Super Smash Bros. Melee in competitive play
Super Smash Bros. Melee has been played competitively since its inception in 2001 (although it started with a relatively low popularity until 2003), and it continues to thrive in the competitive scene to this day. The scene has gone through several "eras" of smashers, most notably the "golden age" and the "era of The Five Gods".
The "Golden Age"
The Golden Age of Super Smash Bros. Melee is the first era of competitive Smash brothers during the years 2003 to 2006. Major League Gaming professionally sponsored Smash resulting in large prize pools compared to the number of competitors. Ken Hoang, Azen, ChuDat, Isai, PC Chris, KDJ and Mew2King were considered the best players of this age, Hoang notably being dubbed the "King of Smash".
The "Dark Age"
When Brawl released in 2008, the period between its release and around 2012 and 2013 have often been dubbed the "Dark Age" due to Melee's temporary decline in popularity. As Brawl itself declined in 2013, many players returned to Melee and has since seen a revival from 2013 onward known as the "Platinum Age" or otherwise called the era of "The Five Gods."
The Five Gods
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, when the MLG era was over, to the present, while rarely losing tournament sets to players that aren't among the gods themselves. The players considered the five gods, in alphabetical order, are:
The first tournament to feature all five gods was Pound 4 in January 2010, although PPMD (or Dr. PeePee as he was then known) was not considered in contention at that event.
Leffen is now considered to be on par with the "gods", placing better than a few in recent tournaments. Since the beginning of 2014, Leffen has shown rapid improvement in the game, consistently taking tournament sets off of the other gods and having managed to regularly place in winners' finals, and by 2015, he began making it to grand finals and winning American national tournaments. After beating Mew2King at Apex 2015, he became the first player to take a set off of each of the five gods. However, it has often been argued that the title of "God" cannot truly be revoked, and that it is more or less a reflection of an era where they dominated national tournaments (in a similar vein to "King of Smash" still being associated with Ken, despite his lack of high placings at even semi-majors). Groupings that include Leffen may sometimes use the term "The Big Six", "The Sinister Six" or simply "top 6" to reference his inclusion without conflicting with the "Five Gods" title.
The gods have won every major tournament with at least two of the players in attendance from 2008 until 2014, when Leffen began to win majors in Europe, as well as CEO 2015, his first North American victory, with three of gods present; consequently, the big six have won every major tournament with at least two of the players in attendance since 2008.
Demi-gods
There are several players whose level of skill lies just below the top players; Plup, Westballz, and Axe are currently the players most commonly considered the "demi-gods". These three players are known to frequently earn high placings in large tournaments, as well as for occasionally taking sets off of the gods and Leffen, but have yet to achieve the skill level or consistency of the players above them. In addition, Wobbles and Plup have taken sets off of four of the gods, except for Armada. Westballz, Axe, Shroomed, and Fly Amanita have beaten three of the gods.
Wobbles finished 2nd at EVO 2013, the largest tournament at the time, and taking down Hungrybox and PPMD in the process. He has also beaten every god except for Armada, whose Peach is considered a lopsided match-up for the Ice Climbers. Wobbles also took a period of retirement throughout 2013 and 2014, but has still been able to perform at the highest levels, winning Low Tier City 3 and Forte 3.
Tournaments in which at all five gods attended
| Tournament | Date | Armada | Hungrybox | Mango | Mew2King | PPMD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pound 4 | Jan 16-18, 2010 | 4th | 2nd | 1st | 5th | 9th |
| GENESIS 2 | Jul 15-17, 2011 | 1st | 4th | 2nd | 5th | 7th |
| Apex 2012 | Jan 6-8, 2012 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 17th* | 5th |
| Apex 2013 | Jan 11-13, 2013 | 1st | 5th | 4th | 3rd | 2nd |
| EVO 2013 | Jul 12-14, 2013 | 4th | 3rd | 1st | 5th | 5th |
| MLG Anaheim 2014 | Jun 20-22, 2014 | 2nd | 7th | 1st | 3rd | 4th |
| EVO 2014 | Jul 11-13, 2014 | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 5th | 4th |
| Apex 2015 | Jan 30-Feb 1st, 2015 | 2nd | 5th | 4th | 9th | 1st |
| GENESIS 3 | Jan 15-17, 2016 | 1st | 3rd | 2nd | 9th | 6th |
| Battle of the 5 Gods | Jan 15-17, 2016 | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 7th | 9th |
*Mew2King forfeited in losers after losing to Wobbles
See also
- The Smash Brothers - documentary about the seven greatest players before the era of the gods, Mew2King and Mango are part of both groups
