C9.MaNg0 "Scorpion Master, The Kid"
Mangomlg.jpg
Character info
Melee mains Fox, Falco
Other Melee characters Captain Falcon, Jigglypuff, Mario, Marth
Project M mains Falco, Fox
Other Project M characters Captain Falcon, Mario
Team info
Crew(s) Cloud9
Former crews Melee It On Me, Roundbit, The Blade Breakers
Personal and other info
Real name Joseph Marquez
Birth date (age 33)
Location Norwalk, California United States
Miscellaneous info
Skill Other Top professional
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Mango (often stylized as MaNg0, also known as Scorpion Master or The Kid) is a top professional Melee player from Norwalk, California who is currently ranked 1st on the SoCal Melee Power Rankings and was formerly ranked at the 0 position on the Northeastern Ohio Melee Power Rankings. Mango is famous for being able to play several characters at a competitive level, making significant impacts at tournaments with Fox, Falco, Jigglypuff, Mario, Captain Falcon, Link, and Marth. Because of his innovations and dominance with Jigglypuff from 2007 to 2009, Mango is generally credited for Jigglypuff's large jump in the Melee tier list, from ranking 6th and 7th with Captain Falcon to ranking 3rd (now 5th).

Currently, Mango is considered to be one of the best Fox players in the world (along with Armada and Leffen) and one of the two best Falco players in the world (along with PPMD). Melee It On Me's 2013 SSBM Player Rankings and 2014 SSBM Player Rankings ranked Mango as the #1 Melee player in the world, and he remains the only smasher in history to have won Melee singles in EVO more than once, performing the feat in the 2013 and 2014 installments of the series. Some consider Mango to be the "Greatest of All Time", or "GOAT".

Biography

Origin of the name

Mango received his gamertag in the 5th grade while playing the PC first-person shooter Counter-Strike. At a LAN party, he entered his name as "I want a Mango" and his friends called him "Mango" ever since.

Rise to fame

Mango placed 3rd in Singles at EVO World 2007, defeating many of the best known professional smashers. He placed 3rd in singles at Super Champ Combo, again defeating many well-known players. In doubles, he also placed 3rd with his partner Lucky, even beating the team of Ken and Isai.

On February 4th, 2008, Mango won Pound 3, having beaten top professionals such as Forward, Cort, PC Chris, ChuDat, and Mew2King.

By March 8th, 2009, he was considered one of the best active Melee players in the world, having beaten PC Chris, ChuDat, Mew2King, and many other smashers at Revival of Melee in Nanuet, New York, placing 1st.

On July 10th, 2009, Mango attended GENESIS by DBR, which had 290 entrants in Melee Singles (Melee's largest tournament ever at the time), where he reached the Winners' Finals and lost 2-3 the first set against Armada, a Peach main regarded as the best player in Europe. After defeating Hungrybox in Losers' Finals 3-0, Mango reached Grand Finals against Armada. Mango then proceeded to win a very intense and close second set 3-2, and the third set 3-0 to win the tournament.

Revival of Melee 2 was the cause of much debate within the Smash community when Mango placed fourth after being double eliminated by Kage The Warrior. However, rumors and uncertainty ended after Mango claimed 1st place at Pound 4 (then the largest tournament in Melee history with over 300 entrants) without dropping a set, defeating Hungrybox 3-1 in Grand Finals.

Since his victory at Pound 4, Mango was regarded by many to be the world champion of SSBM.

Scorpion Master

After being banned on SmashBoards, Mango, along with DBR and the rest of his region, decided to prank the rest of the Smash community by creating an alias known as ScorpionMaster94 and sandbag at a number of tournaments. Originally going to use Luigi or Samus, when using his alias, Mango decided to use Mario after soundly defeating fellow SoCal smasher Smoke2Jointz in a money match.

Mango and the rest of SoCal created a backstory for his alias, claiming "Scorp" was a prodigy from Mexico named Joshua Lopez who defeated everyone in SoCal and was ready to place Top 3 at Apex 2010. Mango, however, failed in this endeavor, losing to Wobbles and Eggz and getting an unexpected 25th place at Apex 2010. Mango continued to sandbag with other characters, such as Captain Falcon and Marth, in addition to his Mario, convincingly defeating Kage The Warrior 2-0 with Link and Marth at Revival of Melee 3 and receiving 9th place, and placing 17th at Pound V.

