Northern California

Northern California, commonly abbreviated as NorCal, is a Smash 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 and southern portions, as the state's large size has resulted in the development of two largely independent centers of Smash activity.
With a huge concentration of university-age students, NorCal has been one of the most active Smash regions in the United States since the series' competitive beginnings. 's series, considered the first major Smash tournaments, were held here, and thus the region can be considered the birthplace of competitive Smash. NorCal is at present best known for the tournaments, considered one of the most iconic and prestigious tournament series in Smash 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 series .
==Smashers==
:See also: :Category:Northern California smashers
The following players are currently or were previously ranked. Their highest placement is listed.
===Globally ranked players===
Tag	Character(s)	Best placement 	Notes
 	 	PMRank 2022: 27th 	
 	 	SSBMRank 2022: 50th 	
 	 	SSBMRank 2016: 57th 	
 	 	SSBMRank 2014: 94th 	
 	 	SSBMRank 2013: 90th 	
 	 	SSBMRank 2013: 62nd 	
 	 	SSBMRank 2015: 37th 	
 	 	SSBMRank 2013: 46th 	
 	 	SSBMRank 2014: 61st 	
 	 	2018 64 League Rankings: 62nd 	Moved to NorCal from Nevada in 2016.
 	 	SSBMRank 2013: 55th 	One of the most notable commentators in Melee.
 	 	SSBMRank 2014: 95th 	
 	 	2023 Smash 64 Power Rankings: 1st RetroSSBMRank 2005: 3rd	
 	 	2024 SSBBRank: 17th 	
 	 	OrionRank 2016: 31st 	
 	 	PMRank 2022: 13th 	
 	 	RetroSSBMRank 2001-2003: 6th 	
 	 	MPGR 2018: 37th 	Originally from Michigan, and moved to NorCal in 2015.
 	 	UltRank 2022: 11th 	The best Mario player in the world.
 	 	SSBMRank 2017: 94th 	
 	 	SSBMRank 2016: 33rd 	
 	 	OrionRank 2018: 91st 	
 	 	SSBMRank 2013: 29th 	
 	 	OrionRank 2018: 75th OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse: 17th 	
 	 	MPGR 2019: 58th 	
 	 	SSBMRank 2016: 17th 	Originally from New York and moved to NorCal in 2015.
 	 	SSBMRank 2013: 12th 	
 	 	PMRank 2019: 8th 	
 	 	RetroSSBMRank 2009: HM 	
 	 	PMRank 2022: 47th 	
 	 	SSBMRank 2022: 55th 	
 	 	MPGR 2018: 51st 	
 	 	SSBMRank 2023: 16th 	Originally from SoCal, and moved to NorCal in 2023.
 	 	PMRank 2022: 34th 	
 	 	SSBMRank 2016: 7th 	
 	 	PGR v1: 16th 	Originally from Florida, and moved to NorCal by Smash 4'.
 	 	OrionRank 2017: 71st 	Moved to New York and began competing from there in 2023.
 	 	SSBMRank 2013: 7th 	
 	 	SSBMRank 2014: 47th 	
 	 	PMRank 2023: 8th 	
 	 	SSBBRank 2014: 83rd 	Also known for being a controversial content creator, commentator, and tournament organizer.
 	 	MPGR 2019: 22nd 	Moved to Arizona in 2022 and was last ranked as a NorCal player in 2019.
 	 	PMRank 2017 PMRank 2016: 33rd 	
 	 	RetroSSBMRank 2001-2003: 5th 	
 	 	SSBMRank 2013: 61st 	Notable commentator.
 	 	PMRank 2022: 1st 	
 	 	RetroSSBMRank 2006: HM 	
 	 	PMRank 2017 PMRank 2017: 1st 	
 	 	SSBMRank 2014: 91st 	
 	 	SSBBRank 2014: 95th 	
 	 	MPGR 2019: 87th 	
 	 	OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse: 84th 	
 	 	OrionRank 2016: 75th 	Moved to NorCal from SoCal in mid-2016. Currently banned.
 	 	SSBBRank 2014: 67th 	
 	 	RetroSSBMRank 2011: 7th 	
===Nationally ranked players===
Tag	Character(s)	Best placement 	Notes
 	 	OrionRank North America Top 200: 154th	
 	 	OrionRank North America Top 200: 125th	
 	 	OrionRank North America Top 200: 172nd	
 	 	OrionRank North America Top 200: 183rd	
 	 	OrionRank 2022 North America: 178th 	Moved to SoCal in 2022.
