHeadHz]

Lol

[@FivePointsVids]

I support this kind of content

[@mcmaliciousgravy]

He's FivePoints Vids and you made it to the end of his replies section.

[@st1220]

@@mcmaliciousgravy i did

[@StewartLucrative]

This comment brought to you by manscaped.

[@HexorMastah]

Five Points on a Smash Bros video. Woooooo

[@leonardopereira1704]

SEATGEEEEEK!

[@taylorbroad8941]

As someone who ran these tournament, the classic "last minute entry", everyone packing up into one place, door fees waived for complete setups, was very common back in those years. As soon as you said that they last minute registered, I knew it was going to be a shit show. Had you had a hard cap, that would've been avoided. Funny enough, early NASCAR shares a lot of similarities with Smash. The TOs and organizers are trying to get the quick buck. There's really shady stuff that's happened over the years. You can probably make an entire comparison video for it.

[@johngancarcik5682]

This mess looks more organized than kentucky's first cup race

[@Samael21x]

same

[@dylanhale7300]

Amen... I was stuck in traffic for a solid 3 and a bit hours. Missed the beginning of the race but still had a blast. Sadly Nascar left KY, so I don't have a local track anymore... woo

[@gamingmatt5825]

I was in the traffic jam heading to the track, and I can agree this tournament was more organized. My dad and I got to the track just before the cars fired off, and we left our house in Louisville at NOON!

[@GatoradeCupSeriesX94]

And they lost their cup race 10 years later...

[@chiefslinginbeef3641]

Can't wait for nashville fairgrounds

[@stu3131]

Fun fact: I had in my possession the first place trophy for PM from this tournament for years. It was given to me for helping out, though I don't think I did that much in the end to mitigate the chaos. Most of my job was calling out people's names and keeping setups full of players. Couldn't imagine your frustration over the situation.

[@evantripp2933]

You are the People's PM Champion!

[@justafloodofethanol3216]

Stuart Grant? BUSTED He’s godlike

[@MilkMan1209]

This is literally just a standard melee grassroots tournament lmaoooooooo

[@evantripp2933]

You got that right!

[@Skate_Hack]

I had to check 3 times to be sure I wasn't mistaken about who uploaded this

[@pizzahutstricklin]

It made total sense to be in my subs, but then I heard slap talk and LOST MY SHIT

[@theoctolingsociety1004]

Same. I read the notification and I was like “Isn’t this the NASCAR guy?”

[@auburnltl7452]

Im not a huge fan of this kind of thing, but when Slapshoes is breaking it all down, i have to watch no matter what the topic is.

[@Battlemage15]

I don't even like auto racing. I'm just here because Slap is a fantastic storyteller that can make anything entertaining.

[@zavtparticles6828]

Fun fact: Slap can often be found in Melee or ultimate streamers chats. I found him in hboxs chat multiple times

[@qwopiretyu]

I can't stand watching actual NASCAR but I'll listen to S1ap talk about it all day long

[@maestro4287]

"At one point the Twitch stream does altogether" immediately gets interrupted by YT ads

[@SUPERLINKX2]

“Laughs in ad block.”

[@derpy.1]

Dear Slapshoes, don’t be afraid to branch out of the NASCAR comfort zone, and not ONLY, look into the history of other Auto Racing scenes, but content like this as well. Your versatile and talented enough to do it. Go for it man

[@LeftyGretzky]

have you seen his work on his main channel? (S1ap) That's where this type of content would've been posted any of the other 364 days of the year. dude's a god like YT creator

[@trekker105]

@@LeftyGretzky I did not even know that channel existed. Thank you ever so much.

[@mckstellar1005]

Exactly mby just keep it to his home state(if its sc or the entire south east except Atlanta) this area doesnt get alot of representation and love

[@bigkahuna6030]

I've run multiple Pokemon tcg, Warmachine, and Smash tourneys, and let me tell you, some competitors have ZERO empathy for TOs. What should be as simple as setting up registration, setting up tables, or plugging in setups, there's never a time when everyone is happy with how you're running an event or where their place in it is. I will say, Smash players are WAY more tolerable than Pokemon players. I quit Pokemon entirely cause I was so sick of the fucking entitlement. Kudos to you guys for having to deal with basically the worst possible start and un-understanding players!