Regaining the lead

Mango's planned revival was GENESIS 2. Despite being upset by Taj in Winners Semis, he was able to fire through Losers Bracket to reach Grand Finals against Armada, defeating Hungrybox 3-0 in Losers Semis and Taj again 2-0 in Losers Finals (Taj forfeited after he was 4 stocked in game 2). After a close and intense set, Mango ultimately placed 2nd, losing 2-3 against Armada.

Mango secured his position as champion of North America by winning Revival of Melee 4, convincingly defeating Dr. PeePee 3-0 in Winners Finals and 3-1 in Grand Finals.

At Apex 2012, Mango fell short of people's expectations and placed 3rd after losing 0-3 to Armada in Winners Finals and 1-3 to Hungrybox in Losers Finals.

After Apex 2012, Mango began to regain the dominant lead he held back in 2008. He won IMPULSE, a Canadian national tournament, after defeating Dr. PeePee, Hungrybox and Mew2King. Mango continued to defend his victory streak, convincingly defeating Hungrybox in Grand Finals at MELEE-FC10R Legacy and again at The Big House 2, winning both national tournaments without dropping a set.

At Apex 2013, Mango defeated several notable smashers in Winners bracket such as Nintendude, Vwins, and Eggm, before losing to Mew2King. In Losers bracket, he defeated Vwins again, Hax, and Hungrybox before losing to Mew2King again, placing 4th.

Road to EVO 2013

At B.E.A.S.T 3 in Sweden, Mango won the tournament after defeating well known European smashers such as Zgetto, Baxon, Overtriforce, and finally Ice in Grand Finals.

At Kings of Cali 2, Mango won the tournament without dropping a set, defeating Shroomed 3-1 in Winners Finals and Wobbles 3-0 in Grand Finals.

At NorCal Regionals 2013, Mango was upset by PewPewU in Winners Semis. Mango reached Grand Finals after defeating Fly Amanita, Westballz, and PewPewU in the Losers Bracket and won a convincing 3-0 first set against Hungrybox (including a 4 stock in game 2), but failed to pull through in the second set, losing 2-3.

At Vindication, Mango defeated Mew2King in Winners Finals 3-0, but lost the first set of Grand Finals 1-3. However, he managed to win the second set 3-1, winning the tournament.

Zenith 2013 was a significant tournament, with all 4 top players in the United States present for the first time since Apex 2013 as well as being a road to EVO qualifier. Mango was put in the Losers Bracket by Mew2King after losing Winners Semis 1-3. He defeated DaShizWiz 2-0 in Losers Quarters, Dr. PeePee 3-1 in Losers Semis, and Mew2King 3-1 in Losers Finals before reaching Grand Finals against Hungrybox. Mango won the tournament after defeating Hungrybox in 2 sets, both 3-1.

At IMPULSE 2013 in Toronto, Mango claimed 1st place without dropping a game, defeating Unknown522 3-0 in both Winners and Grand Finals. Mango also took 1st in Melee Doubles (teaming with Unknown522) and 1st in Project M Singles.

EVO 2013

 
Mango after winning EVO 2013.

With 709 entrants, EVO 2013 is currently the third largest Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament of all time, and was the largest for a year. With his victory at Zenith 2013, Mango was the number one seed and successfully advanced from his pool in day one, cruising into the Winners' Quarters pool without dropping a game.

On day two, Mango then proceeded to the Winners Semis pool after defeating Axe 2-1. In Winners Semis, Mango was put in the Losers Bracket after losing 1-2 to Wobbles. Mango then cemented his place in the Top 8 after defeating SFAT 2-1.

Mango began EVO finals in the Losers Bracket. He defeated Ice 2-0 and Dr. PeePee 2-0 before reaching Losers Semis against Armada. In a highly anticipated match, Mango defeated Armada 2-0 to reach Losers Finals against Hungrybox. After defeating Hungrybox 2-0, Mango reached Grand Finals against Wobbles. Mango then defeated Wobbles in 2 sets, 3-0 and 3-1 to become the champion of EVO 2013.

