Zain is a Melee Marth main from Reston, Virginia who is currently residing in Blacksburg, Virginia and is considered to be one of the best Melee players in the world. He is known for his incredibly lethal punish game on space animal players and methodical play against floaty characters, and is currently considered to be the best Marth player in the world. He is currently ranked 1st on the MD/VA Melee Power Rankings and 6th on the 2019 MPGR.
On April 12, 2018, Zain was signed by Panda Global[1], but left on November 8th, 2019[2]. On February 6th, he was picked up by the Golden Guardians, the official esports affiliate of the Golden State Warriors NBA team[3].
Tournament history
He started playing competitively in May 2014 and has quickly climbed the ranks, notably winning the S@X Fall Arcadian. Zain gained recognition at the national level at The Big House 6 when he defeated Plup 2-0 in pools. He went on to place 17th after beating KJH and Tafokints. He notably took a set off of Leffen 3-2 at Smash 'N' Splash 3 placing 13th, and sets off of ChuDat and SFAT 2-1 and 3-0 respectively at Super Smash Con 2017, placing 5th at said event. At Smash Summit 6, he beat both Mango and Plup to take 3rd. Finally, at Shine 2018, Zain won his first major tournament, beating Mango and double eliminating Hungrybox, taking his first ever victories over the latter. Over a year later, he took his first set over Mew2King at The Big House 9, placing 2nd. A few months after The Big House 9, Zain won his first supermajor at GENESIS 7 without dropping a set, defeating Hungrybox 3-1, Mango, and Hungrybox again 3-2.
Tournament placings
| Tournament |
Date |
1v1 placement |
2v2 placement |
Partner
|
| [1] |
October 4th, 2014 |
9th |
— |
—
|
| Virginia Tech 2v2 Tournament |
October 15th, 2014 |
— |
3rd |
David
|
| Grass Roots Monthly! |
November 8th, 2014 |
5th |
3rd |
?
|
| [2] |
December 3rd, 2014 |
— |
2nd |
?
|
| Fueled By Melee |
December 6th, 2014 |
4th |
7th |
?
|
| Grass Roots Monthly #2! |
December 7th, 2014 |
3rd |
? |
?
|
| S@X 78 |
January 7th, 2015 |
17th |
— |
—
|
| Grass Roots Monthly #3! |
January 31st, 2015 |
3rd |
? |
?
|
| PK Smash #1 |
February 18th, 2015 |
4th |
— |
—
|
| Fueled By Melee 3 |
February 21st, 2015 |
3rd |
? |
?
|
| Fueled By Melee 4 |
April 12th, 2015 |
2nd |
3rd |
?
|
| Xanadu Arcadian |
May 16th, 2015 |
9th |
— |
—
|
| S@X 98 |
May 20th, 2015 |
7th |
— |
—
|
| S@X 99 |
May 27th, 2015 |
13th |
— |
—
|
| S@X 101 |
June 10th, 2015 |
9th |
— |
—
|
| Super Smash Con 2015 |
August 6th-9th, 2015 |
33rd |
— |
—
|
| S@X 111 |
August 19th, 2015 |
7th |
— |
—
|
| Grass Roots Monthly #8! |
August 29th, 2015 |
3rd |
— |
—
|
| The Fall Arcadian |
October 17th, 2015 |
1st |
— |
—
|
| Pound 2016 |
April 2nd-3rd, 2016 |
49th |
25th |
PRISON
|
| S@X 151 |
May 25th, 2016 |
1st |
— |
—
|
| S@X 152 |
