Zain Naghmi

Last updated
Zain
Zain Naghmi
Zain in 2020.png
Naghmi in 2020
Personal information
Born (1996-06-11) June 11, 1996 (age 24) [1]
Hometown Reston, Virginia
Nationality American
Career information
StatusActive
Current team Golden Guardians
Games Super Smash Bros. Melee
Career prize money$46,777.42
Career history
2018–2019Panda Global
2020–2020Mogul Moves
2020–presentGolden Guardians
Career highlights and awards

Zain Naghmi (born June 11, 1996), more commonly known by his tag Zain, is an American Super Smash Bros. Melee player from Reston, Virginia. He is considered the best Marth player in the world [2] and has become one of the best Melee players in the world, ranking 1st in the MD/VA (Washington, D.C./Virginia/Maryland) Melee Power Rankings [3] and 6th in the MPGR (global rankings). [4] He is a member of the Golden Guardians. [5]

Contents

Career

Non-ranked beginnings, 2014-2017

Zain first began competing in Melee tournaments in May 2014, with his first tournament being at "Smash @ Claredon", a popular weekly event in Arlington, Virginia. [6] He largely competed in local tournaments while in his first year at Virginia Tech, and had soon established himself as a formidable opponent among the Maryland/Virginia scene. [6] Zain's breakout performance at a major tournament came in 2015, when he placed 33rd at Super Smash Con 2015, which was followed by a 1st-place finish at the MD/VA Fall Arcadian, [7] the highest non-ranked tournament in the region.

Beginning of professional career, 2017-2018

Zain's 2017 season began with an appearance on the SSBMRank, a biannual power ranking presented by Red Bull, where he was ranked as the 66th best Melee player for his performance in 2016. [8] A heavy influence on the ranking was his performance at The Big House 6, where he placed 17th overall including a 2–0 victory over Justin "Plup" McGrath, [9] who was ranked 6th in the world at the time. [10] Zain's placing earned him some interest from Plup's team, Panda Global, who offered him a sponsorship; however, the deal never went through. [6] 2017 saw high placements at several major tournaments which included 5th place at Super Smash Con 2017, bumping Zain up to 22nd on the SSBMRank 2017. [11] He was again approached by Panda Global who offered him a full sponsorship - this time, Zain accepted, with the team officially announcing the signing on April 12, 2018. [12]

Panda Global and the rise to the top, 2018-2019

Under Panda Global, Zain enjoyed success at major tournaments including first-place finishes at *Pound* Underground, [13] OMEGA II, [14] and Shine 2018. [15] However, despite his success, Zain parted ways with the team on November 8, 2019 along with teammates Cosmos and Kelazhur [16] - no explanation for Zain's departure was given by either the organisation or Zain himself.

Zain also played for the Virginia Tech Hokies in the Collegiate Starleague (CSL), an intercollegiate esports league. The CSL hosted its grand final for the 2018 competitive season at Shine 2018, where the Hokies ultimately placed in second after losing to the University of Central Florida. [6]

Mogul Moves, Golden Guardians and Slippi, 2020-present

Following his departure from Panda Global, Zain only competed in one tournament as a free agent. Two days prior to GENESIS 7, Twitch streamer Ludwig Ahgren announced his sponsorship of Zain for the tournament under his "Mogul Moves" clothing brand on January 22, 2020. [5] [17] Zain won Melee singles without losing a set, defeating Hungrybox - the number-one player in the world - in grand finals. [5] As Zain's Mogul Moves sponsorship only lasted for the tournament, he became a free agent following GENESIS, but was soon signed by the Golden Guardians, the official esports organisation of the Golden State Warriors, on February 6, 2020. [5] Since the signing, Zain has only competed in a few major tournaments - this was due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which prevented many live Melee events from taking place. [18] However, with the release of the Project Slippi mod for Melee, matches and tournament could take place online. During the pandemic, Zain has won Pound Online, [19] the Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 2, [20] and Smash Summit 10, [21] all three of which took place online.