===Other notable players===
Tag	Character(s)	Notes
 	 	One of the TOs for .
 	 	One of the TOs for .
 	 	One of the best Link players in the world.
 	 	One of the members who participated in the Wombo Combo.
==Tournaments==
:See also: :Category:Northern California tournaments
===Notable tournament series===
Tournament series that have achieved recognition outside their local region. 
Tournament	Games	Type 	Status
 	 	Annual 	Ongoing
 	 	Weekly/Monthly	Ongoing
 	 	Annual 	
 	 	Annual 	Ongoing
 	 	Unscheduled 	Discontinued
 	 	Unscheduled 	
===Notable tournaments===
Tournaments that featured at least one game at a superregional level. 
Tournament	Date 	Entrants	Supermajor	Major 	Superregional	Other
 	January 19th, 2003 	~90 	— 	 	— 	—
 	August 2nd-3rd, 2003 	~90-110 	— 	 	— 	—
 	August 21st-22nd, 2004 	112 	 	—	— 	—
 	September 11th-12th, 2004	50 	— 	—	 	—
 	February 26th-27th, 2005 	100+ 	— 	—	 	—
 	October 28th, 2006 	129 	— 	—	 	—
 	August 30th, 2008 	303+ 	— 	 	— 	—
 	December 20th-21st, 2008 	180+ 	— 	—	 	
 	July 10th-12th, 2009 	290 	 	—	— 	—
 	July 24th-25th, 2010 	84+ 	— 	—	 	
 	December 18th-19th, 2010 	108 	— 	—	 	—
 	July 15th-17th, 2011 	300+ 	 	—	— 	
 	July 29th, 2012 	92 	— 	—	 	—
 	April 26th-28th, 2013 	73 	— 	—	 	—
 	March 22nd-23rd, 2014 	147 	— 	—	 	—
 	April 18th-20th, 2014 	52+ 	— 	—	 	—
 	November 15th-16th, 2014 	211+ 	— 	—	 	
 	April 3rd-5th, 2015 	200+ 	— 	—	 	
 	April 11th-12th, 2015 	372 	— 	 	— 	—
 	September 19th, 2015 	514 	— 	 	— 	—
 	January 2nd, 2016 	100 	— 	—	 	—
 	January 9th-10th, 2016 	174 	— 	 	— 	—
 	January 15th-17th, 2016 	3,592 	 	—	— 	—
 	October 15th, 2016 	502 	— 	—	 	—
 	January 14th, 2017 	183 	— 	—	 	—
 	January 21st, 2017 	28 	— 	—	 	—
 	January 20th-22nd, 2017 	3,575 	 	—	— 	—
 	July 9th, 2017 	279 	— 	—	 	—
 	October 22nd, 2017 	191 	— 	—	 	—
 	November 18th, 2017 	98 	— 	 	— 	—
 	January 19th-21st, 2018 	2,031 	 	—	— 	—
 	April 7th, 2018 	343 	— 	—	 	—
 	April 29th, 2018 	149 	— 	—	 	—
 	December 8th, 2018 	220 	— 	—	 	—
 	February 1st, 2019 	32 	— 	—	 	—
 	February 1st-3rd, 2019 	2,775 	 	—	— 	—
 	January 24th-26th, 2020 	2,639 	 	—	— 	
 	April 15th-17th, 2022 	3,464 	 	—	— 	
 	January 20th-22nd, 2023 	2,407 	 	—	— 	
 	December 2nd-3rd, 2023 	316 	— 	—	 	
 	December 8th-10th, 2023 	16 	 	—	— 	—
 	February 16th-18th, 2024 	3,021 	 	—	 	
 	November 8th-10th, 2024 	16 	— 	 	— 	—
===Largest singles events===
Rank	Tournament	Date 	Game	Attendance	Winner	Character(s)
1 	 	February 1st-3rd, 2019 	 	2,105 	 	
2 	 	April 15th-17th, 2022 	 	1,959 	 	
3 	 	January 15th-17th, 2016 	 	1,828 	 	
4 	 	January 20th-22nd, 2017 	 	1,704 	 	
5 	 	January 24th-26th, 2020 	 	1,699 	 	
6 	 	April 15th-17th, 2022 	 	1,552 	 	
7 	 	February 16th-18th, 2024	 	1,544 	 	
8 	 	February 16th-18th, 2024	 	1,506 	 	
9 	 	January 19th-21st, 2018 	 	1,365 	 	
10 	 	January 20th-22nd, 2023 	 	1,253 	 	
==See also==
*NorCal Power Rankings
Category:American regions