Smasher:Ken
| Ken "SephirothKen" "The King of Smash" | |
|---|---|
| |
| Character info | |
| Smash 64 main | Captain Falcon |
| Melee main | Marth |
| Other Melee character | Fox |
| Brawl main | Marth |
| Smash 4 main | Ganondorf |
| Other Smash 4 characters | Marth, Roy |
| Ultimate main | Simon |
| Project M main | Marth |
| Other Project M character | Roy |
| Team info | |
| Former sponsor(s) | Team Liquid |
| Former crews | Socal Elite 4, Melee Hell |
| Rankings and results info | |
| Most recent ranking |  SSBMRank 2016: 87th |
| Best historical ranking | RetroSSBMRank 2006: 1st |
| Best tournament result |  65th / 185 at GENESIS 4 1st / 192 at Zero Challenge 2  2nd / 110 at EVO 2008  65th / 313 at DreamHack Austin 2017  25th / 255 at CEO 2014
|
| Winnings | ~$43,058 |
| Personal and other info | |
| Real name | Ken Hoang |
| Birth date | |
| Location | Westminster, California 
|
Ken Hoang, often referred to as just Ken or sometimes SephirothKen, is an American Super Smash Bros. Melee player of Vietnamese descent who mains Marth. Ken is considered one of the greatest Melee players of all time, being the undisputed best player in the world from 2003 to 2006. Well-known for his consistency, he was one of the most dominant Melee players of all time during his prime, winning almost every event he entered, including EVO World 2007 and becoming a two-time national champion of Major League Gaming; his impressive track record gave him the nickname "The King of Smash". One of the greatest Marth players of all time, Ken was the founding father of much of Marth's metagame, including a highly influential combo named after him. He was also one-half of the doubles team El Chocolate Diablo, alongside Isai, which was considered the best doubles team in the world while they were active, only failing to win three tournaments.
Ken had a brief stint in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where he also played Marth and placed 2nd at the inaugural EVO 2008. However, he would announce his hiatus from all Smash titles immediately following this, citing needing a "big break from gaming". Ken would briefly return to Melee competition in 2012 and full-time competition in 2013, almost six years since his last Melee tournament. Although not nearly as successful as he was before, Ken still managed to obtain notable results, peaking at 52nd on the SSBMRank 2015 and last ranked 87th on the SSBMRank 2016. Ken re-entered hiatus following GENESIS 5 in January 2018 and has since been inactive from all Smash competition.
For his accomplishments, Ken was nominated as one of five members of "The Dangerous Five" by Electronic Gaming Monthly in September 2006; he was notable as being one of only two gamers on the list who did not specialize in the Halo games, alongside Michael Brandt, who played Tekken. Ken was referred to as "The Duper" due to his quick, smart, and aggressive playstyle.
Outside of Smash, Ken competed in the 17th season of Survivor[1], ultimately placing 5th in the final standings. He is Manacloud's younger brother.
Tournament history[edit]
Early activity and rise[edit]
Ken started playing Super Smash Bros. when it was released for the Nintendo 64. He made his gamertag "sephirothken" after the main villain of Final Fantasy VII. He was able to learn the ropes of Smash quickly and became fluent in its gameplay. However, he was never able to compete in major tournaments for it due to the lack of a competitive scene. When Melee was released for the GameCube, Ken initially did not enjoy it, but the game grew on him after a period of a few months. By the time he attended his first tournament, he had already built up an impressive reputation in his town as the best Smash player. This tournament, hosted at a local gaming store known as Game Square, employed completely different rules from today's standardized rules. It was a free-for-all tournament, and everybody else teamed up against Ken because he was considered the best. Despite the combined efforts of the other participants, however, Ken still ended up winning the tournament.
