Smasher:Plup

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Plup "Pluplue"
PG Plup.png
Character info
Melee mains Sheik, Fox
Other Melee characters Samus, Luigi
Smash 4 main Pikachu
Ultimate mains Mega Man, Ridley
Project M main Meta Knight
Other Project M characters Samus, Sheik
Team info
Sponsor(s) Nouns Esports
Former sponsor(s) Panda, Eggdog Esports, Red Bull
Former crews Versus
Rankings and results info
Most recent ranking Super Smash Bros. Melee SSBMRank 2023: 5th
Project M Project M/+ All Time Top 100: 52nd
Best historical ranking Super Smash Bros. Melee MPGR 2018: 4th
Best tournament result Super Smash Bros. Melee 1st / 1365 at GENESIS 5
Super Smash Bros. 4 33rd / 837 at Apex 2015
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 17th / 1017 at The Big House 9
Project M 9th / 405 at Paragon Los Angeles 2015
Winnings Super Smash Bros. Melee ~$119,462.91
Project M~$2,431.85
Personal and other info
Real name Justin McGrath
Birth date (age 32)
Location Oregon United States

Plup is a smasher from Florida who is currently residing in Oregon, with an active career stemming from 2009.

Best known for Super Smash Bros. Melee, Plup is considered one of the greatest Melee players of all time. He originally gained prominence as a Samus player, and quickly rose to become the best Samus player at the time. Plup relegated Samus to a counterpick in favor of Sheik following Apex 2015, and added Fox as a co-main the following year. Since then, he has come to be known as one of the greatest Sheik and Samus players of all time, while maintaining a top-level Fox, winning tournaments including GENESIS 5 and the Smash World Tour 2021 Championships. He also became the second player (after Leffen) in competitive Melee history to take a set off of each of the "Five Gods" after defeating Armada at The Big House 7, and remains the last player to do so. He is a strong doubles player, frequently teaming with Hungrybox to form "Plupbox", with the pair considered one of the greatest doubles teams of all time. Plup has sometimes demonstrated his competence with other characters as well, most famously using solo Luigi at CEO Dreamland to place 5th. Renowned for his consistency and longevity, Plup ranked in the top 10 of every SSBMRank/MPGR from 2015 until 2024, where he didn't qualify due to low attendance. He last ranked 5th on the SSBMRank 2023.

Plup participates in Ultimate tournaments playing Mega Man and Ridley, and was considered one of the best Mega Man players in the early metagame, notably placing 17th at both EVO 2019 and The Big House 9, and boasting wins over Salem, MVD, ZD, and Meme. His Ridley was also considered one of the best in North America before the pandemic and has defeated players such as Sonix. He also competes in Project M as a Samus player with Meta Knight and Sheik secondaries, and was retroactively considered a top 10 player in 2015.

On June 30th, 2015, Plup was signed by Panda. [1] He left Panda on December 2nd, 2022, following his disapproval of Panda's actions that allegedly resulted in the cancellation of the Smash World Tour 2022 Championships.

Tournament history[edit]

2010-2015: Birth of a Sheikah[edit]

Initially starting as a Samus player, Plup's first notable tournament was at CEO 2010, placing 13th out of 62 entrants. Starting with Advent II, Plup teamed with Hungrybox in doubles, placing 1st at many doubles events and would be his main doubles partner until 2015. Later in 2012, he attended Apex 2012 and placed 33rd with a win over Cyrain. A year later, his next tournament was Apex 2013 where he defeated Tai, and lost to KirbyKaze and PewPewU. He placed 17th at the event, a notable improvement over last year. After a few years of sparse results outside of locals, Plup started to make a name for himself by attending more major tournaments as well as improving his results.

At Apex 2014, he placed 13th with wins over Chillindude and darkatma and losses to MacD and Fiction. Later on, at CEO 2014 Prologue, this was one of the first few tournaments where he started to use Fox, mainly as a counterpick for the Jigglypuff matchup. Despite this decision, he lost to Hungrybox in winners and grand finals. CEO 2014 was notable as his first top 8 at a major tournament. After being sent to losers bracket by Porkchops, he defeated ChuDat and Fiction until being eliminated by Mew2King, placing 5th. The latter half of the year would have Plup improve in results, but was just shy of making another top 8 at a notable event. At EVO 2014, he would lose to Armada, albeit with notable wins in losers bracket over Lucky and Hax$ before losing to Axe at 9th place. The Big House 4 would also be a 9th place finish for Plup and was his last tournament of 2014. However, with more notable placements and wins under his belt, he was ranked 16th on the 2014 SSBMRank.

