We have finally concluded the votes for the inaugural Inven Global Smash Awards, which celebrated the best players, content, and talent in the competitive Smash scene. This was an important endeavor for Inven's Smash team since the community has been the driving factor keeping the esports scene alive. It's full of passionate players, fans, and TOs that care more about Smash than anything else.

The Inven Global Smash Awards are celebrating the Smash community and what makes us great. And we're starting with Super Smash Bros. Melee, which has now been around longer than 20 years. Throughout those two decades, the community has continued to grow, thrive, and remain in love with the technical fighting game that defined an era. 

We're now announcing the best event in Melee, voted by a panel of experts, journalists, and pros from the scene. 

Best Melee Event: Smash Summit 11

Smash Summit 11 felt like a moment that defined Melee as a competitive scene, as a culture, as a community. It was a taste of normality, a look back at what Melee is really about, amidst the cursed past few years. Top Melee players like Zain, Mango, Hungrybox, and Plup came together to play Melee for days and then have an intense competition with records amount of prize money. 

The Melee community put forth over $155K, making Smash Summit 11 a love letter back to the fans and players, and talent that has made Smash what it is. In the end, Mango took home the $50K top prize, one of his shining moments in 2021 as he made an astonishing return to the top. 

Best Melee Event: Community Award

Smash Summit 11: 74.6%

Riptide 2021: 13.1%

Mainstage 2021: 6.6%

The community has spoken — Smash Summit 11 was the highlight of competitive Melee in 2021. This comes as no surprise. Smash Summit 11 was an event dedicated solely to the best of the best in Melee. It had the best players. The best casters.

While Riptide and Mainstage were hype, those events weren't solely about Melee. It's not that the Super Smash Bros. Melee community is salty about Ultimate or even Project+ and all that. It's that Smash Summit 11 is a special moment made solely for Melee and its people. It's a coveted series and last year's had the biggest prize pool yet. And seeing Mango and his Fox? Doesn't get better than that.