In one corner: Joseph "Mango" Marquez, the West Coast's greatest Super Smash Bros. Meleeplayer, winner of the first Genesis tournament, recent winner of The Big House 6, an American hero and a certified Melee God.
In the other corner: Adam "Armada" Lindgren, Europe's greatest Meleeplayer, winner of Genesis 2 and 3, recent winner of UGC SmashOpen, a Swedish legend and a certified Melee God.
Now considered the biggest rivals in the game, Mango and Armada first met at a tournament held outside San Francisco in 2009 where the two competed in the very first Genesis tournament, eventually meeting in the grand finals. With 290 entrants, it was the largest Meleetournament in history.
Running from Friday to Sunday, nearly eight years later, Genesis 4 boasts 1,702 entrants -- including Mango and Armada. If every match goes their way, Mango and Armada could go toe-to-toe once again in the winners semifinals. And if you believe in fairytales, they could face off in the grand finals for the fourth Genesis in a row.
Coming into their first official tournament match at Genesis, Mango had already proven himself in the U.S., winning tournament after tournament throughout 2008 and 2009 to cement himself as a favorite to win Genesis. As far as the U.S. scene was concerned at the time, Mango was perhaps the greatest Meleeplayer in the world.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the bracket, Armada tore through the competition. The Swede was mostly unknown to U.S. players, considering this was his first time competing in the States, the Mecca of Melee.
Both players dominated their pools, earning top seeds on opposite sides of the bracket. They dominated their brackets, eliminating player after player until their fateful meeting at the winners finals on the final day of Genesis. The winner would move onto the grand finals while the loser would have to crawl through losers semifinals and finals to make it back to the main stage.
Playing as Peach, Armada defeated Mango in their inaugural match, sending Mango to the losers bracket and shocking the crowd. Mango defeated his opponents handedly, meeting Armada once again in the grand finals.
Using Jigglypuff for seven out of eight games in the two-set grand finals, Mango tore Armada down as the crowd chanted for the American hero, ending the series with a perfect rest to send Armada's Peach soaring off the stage.
Although Mango took first place in the end, Armada proved he could stand on the same ground as America's top player.
This was just the beginning of their story.
Armada began showing up at U.S. tournaments more and more, placing well in multiple tournaments throughout 2010 and 2011 while Mango continued his reign at the top. The two only entered the same tournaments a couple times in those years but never managed to go one-on-one again.
Until Genesis 2.
Once again, the pair tore through pools, ending up on opposites sides of the bracket with top seeds. Armada defeated everyone in his path, making a beeline for the grand finals while Mango was sent to the losers bracket in the winners semifinals.
Once again, Mango pushed through the losers bracket.
Once again, Mango and Armada met in the grand finals of Genesis, two years after they fought for first place in their first tournament together.
Mango picked Fox and Armada stuck with Peach. Mango took the first game and Armada took the second in the best-of-five set. They traded wins again, the score hanging at 2-2.
Like the four games before, Mango and Armada were both down to one stock in game five. Like the Genesis before, the crowd was chanting for Mango.
But Armada was reading Mango's moves too well, stopping every advance and getting hits in left and right. Mango had taken too much damage, and with one final neutral-air attack, Armada sent Mango flying off the stage, too far to recover.
Via GiphyArmada won Genesis 2. He and Mango were now 1-1 in grand finals matches.
Genesis went on hiatus for five years as Armada and Mango sculpted their own reputations as two of the Five Gods ofMelee. The Five Gods -- a legendary group that includes Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma, Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman and Kevin "PPMD" Nanney -- rarely lose. For years, it was almost guaranteed that one of them would win any given tournament.
When Genesis re-emerged in January 2016 with Genesis 3, the Meleescene had exploded. Prize pools had increased ten-fold as more players and fans flocked to the GameCube fighting game in droves. Meleewas experiencing its own renaissance.
Genesis 3 again saw Mango and Armada with top seeds on opposite ends of the bracket -- although this time around the Gods skipped pools and were handed those placements automatically based on their reputations.
Mango was again sent to the losers bracket while Armada rode a winstreak all the way to the grand finals, where he eventually met with Mango for the third Genesis in a row.
After losing the first two games to Mango's Fox, Armada switched from Fox to Peach but lost the first set 1-3, sending the grand finals into a winner-takes-all second set.
Whoever won the next set would take the lead for Genesis titles.
Although the crowd stayed on Mango's side for the entirety of the match, Armada was gunning for victory. Handling Mango's Fox Armada took the first two games and quickly sent the finals into match point.
Mango answered, winning a close round to put him on the board and head into game four on Final Destination. Armada controlled the game, putting Mango away to take first place at Genesis 3.
In the years since their first meeting, Mango and Armada have traded wins at tournament after tournament. Armada has the current match lead at 20-18 -- the only player in the world who has more wins than losses against Mango.
Genesis is just a piece of that history, but it's a series that continues to place the two Gods in the grand finals against each other, despite the odds.
This may be the first Genesis to have a third Meleeplayer in the grand finals, or it may be another exciting entry in the Mango/Armada saga. Perhaps Mango will take first place, tying up their Genesis records once again. Or maybe Armada will win the championship and prove himself to be the dominant player once and for all.
We'll see what happens this weekend.
TopicsEsportsGamingNintendo
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