In 2002, SmashBoards moderator Matt Deezie began hosting the Tournament Go (TG) series, which went on to become one of the first major tournament series in competitive-Smash. Three installments took place that year, which each new incarnation being more popular than the last. Going into the fourth event at the start of the following year, Recipherus, a Sheik main, was the favorite to win. However, interests turned as Matt Deezie read SmashBoards posts from Ken, who boasted that he was unbeatable at Melee due to his tournament win at Game Square. Matt Deezie and Recipherus challenged Ken to a $200 money match, and while the two competitive smashers were more versed in advanced, technical aspects of the game, Ken was more adept in adaptation, and defeated the duo. Afterwards, Ken attended Tournament Go 4, and despite his lack of experience in a strong competitive scene, he won the event over 89 other players at that time, including Recipherus in Grand Finals. Though the term did not exist at that time, retrospectively, Tournament Go 4 was considered the first Smash major, making Ken the first major winner in Smash history. Alongside singles, Ken placed second in teams with his brother Manacloud, losing to TG1 and TG2 singles winners J.R. Castillo and Justin Junio.
Seven months later, in August 2003, Ken defended his Tournament Go title by winning Tournament Go 5. This was the first tournament where he teamed with Isai for doubles (otherwise known as "Malva00"), who was considered one of the best Super Smash Bros. players in the country in his prime.
The King of Smash[edit]
After winning the 2 major events in 2003, Ken dominated the competitive-Smash scene for the next 2 years, winning nearly every event he entered, including 7 majors. One of those majors was MELEE-FC3, which was the largest-Smash event at that time. Another event was Jack Garden Tournament, Ken's first international event and the largest Japanese Melee tournament, which he barely won over Bombsoldier in Grand Finals. His success was not limited to singles: following him and Isai's victory at TG5, it started a two-and-a-half year winning streak where they won every doubles event. This streak was eventually broken at MLG Chicago 2006 in July, where they were defeated by Azen and Chillindude829 in the finals and received second place. However, they reclaimed their title later that year in August at MLG Orlando 2006 where they defeated Azen and Chillindude829 6-3 in the finals.
Despite his dominance, Ken did lose a couple of events. His worst performance was at Tournament Go 6, retrospectively considered the first Smash supermajor, where he placed 9th out of approximately 128 competitors. In addition, Isai defeated Ken at MOAST 3 and MLG Los Angeles 2005, and Ken failed to defend the United States from Japanese invader CaptainJack, who won MLG San Francisco 2004 and eliminated Ken at 3rd. However, those were the only 4 events that Ken did not win during this period, and although Isai had several wins over Ken, he was never a legitimate threat for Ken's crown, as Isai was infamous for not trying in competition. As such, Ken's sheer dominance in the scene eventually earned him the nickname "The King of Smash", and retroactively, he was considered the game's best player from 2003 to 2006.
A new challenger came at MLG New York Opener 2006, where PC Chris defeated Ken twice in what was considered to be one of the greatest upsets of the Golden Age of Melee. Though Ken won most of the other events that year, including defeating PC Chris at MLG Dallas 2006 and the second set of Grand Finals at MLG Anaheim 2006, he notably failed to win the final 2 major events of the year. At MLG New York Playoffs 2006, Azen overcame a 3-stock deficit in their fourth game before winning the final game, knocking Ken into Losers early. From there, Ken was eliminated by Mew2King to finish 7th, his worst performance at an MLG event. The following month, at the final tournament in the MLG circuit that year, Ken lost to KoreanDJ in his second round, and although he won his rematch against Azen, he lost to KoreanDJ once again to finish 3rd. Ken was still considered the best Melee player by the end of the year; however, with KoreanDJ and PC Chris having multiple wins over him that year, and with PC Chris and Azen winning multiple majors, his dominance on the scene was weakening.
First retirement[edit]
After several years as the best player in Melee, Ken's time at the top came to an end in 2007. He mostly stayed in the West Coast for the first half of the year, aside from a trip to Australia for Comrades 2, though he continued his dominance at West Coast events. In the second half of the year, he became the first Melee EVO champion after winning EVO World 2007, the largest event of the year. However, he failed to win the other 2 major events he attended that year, losing to Mew2King and PC Chris for 4th at Zero Challenge 3 and Wobbles and ChuDat for 7th at Super Champ Combo. As such, he was no longer considered the best by the end of the year, and retrospectively, he was ranked 3rd. Following Super Champ Combo, Ken retired from competitive Melee, and EVO World 2007 became his final major victory.