Post EVO 2013

After winning EVO 2013 and with the birth of his son, Mango announced that he would be taking a small hiatus from competitive Melee. During this period he entered tournaments primarily with secondary characters, including placing 2nd at LANHAMMER 2013 with Marth and 2nd at Pound V.5 with Marth and Captain Falcon.

At Fight Pitt 3, Mango's Fox defeated Mew2King's Marth 3-2 in Winners Finals. However, Mew2King managed to take 2 sets from Mango in Grand Finals to win the tournament, both sets 3-1.

At Apex 2014, Mango beat Fiction 2-0 in Winners Quarters but was defeated 1-3 by Dr. PeePee in Winners Semis. He then defeated Hungrybox in Losers Quarters 2-0 to reach Losers Semis against Leffen, the preeminent Fox player in Europe. Mango defeated Leffen in a riveting 3-2 set (including a 4-stock in game 5). Mango ultimately lost to Mew2King 1-3 in Losers Finals and placed 3rd.

Cloud9 and MLG Anaheim 2014

Revival of Melee 7 marked Mango's return to competitive Melee. Mango won the tournament without dropping a set, defeating Hungrybox 3-0 in winners' quarters, Darrell 3-0 in winners' semis and Mew2King 3-2 in winners' finals and 3-1 in Grand Finals. This was also the third time Mango has claimed a ROM title.

At Fight Pitt IV, Mango faced off against Mew2King in winners' finals and won 3-2. In Grand Finals, Mew2King won the first set 3-2, but Mango prevailed in the second set, winning 3-0. In the final set, Mango's Falco was able to defeat Mew2King's Marth on Final Destination in two consecutive games, a remarkable feat considering Mew2King's mastery of the Space Animal match-up on that stage.

At WHOBO MLG, Mango was upset by Hax 1-3 in winners' finals. Mango went on to defeat Hax in two sets of grand finals 6-0 using Falco to win the tournament and successfully qualify for MLG Anaheim 2014.

On May 6th, 2014, Cloud9 announced that they had signed Mango to lead their fighting games division. Mango's first tournament under this new sponsor was Get On My Level 2014, where he took 1st place, defeating Kage 2-0, KirbyKaze and Mew2King 3-0, and Hungrybox 3-2 in grand finals for the title. However, at subsequent tournaments, Mango did not perform as well. At SKTAR 3, he lost to PPMD 1-3 in winners' finals, and then was eliminated by Mew2King 1-3 in losers' finals, finishing at 3rd place overall. At Super SWEET, he was defeated by Armada 2-3 in winners' finals then eliminated by Mew2King 1-3 once again in losers' finals, with the last match being a 4-stock against him on Pokémon Stadium.

MLG Anaheim 2014 was notable for having one of the largest prize pools in Smash history at $15,000. Mango defeated PPMD in winners' semis 3-2 and Armada in winners' finals and grand finals, both sets 3-2, to claim first place.

Mango later attended CEO 2014, where he managed to defeat Mew2King 2-0 and Armada 3-1 to secure a spot in grand finals. However, CEO proved not to be a repeat of MLG Anaheim, as Armada came back in grand finals to win two sets over Mango, 0-3 and 1-3, to take the tournament.

At Kings of Cali 4, Mango defeated MacD, Fiction, and aMSa 3-0 before reaching winners' finals against Armada, where he won 3-1. He lost the first set of grand finals 0-3 to Armada, but still won the second set 3-1, placing 1st overall in singles at the tournament.

EVO 2014

EVO 2014 had a total of 970 entrants for Melee, surpassing the record set by EVO 2013 and becoming the largest Melee tournament for over six months. In the winners' quarters pool, he defeated Axe 2-1 to make it into the top 8 via winners' bracket. He then defeated Mew2King 2-0, and Hungrybox 3-2 in both winners' finals and grand finals, to take first place.

This victory caused Mango to become the first player to win Melee singles at EVO more than once. Due to these victories along with his victory at MLG Anaheim 2014, Mango was considered by many to be the world champion of Melee at the time.