[@goatles9423]

I've come back to this video after some recent events in the Splatoon community, and it's depressing seeing this lack of empathy span across scenes. It's hard managing a tournament, competitive scenes need them to survive, and if more people understood that I think they'd be more grateful for the thankless endeavor TOs volunteer to put themselves through

[@EastCoastBaja]

I was there. HOLY shit what a day. What an absolute experience. Thanks for trying at the time; I do look back on this tournament fondly despite PM getting shafted by the absolutely insane influx of players tho.

[@ianmiller6635]

Came to Slap’s channel for the nascar, stayed for the personal testimony of the Smash Bros equivalent of the Fyre Festival. Well done sir.

[@midlowhigh]

😂😂😂 this made me actually laugh

[@DennyDeliversYT]

Wait... this isn’t NASCAR... Is this a *S1ap April fools thing?...* lol

[@AJTheLEGOFan]

no, duh.

[@pizzahutstricklin]

Its ok Denny, just let the melee soothe you.

[@rustyowl1979]

😂

[@BIGSAJ]

Denis no Slap likes his Melee brackets

[@carlyslebrown1601]

I honestly never knew you had any relationship with Smash, let alone that you hosted a tournament! This was an interesting video to go through, with a very important life lesson in there. I appreciate your efforts, and I appreciate you looking at the bigger picture.

[@MenwithHill]

Now this is a great April 1st video.

[@InTheZ0n3]

Fax

[@foxwolf316]

yeah this video is calm to watch not a lot of crazy stuff happen like my april 1st video messed up and not to the point, and doesn't make no sense

[@BiodegradableYTP]

Man oh man, that's quite the clusterfuq you went through, dude. A fun story nonetheless and thankfully not all that embarrassing. Nothing caught fire, people weren't crushed or dehydrated or any other disaster one can think of. No doubt it was a big learning experience for everyone involved.

[@Raycevick]

Yes.

[@FreshTillDeath56]

Love ya, Ray. :)

[@AcornPlays]

Wow it's Raycevick much love bro

[@bobruiz1242]

Wtf fancy seeing u here

[@tylerpayne4138]

I can finally sleep well at night knowing Raycevick knows Melee exists

[@deathbutton1]

"Blinded by the money" Dude, they didn't even pay you minimum wage. $100 for 16 hours is $6.25 an hour

[@jasonch4196]

Broke college students don't care about minimum wage, money is money when you're living paycheck to paycheck and living off of ramen noodles and dry cheerios

[@trentonayershandsoffire3620]

@@jasonch4196 College? I was was living like that as child... But I feel you

[@GregBrownsWorldORacing]

$6.25 was pretty good money then.

[@trueblueryu5713]

That’s basically just minimum wage with the taxes already taken out, give or take depending on the state I guess.

[@canadiangooseok7281]

Okay that just makes this even sadder. Mans didn’t even paid MINIMUM WAGE.

[@rozygcf6611]

Legend has it, people are still playing friendlys in the venue to this day.

[@hurrayforvideogames]

The section about the bracket of the tournament the players basically had to run themselves sounds like a letter home during the Civil War. “For I cannot thank enough the brave and intrepid men who helped keep the Doubles moving that night. I expect that when I reflect on our sacrifices here on some forlorn future date, their faces alone shall come back to my mind’s eye more readily than any other detail. Faithfully yours, S1apSh0es” - written a few days after The Battle of Olympus, 2015

[@S1apShoes]

This is the best comment I have ever received or ever will receive.

[@SamTheSlightlyGood]

Wow seeing myself in a couple of these clips is really bringing me back. Regardless of Olympus being a complete mess, those Tech Shack / 1Up Video Games tourneys were awesome. Thanks for the video!

[@darkbats20]

As somebody living in South Carolina, the biggest shock to me is there's a Smash Bros scene out here.

[@evantripp2933]

Yeah search for SC Smash on Facebook

[@Lnblackberry48]

It’s pretty big . Even my college in SC has a tournament sometimes

[@MasonCookMrFamous]

Serious props to those Smash 4 players who helped the bracket along. They represent the good side of the community that too often gets overshadowed by controversies and drama. Great video btw.