Ken briefly joined the tournament scene for Super Smash Bros. Brawl with respectable standings, and was best known for finishing 2nd at the controversial EVO 2008. EVO 2008, however, proved to be his last Brawl tournament; his AllisBrawl profile listed him as inactive, and in a Q&A session with ESPN, Ken stated that he needed "a big break from gaming", and that he needed to pursue his career in illustration. Ken, however, also suggested that there existed a potential for him in joining the Brawl tournament scene if it got picked up by the MLG again. Several years later in 2010, MLG did have Brawl on its Pro Circuit, though Ken did not participate.
After five years away from competitive Smash, Ken temporarily chose to rejoin the scene in the 2012 tournament of Kings of Cali. In his return to Melee, however, Ken underperformed in singles, getting a 33rd place finish. His doubles run, however, ended in a third place finish with Dr. PeePee, and he provided the deciding KO in the NorCal - Socal 8 on 8 battle against PewPewU; Ken was initially not supposed to appear in the battle for SoCal, but a six stock lead by his team caused team captain Mango to switch out Lucky for him. In the next year after Kings of Cali, Ken appeared at a handful of other events, including EVO 2013. Although he was far from his dominance during the Golden Age, he ultimately made an appearance on the inaugural SSBMRank, at 100th.
Return and second retirement[edit]
Ken was invited to participate in the E3 2014-held Super Smash Bros. Invitational exhibition tournament to play Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. He played Marth, but finished last in both the invitational bracket and the fan-favorite tournament. Upon the game's release, he competed at a couple of events but never took the game as seriously as Melee.
Ken and KoreanDJ became the first Melee players to sign with a major esports team, signing with Team Liquid on March 18th, 2014. What followed was a resurgence, with Ken attending many events throughout the next few years. His best performance during this time took place at EVO 2015, where he finished 13th and defeated Westballz, his only top 10 win during his return. Other notable performances include taking a game off Armada at CEO 2014, defeating Lucky at Super Smash Sundays 17, finishing 13th at Kings of Cali 4 after defeating DEHF, and being 1 round away from making it to the championship bracket at MLG Anaheim 2014, though he defeated MacD along the way. In addition, he participated in a salty suite match at Apex 2015, where he fought fellow Golden Age player PC Chris in a best of 5; Ken ultimately lost 2-3. Though the game's skill ceiling had since exceeded his, Ken prove that he was still a threat in competitive play, and this was reflected in his appearances on the SSBMRank in the next few years, peaking at 52nd on the SSBMRank 2015. His results eventually declined again by 2016, where he was last ranked 87th on the SSBMRank 2016, and he became unranked the following year. His final notable event was GENESIS 5, after which he returned to retirement.
Later activity[edit]
Aside from streaming and an appearance at the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate online event The Box, Ken remained inactive in the scene for the rest of the 2010s and into the 2020s. He came back into the Melee spotlight in the months leading up to Nounsvitational Tokyo 2025, where he streamed with Zain to prepare for a rematch against Bombsoldier, which he won 10-2. The following year, Ken was dropped from Team Liquid, ending one of the longest sponsor tenures in Melee history.
