Editing Team:Panda

| owners    = Alan Bunney ({{Sm|SamuraiPanda}})<br>David Wu ({{Sm|Mashumaro}})

'''Panda''', formerly '''Panda Global''' ('''PG'''), is a professional eSports organization based in the United States. It was co-founded by Alan Bunney ({{Sm|SamuraiPanda}}) and David Wu ({{Sm|Mashumaro}}) in June 2015 as a player centric organization looking to help their players' careers, facilitate their goals, and promote the growth of the eSports scenes they participate in.  

Panda entered the world of ''Smash'' on June 24th, 2015 with the sponsorship of Florida ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'' and ''[[Smash 4]]'' top players {{Sm|ESAM}} and {{Sm|MVD}} as well as {{SSB4|Villager}} main {{Sm|SS|p=Arizona}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/3b7nhd/esam_and_mvd_have_officially_signed_with_new/|title=ESAM and MVD have officially signed with new esports team Panda Gaming!}}</ref>. On June 30th, Panda took their first step in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'' by signing Florida-based {{SSBM|Sheik}} player {{Sm|Plup}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/pg_plup/status/615981769058316288|title=Plup joins Panda}}</ref>. On November 2nd, Panda signed the [[EVO 2013]] ''Melee'' runner-up {{Sm|Wobbles}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/pandaglobalpg/status/661343133712674816|title=Panda signs Wobbles}}</ref>. On June 22nd, 2016, they picked up {{SSB4|Ryu}} main {{Sm|Trela}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/esports/story/_/id/16421839/panda-global-signs-trela-compete-team-banner-ceo|title=Panda signs Trela, will compete under team banner at CEO}}</ref>. On June 30th, {{Sm|Alpharad}} joined the team as their content director<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/pandaglobalpg/status/748646569436602368|title=Alpharad joins Panda}}</ref>.

On May 7th, 2016, Panda picked up {{Sm|Dom|p=Tri-state}}, {{Sm|Zan}}, and {{Sm|suar}} as a newly-formed subteam called '''PG Stats''' which specialises in ''Smash 4'' statistics<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/4ibrb5/panda_global_announces_new_smash_4_stats_team/|title=Panda announces new Smash 4 stats team}}</ref>. They are responsible for the [[Panda Global Rankings]], a biannual list that ranks the Top 50 ''Smash 4'' players in the world. {{Sm|Tetra}}, {{Sm|juddy}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/PandaGlobalPG/status/738452493936558081|title=juddy and Tetra join PG Stats}}</ref>, {{Sm|Giant}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/ThePGstats/status/799378123833929728|title=Giant joins PG Stats as Lead Systems Engineer!}}</ref>, and {{Sm|Spike}} were later added to the PG Stats team, although Tetra and juddy later left.

In January 2017, following SS and Trela's departure from the organization, Panda added SoCal's best {{SSB4|Mewtwo}} main {{Sm|Rich Brown}} to their ''Smash 4'' team and expanded into ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' by picking up {{Sm|SuPeRbOoMfAn}}, the best player in North America and second best player in the world according to the [[64 League Rankings]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/esports/story/_/id/18493165/panda-global-signs-superboomfan-rich-brown|title=Panda signs SuPeRbOoMfAn and Rich Brown}}</ref>. On April 12th, 2018, Panda added MD/VA's best player {{Sm|Zain}} to their ''Melee'' team<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/PandaGlobal/status/984521696957870080|title=Welcome to the Plup Club: Zain joins Panda!}}</ref>. On July 26th, 2018, Panda added {{SSB4|Corrin}} main {{Sm|Cosmos}} to their ''Smash 4'' team<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/PandaGlobal/status/1022572682989199366|title=Introducing Panda's newest member, Cosmos!!}}</ref>.

On November 18th, 2021, Panda announced a partnership with [[Nintendo]] to create the first officially-licensed North American competitive circuit.<ref>[https://www.panda.gg/news/panda-nintendo-circuit Announcement of partnership]</ref> On May 26th, 2022, the circuit was officially announced as the {{Trn|Panda Cup}}.<ref>[https://www.panda.gg/news/panda-cup-announcement Panda Cup announcement]</ref> It is taking place from June 24th to December 18th, 2022 and features ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'' and ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''.

 

On November 29th, 2022, a Twitlonger from the [[Smash World Tour 2022]] was published alleging that Panda had leveraged their relationship with Nintendo to strong-arm tournament organizers into joining the Panda Cup circuit, threatening to shut down events in 2023. The Twitlonger also alleged that they had played a significant role in the last-minute cancellation of the Smash World Tour 2022 Championships for Ultimate and Melee, claiming that CEO Alan Bunney had campaigned to have the circuit shut down. This caused significant backlash from the community, with several prominent figures criticizing Panda's and Nintendo's actions, including [[Cr1TiKaL]], [[Ludwig]], [[Sparg0]], [[TKbreezy]], [[Fatality]], [[Hungrybox]], [[iBDW]], [[Maister]], and [[Peanut]]. Following this, several players invited to the Panda Cup Finale backed out, including [[Lima]], [[Deathspade]], [[Fatality]], [[Medz]], [[Axe]], [[Fiction]], [[Joshman]], and [[n0ne]]. On December 2nd, 2022, Panda put out a brief response to the allegations, which was largely criticized for lacking substance.<ref>[https://twitter.com/PandaGlobal/status/1598741395870605312 Panda's response]</ref> Following this, {{Sm|Plup}} and {{Sm|iBDW}} left the team and reflected in their social media statuses that they no longer desired association with Panda; {{Sm|WaDi}} would later express his desire to leave the organization as well.

{|class="wikitable sortable"

|{{head|Samus|g=SSBM|s=24px}}<br>{{head|Pikachu|g=SSB4|s=24px}}{{head|Samus|g=SSB4|s=24px}}<br>{{head|Pikachu|g=SSBU|s=24px}}{{head|Mii Brawler|g=SSBU|s=24px}}

 

*{{Sm|Dom|USA|c1=Villager|c2=Sheik|g=SSB4|p=Tri-state}} (PGstats writer, joined May 7th, 2016)

*{{Sm|Kantrip|Canada|c1=Diddy Kong|g=SSBU}} (Influencer)

*{{Sm|Coney|USA|c1=Inkling|g=SSBU}} (Creative Lead, commentator)

*{{Sm|Little Z|Australia|c1=Wario|g=SSBU}}{{Head|Donkey Kong|g=SSBU|s=20px}} (Content creator)

*Cosmos and Wrath were both unable to attend, so the key was passed down to the 3rd place finisher, {{Sm|Koolaid}}.

*Cosmos was unable to attend, so the key was passed down to the runner-up, Zage.

*Sonix and lapis lazuli both declined their keys, so it was passed down to the 3rd place finisher, {{Sm|Locus}}.