Apex 2015

Mango's appearance at the Apex tournament in February of 2015 was largely the role of an avenger after Leffen's highly anticipated and convincing 5-0 game win against Chillin. In response to Chillin's loss, Mango challenged Leffen claiming: "[If] we meet in bracket, we're putting one thousand on it." Leffen immediately accepted and would go on to defeat Mango's Falco with Fox in a series of hard fought matches that ended with a 3-1 game score in Leffen's favor. After the defeat, Mango defeated Yoshi main aMSa in a close 5 game set 3-2 in loser's quarters before losing to Armada 0-3 in loser's semis, netting 4th place.

EVO 2015

EVO 2015 became the largest Melee tournament of all time, with 1869 entrants. Mango was knocked into the losers bracket in winners quarters by Plup's Sheik 1-2 in a rematch from CEO 2015, causing a major upset. He beat DruggedFox 2-0 to make it into top 8, then beat ChuDat 2-0 to face Hungrybox in losers quarters. Due to two early SDs in game 3, Hungrybox ended up barely winning over Mango 2-1, ending Mango's EVO run at 5th place, meaning a new EVO champion would be crowned, which ended up being Armada.

Playing Style

With Fox, Mango is known for his excellent neutral game, including excellent dash-dancing, non-stop approaching with shine, and run-up shield mix-ups. With Falco, Mango is known for creativity, excellent use of crouch cancels and shine out-of-shield to start combos and an unparalleled ability to dominate otherwise amazing players when the crowd is behind him. Mango is also capable of playing many characters at a very high level, including Mario, Jigglypuff, Falcon and Marth. With every character, Mango is known for having world class DI, great recovery as well as reading and reacting to his opponent's poor choices.