Rankings[edit]
Super Smash Bros. Melee[edit]
RetroSSBMRank[edit]
| Ranking | Time period | Rank | Character(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RetroSSBMRank 2001-2003 | 2001-2003 | 1st |  |
|
| RetroSSBMRank 2004 | 2004 | 1st | |
|
| RetroSSBMRank 2005 | 2005 | 1st | |
|
| RetroSSBMRank 2006 | 2006 | 1st | |
|
| RetroSSBMRank 2007 | 2007 | 3rd | |
SSBMRank/MPGR[edit]
| Ranking | Time period | Rank | Character(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSBMRank 2013 | January - November 2013 | 100th | |
|
| SSBMRank 2014 | January - October 2014 | 58th | |
|
| SSBMRank 2015 | January - November 2015 | 52nd | |
|
| SSBMRank 2016 | January 15th - December 4th, 2016 | 87th | |
Top 100 Melee Players of All Time[edit]
| Ranking | Time period | Rank | Character(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First List | January 10th, 2004 - January 21st, 2018 | 3rd | |
|
| Second List | January 10th, 2004 - February 3rd, 2019 | 4th | |
|
| Third List | January 10th, 2004 - February 16th, 2020 | 4th | |
|
| Fourth List | January 10th, 2004 - September 12th, 2021 | 4th | |
Tournament placings[edit]
Super Smash Bros.[edit]
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.N.L | August, 2003 | 4th | — | — |
| GENESIS 4 | January 20th-22nd, 2017 | 65th | — | — |
Super Smash Bros. Melee[edit]
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament Go 4 | January 19th, 2003 | 1st | 2nd | Manacloud | $900 |
| SoCal Inland Empire SSB:M | 1st | — | — | ||
| Tavos Tournament 4 | June 1st, 2003 | 1st | — | — | |
| Tournament Go 5 | August 2nd-3rd, 2003 | 1st | 1st | Isai | $1,000 |
| S.N.L. | August, 2003 | 1st | — | — | |
| Game Over | January 10th, 2004 | 1st | 1st | Isai | $765 |
| Zero Challenge 1 | January 17th-18th, 2004 | 1st | 1st | Manacloud | $650 |
| MLG Chicago 2004 | June 19th-20th, 2004 | 1st | 1st | Isai | |
| MELEE-FC1 | July 9th-10th, 2004 | 1st | 1st | Isai | $500 |
| Tournament Go 6 | August 21st-22nd, 2004 | 9th | 1st | Isai | |
| MLG San Francisco 2004 | September 11th-12th, 2004 | 3rd | — | — | $200 |
| MLG Los Angeles 2004 | September 25th-26th, 2004 | 1st | 1st | Isai | |
| MLG New York 2004 | October 24th, 2004 | 1st | 1st | Isai | $2,000 |
| MOAST 3 | January 16th, 2005 | 2nd | 1st | Isai | $360 |
| MLG DC 2005 | January 29th-30th, 2005 | 1st | 1st | Isai | $1,000 |
| MLG San Francisco 2005 | February 26th-27th, 2005 | 1st | 1st | Isai | $500 |
| Gettin' Schooled 2 | June 25th-26th, 2005 | 1st | 1st | Isai | |
| MELEE-FC3 | July 10th-12th, 2005 | 1st | 1st | Isai | |
| Jack Garden Tournament | August 20th, 2005 | 1st | — | — | |
| MLG Los Angeles 2005 | October 14th-16th, 2005 | 2nd | 1st | Isai | $1,000 |
| MLG Atlanta 2005 | November 25th-27th, 2005 | 1st | 1st | Isai | $2,000 |
| MLG Chicago 2005 | December 16th-18th, 2005 | 1st | 2nd | ChuDat | $2,000 |
| MLG New York 2005 | February 24th-26th, 2006 | 1st | 1st | Isai | $5,000 |
| Champ Combo: Yayuhzzz Edition | March 25th, 2006 | 1st | 1st | Isai | |
| Champ Combo: NorCal Edition | April 8th, 2006 | 1st | 1st | Isai | |
| MLG New York Opener 2006 | April 21st-23rd, 2006 | 2nd | 1st | Isai | $1,200 |
