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By Anokh "EdwinBudding" Palakurthi
These are all good answers, but I'm going to bring up something different: when Plup decided to go Luigi, for fun, at CEO Dreamland. Here, he casually finished in top eight and gave the otherwise mediocre character his highest placing at a major ever. This might seem like a bit of a weird answer to give when talking about one of the greatest players ever, but this performance convinced me that Plup could do this with three-quarters of the cast. Relax; I'm joking...sort of.
By Anokh "EdwinBudding" Palakurthi
Meanwhile, Zain has never been deterred, always finding new solutions and ways to make his character look like the best one in the game. Anyone remember when the go-to-phrase about the "perfect" Marth was that they would have "PP's neutral" and "Mew2King's punish?" Newsflash: it's actually Zain (and he's better).
It's easy to see Azen as "merely" a perennial No. 2 behind Ken during the MLG era, but Tounament Go 6, MLG New York Playoffs and Viva La Smashtaclysm were some of the biggest tourneys of their time, and Azen won each of them over the best competition in the world.
When the lights were brightest, Azen showed up with diverse cast of characters, consistently proving he could prevail. In particular, his MLG New York Playoffs victory - 2006, where he beat PC Chris, took down KoreanDJ, and had the legendary winners quarterfinals comeback against Ken - remains one of the greatest tournament performances of all-time.
By Anokh "EdwinBudding" Palakurthi
By Anokh "EdwinBudding" Palakurthi
Whether it's a visa ban or a worldwide pandemic stopping him from traveling, Leffen has faced - and overcome - more logistical roadblocks than any comparable player. Many times, these roadblocks came at moments where it looked like Leffen was a hair away from seizing the world No. 1 spot. Either way, something tells me that we're going to see the Evo champion succeed many more times throughout the next decade.
The mere thought of an official Mew2King retirement - a scene without him at all - is somehow equally valid and unthinkable alike, as Mew2King has taken a step back from competing within the last two years while still remaining active as a content creator. Regardless, his ultimate legacy remains his near-unparalleled dedication to the game; his presence that unquestionably remains a foundation for the scene to be what it is today.
Ken was called The King of Smash for a very good reason: his reign of terror at the top is something we'll never see again. Ken has, by far, the most consecutive grand finals appearances at majors of all-time (14). He dominated the scene from its inception, winning Tournament Go 4 before he even knew how to wavedash.
He also invented dashdancing, the Marth upthrow chaingrab on spacies, coined wobbling - hell, he has a goddamn combo named after him. Ken's influence is still felt every time you see a certain other red Marth destroy people, though I'd argue that the color still belongs to the king; the greatest Marth to ever touch the game. It'll take a lot to unseat him from his throne.
His emotional EVO 2016 victory, his incredible run at the end of 2017 to become No. 1 in the world, and his reign of terror through the next two years practically cemented Hungrybox in the conversation for greatest of all-time. It took an international crisis in 2020 to slow down his otherwise inevitable journey to the top, but with Melee now back in full swing, who knows what's in store for the Clutchgod? Will he ever choose to lose again?
He was also the head organizer of Europe's first truly international tournament series (BEAST), an innovator of both Peach and Fox; someone everybody feared and respected from when he proved what he could do at Genesis. Many of Melee's greatest moments involve toppling Armada, because doing so was such an impossible feat.
By Anokh "EdwinBudding" Palakurthi
Only Mango can say that he beat Ken in 2007, tore Mew2King's heart out in 2009, fiercely battled with Armada in 2016, outdueled Hungrybox in 2019, and vanquished Zain in 2021. If aliens invaded the planet; if the sky finally turned red and meteors began to fall; if an otherworldly calamity split the seas and tore the ground apart, Mango would remain in front of a CRT, holding a GameCube controller, and playing Melee with his last breath.
He is the unfading spirit of Melee, an embodiment of the game's perseverance over so many years, and the Melee Stats Top 100 pick for greatest player of all-time.
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