Smasher:Isai

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Not to be confused with the Colombian playerIsa.
Isai "malva" "MevseC"
Isai.jpg
Character info
Smash 64mainsPikachu,Fox
OtherSmash 64charactersJigglypuff,Link,Mario,Samus,Luigi,Donkey Kong,Kirby,Yoshi,Captain Falcon,Ness
MeleemainCaptain Falcon
OtherMeleecharactersSheik,Fox,Marth
Team info
FormercrewsMC,CLASH Tournaments
Rankings and results info
Most recent rankingSuper Smash Bros.2023 Smash 64 Power Rankings: 1st
Super Smash Bros. MeleeRetroSSBMRank 2006: 7th
Best historical rankingSuper Smash Bros.2023 Smash 64 Power Rankings: 1st
Super Smash Bros. MeleeRetroSSBMRank 2005: 3rd
Best tournament resultSuper Smash Bros. 1st / 255 atSuper Smash Con 2023
Super Smash Bros. Melee 1st / 32+ atMLG Los Angeles 2005
WinningsSuper Smash Bros. ~$3,993.96
Super Smash Bros. Melee ~$24,547.30
Personal and other info
Real nameJoel Isai Alvarado
Birth date(age 40)
LocationSan Jose, California USA
WikipediaSymbol.svgWikipedia has an article onIsai.
Ken and Isai of team "El Chocolate Diablo." (Isai is on the right.)

Joel Isai Alvarado, commonly known asIsai (often pronounced "Isaiah"), is an AmericanSuper Smash Bros. 64 player widely regarded as one of the best players in the world and thegreatest of all time. He is credited with creating the modernmetagame, and was so far ahead of all other competitors that he was virtually untouchable, giving rise to the meme "Isai is too good" within thecommunity. HemainsPikachu inSmash 64 but can use the entire cast at the top level, choosing to use a variety of secondaries at tournaments. Isai has stated onReddit that his favorite characters areLink,Mario,Luigi,Fox,Donkey Kong,Yoshi, andJigglypuff.[1]

Isai is a formerSuper Smash Bros. Melee player who was considered to be a top 4 player for most of his career duringThe "Golden Age" (2004-2008), and was lastranked 7th in the United States before retiring from the game. He was the first notableCaptain Falcon player and widely regarded as the best one in the world while he was active. He was the first Captain Falcon player to win both a major and a supermajor, and was one of very few players during this period that had defeatedKen multiple times. He, alongside Ken, was also one-half ofdoubles teamEl Chocolate Diablo, regarded as the best doubles team in the world while active, only failing to win 3 tournaments.

After finishing 1st atApex 2014, Isai went on a two-year hiatus period fromSmash 64, as hepreferred playing more matches against top level players without having to play lower level players first. This break from the game ended when he attendedGENESIS 3 in 2016, where he placed 4th, losing twice towangera.

Rankings[edit]

Super Smash Bros.[edit]

64 League Rankings[edit]

RankingTime periodRankCharacter(s)Notes
2016 64 League RankingsJanuary 15th-November 13th, 20163rdPikachu (SSB)
2017 64 League Rankings201711thMario (SSB)Donkey Kong (SSB)Link (SSB)Samus (SSB)Yoshi (SSB)Kirby (SSB)Fox (SSB)Pikachu (SSB)Luigi (SSB)Captain Falcon (SSB)Ness (SSB)Jigglypuff (SSB)
2018 64 League RankingsDecember 9th, 2017-December 16th, 20183rdFox (SSB)Pikachu (SSB)Mario (SSB)Jigglypuff (SSB)

SSB64UPR[edit]

RankingTime periodRankCharacter(s)Notes
2019-2020 Smash 64 Power RankingsJanuary 1st, 2019-March 31st, 202012thFox (SSB)Mario (SSB)
2021-2022 Smash 64 Power RankingsJune 1st, 2021-November 30th, 20222ndPikachu (SSB)Mario (SSB)Yoshi (SSB)Jigglypuff (SSB)
2023 Smash 64 Power RankingsJanuary 14th, 2023-November 17th-19th, 20231stPikachu (SSB)Kirby (SSB)

Super Smash Bros. Melee[edit]

RetroSSBMRank[edit]