| MLG Dallas 2006 | May 19th-21st, 2006 | 1st | 1st | Isai | $2,000 |
| MLG Anaheim 2006 | June 23rd-25th, 2006 | 1st | 1st | Isai | $2,000 |
| MLG Chicago 2006 | July 21st-23rd, 2006 | 1st | 2nd | Isai | $2,000 |
| Zero Challenge 2 | August 15th-17th, 2006 | 1st | 7th | Rob$ | $1,200 |
| MLG Orlando 2006 | August 25th-27th, 2006 | 5th | 1st | Isai | $300 |
| SoCal BiWeekly 9/16 | September 19th, 2006 | 1st | 1st | Manacloud | |
| MLG New York Playoffs 2006 | October 13th-15th, 2006 | 7th | 3rd | Isai | $1,375 |
| Super Smash Royale 2 | October 21st, 2006 | 1st | 1st | Arash | |
| NorCal Tournament 2 | October 28th, 2006 | 1st | 1st | Isai | $1,161 |
| San Diego TriWeekly X | November 3rd, 2006 | 1st | 1st | Arash | |
| MLG Las Vegas 2006 | November 17th-19th, 2006 | 3rd | 1st | Isai | $8,000 |
| CAOTIC's Farewell BiWeekly | December 9th, 2006 | 1st | 2nd | CAOTIC | |
| SoCal BiWeekly 12/30 | December 30th, 2006 | 2nd | 1st | Arash | |
| SoCal BiWeekly 1/13 | January 13th, 2007 | 1st | 1st | Arash | |
| ThomaSexy's Low Tier Tourney | January 27th, 2007 | 1st | — | — | |
| SoCal BiWeekly 2/3 | February 3rd, 2007 | 1st | 1st | Arash | |
| San Diego TriWeekly XI | February 10th, 2007 | 1st | 1st | Arash | |
| Westminster Biweekly 2/17 | February 17th, 2007 | 1st | 1st | Arash | |
| SoCal BiWeekly 3/3 | March 3rd, 2007 | 1st | 1st | Arash | |
| San Diego TriWeekly XII | March 10th, 2007 | 1st | 1st | Arash | |
| Buy.com LAN 2007 | March 30th, 2007 | 1st | — | — | |
| SoCal BiWeekly 4/14 | April 14th-15th, 2007 | 1st | — | — | |
| Super Smash Royale III | April 28th, 2007 | 1st | 1st | Isai | $324 |
| UCLA Monthlies III | May 26th, 2007 | 1st | 1st | Arash | |
| Comrades 2 | June 9th, 2007 | 1st | 1st | CAOTIC | $208 |
| Sushiman's Westminster Tournament | July 14th, 2007 | 1st | 1st | Manacloud | |
| Zero Challenge 3 | July 20th-22nd, 2007 | 4th | 2nd | Bombsoldier | |
| EVO World 2007 | August 24th-26th, 2007 | 1st | — | — | $5,000 |
| Super Champ Combo | September 29th-30th, 2007 | 7th | 7th | Isai | |
| Newegg LANfest 2007 | October 6th, 2007 | 1st | — | — | |
| Kings of Cali | November 10th, 2012 | 33rd | 3rd | Dr. PeePee | $32 |
| Kings of Cali 2 | April 13th-14th, 2013 | — | 17th | Hairynipples | |
| EVO 2013 | July 12th-14th, 2013 | 49th | — | — | |
| Kings of Cali 3 | December 14th-15th, 2013 | 25th | 5th | HugS | $93 |
| SoCal Regionals 2014 | February 28th-March 2nd, 2014 | 9th | 9th | Santiago | |
| Super Smash Sundays 5-18-2014 | May 18th, 2014 | 9th | 1st | Fiction | |
| Pat's House 2 | May 24th-25th, 2014 | 17th | 9th | HugS | |
| SKTAR 3 | May 31st-June 1st, 2014 | 25th | 9th | KoreanDJ | |
| SSS Lock-In | June 14th-15th, 2014 | 9th | 5th | KoreanDJ | |
| MLG Anaheim 2014 | June 20th-22nd, 2014 | 21st | 9th | KoreanDJ | |
| CEO 2014 | June 27th-29th, 2014 | 33rd | 7th | KoreanDJ | |
| Kings of Cali 4 | July 5th-6th, 2014 | 13th | 4th | Larry Lurr— | $19 |
| EVO 2014 | July 11th-13th, 2014 | 33rd | — | — | |
| Super Smash Sundays 29 | December 7th, 2014 | 9th | 5th | Larry Lurr | |
| Apex 2015 | January 30th-February 1st, 2015 | 81st | 25th | KoreanDJ | |