[@Chick_Hicks33]

Still more organized than the 1969 Talladega 500

[@leonardopereira1704]

The players had the right setup Goodyear didn't have the right tires Therefore, gamers >>>>> goodyear

[@MrSourceMan]

Bruh, when you started using Regal Procession, that fucking hit so hard

[@S1apShoes]

Damn, I'm glad someone noticed that track.

[@MrSourceMan]

@@S1apShoes it's a perfect for when you wanna convey the end of a torturous journey. Whether it's across a frozen hell or a sweaty smash tourney lol

[@S1apShoes]

@@MrSourceMan Take it you're a fan of The Terror. It's a great track.

[@MrSourceMan]

@@S1apShoes I do love good spoopy historical fiction. It's a shame Marcus Fjellström passed away, he had a unique sound. Also, Blanky is played by Professor Quirrell from Harry Potter.

[@ashsherod6321]

@@S1apShoes Nor'West Passage

[@redram5150]

In 2003, a local high school’s graduation ceremony included a speech by the superintendent about how the two co-valedictorians settled who would be valedictorian and salutatorian over Super Smash Bros. best of three competition. Every second of it she sounded completely disinterested, as if this was the single dumbest thing she had ever spoke about in her life.

[@DiamondDust132]

Why in the fuck would she even mention that during the graduation? Just lie versus spitting cringe lol

[@cliffordcrimson7124]

And it was the dumbest thing

[@Zulfburht]

Okay it’s official, you my man have the voice for this kind of stuff.

[@BadmouthBlooper]

I'm just now finding out about this. This was my first event and I had no idea it was poorly ran- I just thought that all tournaments were like that. I was like 14, didn't get to play much but had a ton of fun. I remember trying to get away from the crowd for lunch, sitting outside ( pretty sure thats me eating pizza outside at 12:12 lmao) and saw more games on the setups outside. Met some nice people, drank ton of redbull, got wobbled in bracket. I'm super happy this is that well documented. This event is what solidified my love of the game. ty for the nostalgia.

[@Bload72productions]

Slap should now hold a Heat5 tournament to redeem himself.

[@trevorlima2255]

Honestly heat 5 is not a good game copy paste of heat 4

[@Bload72productions]

@@trevorlima2255 Agreed that's why I don't own Heat 5, but I'd buy it if Slap made a tournament.

[@leonardopereira1704]

I'm still playing Heat 3!

[@Bload72productions]

@@leonardopereira1704 Maybe this is an Unpopular opinion, but Heat 3 is actually pretty good.

[@SamnissArandeen]

Make it an NR2003 season and I'd happily do it

[@faffyfaff2476]

i saw the title and was ready for a EMPlemon video. im satisfied either way

[@angicola4910]

I love the overlap from EmpLemon, S1apSh0es and SummoningSalt viewers.

[@Lol-pb9bx]

@@angicola4910 I'm a fan of all of them and this video is beautiful

[@vollrathfgc]

@@Lol-pb9bx same here

[@pizzahutstricklin]

@@angicola4910 dont forget Turndownforwalt!!

[@rufctr3]

This man is a legend in my books

[@InTheZ0n3]

Fax

[@NASCARRebirth]

@@InTheZ0n3 indeed

[@alexandermitchell9070]

Excellent video. Your storytelling and editing skills are fantastic, no matter the subject matter of the episode. Even though this was supposed to be the April fools episode, it’s really really well done.

[@viscosity7893]

Tbh the only reason I clicked on this video was to see ESAM with hair

[@IAMMRONALD]

go boxing ring

[@darkspire91]

Imagine going through all of that, playing all day and just winning 15 bucks by the end of it all.

[@s4juno693]

You know here in Latino América your tourment sound like heaven.

[@yoshog7601]

Fr

[@Nobody7720]

I (used to) work in the concert industry and this story is as old as time. The number of times I've been thrown into a Fyre Festival logistical nightmare is sadly too many. The feeling you get when you start realizing that the ship you are tied to is going down fast and hard..

[@whatincarnation95]

Super Smash Sh0es

[@yeehaw8834]

Moral of the Story: Project M is evil and ruins everything

[@S1apShoes]

No lies detected

[@evantripp2933]

🤣🤣🤣

[@Sgt-Wolf]

A agent of Nintendo has been detected.