At Apex 2015, he used a combination of Samus and now Sheik, being the first notable tournament where he used the latter character. However, Plup placed 49th at the tournament, being his worst placement in Melee singles to date. After Apex 2015, Plup started to use Fox and Sheik more frequently, with Samus no longer being his most notable character. The rest of the year would be better in terms of results and Plup has never placed outside of top 48 since Apex 2015. His notability with Sheik was first seen at Smash 'N' Splash. He placed 2nd with solo Sheik, taking out Hanky Panky, Junebug, and Dart! in the process. He only lost to Mew2King in both winners and grand finals. He then placed 7th at CEO 2015 and his Sheik took more sets off of top level players, defeating ChuDat, Westballz, and Zhu before losing to both Leffen and Mango in very close sets. Plup would end up having a runback on both players at EVO 2015 and ultimately won over both players, with his losers set with Leffen in particular becoming one of Plup's most famous sets. He also took additional sets over Wizzrobe and Ken at this event before losing 2-0 to both PPMD and Hungrybox and placed 4th in the tournament. Plup was invited to the first Smash Summit and would remain one of the invites for almost every future Smash Summit. In winners, he beat Shroomed before Mew2King sent him to losers. His losers run was notable however, defeating S2J, Lucky, and PPMD, defeating another one of the Five Gods and placed 4th after losing a set to Mango. At DreamHack Winter 2015, he placed 3rd with wins over MacD, Mango, Duck, and Westballz, with Plup 3-0ing the former in the Samus ditto. He only lost to Armada in both winners quarter-finals and losers finals. By the end of the year, Plup was ranked 7th on the 2015 SSBMRank, with this being his first top 10 placement on the rankings, only being ranked below the Five Gods and Leffen.

2016-2018: The Rise of the Jorts[edit]

At Battle of the Five Gods, he defeated PPMD and Mew2King, with his losses being against Armada and Mango, ending in 5th place. He placed 1st at CEO 2016 Prologue, defeating Colbol in both winners and grand finals, then placed 4th at CEO 2016, 3rd at EVO 2016, and 7th at Shine 2016, 17th at The Big House 6, and 5th at Smash Summit 3, which would be his would be his last tournament of the year outside of locals. With more consistent placements compared to 2015, he placed one spot higher of 6th on the 2016 SSBMRank.

Plup garnered strong results in 2017, starting the year by winning Norcal Validated. Plup would go on to place 5th at GENESIS 4, Smash Summit Spring 2017, and CEO Dreamland, with the latter tournament being notable for his use of solo Luigi. He eventually placed 2nd at CEO 2017, losing to Hungrybox. While Plup has won tournaments at this point, DreamHack Atlanta 2017 was his first truly notable win in Melee singles, as this was the first tournament won by a non-God with multiple Gods in attendance since Leffen's win at BEAST 5. Shortly after, Plup placed 5th at Super Smash Con 2017 and Shine 2017. Notably at The Big House 7, he defeated Armada, the only God up to this point he never beat in bracket, becoming the second player to win a set against all of Melee's Five Gods, after Leffen. It was also the first time Armada lost to a Sheik player since 2010 where Amsah defeated him at Pound 4. For the event itself, he placed 2nd behind Hungrybox. He would later go on to place 5th at Smash Summit 5. With his tournament and player wins, as well as his notable top 8 placements in account, he was ranked 5th on the 2017 SSBMRank, only being ranked below the active Melee Gods.

