The Five Gods
|
This article or section may require a cleanup. The editor who added this tag believes this page should be cleaned up for the following reason: Since the article was recently reinstated, it'll likely be necessary to go over some of the info here. You can discuss this issue on the talk page or edit this page to improve it. |
The Five Gods is a term referring to the five very best players of Super Smash Bros. Melee, who consistently dominated tournaments from around 2008, when the MLG era was over, 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 then known) was not considered in contention at that event.
The gods won nearly every Melee tournament where at least two of them were in attendance from 2008 to 2014, while rarely losing tournament sets to players not among the gods themselves. The sole exception was Don't Go Down There Jeff, where Mango sandbagged for part of the tourney.
While The Five Gods had continued to dominate Melee majors in the new era, notably featuring Mango's two wins at EVO 2013 and 2014, Leffen and Plup had emerged as true challengers to them, and are the only two players who have defeated all five in a tournament set. Following his rise in 2014, Leffen won B.E.A.S.T 5, marking the first non-God victory at a major with at least two in attendance since 2008; he won his first American major, CEO 2015, that same year, with three of the gods present. He also won Get On My Level 2016, defeating four gods all in a row without dropping a set. Plup became the second player after Leffen to win a major with two or more gods in attendance, taking DreamHack Atlanta 2017 over Hungrybox and Mew2King; he then won GENESIS 5, winning over Mango and Armada, and double eliminating Hungrybox.
Many new players also went on to defeat the remaining gods and win majors, some with unconventional characters. At EVO 2018, Swedish Delight defeated Armada early in winners, and Armada made an impressive losers run only to lose to Leffen in Grand Finals, marking Leffen’s first EVO win. Zain claimed victory at Shine 2018 over Mango and Hungrybox and has continued to be a threat to the gods; he later went on to win his first supermajor at GENESIS 7 as well, once again defeating Mango and Hungrybox. Wizzrobe earned his first supermajor victory at Smash 'N' Splash 5 by double-eliminating Hungrybox, marking the first Melee supermajor won by a solo Captain Falcon main since Isai at MOAST 3 all the way back in 2005. Similarly, Axe took 1st at Smash Summit 8 while defeating Zain, Mango, Leffen, and Wizzrobe, marking Axe’s first supermajor win and the first ever major win by a solo Pikachu. The rise of unorthodox characters has spurred renewed interest in Melee, and rise of many new challengers to the Gods has signaled the end of their reign.
Demi-gods[edit]
There are some players whose level of skill lies just below the top players; these players are most commonly considered the "demi-gods". These players are known to frequently earn high placings in large tournaments, and even occasionally take sets off of the gods and other top players, but have yet to achieve the skill level or consistency of the players above them. In addition, Fly Amanita and Wobbles have each taken sets off of four of the gods, except for Armada. Axe, Zain, aMSa, Westballz, Shroomed, PewPewU, SFAT, ChuDat, Lucky, and Hax have each beaten three of the gods.
Tournaments in which all five gods participated[edit]
| Tournament | Date | Armada | Hungrybox | Mango | Mew2King | PPMD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pound 4 | January 16th-18th, 2010 | 4th | 2nd | 1st | 5th | 9th |
| Apex 2010 | August 6th-8th, 2010 | 2nd | 1st | 25th** | 3rd | 4th |
| Pound V | February 19th-21st, 2011 | 2nd | 3rd | 17th** | 5th* | 1st |
| GENESIS 2 | July 15th-17th, 2011 | 1st | 4th | 2nd | 5th | 7th |
| Apex 2012 | January 6th-8th, 2012 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 17th* | 5th |
| Apex 2013 | January 11th-13th, 2013 | 1st | 5th | 4th | 3rd | 2nd |
| EVO 2013 | July 12th-14th, 2013 | 4th | 3rd | 1st | 5th | 5th |
| MLG Anaheim 2014 | June 20th-22nd, 2014 | 2nd | 7th | 1st | 3rd | 4th |
| EVO 2014 | July 11th-13th, 2014 | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 5th | 4th |
| Apex 2015 | January 30th-February 1st, 2015 | 2nd | 5th | 4th | 9th | 1st |
| GENESIS 3 | January 15th-17th, 2016 | 1st | 3rd | 2nd | 9th | 6th |
| Battle of the Five Gods | March 17th-19th, 2016 | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 7th | 10th |
*Mew2King forfeited in losers after losing to PPMD at Pound V and Wobbles at Apex 2012.
**Mango was sandbagging under his Scorpion Master alias.
See also[edit]
- The Smash Brothers - documentary about the seven greatest players before the era of the gods, Mew2King and Mango are part of both groups