[@zerof0rce]

Your delivery is excellent. I've never even played Smash, but your telling of events was riveting.

[@trekkiepro]

Don't be afraid to branch out into non-motorsport content, man. This was awesome.

[@afrocoleman]

totally wild to see 1Up in a youtube video (went there a lot in high school; it's only about 10 minutes from my house)!

[@GetBenched2010]

When S1appy is sorry you had to see this, you NEED to see it.

[@SuperKingJelly]

I remember going to this, was a great trip with my friends. I also remember the vase breaking, was right next to it when it happened

[@S1apShoes]

Holy shit, Josh was telling me about that. That kid was mortified.

[@evantripp2933]

You owe me $150 🤣

[@miles11we]

Your presentation style was perfect for this story, matter of fact, high paced, it was like 1 punch after another of things going wrong. Good job

[@Abiywicaksana]

Was Not expecting this upload from S1ap

[@randellmainer]

This was pretty cool! I'm far from a gamer but your firsthand telling of the story of this video game tournament was just as awesome as your NASCAR videos! 👌

[@IanTheMotorsportsMan_YT]

I’m not even into this stuff, but curious it’s got the best of me to watch this. Way to break it down, man! Good work! I wonder if we’ll get “The Worst IndyCar Race Ever” video soon

[@Sl0thii]

We NEED more S1apSh0es story videos, nice work

[@swapsplat]

I know this is an April first thing, but it was actually pretty interesting.

[@aidanjuddgolf1826]

I’ve never really been into E-Sports, but once I saw that you made a video about this I had to watch it. I’ve been binge watching your videos a lot lately, and I have to say you are one of the best story tellers on KZbin. Congrats on reaching 100K and keep up the good work.

[@coonyman10]

Had no clue S1apSh0es was in the smash scene, would love more content like this!

[@jjlegend3922]

Man I watched this 3 times already. This was an awesome video!!!

[@LnnyOsoTo]

I thought I was the only weirdo strangely fascinated by stories of Nascar AND Melee, and I had found you (this channel) almost a year ago. This is a perspective that's almost never shown or talked about but it was great to hear, made me wish we had more tournament retrospectives from an TO perspective.

[@solrosriddare7264]

What a throwback, I was there! This was my second smash tournament ever, which eventually lead to me being heavily involved with the Clemson Smash Club! Great video, this was a real treat!

[@auroricaura]

Only someone like you could make a video like this, and it was extremely interesting. I loved it, and thank you so much for your work in the smash community.

[@captaiawesome2260]

It’s a good thing that the shopping mall parking lot existed back then. Now it’s a large apartment structure called the Grand Marque where they will tow you in minutes.

[@veeker48]

Anything this man uploads I’ll watch, especially if it’s a personal story. Those are always interesting.

[@djmartin7034]

Dang dude, this was a surreal road trip back in time lol. This tourney was the first one that I stayed overnight close to the venue and was super hyped because of that and how amazing the Tiger Smash series was. I went 0-2 there so I pretty much dipped after pools and didn't stick around for day 2 but had a great time regardless. Something about the comradery of being on a sinking ship made for making fast friends. Either way, amazing video man! Would love to hear more about other smash content

[@spktk64]

2015 was a rough year for SC Olympus happened AND I joined the scene as WUT. Ive never seen Jack Foster smile since.

[@jackawatkins87]

Hey I'm a super casual smash player and I stumbled onto this video, having never seen any of your content. You are really good at content creation. Your intro is very very compelling and your storytelling and pacing is also incredible. Seriously, this is good s h i t

[@pokekiller787x]

I hadn't heard about you before seeing this video and I've been binging your content all morning. You're a great storyteller and deserve every bit of notoriety you get. 😁

[@TravisMSimpson]

I don't know how many times I have watched this video and others. You are a great storyteller who gets better over time and it brings back memories of another great storyteller from when I was younger than I miss, Steve Byrnes.

[@mahiru20ten]

Was totally not expecting something like this. Please make more of them.

[@SWonYT]

I learned a lot here about how to run a competition event. Thank you. Also, you're a great storyteller.

[@Cerastes12]

Enjoyed the video! While I wasn't at Olympus, I was at some of the earlier tourneys mentioned in the video, so enjoyed seeing those for a bit of good memories! Well edited and narrated, good job!

