I had been mentally workshopping different analogies to prime you for this article, but when I asked Junebug for a thought on how to explain the phenomenon during our interview, they spontaneously conjured an image that does the reality a good bit of justice.
“If you happen to be racing cars, all these NASCARs are souped up, and they’ve got a lot of… horsepower, I think?” Junebug squinted, working out exactly what makes a NASCAR vehicle fit for NASCAR. “And then somebody comes in with the Flintstone-mobile and is somehow managing to keep up with everyone.”
That’s what it felt like we all witnessed in Chantilly, VA, at Supernova (FKA Super Smash Con), watching Richmond’s own Arjun “Junebug” Rao place 3rd in the Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament with mid-tier darling Donkey Kong.
Junebug, a Richmond local of 26 years, has been playing competitive Melee since 2012. Previously a dominating talent in Project M (a fanmade mod of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which tweaked the game to make it more competitive), they were recently named the 27th best Melee player in the world. They carry no pretense about it though; during our interview Junebug was as humble and easy to talk to as they appear to be on stream or Smash commentary.
If at first blush 3rd at Supernova doesn’t sound very notable, consider that Supernova is one of the world’s largest Smash tournaments every year, drawing in talent from across the globe. This year, the bracket featured 905 entrants including some of the most decorated competitors to ever play the game. Then consider Donkey Kong; a hefty, sluggish ape in a game dominated by small, nimble characters who have historically had little trouble dispatching the game’s weaker fighters.
The Flintstone analogy works on an aesthetic level too; when Fox is blasting you with lasers and striking edgy anime-flavored poses, Donkey Kong swings with fists that grow larger than his head and he carries other fighters on his back while their arms and legs flail helplessly about.
Despite DK’s middling competitive viability, Junebug has been winning tournaments and the hearts of players and viewers alike with the beloved simian over the past two years, and their Supernova performance has players reassessing their understanding of a game that has been played competitively for 23 years.
The age of the ape started August 2022 when Junebug started playing the character to prepare a video for their Youtube channel comparing the design of DK in Melee to his design in Project M.
“In that video, I was like, ‘Donkey Kong kind of has some stuff! I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets pretty good just because of how good his punish game is,’” Junebug explained, referring to the primate’s exceptional combo capabilities despite his beefy frame and mediocre speed. “He’s got a top-tier punish game with mid-to-low-tier attributes.”
Slowly but surely, Junebug has been showcasing DK’s potential. They started collecting local tournament wins, then a few regional tournament trophies, until it all culminated at Supernova as they smothered some of the best players who have ever picked up a controller.
“It seemed like everybody in the venue had coalesced around this thing,” Junebug recalled the surreal experience of being the favorite to beat most Melee players’ favorite Melee player, Mang0.
“Just having my name cheered for above the most popular Melee player of all time was truly, truly unbelievable. The hometown advantage, having all the homies there, and also having the Ultimate players getting into Melee—the stars just aligned, and it was amazing. I don’t think I can put into words what that felt like.” Junebug would ultimately lose the set 3-1, but their eventual 3rd place finish is DK’s best placement ever, breaking a 17-year-old record set by a player named Bum in 2007. Garnering what is being called “the loudest Melee crowd ever” is no ho-hum accolade, either.
There is something so beautifully and necessarily grassroots about competitive Smash, Melee in particular. Esports as it is now was born out of friends convening around a game and trying to prove that they are the best. It’s very on-the-couch-in-mom’s-basement, but Smash has struggled to become and remain more than that.
Nintendo has an inexplicably hostile stance toward people who want to play Smash competitively. They routinely send cease-and-desist orders to tournaments of all sizes; what few events they have sponsored are stifled with petty stipulations, and they throttle grassroots movements that try to bring more attention to the competitive scene. Contrast this with esports like Fortnite and League of Legends, which are propped up as competitive games by their developers who host tournaments featuring prize pools as large as $1 million.
Nintendo’s resistance to the esportsification of Smash makes it incredibly risky to pursue as a profession. They are liable to shut down a tournament for which first prize is peanuts in a wider scope but could mean next month’s rent to the scene’s top competitors.
The silver lining is that this lends Melee a distinct identity that is rare among other competitive games, and rare even in the contemporary world of traditional sports.
Contemplating this dynamic, Junebug said, “The fact that I, a 30-year-old working man, am able to go toe-to-toe with the best, everybody’s like, ‘this is kinda cool!’ You know, now, everybody in most professional sports is so athletic, so disciplined, so trained. But back in the day it was just some guy. And now a 30-year-old IT worker is the best Donkey Kong in the world.”
I don’t think it’s an accident that this story started in Richmond. Even as certain grocery stores and restaurants, which shall remain unnamed, are choking out the unique and beautiful culture Richmond has, there is still an undeniable gritty punk ethic that keeps the spirit alive.
“Richmond is kinda like a grungy city, and Melee is a grungy, punky scene. Richmond and Melee just go hand-in-hand for that reason,” Junebug explained.
This symbiosis is also evident in the monthly tournaments held at Väsen and The Veil. Melee players love beer, and breweries love Melee players because they buy lots of beer. There are also weekly tournaments held on Thursdays at Dawnstar Video Games and Arcade. Check out the local scene—we’d love to have you.
Reflecting on the Supernova run, Junebug concluded, “Smash is something that’s been really important to me for the last 16 years, and I’m glad I got to showcase that. It was like a capstone moment. If I were to retire after this tournament, I would retire so satisfied, but there’s still that gambling part of my brain saying, ‘maybe this is the time!’”
To join this community, a good place to start is on Discord HERE
