History of NYC Smash and Nebulous
For years, New York City’s Smash community was in disarray. Smashers were scattered all over the five boroughs and Long Island without a reliable, central location to host their events. Together they had the potential for a lively competitive scene, but none could represent the true size or diversity of the community on their own. Attempts at unification were thwarted by out-of-the-way locations, insufficient space, or inconvenient timing. Finally, a fire began to burn in the hearts of a few community organizers who said “enough is enough”, and set out to find a proper home for Smash here in NYC, once and for all.
The Growth of Nebulous Smash
With the help of Smashers such as HectoHertz, $led, and Jofrey, a new venue was found: Nebulous. The series exploded in popularity, offering many newcomers their first foray into competitive Smash and allowed them to mingle with veterans that gathered to hone their craft. Tournament size began to push the venue to maximum capacity and beyond. To the delight of everyone, Nebulous Gaming moved to an even larger venue with multiple floors, allowing the NYC community to accommodate its rapid growth, and the potential to support it even further. The new location, Neo-Nebulous, was bigger, better, and gave Melee, Smash 4, and Project M players alike the space it deserved, and weeklies with participation in excess of 100 players were becoming routine.
The
larger Super Nebulous series grew to over 200 players, featuring
notable competitors from other regions like S2J, Lucky and Wizzrobe, and
even international talent such as Jeapie, Ice and Professor Pro making
appearances. The most populous city in the US and formerly one of the
strongest Smash regions finally had a thriving scene once again, on par
with SoCal, MD/VA and the Boston metro area. Thing were looking up, but
unfortunately, this would be the peak of Neo-Nebulous. Unforeseen
circumstances caused Nebulous Gaming to be displaced from its prime
location in Manhattan, leaving the NYC community without a roof over its
head once again.
Super Nebulous 3
The Current Predicament
Today, 3 months later, a lifeline for Nebulous has been discovered. A new venue in the heart of Manhattan and suitable for Nebulous’ size with 3,000 sq ft has been found (with a secure lease!), which could allow the store to reopen and resume hosting tournaments again by the end of the summer. This is where you come in. The Nebulous team is $8,000 short of the initial deposit. The purpose of this fundraiser is to help raise the remaining funds for Nebulous to reopen and cover the expenses for doing so. It’s important to note that even if this fundraiser doesn’t meet its goal, Nebulous will still reopen. However, it would delay the opening by 6 months or more.
The Impact of Nebulous
We are all eager for Nebulous to rise again, but not merely for round-robin pools or something to do on the weekend. For us, Nebulous has become more than just a tournament series. Beyond a simple competition for prize money and bragging rights, it is also a social club, a training facility for those who aspire to be the best, a hangout spot for casual players, a place for old friends to gather and for new friendships to be made. On behalf of the Nebulous team and the NYC community, we thank you for taking the time to hear our story, and ask that you please consider donating and supporting our cause, so we can get back to that which we love the most: Smashing.