Tournament results

Super Smash Bros. Melee

TournamentDate1v1 placement2v2 placementPartnerRef
VT Smash Oct 4th Main BracketOctober 4, 20149th——
Virginia Tech 2v2 TournamentOctober 15, 2014—3rdDavid
Grass Roots Monthly!November 8, 20145th3rd?
VT Smash Doubles Dec 3December 3, 2014—2nd?
Fueled By MeleeDecember 6, 20144th7th?
Grass Roots Monthly #2!December 7, 20143rd??
S@X 78January 7, 201517th——
Grass Roots Monthly #3!January 31, 20153rd??
PK Smash #1February 18, 20154th——
Fueled By Melee 3February 21, 20153rd??
Fueled By Melee 4April 12, 20152nd3rd?
Xanadu ArcadianMay 16, 20159th——
S@X 98May 20, 20157th——
S@X 99May 27, 201513th——
S@X 101June 10, 20159th——
Super Smash Con 2015 August 6–9, 201533rd——
S@X 111August 19, 20157th——
Grass Roots Monthly #8!August 29, 20153rd——
The Fall ArcadianOctober 17, 20151st——
Pound 2016April 2–3, 201649th25thPRISON
S@X 151May 25, 20161st——
S@X 152June 1, 20164th——
S@X 153June 8, 20165th——
EVO 2016 July 15–17, 201649th——
Super Smash Con 2016 August 11–14, 201633rd17thSypherPhoenix
The Big House 6 October 7–9, 201617th33rdSypherPhoenix
S@X 182December 28, 20161st——
GENESIS 4 January 20–22, 201733rd17thRedd
Smash Valley VFebruary 18, 20175th——
Training Mode Tuesday 3March 7, 20171st——
Smash @ Power 9 #22March 9, 20177th1stCaptain Faceroll
CEO DreamlandApril 14–16, 201717th9thSypherPhoenix
Smash 'N' Splash 3June 2–4, 201713th13thJunebug
Bad Moon Rising 2July 1, 20179th5thSypherPhoenix
Get On My Level 2017July 29–30, 20179th9thR2DLiu
Super Smash Con 2017 August 10–13, 20175th13thSypherPhoenix
The Big House 7 October 6–8, 201717th7thMilkMan
DreamHack Denver 2017October 20–22, 20177th——
MD/VA Melee InvitationalNovember 25, 20174th——
Pat's House 3December 2–3, 20172nd9thPrince Abu
S@X 233December 20, 20171st——
GENESIS 5 January 19–21, 201813th33rdR2DLiu
The Gang Hosts a Melee TournamentFebruary 3, 20182nd——
Smash Valley: Lucky 7February 17, 20182nd4thMilkMan
Unity 19March 3, 20181st——
Nimbus #8March 8, 20181st——
Enthusiast Gaming#EGLX 2018March 9–11, 20189th——
SWEET 31March 17, 20181st2ndKJH
Full Bloom 4March 24–25, 20189th——
Flatiron 3April 21, 20187th——
Smash Summit 6May 3–6, 20183rd7thHugS
*Pound* UndergroundMay 12–13, 20181st5thMilkMan
S@X 250May 16, 20183rd——
Get On My Level 2018May 18–20, 20185th——
Smash 'N' Splash 4June 1–3, 20185th——
OMEGA IIJune 16–17, 20181st3rdMilkMan
CEO 2018June 29 – July 1, 20185th25thMilkMan
Aurora BlitzJuly 21, 20183rd——
EVO 2018 August 3–5, 20189th——
Super Smash Con 2018 August 9–12, 20189th7thMilkMan
Shine 2018August 24–26, 20181st——
The Roast of Hugo GonzalezSeptember 22, 20182nd——
The Big House 8 October 5–7, 20184th——
GameTyrant Expo 2018November 2–4, 20183rd1stSFAT
Smash Summit 7November 15–18, 20187th7thRishi
The Parking Lot - FridayDecember 14, 20181st——
Don't Park on the Grass 2018December 15–16, 20183rd1stMilkMan
GENESIS 6 February 1–3, 20199th65thArris
Here Be Mid Tiers 5February 9, 20191st13thArris
The Script 2February 16–17, 20191st3rdMilkMan
The Gang Steals The ScriptMarch 9, 20191st1stMilkMan
Full Bloom 5March 23–24, 20191st3rdSwedish Delight
Battle of BC 3: Pre-WeeklyMarch 29, 20192nd——
Battle of BC 3March 30–31, 20192nd1stSFAT
Pound 2019April 19–21, 20194th4thChillindude
Come to Papa 3April 27–28, 20191st1st Plup
Shell Shocked 20May 4, 20191st1stHazy
Get On My Level 2019May 17–19, 20197th7thChillindude
Smash 'N' Splash 5May 31 – June 2, 20194th7thChillindude
The Kid, the Goat, and the Mang0June 8–9, 201917th9thChillindude
Smash Summit 8June 13–17, 20195th2ndPlup
Low Tier City 7July 12–14, 20192nd7thDJ Nintendo
Super Smash Con 2019 August 8–11, 20193rd5thMilkMan
Smash Camp: End of SummerSeptember 14–151st——
MainstageSeptember 20–22, 20193rd——
The Big House 9 October 4–6, 20192nd——
DreamHack RotterdamOctober 18–20, 20191st1stS2J
Mango's Birthday BashDecember 7–8, 20195th2nd Hungrybox
GENESIS 7 January 24–26, 20201st5thHungrybox
Smash Summit 9February 13–16, 20204th——
The Cave 2/24February 24, 20201st2ndAglet
Pound OnlineApril 24–26, 20201st——
Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 2July 25–26, 20201st——
Slippi Champions League Week 1October 11, 20202nd——
Slippi Champions League Week 2October 18, 20201st——
Slippi Champions League Week 3October 25, 20201st——
Slippi Champions League Week 4October 31, 20201st——
Smash Summit 10 OnlineNovember 19–23, 20201st——