June 1st, 2016 |
4th |
— |
—
|
| S@X 153 |
June 8th, 2016 |
5th |
— |
—
|
| EVO 2016 |
July 15th-17th, 2016 |
49th |
— |
—
|
| Super Smash Con 2016 |
August 11th-14th, 2016 |
33rd |
17th |
SypherPhoenix
|
| The Big House 6 |
October 7th-9th, 2016 |
17th |
33rd |
SypherPhoenix
|
| S@X 182 |
December 28th, 2016 |
1st |
— |
—
|
| GENESIS 4 |
January 20th-22nd, 2017 |
33rd |
17th |
Redd
|
| Smash Valley V |
February 18th, 2017 |
5th |
— |
—
|
| Training Mode Tuesday 3 |
March 7th, 2017 |
1st |
— |
—
|
| Smash @ Power 9 #22 |
March 9th, 2017 |
7th |
1st |
Captain Faceroll
|
| CEO Dreamland |
April 14th-16th, 2017 |
17th |
9th |
SypherPhoenix
|
| Smash 'N' Splash 3 |
June 2nd-4th, 2017 |
13th |
13th |
Junebug
|
| Bad Moon Rising 2 |
July 1st, 2017 |
9th |
5th |
SypherPhoenix
|
| Get On My Level 2017 |
July 29-30th, 2017 |
9th |
9th |
R2DLiu
|
| Super Smash Con 2017 |
August 10th-13th, 2017 |
5th |
13th |
SypherPhoenix
|
| The Big House 7 |
October 6th-8th, 2017 |
17th |
7th |
MilkMan
|
| DreamHack Denver 2017 |
October 20th-22nd, 2017 |
7th |
— |
—
|
| MD/VA Melee Invitational |
November 25th, 2017 |
4th |
— |
—
|
| Pat's House 3 |
December 2nd-3rd, 2017 |
2nd |
9th |
Prince Abu
|
| S@X 233 |
December 20th, 2017 |
1st |
— |
—
|
| GENESIS 5 |
January 19th-21st, 2018 |
13th |
33rd |
R2DLiu
|
| The Gang Hosts a Melee Tournament |
February 3rd, 2018 |
2nd |
— |
—
|
| Smash Valley: Lucky 7 |
February 17th, 2018 |
2nd |
4th |
MilkMan
|
| Unity 19 |
March 3rd, 2018 |
1st |
— |
—
|
| Nimbus #8 |
March 8th, 2018 |
1st |
— |
—
|
| EGLX 2018 |
March 9th-11th, 2018 |
9th |
— |
—
|
| SWEET 31 |
March 17th, 2018 |
1st |
2nd |
KJH
|
| Full Bloom 4 |
March 24th-25th, 2018 |
9th |
— |
—
|
| Flatiron 3 |
April 21st, 2018 |
7th |
— |
—
|
| Smash Summit 6 |
May 3rd-6th, 2018 |
3rd |
7th |
HugS
|
| Pound Underground |
May 12th-13th, 2018 |
1st |
5th |
MilkMan
|
| S@X 250 |
May 16th, 2018 |
3rd |
— |
—
|
| Get On My Level 2018 |
May 18th-20th, 2018 |
5th |
— |
—
|
| Smash 'N' Splash 4 |
June 1st-3rd, 2018 |
5th |
— |
—
|
| OMEGA II |
June 16th-17th, 2018 |
1st |
3rd |
MilkMan
|
| CEO 2018 |
June 29th-July 1st, 2018 |
5th |
25th |
MilkMan
|
| Aurora Blitz |
July 21st, 2018 |
3rd |
— |
—
|
| EVO 2018 |
August 3rd-5th, 2018 |
9th |
— |
—
|
| Super Smash Con 2018 |
August 9th-12th, 2018 |
9th |
7th |
MilkMan
|
| Shine 2018 |
August 24th-26th, 2018 |
1st |
— |
—
|
| The Roast of Hugo Gonzalez |
September 22nd, 2018 |
2nd |
— |
—
|
| The Big House 8 |
October 5th-7th, 2018 |
4th |
— |
—
|
| GameTyrant Expo 2018 |
November 2nd-4th, 2018 |
3rd |
1st |
SFAT
|
| Smash Summit 7 |
November 15th-18th, 2018 |
7th |
7th |
Rishi
|
| The Parking Lot - Friday |
December 14th, 2018 |
1st |
— |
—
|
| Don't Park on the Grass 2018 |
December 15th-16th, 2018 |
3rd |
1st |
MilkMan
|
| GENESIS 6 |
February 1st-3rd, 2019 |
9th |
