Super Smash Bros. Melee Evo 2016 trophy (Stephanie Lindgren)

By Daniel “Tafokints” Lee

An unprecedented field of 2,372 Super Smash Bros. Melee entrants was trimmed down to just one at Evo 2016. After a grueling grand finals, Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma overcame his inner demons to defeat Adam “Armada” Lindgren and win his first ever Evo tournament. Moving forward, what does this mean for Smash?

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Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma at Evo 2016 (Stephanie Lindgren)

The undisputed king

For starters, it’s safe to say that Hungrybox is currently the best Smash player in the world.

Sure, other top players such as William “Leffen” Hjelte or Kevin “PPMD” Nanney weren’t there to fight for the title, but the world isn’t built on “what-ifs.” Hungrybox’s bracket route was no cakewalk, either, as he defeated a game Joseph “Mango” Marquez in losers semis and then Armada twice in grand finals.

Players tend to underperform at Evo, where the nerves and pressure reach new heights, but the top 8 showed an overall solid level of play. What really stood out, however, was Hungrybox’s resilience. He found himself in high pressure situations and substantial deficits, yet he consistently found a game-breaking rest whenever he needed it. His opponents played fearfully when the games went down to the wire, and Hungrybox quickly recognized how to play off of their fear. He’s encountered these situations thousands of time in practice and it was up to him to identify which of his tools he needed at crunch time. Hate his character or his playstyle all you want, but you have to respect the sheer mental fortitude that he exhibited during the finals.

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Hungrybox’s naysayers often point out that most of his 2016 wins were against weaker competition. But that argument is now moot, as he had outplace Armada, Mango, and Mew2King to win Evo. The victory brings him to a total of eight major wins, which surpasses Armada’s three wins and Mango’s two. Hungrybox attends the most events and wins the majority of them. His accomplishments and records put him safely above everyone else, including Armada, for 2016.

Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma at Evo 2016 (Stephanie Lindgren)

Mentality and coaching

Several players, including Hungrybox, played poorly on Day 2. Armada had close calls with Joey “Lucky” Aldama and Rishi “SmashG0d” Malhotra, while Hungrybox struggled with Dajuan “Shroomed” McDaniel. Uncharacteristic errors and questionable decision-making ran rampant as thousands of fans wondered what was going on.

Hungrybox went back to the drawing board with newly signed dedicated analyst Luis “Crunch” Rosias to break down sets and rejuvenate Hungrybox’s mentality. In a post-finals interview, Hungrybox mentioned that Crunch is his voice of reason and reassures him that he can win when his mind believes otherwise. That support helped him persevere after he lost to Justin “Plup” McGrath and when he fell behind against Armada in multiple games.

Team Liquid took a risk in hiring Crunch as the first ever Melee analyst, but their investment has definitely paid off. In a tweet, Kevin “PewPewU” Toy gave high praise to Crunch and the amount of work that he contributes to Hungrybox’s overall success.

Shoutout to @Liquid_Crunch, the most undercreditted & underreported person at #Evo2016 I hope Smash is moving in the direction for coaches — Kevin Toy (@CLG_PewPewU) July 18, 2016





While Melee is well behind esports such as League of Legends in player resources, we could continue to see a trend for other teams to hire dedicated analysts and coaches to help top players. Seeing the stark difference in Hungrybox’s play over the past year, teams should begin to evaluate the worth of an analyst.

Evo 2016 crowd (Stephanie Lindgren)

The healthy metagame

Even though Evo 2016 ended with another Fox and Jigglypuff grand finals, the action was exciting and dynamic.

Over the course of the year, people worried that the slower pace of Armada and Hungrybox matches would bore spectators, but everyone had an incredible time watching the back-and-forth duel between the two. The grand finals went to a full 10 games and the level of play was engaging and intense. Along with the overall pacing, the character diversity showed that 20xx is indeed a farce, as seven unique characters played in this year’s top eight — including Captain Falcon, the first ever at an Evo event. If you ever want to re-watch a Top 8 Melee event in 2016, this is the one to watch.

Adam “Armada” Lindgren and Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma play at Evo 2016 (Stephanie Lindgren)

What’s next?

The summer of Smash is still far from over, as events continue nearly every other week. The second annual Super Smash Con hits Virginia in August, with several top 20 players already confirmed to attend. Later that month, Boston brings another major with Shine 2016.

Pretty soon, the full roster of top players will be back in action. Leffen only has a few more weeks before he finalizes his visa situation, and hopefully PPMD makes a full recovery from his health-related issues. It’s been over a year since the Big 6 have played in the same tournament; nothing would make the Melee universe more exciting than the world’s top players squaring off once again.

While Hungrybox is number one for now, Armada, Mango, and even Leffen are eager to challenge him for the top spot. The arms race continues to grow as players develop new tricks, refine their play, and study one another. Here’s hoping we get more events with the kind of drama we saw in Vegas.





Daniel Lee is on Twitter @tafokints.