For Plup's career, 2018 is considered his best year in Melee singles. GENESIS 5 is considered his strongest tournament run in Melee singles, as he went on to take win sets against HugS, Mango, Armada, and Hungrybox to became the champion of GENESIS 5. He then went on a dominant streak of placing 2nd at both Get On My Level 2018 and CEO 2018, and won another event in DreamHack Austin 2018. With his wins at GENESIS 5 and Austin 2018, as well as placing top 8 in every tournament he attended in throughout early 2018, Plup jumped to 2nd on the Summer 2018 MPGR, his best placement on the rankings and the first time he outplaced Armada, Mew2King, and Mango. In the second half of 2018, Plup took two consecutive top placements at notable tournaments, with him placing 3rd at EVO 2018 and 4th at Shine 2018 respectively. He would go on to place 2nd after losing to Hungrybox at The Big House 8. This streak throughout the year would end at Smash Summit 7 where he was knocked out at 9th place. This was also only time he didn't appear in top 8 at a notable tournament in 2018. Despite the weaker result at Smash Summit 7, 2018 was undoubtedly a very strong year in terms of placements and wins over MPGR players. On the 2018 MPGR, he was ranked 4th and is currently his best placement with the whole year in account.

2019-present: Soft Decline and the Era of the Spoonfed Fish[edit]

Going into 2019, Plup took 3rd place at GENESIS 6 and Pound 2019. In the next two months, he had two fifth place finishes at both Smash 'N' Splash 5 and CEO 2019. Due to not starting off as strong as the previous year, having slightly less notable wins, and stiff competition, his ranking dropped to 7th on the Summer 2019 MPGR. Unfortunately, the second half of the year became a slump in Plup's career. At Super Smash Con 2019, he fell to both Swedish Delight and Axe to place 17th at the event. Shine 2019 was the next tournament he attended, he progressed in winners side of pools and defeated HugS 3-0, but unfortunately DQ'd in 17th place due to sickness.[2] His next tournament was The Big House 9 almost two months later and would place 9th after losing to SFAT and Fiction. He ended the year with a 7th place finish at Mango's Birthday Bash, losing to both Swedish Delight and Hungrybox in 3-1 sets. Despite his shaky performance by the end of the year, his top 3 finishes at majors and top 8 placements throughout the year were strong enough for him to be ranked 8th on the 2019 MPGR, albeit this was his lowest ranking since 2015. Starting in 2020, Plup attended GENESIS 7, playing primarily Fox. However, he lost in notable upsets from both PewPewU and ARMY. These losses put him in a lackluster result of 25th, being his worst placement in singles since The Big House 6. His next tournament was Smash Summit 9. He went on to dominate the winners bracket before being sent to losers by Hungrybox, eliminating Mango in losers, and faced Hungrybox once again in grand finals and placed 2nd despite resetting the bracket. In contrast to GENESIS 7, this is currently his best Summit placement, his best performance at Smash Summit since its inception at the time. In late 2021, when offline Melee tournaments were available again, Plup largely continued to maintain consistent tournament placings. He finished first in the SWT: NA West Melee Regional Finals before going on to win the Smash World Tour 2021 Championships, and would eventually place second at Riptide 2022, Lost Tech City 2022, and MAJOR UPSET, and win both CEO 2022 and CEO 2023. Additionally, although he didn't qualify for SSBMRank 2024 due to his low attendance (the first time Plup went unranked since SSBMRank's inception), he was still able to maintain incredibly solid placements during 2024, with his best performance being Tipped Off 15: Connected, placing third.

Other Smash games[edit]

Outside of Melee, Plup has competed in other Smash games. He slightly dabbled into Smash 4 during the game's early days, only competing in CFL weeklies and a very rare major in the case of Apex 2015 where he placed 33rd. In Project M, he played Samus in the game's heyday. He teamed up with Wizzrobe in doubles when he was an active player for the game, placing 1st at both CEO 2014 and Tipped Off 10 and a second place finish at both The Big House 4 and Smash 'N' Splash, placing behind Mew2King and ZeRo and Mew2King and Ally, respectively.

In Ultimate, he primarily plays Mega Man and Ridley and is one of the best Ultimate players who are more known for Melee, considered only behind Leffen. With Mega Man, he has taken sets off of Salem, MVD, and Meme. As Ridley, he solely used the character at Super Smash Con 2019 and placed 49th at the event, being the highest placement for a solo Ridley player at an supermajor before Mezcaul's appearance in the competitive scene. He had notable performances of 17th at two Ultimate supermajors at EVO 2019 and The Big House 9, and was voted in for the first Smash Ultimate Summit although he only placed 13th. He occasionally used Greninja and Mii Brawler as counterpicks before retiring the characters. After offline tournaments returned, he rarely competes in Ultimate anymore and never has reached the peaks he did in 2019.

