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Isai (gamer)

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Isai
Personal information
NameJoel Isai Alvarado
Nickname(s)Isaiah
malva00
Career information
GamesSuper Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Playing career2003–present
Career highlights and awards
Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. Melee
  • MOAST 3 (2005)
  • MLG Los Angeles (2005)

Joel Isai Alvarado, professionally known as Isai (pronounced "Isaiah"), is an American Super Smash Bros. 64 player widely regarded as the game's greatest player of all time.[1] He is credited with developing the modern Smash 64 metagame [further explanation needed] and is renowned for his ability to play the game's entire character roster at a top professional level. His major tournament victories include Apex 2014 and Super Smash Con 2023.

Alvarado also formerly competed in Super Smash Bros. Melee, where he was regarded as one of the best players in the world and the world's best Captain Falcon player during the early years of the game's competitive scene in the early to mid-2000s. He was regarded as one of the best Melee team players in the world, often teaming with his partner Ken Hoang under the name "El Chocolate Diablo".[2] The team was renowned for its dominance and won the Major League Gaming Las Vegas 2006 Melee doubles championship.[3][4][5] Alvarado retired from professional Melee competition in 2007, citing declining interest in the game, however he later teamed with Johnny "S2J" Kim at GENESIS 2 in 2011 and played an exhibition match against Ryota "Captain Jack" Yoshida at Apex 2012, which he infamously lost after sandbagging.[4] A 2021 list compiled by PGstats ranked Isai as the fifteenth-greatest Melee player of all time.[6]

Alvarado was formerly sponsored by CLASH Tournaments,[7] and occasionally streamed on the CLASH Tournaments channel.[8]

Career

[edit]

Isai is predominantly a Super Smash Bros. player. He became acquainted with the community surrounding its sequel, Super Smash Bros. Melee, entering his first tournament, Tournament Go 4 (TG4), on January 19, 2003. He teamed up with the top-ranked player, Ken Hoang, in Tournament Go's fifth incarnation, TG5, for doubles events and continued to team with Ken in later tournaments beginning an undefeated streak that lasted from 2003 to 2006.

Isai is known for not taking Melee singles events seriously. He retired from playing the game competitively in 2007, and later shifted his focus back to Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 64.

He is the Super Smash Bros, champion of Apex 2014, defeating Moyashi in the grand finals using Jigglypuff, a character considered to be worse than some of the higher-tiered characters such as Pikachu and Kirby.[9][10]

Personal life

[edit]

Isai is a graduate of San José State University and was the president of the school's chapter of Beta Alpha Psi.[11]

Notable tournament placements

[edit]

Only Majors and Supermajors are listed.

Super Smash Bros.

[edit]
Tournament[12] Date 1v1 placement 2v2 placement Partner
MELEE-FC Diamond July 12–14, 2007 1st
GENESIS 2 July 15–17, 2011 2nd
Apex 2012 January 6–8, 2012 2nd 1st Nintendude
Apex 2013 January 11–13, 2013 2nd
Apex 2014 January 17–19, 2014 1st
GENESIS 3 January 15–17, 2016 4th 3rd Rith
Snosa II June 18–19, 2016 3rd 3rd KeroKeroppi
Super Smash Con 2016 August 11–14, 2016 3rd 1st Alvin
GENESIS 4 January 20–22, 2017 13th
B.E.A.S.T 7 February 17–19, 2017 1st
Snosa III June 17–18, 2017 5th 1st Gyaki
Get On My Level 2017 July 28–30, 2017 2nd 1st The Z
Super Smash Con 2017 August 10–13, 2017 13th 1st Alvin
Kansai 2018 February 11, 2018 17th
Called Out 3 June 23, 2018 2nd 2nd Kort
Super Smash Con 2018 August 9–12, 2018 3rd 3rd Sleepy Fox
Inka Fest 2019 July 13–14, 2019 4th 4th Wizzrobe
Snosa 5 January 4, 2020 5th 1st Sleepy Fox
Keystoned V March 20th, 2022 1st 1st Josh Brody
Super Smash Con 2022 August 13, 2022 3rd 1st tacos
Super Smash Con 2023 August 10-13, 2023 1st 1st SuPeRbOoMfAn

