Smasher:Jmook
| Jmook | |
|---|---|
| |
| Character info | |
| Melee main | Sheik |
| Team info | |
| Sponsor(s) | FlyQuest |
| Rankings and results info | |
| Most recent ranking |  MPGR Summer 2022: 3rd |
| Personal and other info | |
| Real name | Jake DiRado |
| Location | New York 
|
| Miscellaneous info | |
| Skill | Top professional |
Jmook is a Super Smash Bros. Melee Sheik player from New York. Although he has been active in the scene since 2016, he didn't gain prominence until 2022, where following a string of top 6 placements at majors, he cemented himself as not only the best Sheik player, but also one of the best players in the world in the post-pandemic metagame. His debut at 3rd on the MPGR Summer 2022 is the highest placing for a previously unranked player since the inception of the Panda Global Rankings.
On June 10th, 2022, Jmook joined FlyQuest.[1]
Tournament history
The beginnings
Jmook has been playing Melee since 2016, however most of his results were limited to a regional level, and due to these results, he was ranked 14th on the Tri-state Power Rankings for the 2018-2019 season. His only appearance at a major during this period was at Super Smash Con 2017 where he placed 97th.
Jmook first came to prominence during the online metagame, specifically his performances at Hax's Nightclub (Season 2 Episode 1) and Four Loko Fight Night. At the former tournament, he defeated Magi, bobby big ballz, and a Zain who was playing secondaries, ultimately placing 4th. At the latter tournament, he defeated Polish, Ginger twice, and Aklo to place 5th. Jmook's first tournament offline following the end of the Netplay era was the Smash World Tour 2021 Last Chance Qualifier, where he qualified for the main tournament. He ultimately placed 13th, his first top 16 placement at a major at that time. Despite having seen strong performances online and having a breakout performance offline, these performance would soon be overshadowed by his performances in the following year.
2022: A sudden rise
Jmook entered GENESIS 8 without much fanfare, as eyes were on players such as Zain and iBDW, two players who were contenders for the best player in the world, as well as Mango, who was recently crowned as the best player in the world on the MPGRContenders North America list. Due to this, Jmook first shocked players by defeating Plup, who was considered the best Sheik player in the world at that time and had won the Smash World Tour 2021 Championships a few months prior. He then defeated lloD to qualify for top 8 where he was eventually defeated by Zain, falling to losers. He then shocked players once again by 3-0ing iBDW, but lost his runback to Zain to place 2nd. As the 21st seed, Jmook was the lowest seeded player to make it it to Grand Finals at a Melee major since Fly Amanita (16th seed) at Press Start and Bombsoldier (who was unseeded) at Jack Garden Tournament.
Following his Cinderella run at GENESIS 8, many players were excited to watch Jmook, and they didn't have to wait long, as due to his GENESIS run, he qualified for Smash Summit 13. Despite losing to Mango during Round Robin, Jmook entered the Winner's side of the Final Bracket after winning his Gauntlet round. His Final Bracket run was opposite of his run at GENESIS: he lost the runback against both iBDW and Plup, but eliminated Zain from the tournament. In addition, he also scored a win over Leffen and ultimately placed 4th. Despite losing to players he had defeated before, Jmook's Summit run proved that his GENESIS performance wasn't a fluke.
The rest of the season solidified Jmook's position in the top 5, where he placed top 6 at every tournament he attended. During this period, he notably scored 2 more wins against Zain and made 2 more appearances in Grand Finals, at both Get On My Level 2022 and Wavedash 2022. However, he failed to claim victory at a single national tournament, as at both aforementioned tournaments, his victory was snatched away by his bracket demon, Hungrybox. Thus, a "triangle" began to form amongst the three players: Hungrybox struggled against Zain, Zain struggled against Jmook, and Jmook struggled against Hungrybox.
