Mang0 declares he won’t compete in Smash Bros Melee once ban lifts

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 16/01/2026

One of Super Smash Bros. Melee’s most iconic pro players, Joseph ‘Mang0’ Marquez, doesn’t plan to return to Melee esports.

Last year, Mang0 was dropped by Cloud9 and banned from major Melee events after drunken misconduct at a streaming event.

His sexually inappropriate gestures in front of two female streamers at Ludwig Ahgren’s “Beerio Kart” event led to immediate backlash.

Mang0’s Melee ban will be lifted this Summer but the streamer told his stream that he doesn’t plan on competing.

“I have no intentions of ever playing Melee again. I’m not gonna play Melee if I don’t have a sponsor,” he said.

“I’m not paying money out of pocket to go to tournaments to make $80… my life after Melee has been pretty f**king great. I just make less money,” Mang0 added.

Though Mang0 did add one caveat to the future of his Melee career:

“Unless I desperately need money. If you see me entering Melee, just know I desperately need money and everything went wrong, and League of Legends isn’t paying the bills anymore.”

For now, Mang0 is focusing on his streaming career and plans to remain sober for a year, though concerning the latter he admits he’s getting “bored.”

Mang0 then revealed to his audience that while he doesn’t intend to compete in Melee, he does intend to drink again.

“I plan on drinking again one day in my life… I just think some things are better with alcohol. Like a birthday? I don’t want to celebrate a birthday sober for the rest of my life.

“I feel like I would only stay sober if I came back to Melee, but I’m not coming back to Melee. I’m just at home.”

Where are other top Melee players now?

Super Smash Bros Melee is a game over 25-years-old now, but still has a dedicated community.

After an impressive career, Mang0 won over 30 major tournaments and is considered one of the legendary “Five Gods” of Melee.

Of the Five Gods – Armada, Hungrybox, PPMD, Mew2King, and Mang0 – Team Liquid’s Juan ‘Hungrybox’ DeBiedma is the only one still competing in Melee.

Last year, Hungrybox managed to win a Melee major with a broken controller.

Meanwhile, most Melee competitors have moved on to other pastures, like focusing on streaming or playing other games.

One of them is William ‘Leffen’ Hjelte, another very well-known Melee competitor.

Leffen has competed across various titles and has won an EVO title in both Melee and Guilty Gear Strive.

Now, the Swede is focusing on another game after recently defeating SonicFox to win 2XKO DreamHack Atlanta 2025.

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

In my seven years of esports writing, I've introduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I'm most proud of the latter.

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