Super Smash Bros. Melee

[edit]
Tournament[13] Date 1v1 placement 2v2 placement Partner
Tournament Go 4 January 19, 2003 7th
Tournament Go 5 August 2–3, 2003 3rd 1st Ken
Game Over January 10, 2004 3rd 1st Ken
MLG Chicago 2004 June 19, 2004 2nd 1st Ken
Tournament Go 6 August 21–22, 2004 5th 1st Ken
MLG San Francisco 2004 September 11–12, 2004 2nd
MLG Los Angeles 2004 September 25–26, 2004 2nd 1st Ken
MLG New York 2004 October 24, 2004 2nd 1st Ken
MOAST 3 January 15–16, 2005 1st 1st Ken
MLG DC 2005 January 29–30, 2005 2nd 1st Ken
MLG San Francisco 2005 February 26–27, 2005 5th 1st Ken
Gettin' Schooled 2 June 25–26, 2005 7th 1st Ken
MLG Los Angeles 2005 October 14–16, 2005 1st 1st Ken
MLG New York Opener 2006 April 21–23, 2006 6th 1st Ken
MLG Dallas 2006 May 19–20, 2006 13th 1st Ken
MLG Anaheim 2006 June 23–24, 2006 4th 1st Ken
MLG Chicago 2006 July 21–22, 2006 8th 2nd Ken
Zero Challenge 2 August 15–17, 2006 1st Captain Jack
MLG Orlando 2006 August 26–27, 2006 4th 1st Ken
MLG New York Playoffs 2006 October 13–14, 2006 6th 3rd Ken
NorCal Tournament 2 October 28, 2006 9th 1st Ken
MLG Las Vegas 2006 November 18–19, 2006 6th 1st Ken
Cataclysm 3 March 3–4, 2007 13th 1st Mew2King
MELEE-FC Diamond July 12–14, 2007 41st 5th Mew2King
Zero Challenge 3 July 20–22, 2007 25th 1st The King
Super Champ Combo September 29–30, 2007 33rd 7th Ken
GENESIS 2 July 15–17, 2011 13th S2J
Apex 2012 January 6–8, 2012 97th Vans

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Lindbergh, Ben (2015-02-18). "Fight Club: Catching a Beating at the Super Bowl of 'Super Smash Bros.'". Grantland. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
  2. ^ Holmes, Jonathan (2014-08-24). "Experts think competitive doubles could make it big in Smash Bros". Destructoid. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
  3. ^ "Carbon Wins the 2006 Boost Mobile MLG Pro Circuit National Championship, Taking Home $100,000". PRNewswire. Major League Gaming. 20 November 2006. Retrieved 2015-06-06.
  4. ^ a b Travis Beauchamp (2013-10-11). The Smash Brothers. East Point Pictures. Archived from the original on 2017-06-26. Retrieved 2015-01-29.
  5. ^ Kyle Magee (2006-08-09). "Isai". Major League Gaming. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
  6. ^ "The Melee Stats Top 100: 20-11". PGstats. November 22, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  7. ^ Walker, Ian (2014-05-22). "Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman and Adam "Armada" Lindgren Released from CLASH Tournaments Roster". Shoryuken. Archived from the original on 2015-01-28. Retrieved 2015-06-06.
  8. ^ Sedda (June 4, 2015). "Smash of Ages: A Smash 64 Regional". Melee It On Me. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  9. ^ CT Chibo (January 23, 2014). "CT Earns Top Placements at Apex 2014". CLASH Tournaments. Archived from the original on 2015-11-23. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  10. ^ "List of SSB tier lists (NTSC)". SmashWiki, the Super Smash Bros. wiki. May 12, 2015. Archived from the original on November 29, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  11. ^ "STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS – MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL (ELC) COLLEGE OF BUSINESS, Spring 2014" (PDF). San Jose State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  12. ^ "Smash 64 - malva00". SmashBoards. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  13. ^ "Melee - malva00". SmashBoards. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2021.