Related Research Articles

Mang0

Joseph Manuel Marquez, known by his gamertag Mango, is an American professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player from Norwalk, California. Marquez is considered one of the dominant "Five Gods" of Melee, along with Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma, Adam "Armada" Lindgren, Kevin "PPMD" Nanney, and Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman, and is known for his aggressive, high-risk playstyle. Marquez began his career playing Jigglypuff, however he has primarily played Falco and Fox since 2011. He has been part of the Cloud9 eSports team since 2014.

PPMD (gamer)

Kevin Nanney, also known by his gamer tag of PPMD and formerly known as Dr. PeePee, is an inactive American professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player. Nanney has been historically considered one of the dominant "Five Gods" of Melee, alongside Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman, Joseph "Mango" Marquez, Adam "Armada" Lindgren, and Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma. He is a two-time champion of the Apex tournament series and was ranked as one of the top six players in the world from 2013-2015, after which he was removed from rankings due to inactivity. Nanney uses Falco and Marth and is known for his intelligent and patient playstyle.

Hungrybox Professional Super Smash Bros. player, streamer and YouTuber

Juan Manuel DeBiedma, better known by his gamer tag Hungrybox, is an American and Argentinian professional Super Smash Bros. player, streamer, YouTuber, and esports commentator. Recognized as one of the best and most successful Super Smash Bros. Melee players in history, he is considered one of the "Five Gods of Melee" along with Adam "Armada" Lindgren, Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman, Joseph "Mango" Marquez, and Kevin "PPMD" Nanney, and is regarded as the best Jigglypuff player in Melee history. Active since 2007 and ranked as the best Melee player in the world since 2017, he is a member of Team Liquid since 2015, and is currently also active on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Gonzalo Raúl Barrios Castro, known by his gamertag ZeRo, is a Chilean former professional Super Smash Bros. player and streamer. He was considered the best Super Smash Bros. for Wii U player in the world throughout his career, with a record-breaking 56 consecutive tournament wins in the game from November 2014 to October 2015, including high-profile tournaments such as EVO 2015 and The Big House 5. Prior to the release of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, he was a top ranked Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Project M player. His best known characters are Diddy Kong in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Pit in Project M, Meta Knight in Brawl, and Fox in Melee. He is the only player to have earned more than US$100,000 playing Super Smash Bros. for Wii U competitively.

The Big House (tournament) Annual Super Smash Bros. tournament

The Big House is an annual Super Smash Bros tournament held since 2011 in Michigan.

Genesis (tournament)

Genesis, stylized as GENESIS, is a series of Super Smash Bros. tournaments occurring in the San Francisco Bay Area of the United States state of California. The first Genesis tournament took place in 2009 in Antioch at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds.

Plup

Justin McGrath, better known as Plup, is an American professional Super Smash Bros. player from Orlando, Florida. McGrath is considered to be one of the best Super Smash Bros. Melee players in the world, having been ranked as one of the top 10 Melee players every year since 2015. McGrath is only the second player in the game's history to have defeated each of the players considered the "Five Gods" of Melee — Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma, Joseph "Mang0" Marquez, Adam "Armada" Lindgren, Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman, and Kevin "PPMD" Nanney in tournament competition.

Gavin Dempsey Professional Super Smash Bros. player

Gavin Dempsey, also known as Tweek, is an American professional Super Smash Bros. player.

MkLeo Mexican professional Super Smash Bros. player

Leonardo López Pérez, also known as MkLeo or Leo, is a Mexican professional Super Smash Bros. player. He is widely considered the best Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player in the world, and is number one in the Panda Global Rankings for the first and second half of 2019. In 2019 López Pérez won the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament at Evo 2019, the largest offline tournament by number of entrants in the Smash franchise's history.

Ludwig Ahgren American streamer (born 1995)

Ludwig Anders Ahgren is an American Twitch streamer, YouTuber, and esports commentator and competitor. Ahgren is best known for his livestreams on Twitch, where he broadcasts video game-related content as well as non-video game-related content such as game shows, contests, and gambling. He is also known for his work as an esports commentator at various Super Smash Bros. Melee tournaments. Since beginning streaming full-time on February 16, 2019, Ahgren has skyrocketed in popularity, becoming one of the largest streamers on Twitch.

Zackray Japanese professional Super Smash Bros. player

Sota Okada, also known as Zackray, is a Japanese professional Super Smash Bros. player. As of the end of 2019, he was ranked the seventh best Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player in the world and the highest ranked player from Japan. In October 2019 he won The Big House 9, becoming the first Japanese player to win a premier-tier tournament held outside of Japan.

