The Five Gods
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The Five Gods is a term referring to the five very best players of Super Smash Bros. Melee, who consistently dominated tournaments from around 2008 - 2018, after the "Golden Age of Smash", while rarely losing tournament sets to players that aren't "Gods" themselves.
The players considered the five gods, in alphabetical order, are:
History[edit]
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This article or section is incomplete. You can help SmashWiki by expanding or finishing it. The editor who added this tag elaborates: Document the rise and fall more coherently, clean up the writing, etc. |
After the release of Brawl, the "Golden Age of Smash", marked by the dominance of players like Ken, KoreanDJ, and Isai, had effectively ended, with Brawl superceding competitive Melee for some time. However, this changed with Revival of Melee, a tournament that brought about exactly what its name claimed. During this period, Armada, Hungrybox, Mango, Mew2King, and PPMD (then known as Dr. PeePee) soon established themselves as the "Five Gods".
The Five Gods won nearly every Melee tournament where at least two of them were in attendance from 2008 to 2014, while rarely losing tournament sets to players not among the gods themselves. The sole exception was Don't Go Down There Jeff, where Mango sandbagged for part of the tourney.
While The Five Gods had continued to dominate Melee majors in the new era, notably featuring Mango's two wins at EVO 2013 and 2014, Leffen and Plup had emerged as true challengers to them, and are the only two players who have defeated all five in a tournament set. Following his rise in 2014, Leffen won B.E.A.S.T 5, marking the first non-God victory at a major with at least two in attendance since 2008; he won his first American major, CEO 2015, that same year, with three of the gods present. He also won Get On My Level 2016, defeating four gods all in a row without dropping a set. Plup became the second player after Leffen to win a major with two or more gods in attendance, taking DreamHack Atlanta 2017 over Hungrybox and Mew2King; he then won GENESIS 5, winning over Mango and Armada, and double eliminating Hungrybox.
Many new players also went on to defeat the remaining gods and win majors, some with unconventional characters. At EVO 2018, Swedish Delight defeated Armada early in winners, and Armada made an impressive losers run only to lose to Leffen in Grand Finals, marking Leffen’s first EVO win. Zain claimed victory at Shine 2018 over Mango and Hungrybox and has continued to be a threat to the gods; he later went on to win his first supermajor at GENESIS 7 as well, once again defeating Mango and Hungrybox. Wizzrobe earned his first supermajor victory at Smash 'N' Splash 5 by double-eliminating Hungrybox, marking the first Melee supermajor won by a solo Captain Falcon main since Isai at MOAST 3 all the way back in 2005. Similarly, Axe took 1st at Smash Summit 8 while defeating Zain, Mango, Leffen, and Wizzrobe, marking Axe’s first supermajor win and the first ever major win by a solo Pikachu. The rise of unorthodox characters has spurred renewed interest in Melee, and rise of many new challengers to the Gods has signaled the end of their reign.
Demi-gods[edit]
Some players have achieved notoriety and success comparable to the five gods and whose skill level lies at or around the top players; these players are most commonly considered the "demi-gods". These players are known to frequently earn high placings in large tournaments, and even occasionally take sets off of the gods and other top players, but do not have quite the historical significance or have reached quite the skill level or consistency of the gods. A common barometer for being considered a demigod is to take at least one set off of at least one of the gods. For example, Leffen has taken a set off of all five gods, Fly Amanita and Wobbles have each taken sets off of four of the gods, except for Armada. Axe, Zain, aMSa, Westballz, Shroomed, PewPewU, SFAT, ChuDat, Lucky, and Hax have each beaten three of the gods.
Tournaments in which all five gods participated[edit]
The first tournament with all Five Gods in attendance was Pound 4 in January 2010, although PPMD was not considered in contention at that event.
| Tournament | Date | Armada | Hungrybox | Mango | Mew2King | PPMD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pound 4 | January 16th-18th, 2010 | 4th | 2nd | 1st | 5th | 9th |
| Apex 2010 | August 6th-8th, 2010 | 2nd | 1st | 25th** | 3rd | 4th |
| Pound V | February 19th-21st, 2011 | 2nd | 3rd | 17th** | 5th* | 1st |
| GENESIS 2 | July 15th-17th, 2011 | 1st | 4th | 2nd | 5th | 7th |
| Apex 2012 | January 6th-8th, 2012 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 17th* | 5th |
| Apex 2013 | January 11th-13th, 2013 | 1st | 5th | 4th | 3rd | 2nd |
| EVO 2013 | July 12th-14th, 2013 | 4th | 3rd | 1st | 5th | 5th |
| MLG Anaheim 2014 | June 20th-22nd, 2014 | 2nd | 7th | 1st | 3rd | 4th |
| EVO 2014 | July 11th-13th, 2014 | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 5th | 4th |
| Apex 2015 | January 30th-February 1st, 2015 | 2nd | 5th | 4th | 9th | 1st |
| GENESIS 3 | January 15th-17th, 2016 | 1st | 3rd | 2nd | 9th | 6th |
| Battle of the Five Gods | March 17th-19th, 2016 | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 7th | 10th |
*Mew2King forfeited in losers after losing to PPMD at Pound V and Wobbles at Apex 2012.
**Mango was sandbagging under his Scorpion Master alias.
Legacy[edit]
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This article or section is incomplete. You can help SmashWiki by expanding or finishing it. The editor who added this tag elaborates: Absolutely inadequate - cover media attention, additional community events, modern activities for each god, and more. Could also add a section for retrospective evaluation of each god's skill. |
The Five Gods have attained a near-mythical status in the Smash community, especially Melee, making them a household name among players.
Documentaries covering Melee inevitably discuss the Five Gods. The Smash Brothers covers the seven greatest players before the era of the gods, affectionately referred to as the Golden Age of Smash, where Mew2King and Mango are part of both groups. Said documentary revolutionised the Melee community at the time, prompting an influx of new players, occasionally referred to as "doc kids". Metagame employs a similar format to The Smash Brothers and focuses on The Five Gods themselves, as well as Leffen, the "Godslayer".
In 2016, Battle of the Five Gods invited all Five Gods in addition to other famous players, with a payout of $13,000, at the time the highest payout in the game's history. Hungrybox won the event.