65th |
Arris
|
| Here Be Mid Tiers 5 |
February 9th, 2019 |
1st |
13th |
Arris
|
| The Script 2 |
February 16th-17th, 2019 |
1st |
3rd |
MilkMan
|
| The Gang Steals The Script |
March 9th, 2019 |
1st |
1st |
MilkMan
|
| Full Bloom 5 |
March 23rd-24th, 2019 |
1st |
3rd |
Swedish Delight
|
| Battle of BC 3: Pre-Weekly |
March 29th, 2019 |
2nd |
— |
—
|
| Battle of BC 3 |
March 30th-31st, 2019 |
2nd |
1st |
SFAT
|
| Pound 2019 |
April 19th-21st, 2019 |
4th |
4th |
Chillindude
|
| Come to Papa 3 |
April 27th-28th, 2019 |
1st |
1st |
Plup
|
| Shell Shocked 20 |
May 4th, 2019 |
1st |
1st |
Hazy
|
| Get On My Level 2019 |
May 17th-19th, 2019 |
7th |
7th |
Chillindude
|
| Smash 'N' Splash 5 |
May 31st-June 2nd, 2019 |
4th |
7th |
Chillindude
|
| The Kid, the Goat, and the Mang0 |
June 8th-9th, 2019 |
17th |
9th |
Chillindude
|
| Smash Summit 8 |
June 13th-17th, 2019 |
5th |
2nd |
Plup
|
| Low Tier City 7 |
July 12th-14th, 2019 |
2nd |
7th |
DJ Nintendo
|
| Super Smash Con 2019 |
August 8th-11th, 2019 |
3rd |
5th |
MilkMan
|
| Smash Camp: End of Summer |
September 14th-15th |
1st |
— |
—
|
| Mainstage |
September 20th-22nd, 2019 |
3rd |
— |
—
|
| The Big House 9 |
October 4th-6th, 2019 |
2nd |
— |
—
|
| DreamHack Rotterdam |
October 18th-20th, 2019 |
1st |
1st |
S2J
|
| Mango's Birthday Bash |
December 7th-8th, 2019 |
5th |
2nd |
Hungrybox
|
| GENESIS 7 |
January 24th-26th, 2020 |
1st |
5th |
Hungrybox
|
| Smash Summit 9 |
February 13th-16th, 2020 |
4th |
— |
—
|
| The Cave 2/24 |
February 24th, 2020 |
1st |
2nd |
Aglet
|
| Pound Online |
April 24th-26th, 2020 |
1st |
— |
—
|
| Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 2 |
July 25th-26th, 2020 |
1st |
— |
—
|
| Frame Perfect Series 2: ONLINE |
September 19th, 2020 |
9th |
— |
—
|
| Slippi Champions League - Season 1 Week 1 |
October 11th, 2020 |
2nd |
— |
—
|
| Slippi Champions League - Season 1 Week 2 |
October 18th, 2020 |
1st |
— |
—
|
| Slippi Champions League - Season 1 Week 3 |
October 25th, 2020 |
1st |
— |
—
|
| Slippi Champions League - Season 1 Week 4 |
October 31st, 2020 |
1st |
— |
—
|
| Smash Summit 10 Online |
November 19th-22nd, 2020 |
1st |
— |
—
|
Trivia
- Zain is one of only five players to hold a positive record against Mango (7-6), the others being Armada, ARMY, Flipsy, and Magi.
- Zain has defeated 5 of the members of the 2018 MPGR top 6 (all but Armada), defeating Plup at The Big House 6 (and later beating him again at Smash Summit 6 after Plup's ascension to "god-level"), Leffen at Smash 'N' Splash 3, Mango at Smash Summit 6, Hungrybox at Shine 2018, and Mew2King at The Big House 9.
- Zain sometimes competes in online tournaments by sandbagging under the tag "DontTestMe", where he goes solo Roy in bracket and has won multiple netplay events over other MPGR-ranked players.
External linksReferences
2019 MPGR: 6th 