Rankings[edit]

Super Smash Bros. Melee[edit]

SSBMRank/MPGR[edit]

Ranking Time period Rank Character(s) Notes
SSBMRank 2013 January - November 2013 27th Samus (SSBM)
Summer 2014 SSBMRank January - May 2014 23rd Samus (SSBM)
SSBMRank 2014 January - October 2014 16th Samus (SSBM)
Summer 2015 SSBMRank January - July 2015 7th Sheik (SSBM)
SSBMRank 2015 January - November 2015 7th Sheik (SSBM)Samus (SSBM)
SSBMRank 2016 January 15th - December 4th, 2016 6th Sheik (SSBM)Samus (SSBM)Fox (SSBM)
Summer 2017 SSBMRank December 10th, 2016 - June 18th, 2017 6th Sheik (SSBM)Fox (SSBM)Samus (SSBM)Luigi (SSBM)
SSBMRank 2017 December 10th, 2016 - December 10th, 2017 5th Sheik (SSBM)Fox (SSBM)Samus (SSBM)Luigi (SSBM)
Summer 2018 MPGR December 15th, 2017 - July 1st, 2018 2nd Sheik (SSBM)Fox (SSBM)Samus (SSBM)
MPGR 2018 December 15th, 2017 - December 16th, 2018 4th Sheik (SSBM)Fox (SSBM)Samus (SSBM)
Summer 2019 MPGR December 17th, 2018 - June 30th, 2019 7th Sheik (SSBM)Fox (SSBM)
MPGR 2019 December 17th, 2018 - December 8th, 2019 8th Sheik (SSBM)Fox (SSBM)
MPGR Summer 2022 March 1st - July 11th, 2022 7th Sheik (SSBM)Fox (SSBM)
SSBMRank 2022 March 1st - December 18th, 2022 8th Sheik (SSBM)Fox (SSBM)
SSBMRank Summer 2023 December 19th, 2022 - July 23rd, 2023 9th Sheik (SSBM)Fox (SSBM)
SSBMRank 2023 December 19th, 2022 - December 17th, 2023 5th Sheik (SSBM)Fox (SSBM)

Project M / Project+[edit]

All Time Project M/Project+ Rankings[edit]

Ranking Time period Rank Character(s) Notes
Project M/+ All Time Top 100 February 19th, 2011 - October 26th, 2024 52nd Meta Knight (PM)Samus (PM)

Tournament placings[edit]

Super Smash Bros. Melee[edit]