Notable tournament placings

Melee

Tournament Date 1v1 placement 2v2 placement Partner
UCLA Monthlies II March 24th, 2007 9th 4th Lucky
Super Smash Royale III April 28th, 2007 5th 5th Lucky
UCLA Monthlies III May 26th, 2007 4th 7th Lucky
Zero Challenge 3 July 20th-22nd, 2007 25th 5th Lucky
EVO West July 27th-29th, 2007 7th
EVO World 2007 August 24th-26th, 2007 3rd
Super Champ Combo September 29th-30th, 2007 3rd 3rd Lucky
UCLA Monthlies IV: The Return December 1st, 2007 1st (Split) 1st Lucky
SoCal Best of 2007 December 29th, 2007 1st (Split) 1st Lucky
UCSD Winter Smash II January 12th-13th, 2008 1st 1st Lucky
Pound 3 February 2nd-3rd, 2008 1st 2nd Forward
UCLA Monthlies V: Melee Strikes Back March 1st, 2008 5th 1st Lucky
Triweekly XIX June 1st, 2008 1st 1st Tofu
UCLA VII: Avalanche November 9th, 2008 1st 2nd Romeo
SCSA West Coast Circuit #1 December 6th, 2008 1st 1st PsychoMidget
West Coast Smash League December 20th-21st, 2008 1st 1st PsychoMidget
SCSA West Coast Circuit #2 January 31st, 2009 1st 1st Lucky
Quakfest 14: It's Dark And Effing Cold February 7th, 2009 1st 5th P
UCLA Revival February 15th, 2009 1st 2nd Tofu
Revival of Melee March 7th-8th, 2009 1st 1st PC Chris
Mango Juice March 21st, 2009 1st 1st Lucky
SCSA West Coast Circuit #3 March 28th, 2009 1st 1st Soid
CGC @ SFSU VII April 4th, 2009 1st 1st Lucky
Smashpocalypse VII April 18th, 2009 1st 4th JFox
Mass Madness 15 April 18th-19th, 2009 2nd 2nd G$
Event 52: MWC May 23rd-24th, 2009 1st 1st G$
SCSA West Coast Circuit #4 May 30th, 2009 1st 1st Lucky
Mass Madness 16: Mango Madness June 13th-14th, 2009 1st 1st G$
Gigabits Freedom to Melee June 27th, 2009 1st 1st Lucky
GENESIS July 10th-12th, 2009 1st 3rd Lucky
SMYM 10 August 1st, 2009 1st 1st G$
S.N.E.S. August 21st-23rd, 2009 1st 1st Darc
Active Gamers September 26th-27th, 2009 1st 1st Lucky
CGC @ SFSU XII October 10th, 2009 1st 7th Lucky
Pat's House November 14th-15th, 2009 1st 1st G$
Revival of Melee 2 November 21st-22nd, 2009 4th 1st Lucky
Winterfest December 18th-20th, 2009 1st 1st G$
Pound 4 January 16th-18th, 2010 1st 1st Lucky
SCSA West Coast Circuit #5 January 30th, 2010 1st 2nd Alex19
2GG Presents: Champ's Biweekly February 27th, 2010 1st 1st Alex19
NCT & 2GG Presents: Nice Shot Hugo March 27th, 2010 33rd 7th Alex19
TourneyPlay #5 May 8th-9th, 2010 2nd 3rd Alex19
Grev Monthly IX June 27th-28th, 2010 1st 1st PsychoMidget
Grev Monthly X July 17th, 2010 2nd 1st PsychoMidget
Good Shit German July 24th, 2010 2nd 2nd Alex19
Apex 2010 August 6th-8th, 2010 25th 1st Lucky
Revival of Melee 3 November 20th-21st, 2010 9th 1st Lucky
Don't Go Down There Jeff! December 18th, 2010 5th 1st Lucky
Winter Game Fest VI January 22nd-23rd, 2011 2nd 2nd Alex19
Pound V February 19th-21st, 2011 17th 2nd G$
2GG Tatsumaki IV March 26th, 2011 2nd 2nd Alex19
2GG 1.4 May 7th, 2011 1st 1st Lucky
Zenith May 28th-29th, 2011 2nd G$
Grev Monthly XIV July 2nd, 2011 1st
GENESIS 2 July 15th-17th, 2011 2nd 1st Lucky
No Johns Bi-weekly September 3rd, 2011 3rd 1st milktea
Sudden Death IV November 5th, 2011 2nd 2nd Hazz
Revival of Melee 4 November 19th-20th, 2011 1st 2nd G$
Apex 2012 January 6th-8th, 2012 3rd 4th G$
UCSB: Weekend Wars! May 12th, 2012 1st 2nd Westballz
IMPULSE June 30th-July 1st, 2012 1st 1st PPMD
Rule 6 Regional July 29th, 2012 1st 2nd Lucky
MELEE-FC10R Legacy August 12th-14th, 2012 1st 1st DoH
Rule 6 August August 25th, 2012 1st 1st SFAT
O.X.Y: The Documentary?! September 23rd, 2012 1st
The Big House 2 October 6th-7th, 2012 1st 1st SFAT
Kings of Cali November 10th, 2012 2nd 1st Lucky
Rule 6 January January 6th, 2013 1st 1st S2J
Apex 2013 January 11th-13th, 2013 4th 4th DoH
SWEET IX: Winter Opener January 19th, 2013 1st 1st Slarty
B.E.A.S.T 3 April 3rd-7th, 2013 1st 1st Scar
Kings of Cali 2 April 13th-14th, 2013 1st 2nd Scar
NorCal Regionals 2013 April 26th, 2013 2nd 1st Scar
Vindication May 11th, 2013 1st 2nd S2J
Zenith 2013 June 1st-2nd, 2013 1st 4th Scar
IMPULSE 2013 June 15th-16th, 2013 1st 1st Unknown522
EVO 2013 July 12th-14th, 2013 1st 2nd Lucky
Super Smash Sundays 1 August 11th, 2013 1st 1st Tafokints
LanHammer 2013 August 17th-18th, 2013 2nd
Super Smash Sundays 3 September 8th, 2013 5th 3rd Scar
Pound V.5 November 9th, 2013 2nd 1st Mew2King
Fight Pitt III November 23rd, 2013 2nd 3rd Lauren
SWEET XIII January 11th, 2014 1st 1st Carroll
Apex 2014 January 17th-19th, 2014 3rd 2nd Lucky
Y-Town Throwdown I February 8th, 2014 1st 1st Abate
Revival of Melee 7 March 8th-9th, 2014 1st 5th Hazz
Fight Pitt IV April 19th, 2014 1st 1st Mew2King
WHOBO MLG May 3rd-4th, 2014 1st 1st Hax
Get On My Level 2014 May 10th-11th, 2014 1st 2nd Toph
A New Hope May 24th, 2014 1st 1st Beegs
SKTAR 3 May 31st-June 1st, 2014 3rd 2nd PPMD
Super SWEET June 7th-8th, 2014 3rd 2nd Scar
MLG Anaheim 2014 June 20th-22nd, 2014 1st 2nd Lucky
CEO 2014 June 27th-29th, 2014 2nd
Kings of Cali 4 July 5th-6th, 2014 1st 3rd Scar
EVO 2014 July 11th-13th, 2014 1st 7th Lucky
Carroll Fest 5 August 16th, 2014 1st 1st Juggleguy
Smash the Record August 22nd-25th, 2014 3rd 2nd Colbol
The Shape of Melee to Come 5 September 27th, 2014 2nd
The Big House 4 October 4th-5th, 2014 1st 9th Scar
Do You Fox Wit It? November 15th-16th, 2014 2nd Lucky
B.E.A.S.T 5 January 9th-11th, 2015 3rd 3rd Baxon
Apex 2015 January 30th-February 1st, 2015 4th 5th Lucky
Mayhem April 2015 April 4th, 2015 1st
I'm Not Yelling! April 11th-12th, 2015 2nd 4th Lucky
MVG Sandstorm April 18th-19th, 2015 5th 33rd HugS
Mayhem May 2015 May 2nd, 2015 1st
Press Start May 9th-10th, 2015 1st 3rd Lucky
Battle Arena Melbourne 7 May 24th, 2015 1st 9th Meredy
Mayhem June 2015 June 6th, 2015 2nd
CEO 2015 June 26th-28th, 2015 3rd
WTFox July 10th-11th, 2015 2nd 2nd Leffen
EVO 2015 July 17th-19th, 2015 5th 9th Lucky

