The Five Gods is a term referring to the five very best players of Super Smash Bros. Melee, who consistently dominated tournaments from 2013 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 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. During this time Leffen can possibly have been thought to have "replaced" Mew2King among the 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 one of the players in attendance from 2009 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 one of the players in attendance since 2009.
Demi-gods
There are several players whose level of skill lies just below the top players; Axe, Westballz, and Plup 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, Axe, Fly Amanita, Wobbles, and Lucky have all taken sets off of four of the gods, all except for Armada. Jman, Shroomed, and KirbyKaze have beaten three of the gods.
Wobbles finished 2nd at EVO 2013, the largest tournament at the time, and taking down Hungrybox and Mew2King 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, and has since been unable to play at the highest levels.
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