Tournament Date 1v1 Placement 2v2 Placement Partner Earnings
Gigabits 6/27 June 27th, 2009 7th — —
NOOB 1 February 20th, 2010 7th — —
NOOB 2 April 17th, 2010 5th 4th Nasty
CEO 2010 June 5th-6th, 2010 13th 9th Nasty
WATO 12 September 4th, 2010 5th 3rd Apollo
NOOB 3 January 15th, 2011 5th 4th Nicaboy $15
Advent II October 8th, 2011 2nd 1st Hungrybox
Advent IV December 10th, 2011 3rd 1st Hungrybox
Apex 2012 January 6th-8th, 2012 33rd 2nd Hungrybox
Apex 2013 January 11th-13th, 2013 17th 2nd Hungrybox
NOOB 4 March 30th, 2013 2nd — —
MICE August 17th, 2013 2nd 1st Hungrybox $177
Tipped Off 9 December 14th-15th, 2013 7th 1st Hungrybox
Apex 2014 January 17th-19th, 2014 13th 3rd Hungrybox
CEO 2014 Winterfest February 1st, 2014 3rd 1st Hungrybox $97
CEO 2014 Prologue March 28th-29th, 2014 2nd — —
Fear The Green Missile April 26th, 2014 2nd 1st Hungrybox $140
Super Smash Sundays 20 May 18th, 2014 7th 4th HugS
VGC EVO Sponsorship Tournament June 14th-15th, 2014 1st — —
MLG Anaheim 2014 June 20th-22nd, 2014 9th 5th Hungrybox
CEO 2014 June 27th-29th, 2014 5th 2nd Hungrybox $41
EVO 2014 July 11th-13th, 2014 9th 1st Hungrybox
Smash the Record August 22nd-25th, 2014 7th 1st Hungrybox
Simply Smashing August 30th, 2014 2nd — —
Tipped Off 10 September 20th-21st, 2014 5th 1st Hungrybox $131
The Big House 4 October 4th-5th, 2014 9th 2nd Hungrybox
CFL Smackdown 6 October 14th, 2014 2nd — —
CFL Smackdown 8 November 11th, 2014 1st — —
CFL Smackdown 10 November 25th, 2014 2nd — —
CFL Smackdown 12 December 9th, 2014 2nd — —
CFL Smackdown Monthly 7 December 20th, 2014 1st — —
WATO FP January 3rd, 2015 2nd
CFL Smackdown 13 January 13th, 2015 2nd — —
Paragon Orlando 2015 January 17th-18th, 2015 5th 1st Hungrybox $181
CFL Smackdown 14 January 27th, 2015 2nd — —
Apex 2015 January 30th-February 1st, 2015 49th 13th Colbol
CFL Smackdown 17 February 17th, 2015 2nd — —
CFL Smackdown 18 February 24th, 2015 1st — —
CFL Smackdown 19 March 3rd, 2015 2nd — —
CFL Smackdown 20 March 10th, 2015 2nd — —
Bad Moon Rising March 14th-15th, 2015 2nd 4th DruggedFox $560
CFL Smackdown 21 March 17th, 2015 1st — —
CFL Smackdown 22 March 24th, 2015 2nd — —
CFL Smackdown 23 March 31st, 2015 1st 1st Pi
CFL Smackdown 24 April 4th, 2015 1st — —
CFL Smackdown Monthly 9 April 12th, 2015 1st — —
CFL Smackdown 25 April 14th, 2015 2nd — —
CFL Smackdown 26 April 21st, 2015 1st — —
CFL Smackdown 27 April 28th, 2015 1st — —
2015 Versus EVO Qualifier May 2nd, 2015 1st — — $50
CFL Smackdown 30 May 26th, 2015 4th — —
CFL Smackdown 32 June 9th, 2015 1st — —
Smash 'N' Splash June 13th-14th, 2015 2nd 2nd Wizzrobe $543
CFL Smackdown 34 June 23rd, 2015 1st — —
CEO 2015 June 26th-28th, 2015 7th 7th DruggedFox $78
CFL Smackdown 36 July 7th, 2015 3rd — —
CFL Smackdown 37 July 14th, 2015 1st — —
EVO 2015 July 17th-19th, 2015 4th 3rd Hungrybox $747
CFL Smackdown 39 July 28th, 2015 2nd — —
CFL Smackdown 41 August 11th, 2015 1st — —
CFL Smackdown 42 August 18th, 2015 1st — —
CFL Smackdown 44 September 1st, 2015 2nd — —
Paragon Los Angeles 2015 September 5th-6th, 2015 9th — —
HTC Throwdown September 19th, 2015 25th 7th Wizzrobe
CFL Smackdown 47 September 21st, 2015 1st — —
CFL Smackdown 48 September 28th, 2015 2nd — —
The Big House 5 October 2nd-4th, 2015 13th 7th DruggedFox
CFL Smackdown 50 October 12th, 2015 1st — —
CFL Smackdown 51 October 19th, 2015 1st — —
Smash the Record 2015 October 23rd-25th, 2015 17th — —
CFL Smackdown 52 November 2nd, 2015 1st — —
