Joseph “Mang0” Marquez has attended every single Smash Summit, although he’s never won any of them. But, with Smash Summit 11, Cloud 9’s Mang0 picked the absolute best time to finally claim the title.
After playing second fiddle and finishing runner up at Smash Summit 10, Mang0 finally took down Golden Guardians’ Zain “Zain” Naghmi in a hectic grand final, to win Smash Summit 11. With the win, Mang0 takes home the lion’s share of an over-$150,000 prize pool that was largely crowdfunded by the fans.
Mang0’s run
Mang0’s final bracket run was bumpy. A winners quarter final defeat to Panda Global’s Justin “Plup” McGrath sent Mang0 to the losers bracket early. From there, he went on a typical Mang0 losers bracket run. After quickly dispatching of Kurtis “Moky” Pratt and Golden Guardian’s Edgard “None” Sheleby, both in 3-0 fashion, he matched up against one of the tournament favorites, Panda Global’s Cody “iBDW” Schwab. With a 3-1 victory he set up a rematch against the player who sent him to losers in the first place, Plup. This time around the results were reversed. Mang0 3-1’d Plup to meet up with an old time rival, Team Liquid’s Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma.
With a very intense four-game set, Mang0 managed to eliminate Hungrybox to make it all the way to the grand final. Waiting for him there was current number one ranked player in the world, Zain. The two players have had a lot of history during the pandemic. They’ve traded sets back and forth during the last year and a half. In their last head-to-head matchup, Zain defeated Mang0 in the Summit Champions League and is also the reigning Smash Summit champion, where he beat Mang0 for the title back in Nov.
The grand final was one to remember, as Mang0 clawed back from a 2-0 deficit to force a game five and eventually pulling off the reverse 3-0 sweep to set up a bracket reset. In the reset, he had to claw back from another 2-1 deficit. In the final game, with both players on their final stock, he was on the verge of death. But a very quick shield drop into shine spike managed to erase Zain’s stock in an instant. Just as fast, Mang0 became $47,000 richer.
Prize Pool Payout
Mang0 took home a reported $46,701 for first place. In comparison, Smash Summit 10: Online champion Zain took home only $4,446. The last in-person Smash Summit winner, Hungrybox at Smash Summit 9, only took home $17,000. This marks the first time in Super Smash Bros. Melee history that a total prize pool eclipsed $100,000. Up to this point the biggest prize for first place at a Melee event was claimed by Hungrybox at Smash Summit 5. His first place there netted him nearly $30,000.
Zain is taking home a very impressive $23,350 for second. That total still ranks as the third biggest payout in Melee history. Hungrybox is taking home $18,680 dollars for third place, which is more than what he earned from his Smash Summit 9 victory.