| I'm Not Yelling! | April 11th-12th, 2015 | 25th | 5th | Santiago | |
| Sandstorm | April 18th-19th, 2015 | 17th | 9th | OkamiBW | |
| Press Start | May 9th-10th, 2015 | 25th | 7th | Kira | |
| CEO 2015 | June 26th-28th, 2015 | 33rd | 7th | ChuDat | |
| Mayhem July 2015 | July 11th, 2015 | 5th | 3rd | Kira | $41 |
| EVO 2015 | July 17th-19th, 2015 | 13th | 17th | Santiago | |
| Paragon Los Angeles 2015 | September 4th-6th, 2015 | 33rd | — | — | |
| HTC Throwdown | September 19th, 2015 | 17th | 5th | Axe | |
| Super Smash Sundays 39 | January 10th, 2016 | 17th | 7th | Santiago | |
| GENESIS 3 | January 15th-17th, 2016 | 33rd | 17th | Santiago | |
| Super Smash Sundays 40 | January 24th, 2016 | 7th | 5th | HugS | |
| Super Smash Sundays 43 | April 17th, 2016 | 7th | 1st | Santiago | |
| DreamHack Austin 2016 | May 6th-8th, 2016 | 17th | — | — | |
| Super Smash Sundays 48 | July 10th, 2016 | 9th | 2nd | Santiago | |
| EVO 2016 | July 15th-17th, 2016 | 49th | — | — | |
| Super Smash Sundays 52 | September 11th, 2016 | 9th | 3rd | Lobo | |
| UCI Quarterly 1 | November 12th, 2016 | 5th | 1st | Santiago | $70 |
| GENESIS 4 | January 20th-22nd, 2017 | 97th | 7th | Santiago | $95 |
| Zotcade 17 | April 15th, 2017 | 9th | 1st | Santiago | $84 |
| DreamHack Austin 2017 | April 28th-30th, 2017 | 25th | 9th | Santiago | |
| EVO 2017 | July 14th-16th, 2017 | 49th | — | — | |
| GENESIS 5 | January 19th-21st, 2018 | 65th | 13th | Santiago |
Super Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EVO 2008 | August 8th-10th, 2008 | 2nd | — | — |
Super Smash Bros. 4[edit]
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Super Smash Bros. Invitational | June 10th, 2014 | 9th | — | — |
| Apex 2015 | January 30th-February 1st, 2015 | 97th | 25th | KoreanDJ |
| DreamHack Austin 2017 | April 28th-30th, 2017 | 65th | — | — |
| Weds Night Fights 2018 Season 1.5 | March 7th, 2018 | 13th | — | — |
Project M[edit]
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEO 2014 | June 27th-29th, 2014 | 25th | 7th | KoreanDJ |
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Box | May 8th-10th, 2020 | 4,097th | — | — |
Trivia[edit]
- Ken appeared in the Guinness World Records 2016 Gamer’s Edition for highest-earning Super Smash Bros. Melee player, despite Armada, Mew2King, Mango and Hungrybox earning more than him.
- Ken is known to have coined the terms "Wobbling" and "JV".
- Ken was glad to see Sephiroth revealed for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, saying he would be his new main.[2] His original gamertag was SephirothKen.
- In 2019, Ken guest-starred on a REACT "Secret Pro Gamer" episode, in which he played Ultimate against and easily defeated the reactors, without them initially knowing who he was.
- Ken is widely known outside the Smash community for his appearance on season 17 of Survivor in 2008, in which he finished 5th place and became a fan favorite. Due to this, he is also featured on the YouTube video essay about the show House An Autopsy of House M.D., where a clip of him performing his Ken Combo on a Fox player is shown.