Smash Summit November 7th-8th, 2015 4th 5th PPMD $2,469
Eclipse November 14th-15th, 2015 4th 1st Axe $789
Kickstart 4 November 22nd, 2015 1st 1st Westballz $425
DreamHack Winter 2015 November 26th-29th, 2015 3rd 7th Wizzrobe $2,000
CFL Smackdown 57 December 7th, 2015 1st — —
CFL Smackdown 58 December 14th, 2015 2nd — —
CFL Smackdown 59 January 4th, 2016 1st — —
CFL Smackdown 60 January 11th, 2016 1st — —
GENESIS 3 January 15th-17th, 2016 9th 25th M00NShoez $218
CFL Smackdown 62 January 25th, 2016 1st — —
CFL Smackdown 63 February 1st, 2016 1st — —
CFL Smackdown 64 February 8th, 2016 1st — —
CFL Smackdown 66 February 22nd, 2016 1st — —
Tampa Never Sleeps 6 February 27th-28th, 2016 3rd — —
CFL Smackdown 67 February 29th, 2016 ? — —
CFL Smackdown 68 March 7th, 2016 1st 2nd Pengie
CFL Smackdown 69 March 14th, 2016 1st — —
Battle of the Five Gods March 17th-19th, 2016 5th — — $750
CFL Smackdown 70 March 21st, 2016 1st 1st Pengie
CFL Smackdown 71 March 28th, 2016 1st — —
Pound 2016 April 2nd-3rd, 2016 5th 1st Hungrybox $420
CFL Smackdown 72 April 5th, 2016 3rd — —
Frame One April 9th-10th, 2016 1st 1st Wizzrobe $432
CFL Smackdown 74 April 18th, 2016 1st 1st —
Smash Summit 2 April 21st-24th, 2016 5th 2nd Hungrybox $1,166
CFL Smackdown Weekly 76 May 2nd, 2016 1st 1st Pengie
CFL Smackdown 77 May 9th, 2016 1st — —
CFL Smackdown 78 May 16th, 2016 2nd 1st Pengie
CEO 2016 Prologue May 21st-22nd, 2016 1st — — $444
CFL Smackdown 79 May 23rd, 2016 1st — —
CFL Smackdown 80 May 30th, 2016 2nd 1st Oaty
CFL Smackdown 82 June 13th, 2016 1st — —
CFL Smackdown 83 June 20th, 2016 1st 7th Snowdrops
CEO 2016 June 24th-26th, 2016 4th 2nd Axe $339
CFL Smackdown 86 July 11th, 2016 1st — —
EVO 2016 July 15th-17th, 2016 3rd — — $2,372
CFL Smackdown 87 July 25th, 2016 1st 1st Oaty
CFL Smackdown 88 August 1st, 2016 2nd — —
CFL Smackdown 89 August 8th, 2016 9th (Forfeit) — —
Unrivaled August 20th, 2016 1st 1st Derdian $207
CFL Smackdown 91 August 22nd, 2016 2nd — —
Shine 2016 August 26th-28th, 2016 7th 1st Mew2King $306
Smash Conference LXVI September 9th, 2016 2nd 1st Gahtzu $76
CFL Smackdown 94 September 12th, 2016 1st 1st Pengie
Unrivaled II: Doubles Edition September 17th, 2016 1st 1st Gahtzu $180
CFL Smackdown 95 September 19th, 2016 1st 1st Pengie
The Smash House September 23rd-25th, 2016 1st 1st Gahtzu
CFL Smackdown 96 September 26th, 2016 1st 1st Colbol
CFL Smackdown 97 October 3rd, 2016 1st 1st Oaty
The Big House 6 October 7th-9th, 2016 17th 5th Westballz
CFL Smackdown 98 October 10th, 2016 2nd — —
Smash Conference LXVIII October 14th, 2016 1st — — $315
CFL Smackdown 99 October 17th, 2016 1st — —
Come To Papa 2 October 22nd-23rd, 2016 1st 1st Mew2King
CFL Smackdown 100 October 24th, 2016 1st 1st The Author
CFL Smackdown 101 October 31st, 2016 1st 1st Gahtzu
Smash Summit 3 November 3rd-6th, 2016 5th 5th Hungrybox $972
CFL Smackdown 104 November 28th, 2016 1st 2nd Oaty
CFL Smackdown 106 December 12th, 2016 2nd 1st Hungrybox
Unrivaled IV: Dash Dancing Through the Snow December 17th, 2016 1st 1st Oaty
CFL Smackdown 108 January 2nd, 2017 1st 1st Oaty
Norcal Validated January 14th, 2017 1st 9th Liz $300
Get Smashed at the Foundry 105 January 17th, 2017 1st — — $405
GENESIS 4 January 20th-22nd, 2017 5th 4th Axe $511
Unrivaled V January 28th, 2017 1st 1st Oaty
CFL Smackdown 115 February 20th, 2017 2nd 1st Oaty
Smash Summit Spring 2017 March 2nd-5th, 2017 5th 5th Westballz $2,314
CEO Dreamland April 14th-16th, 2017 5th 5th