The Five Gods
Photo Credit: Deviant Art
When talking about the highest level of Super Smash Bros Melee, the first names that come to mind are those of the so called “Five Gods of Melee”, Mango, Armada, Hungrybox, PPMD, and Mew2King. These five players have each been in the spotlight in Melee with some of the highest tournament accomplishments and each holding a place at one time or another as the best Melee player. Other players have not been able to match their consistency in tournaments although some such as Leffen have come close. The beginning of 2016 saw Hungrybox return to dominant form, winning tournament after tournament including The Battle of the Five Gods, featuring his other fellow “Gods”. It looked like the Jigglypuff main would be the dominant player of the year.
Armada and Hungrybox’s Run
Photo Credit: Redbull
Both Armada and Hungrybox had an easy time in the early rounds of the singles matches with Armada sweeping both his sets and Hungrybox only dropping a single game. The first shock would come in the winner’s semifinals when one of their fellow Gods, Mew2King, swept Armada 3-0 to advance to the winner’s finals to play Hungrybox. In the other semifinal, Hungrybox also took on one of the other gods, Mango. The game was a close affair with Hungrybox eking out the win in 3-2 fashion despite being down 1-2 at one point.
In the winner’s finals, Hungrybox would take on Mew2King. Mew2King came out strong with a win in the first game, defeating Hungrybox using Fox. However, Hungrybox’s response was frightening as he proceeded to take the next 3 games in dominating fashion to send Mew2King into the lower bracket.
Armada had run through the loser’s bracket with ease defeating Shroomed 3-1 and then sweeping Mango 3-0 before meeting Mew2King in the loser’s finals for a rematch. This time, Armada returned the favor and swept Mew2King 3-0 to advance to the grand finals to meet Hungrbox.
Grand Finals
Photo Credit: Youtube
For the grand finals, Hungrybox had a set advantage because he came from the winner’s finals while Armada came from the loser’s finals. The first set was an exciting brawl with the games going back and forth. Armada started off by taking the first game, but Hungrybox answered back by taking his own counter-pick in game two. Game three and four would be traded as both players won their own map choices to send the set into a final game. The map for the fifth game was Armada’s choice of Final Destination, and this helped him a great deal as Jigglypuff was limited by the lack of platforms on the stadium. Ultimately, Armada managed to clinch the set to even up the bracket.
The final set was once again a close battle as the two players struggled to find any advantage against the other. Hungrybox used Jigglypuff’s signature rest move to secure game one for himself despite a good start by Armada. Aramada won the next game on Pokémon Stadium with a two stock advantage to equalize the score. Armada also took the next game to go ahead in the series and send the set into Hungrybox’s choice of Dreamland. Dreamland has been Hungrybox’s bread and butter in Melee and was one the map that he built his tournament championships on. However, Armada came into the game with a patient style that forced Hungrybox to initiate first and resulted in Armada winning the fights and Smash Summit 2.