Northern California
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Northern California, commonly abbreviated asNorCal, is aSmash region located in the United States. It covers the northern half of the state of California, including the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country. While most regions are divided by state, California is split into northern andsouthern portions, as the state's large size has resulted in the development of two largely independent centers ofSmash activity.
With a huge concentration of university-age students, NorCal has been one of the most activeSmash regions in the United States since the series' competitive beginnings.Matt Deezie'sTournament Go series, considered the first majorSmash tournaments, were held here, and thus the region can be considered the birthplace of competitiveSmash. NorCal is at present best known for theGENESIS tournaments, considered one of the most iconic and prestigious tournament series inSmash history. Outside of GENESIS, however, the region's activity has historically been smaller compared to many of the United States' other large regions, including its neighbor SoCal. The rise of events held at the Guildhouse venue has somewhat alleviated that, as the venue holds one of the largest pre-major events in the community for the GENESIS series, as well as the major invitational seriesThe Throne.
Smashers[edit]
The following players are currently or were previously ranked. Their highest placement is listed.
Globally ranked players[edit]
Nationally ranked players[edit]
| Tag | Character(s) | Best placement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 King Koopa |  |  OrionRank North America Top 200: 154th | |
| Klaatu |  | OrionRank North America Top 200: 125th | |
| Legit |  | OrionRank North America Top 200: 172nd | |
| Mudomo |  | OrionRank North America Top 200: 183rd | |
| Willow |  | OrionRank 2022 North America: 178th | Moved to SoCal in 2022. |
Other notable players[edit]
| Tag | Character(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Boback |  | One of the TOs forGENESIS. |
| Dr. Z |  | One of the TOs forGENESIS. |
| Germ |  | One of the best Link players in the world. |
| Tang |  | One of the members who participated in theWombo Combo. |
Tournaments[edit]
Notable tournament series[edit]
Tournament series that have achieved recognition outside their local region.
| Tournament | Games | Type | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| GENESIS |     | Annual | Ongoing |
| Guildhouse | | Weekly/Monthly | Ongoing |
| NorCal Regionals | | Annual | |
| The Throne | | Annual | Ongoing |
| Tournament Go | | Unscheduled | Discontinued |
| Who's Your Pappy | | Unscheduled |
Notable tournaments[edit]
Tournaments that featured at least one game at a superregional level.
| Tournament | Date | Entrants | Supermajor | Major | Superregional | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament Go 4 | January 19th, 2003 | ~90 | — | | — | — |
| Tournament Go 5 | August 2nd-3rd, 2003 | ~90-110 | — | | — | — |
| Tournament Go 6 | August 21st-22nd, 2004 | 112 | | — | — | — |
| MLG San Francisco 2004 | September 11th-12th, 2004 | 50 | — | — | | — |
| MLG San Francisco 2005 | February 26th-27th, 2005 | 100+ | — | — | | — |
| NorCal Tournament 2 | October 28th, 2006 | 129 | — | — | | — |
| AxisGaming | August 30th, 2008 | 303+ | — | | — | — |
| West Coast Smash League | December 20th-21st, 2008 | 180+ | — | — | | |
| GENESIS | July 10th-12th, 2009 | 290 | | — | — | — |
| Good Shit German | July 24th-25th, 2010 | 84+ | — | — | | |
| Don't Go Down There Jeff | December 18th-19th, 2010 | 108 | — | — | | — |
| GENESIS 2 | July 15th-17th, 2011 | 300+ | | — | — |  |
| Rule 6: NorCal Regional | July 29th, 2012 | 92 | — | — | | — |
| NorCal Regionals 2013 | April 26th-28th, 2013 | 73 | — | — | | — |
| The Next Episode | March 22nd-23rd, 2014 | 147 | — | — | | — |
| NorCal Regionals 2014 | April 18th-20th, 2014 | 52+ | — | — | | — |
| Do You Fox Wit It? | November 15th-16th, 2014 | 211+ | — | — | |  |
| NorCal Regionals 2015 | April 3rd-5th, 2015 | 200+ | — | — | | |
| I'm Not Yelling! | April 11th-12th, 2015 | 372 | — | | — | — |
| HTC Throwdown | September 19th, 2015 | 514 | — | | — | — |
| Oaklands Very Own | January 2nd, 2016 | 100 | — | — | | — |
| FinalBOSS | January 9th-10th, 2016 | 174 | — | | — | — |
| GENESIS 3 | January 15th-17th, 2016 | 3,592 | | — | — | — |
| SSS: Blood For Blood | October 15th, 2016 | 502 | — | — | | — |
| Norcal Validated | January 14th, 2017 | 183 | — | — | | — |
| Cashed Out | January 21st, 2017 | 28 | — | — | | — |
| GENESIS 4 | January 20th-22nd, 2017 | 3,575 | | — | — | — |
| GENESIS: RED | July 9th, 2017 | 279 | — | — | | — |
| Who's Your Pappy 10 | October 22nd, 2017 | 191 | — | — | | — |
| Fair and Balanced | November 18th, 2017 | 98 | — | | — | — |
| GENESIS 5 | January 19th-21st, 2018 | 2,031 | | — | — | — |
| Noods Noods Noods: Oakland Edition | April 7th, 2018 | 343 | — | — | | — |
| Super Smash Sundays 64 - The Return | April 29th, 2018 | 149 | — | — | | — |
| Wombo Combo: 10 Year Anniversary | December 8th, 2018 | 220 | — | — | | — |
| Neon Genesix Evangelion | February 1st, 2019 | 32 | — | — | | — |
| GENESIS 6 | February 1st-3rd, 2019 | 2,775 | | — | — | — |
| GENESIS 7 | January 24th-26th, 2020 | 2,639 | | — | — | |
| GENESIS 8 | April 15th-17th, 2022 | 3,464 | | — | — | |
| GENESIS 9 | January 20th-22nd, 2023 | 2,407 | | — | — | |
| GENESIS: BLACK at Guildhouse | December 2nd-3rd, 2023 | 316 | — | — | | |
| Watch The Throne | December 8th-10th, 2023 | 16 | | — | — | — |
| GENESIS X | February 16th-18th, 2024 | 3,021 | | — | | |
| The Throne II | November 8th-10th, 2024 | 16 | — | | — | — |
| GENESIS X2 | February 14th-16th, 2025 | 1,992 | | — | | — |
Largest singles events[edit]
| Rank | Tournament | Date | Game | Attendance | Winner | Character(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GENESIS 6 | February 1st-3rd, 2019 | | 2,105 |  MkLeo |   |
| 2 | GENESIS 8 | April 15th-17th, 2022 | | 1,959 | MkLeo |   |
| 3 | GENESIS 3 | January 15th-17th, 2016 | | 1,828 |  Armada |   |
| 4 | GENESIS 4 | January 20th-22nd, 2017 | | 1,704 | Armada | |
| 5 | GENESIS 7 | January 24th-26th, 2020 | | 1,699 | Marss |  |
| 6 | GENESIS 8 | April 15th-17th, 2022 | | 1,552 | Zain |  |
| 7 | GENESIS X | February 16th-18th, 2024 | | 1,544 | Cody Schwab | |
| 8 | GENESIS X | February 16th-18th, 2024 | | 1,506 | Zomba |  |
| 9 | GENESIS 5 | January 19th-21st, 2018 | | 1,365 | Plup |  |
| 10 | GENESIS 9 | January 20th-22nd, 2023 | | 1,253 | Jmook | |