Tournament placings
Super Smash Bros. Melee
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 Placement | 2v2 Placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NEW FISH | May 7th, 2016 | 9th | 5th | Patches |
| Next Level Smash Series 5 | July 30th, 2016 | 2nd | — | — |
| Jalapeño Smash | September 10th, 2016 | 3rd | 2nd | Patches |
| Cusetown Beatdown @ RetroGameCon 2016 | November 5th, 2016 | 3rd | 3rd | GoodleShoes |
| Ghost Pepper Smash | April 22nd, 2017 | 9th | 3rd | Patches |
| Binghamton eSports with Passion 5 | April 29th, 2017 | 1st | — | — |
| Super Smash Con 2017 | August 10th-13th, 2017 | 97th | 25th | Patches |
| Nebulous Melee 100! | October 21st, 2017 | 5th | 3rd | BIG KID |
| Binghamton eSports with Passion 8 | November 12th, 2017 | 1st | 1st | Patches |
| Binghamton eSports with Passion 10 | March 11th, 2018 | 1st | 1st | Patches |
| See Me On LAN | March 31st, 2018 | 7th | 5th | Patches |
| Binghamton eSports with Passion 11 | April 14th, 2018 | 1st | 1st | Patches |
| High DMG Output 5 | September 2nd, 2018 | 1st | 1st | billyboy48 |
| Binghamton eSports with Passion 12 | October 27th, 2018 | 1st | 1st | Patches |
| See Me On LAN 2 | November 10th, 2018 | 3rd | 2nd | Patches |
| Binghamton eSports with Passion 13 | November 18th, 2018 | 1st | 1st | Camg |
| Reality Royale IV | December 30th, 2018 | 1st | — | — |
| Binghamton eSports with Passion 14 | February 24th, 2019 | 1st | 1st | Patches |
| See Me On LAN!! 3 | March 16th, 2019 | 9th | 2nd | Patches |
| Binghamton eSports with Passion 15 | March 30th, 2019 | 1st | 1st | Patches |
| Binghamton Esports With Passion 16 | April 27th, 2019 | 1st | — | — |
| Omega III | June 8th-9th, 2019 | 9th | 9th | Patches |
| See Me On LAN!! 4 | September 7th, 2019 | 4th | 2nd | Patches |
Hax's Nightclub (Season 2 Episode 1) |
January 2nd, 2021 | 4th | — | — |
| Four Loko Fight Night |
March 6th-7th, 2021 | 5th | — | — |
| Smash World Tour 2021 Last Chance Qualifier | December 17th, 2021 | Top 8 | — | — |
| Smash World Tour 2021 Championships | December 17th-19th, 2021 | 13th | — | — |
| GENESIS 8 | April 15th-17th, 2022 | 2nd | 13th | Sora |
| Smash Summit 13 | May 12th-15th, 2022 | 4th | — | — |
| Battle of BC 4 | June 10th-12th, 2022 | 5th | 1st | Aura |
| Get On My Level 2022 | July 1st-3rd, 2022 | 2nd | 1st | iBDW |
| Quit Your Friendlies 4 | July 16th, 2022 | 1st | 1st | Patches |
| Wavedash 2022 | August 6th-7th, 2022 | 2nd | — | — |
| Shine 2022 | August 26th-28th, 2022 | 2nd | 3rd | KoDoRiN |
| Riptide 2022 | September 9th-11th, 2022 | 3rd | 5th | Zuppy |
Trivia
- Jmook is known for being extremely proficient at the Marth matchup, having never lost to a Marth player at a Melee tournament prior to fighting Zain at GENESIS 8.
- Jmook has a positive record against Zain (4-3).
- Excluding himself, Jmook has defeated all of the members of the MPGR Summer 2022 top 7 (in addition to Mango, who was ranked 1st on MPGRContenders) except for aMSa, defeating both Plup and iBDW at GENESIS 8, both Leffen and Zain at Smash Summit 13, Mango at Wavedash 2022, and Hungrybox at Shine 2022.
- Similarly to Dabuz, Jmook is the subject of a number of popular chants in Twitch chat during tournament streams, which often bring attention to his good looks, immaculate posture, or his "FLY" sponsor tag being redundant due to already being dressed well.