Project M

Tournament Date 1v1 placement 2v2 placement Partner
The Big House 2 October 6th-7th, 2012 2nd
B.E.A.S.T 3 April 3rd-7th, 2013 2nd
IMPULSE 2013 June 15th-16th, 2013 1st
Pound V.5 November 9th, 2013 3rd
WHOBO MLG May 3rd-4th, 2014 3rd
SKTAR 3 May 31st-June 1st, 2014 33rd
Super SWEET June 7th-8th, 2014 5th
CEO 2014 June 27th-29th, 2014 17th
The Big House 4 October 4th-5th, 2014 33rd
B.E.A.S.T 5 January 9th-11th, 2015 1st

Trivia

  • Mango holds positive records against every smasher he has played with the exception of Armada (11-16) and Plup (1-1).
  • Mango's son, born October 14th, 2013, has his middle name taken from Mango's gamertag; his full name is Joseph Mango Marquez.
  • At MVG Sandstorm, Mango placed 5th. This was his lowest placing at a national since he had sandbagged as Scorpion Master. Despite there being 3 other members of the Top 6 who participated at the tournament, Mango was eliminated by Axe 2-3 and Westballz 1-3.
    • He got 5th once again at EVO 2015, being denied a third EVO victory, losing to Plup 1-2 and Hungrybox 1-2.
  • Every year at EVO since 2013, he has thrown something of his towards the crowd; his shirt in 2013, his hat in 2014, and his 5th place medal in 2015.
  • Mango is well-known for disliking the Fox ditto, instead using primarily Falco against Fox players; however, after losing CEO 2015 losers finals against Armada due to losing the first game in Fox dittos and not being well versed in the Falco/Peach matchup, he eventually decided to learn it, even jokingly self-proclaiming himself to be the "Fox ditto master" despite his dislike for the matchup.
    • He eventually triumphed in the Fox ditto over Armada at WTFox in losers finals (albeit only in the first game) and Leffen at the EVO Melee salty suite with a score of 3-2, making a 3-0 comeback.

Gameplay videos

External links