Mango wins Melee at The Big House 9

The Big House 9 concluded and with it, a weekend of unforgettable Super Smash Bros. for both Melee and Ultimate. In one of the tensest and exciting events of the year, Joseph “Mango” Marquez clawed back through the bracket to take first place in Melee.

What a day. What a run. The kid brought it all the way back.

mangoPog

Congratulations @C9Mang0, your #TBH9 Champion! pic.twitter.com/PXpTA8q4zY

— The Big House (@TheBigHouseSSB) October 7, 2019

Mango Makes it Happen

Mango’s route to the top eight was smooth sailing. He only dropped a single game from pools until his top four match against Leffen. However, Leffen hardly broke a sweat in the match, sending Mango to the losers’ bracket in a 3-0.

Once down there, his first opponent was none other than the best player in the world, Hungrybox. While Mango played Falco all day, he swapped to Fox for the better matchup against Jigglypuff. His Fox playstyle was clean, giving the advantage he needed to take Hungrybox to school in a 3-1 victory.

Now in the top four, Mango’s next test would be Fiction. He won 3-0 against Fiction earlier in the tournament, but this set played out differently. A nail-biter of a series saw Mango go down 1-2. But Mango came back to take the win in five grueling Falco vs. Fox games.

The losers’ finals would be a rematch of Mango vs. Leffen. This set had everyone on the edge of their seats for the entirety of five games. Like the last match, Mango went down 1-2 just to pull a comeback. He took the set in five games and advanced to grand finals.

His final opponent was Zain, fresh and rested after rolling Leffen 3-0. He only played six games in the top eight, while Mango fought through 17. It would take every drop of gas in the tank for Mango to continue. And continue he did.

Once again, Mango started off on the back foot going down 1-2 against Zain’s Marth. Like usual, his Falco found his wings to bring the set back from the brink. Mango did the improbable and reset the bracket.

In the final set of TBH9 Melee, the clocks turned back. For the fourth set in a row, Mango went down 1-2. However, Mango composed himself and shone flashes of brilliance that the Mango Nation waited forever to see. He pushed Zain to the edge on Marth’s best stages while also maintaining composure on his own. Mango closed out TBH9 with his fourth straight 3-2 victory.

Mango won The Big House 9 in a dramatic and unforgettable fashion. He played 27 total games in the top eight, took down numerous high ranked opponents, and was down early in every single match. This is one of the most important and iconic runs not just in Smash history, but in esports history. Most importantly, he did it in Mango’s style, not anyone else’s. Eighteen years after release, Melee is still being pushed to its absolute limits. Even in the future, Mango will continue playing the reckless, flashy style fans came to know and love.

Written by Zakaria Almughrabi