[@CryoSignal]

Hey S1ap! I just found your channel from this video. I'm not a huge nascar fan but I find your videos really entertaining and well edited. Great job!

[@SpardaAlucard1]

Hearing this smooth voice over a smash brothers tournament is fitting.

[@dirtking56]

Please do more Smash content S1ap, this is amazing

[@ace21blc94]

Whether on this channel or a second more of this type of varying content. I could watch all day

[@nogard0497]

I had to rub my eyes and blink a few times to make sure this Smash video was made by Slap. I wouls love to see more of this!

[@ScrollsofSombra]

Normally I hate April Fools Day videos. But I'll make an exception for good content like this that doesn't stray too far from the norm just for "April Fool's sake"

[@nyanblaney]

I have no interest in video game tournaments but oh my god this video is gripping

[@FanFicnic]

I stumbled onto your videos about NASCAR from EmpLemon, have been binging all of them despite having no prior interest, find out you are from my beloved Greenville where I went to college, and now you’ve got a video on the smash scene which is my brothers biggest hobby. I am now fully obsessed with this channel.

[@stretch9658]

It’s so fun to hear some stories of things happening in Clemson which is my hometown they I had no idea about, I love the NASCAR content and this was an awesome video to watch man

[@Jwillii]

What an adventure this tournament was, I remember getting back to my dorm in Chapel Hill at 5 am the morning after. Thanks for sharing, blast from the past.

[@nwvfd22]

Slap, you are an amazing writer and fantastic story teller. This story is GOLD.

[@dudewuttheheck]

I'm a huge melee fan so I love this video! I had no idea you were into smash.

[@CogzillaOfDojima]

Just found your channel. Long time melee player and remember this event. Thanks for giving our scene some love big dawg

[@BassEcho3s]

S1ap making Smash content? I am 100% here for this

[@jakejonas7366]

Always have watched and really loved your channel for your nascar and racing content. Had no idea you covered other stuff than racing. You have a great eye for putting content together and editing it well. Hope to see you branch out and maybe cover more video game stuff and hopefully your channel continues to grow man!

[@pork3d]

It is really cool to see another youtuber posting content in a different genre than what their known for and it being something I also enjoy. Wouldn't mind seeing more video game content from you or even history on some other stuff you are interested in.

[@joshuapboston1999]

Happy April fools! Great vid S1ap! And happy Easter!

[@austinreed5805]

I was planning on going to a Smash Bros. Tournament at Austin-Peay University, but it ended up being canceled due to Covid. Also, this was a nice story for you to share with us and hopefully there will never be a tournament as bad as the one you, and the rest of the staff, had to endure.

[@mastafull]

I thought the title was just an April Fools prank, but this video was great.

[@PieDisliker]

Man, I remember my smash scene days. It's wild some of the stuff that happened at tourneys. I only went to a few, and actually hosted one. Being a TO is a really tough job and at the time it seemed there wasn't much info on how to run an event well, you kinda just learned from other tourneys. I can't imagine having to deal with an underestimated turnout like that, I would've been stressed beyond belief.

[@thunderbird5522]

My day just got better... Slapshoes Posted a video!!! Yay and thx!!

[@VirginiaRican]

Thank you so much for making this. It's like Slapshoes meets Internet Historian. LOL

[@AlexanderRobichaud]

Great video. I have never attended a smash tourney so this was so fun to watch

[@crashfan360]

You may have made this video as a April fool's special but this was great, I hope we'll get more videos likes this

[@gnardawgyt]

Fascinating, thanks for sharing dude

[@Harmless_Music]

Moral of the story? Become friends with ESAM so you can get carried to finals in smash doubles

[@ahmadzahraniAAZ]

Unless if you are one of the staff.

[@briangriffinfamilyguyfan81]

Congrats on 100K Subscribers!👍

[@kjpr00]

I loved this, you're just really good at telling stories, whatever they're about.

[@GoonManGuy]

The delivery of this video is perfect. It’s paced just fast enough to make the story feel as frantic as the day.

[@thiccrib]

This was unexpected. Nice

[@willtommo13]

It was cool hearing about your rise in the business - good job bro.