Maister (gamer) Mexican professional Super Smash Bros. player

Enrique Hernández Solís, also known as Maister, is a Mexican professional Super Smash Bros. player. He is widely considered the best Mr. Game & Watch player in Smash Bros. and is the only person to have won a major Smash Bros. tournament using that character. He was ranked as the sixth best Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player in the world in the Panda Global rankings for the second half of 2019.

Samsora American professional Super Smash Bros. player

Ezra Samsora Morris, better known as Samsora, is an American professional Super Smash Bros. player from New Orleans, United States.

Marss American professional Super Smash Bros. player

Tyler Martins, also known as Marss, is an American professional Super Smash Bros. player. In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U he won several minor tournaments but failed to take any of the premier-events, and was ranked as the 16th best player of all time in the game. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate he has fared considerably better, winning several premier tournaments and claiming 3rd and 5th in the rankings for the first and second half of 2019, respectively.

Dabuz American professional Super Smash Bros. player

Samuel Robert Buzby, also known as Dabuz, is an American professional Super Smash Bros. player. In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, he won several major tournaments and was ranked between 3rd and 6th best player in the world throughout the game's competitive history. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, he was ranked 7th and 9th best for the first and second halves of 2019, respectively.

Glutonny French professional Super Smash Bros. player

William Belaïd, commonly known as Glutonny, is a French professional Super Smash Bros. player. He is the highest ranked Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player from Europe. In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, he was ranked the 70th best player in the world of all time. In Ultimate, he was ranked 14th and 8th best in the world for the first and second halves of 2019, respectively.

Axe (gamer) American esports player

Jeffrey Williamson, known professionally as Axe, is an American professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player. As of 2020, he is ranked as the fourth best Melee player in the world, and has finished in the top ten of formal rankings presented by Red Bull every year since 2016. His highest placements at major Melee tournaments include first place at Smash Summit 8, second place at Genesis 6, and fourth place at Evo 2014.

References

  1. ↑ @zainnaghmi (June 12, 2018). "This shirt is an amazing birthday gift @MilkMan_SSBM!!! I'm the happiest 22 year old around" (Tweet). Retrieved September 7, 2020– via Twitter.
  2. ↑ Michael, Cale. "iBDW comments on the evolution of the Fox matchup in Super Smash Bros. Melee". DotEsports.com. Dot Esports. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  3. ↑ "MD/VA Melee Power Rankings". smash.gg. smash.gg.
  4. ↑ "MPGR Melee Power Rankings". smash.gg. smash.gg.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Michael, Cale (February 6, 2020). "Golden Guardians signs Super Smash Bros. Melee pro Zain, Teamfight Tactics streamer DogDog". Dot Esports . Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Lee, Alexander. "New challenger approaching: The rise of Zain". ESPN.com. ESPN Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  7. ↑ "The Fall Arcadian Melee Top 16". Challonge. xanaduarcadian.
  8. ↑ Craytor, John; Fellner, Henry. "SSBMRank 2016: 61-70". Redbull.com. Red Bull. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  9. ↑ MacPherson, Kate. "The beginning of 2020: Zain wins Genesis 7". Tempostorm.com. Tempo Storn. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  10. ↑ Palakurthi, Anokh. "SSBMRank 2016: 4-6". Redbull.com. Red Bull. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  11. ↑ Yang, Rui; Lynch, Darren. "SSBMRank 2017: 30-21". Redbull.com. Rd Bull. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  12. ↑ Global, Panda. "Welcome to the Plup Club, @PG_Zain . We were going to wait until Summit started, but looks like we might need your Ki for a spirit bomb to push him through to Summit!". Twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  13. ↑ Kassel, Josh. "*Pound* Underground - Melee Singles". smash.gg. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  14. ↑ LaBombard, Michael. "OMEGA II - Melee Singles". smash.gg. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  15. ↑ Zaborowski, Matthew. "Shine 2018 - Melee Singles". smash.gg. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  16. ↑ Michael, Cale. "Panda Global parts ways with Smash Bros. players Zain and Cosmos". DotEsports.com. Dot Esports. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  17. ↑ Ahgren, Ludwig. "HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE I AM SIGNING @ZainNaghmi TO MOGUL MOVES FOR @Genesis_Smash". Twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  18. ↑ Michael, Cale (March 12, 2020). "Super Smash Bros. PGR season to be frozen due to coronavirus and travel concerns". Dot Esports . Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  19. ↑ Robertson, Scott. "Pound Online - Melee Singles". Smash.gg. Smash.gg. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  20. ↑ Collier, Brandon. "Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 2 - Melee Singles". Smash.gg. smash.gg. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  21. ↑ "Smash Summit 10 Online". smash.gg. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.