RankingTime periodRankCharacter(s)Notes
RetroSSBMRank 2001-20032001-20033rdCaptain Falcon (SSBM)
RetroSSBMRank 200420044thCaptain Falcon (SSBM)
RetroSSBMRank 200520053rdCaptain Falcon (SSBM)
RetroSSBMRank 200620067thCaptain Falcon (SSBM)

Top 100 Melee Players of All Time[edit]

RankingTime periodRankCharacter(s)Notes
First ListJanuary 10th, 2004 - January 21st, 201811thCaptain Falcon (SSBM)Sheik (SSBM)Fox (SSBM)
Second ListJanuary 10th, 2004 - February 3rd, 201912thCaptain Falcon (SSBM)Sheik (SSBM)Fox (SSBM)
Third ListJanuary 10th, 2004 - February 16th, 202011thCaptain Falcon (SSBM)Sheik (SSBM)Fox (SSBM)
Fourth ListJanuary 10th, 2004 - September 12th, 202115thCaptain Falcon (SSBM)Fox (SSBM)Sheik (SSBM)

Feats[edit]

Super Smash Bros.[edit]

Isai is considered by many to be the bestSuper Smash Bros. player of all time. The only player to ever beat him in atwelve character battle is the Japanese championJousuke (possibly due to the battle being done on the Japanese version of the game),kysk in 2019,[2] andKurabba who won theirtwelve character match atSuper Smash Con 2023. Additionally, the only smashers who have shown true competition to hisPikachu arewario andGerson (one of the best Japanese and Peruvian players, respectively), who have taken multiple matches against Isai indittos, as well asAlvin andNax, who are the only two players to have winning records against Isai's Pikachu in tournament sets. Isai was ranked 1st on the2023 Smash 64 Power Rankings.

Isai traveled to West Japan in November of 2006 to play the professional players there. He played at Tokyo and a Hokkaido Smashfest in December 2006 and in Osaka in January 2007 and recorded a lot of matches that can be found on his Youtube channel. He lost a few games playing as Mario, Samus, DK or Captain Falcon (againstSima's Ness,Hoto's Luigi,Tatsuman,Rinko andTsukuru), but generally did not have any true competition.

He wonFC Diamond in 2007, which can be considered the first US majorSmash 64 tournament. With 64 participants, it was the largest USSmash 64 tournament for a few years. In grand finals he won Link dittos againstSensei.

In 2011 he travelled to Peru to compete against the top players there. At a smashfest in July in Lima he had no competition, but in August in Tacna he had some close matches and lost a few times againstAlvin,Gerson andMarka, with his games against Gerson specifically being his favorite matches.[3]

Isai is also known for his impressive performance with the low-tier characterLink. He managed to finish second atApex 2012 by only using Link, only losing toSuPeRbOoMfAn'sCaptain Falcon and still winning a few matches against the latter. He also won the European tournamentB.E.A.S.T 7 using primarily Link.

After winningApex 2014 with only usingJigglypuff and defeatingMoyashi, the player considered the bestKirby in the world twice, this helped Jigglypuff's recent rise on the tier list.

From around 2005-2007, Isai was the leader of his online crewMC. MC was considered the preeminent crew and recruited some of the best players before its disbandment, later ceding its best crew title toPPS.

In 2023, Isai would win an extremely competitive supermajor withSuper Smash Con 2023, even sweeping SuPeRbOoMfAn and reverse sweepingKurabba in Grand Finals after losing to him in Winners' Finals.

CT Live stream[edit]

Isai agreed in November 2013 to regularly stream online sessions ofSmash 64 throughCLASH Tournaments'Twitch channel in exchange of revenue based on viewership count. These take place on Tuesday nights at 8PM PST (11PM EST). Smashers regularly featured on the stream includeBane, Mariguas, andNear among others.

Melee[edit]

Isai in his prime was regarded as the bestMeleeCaptain Falcon player in the world. Although his placings atMelee singles tournaments lowered over time, he is one of the few players to have defeated formerMelee world championKen multiple times.

Isai and Ken constituted "El Chocolate Diablo", the strongest doubles team in the world circa 2004-2006. El Chocolate Diablo remained undefeated in tournament sets until their loss toTaj andForward at a Champ Combo tournament, and placed 1st at every tournament they entered until placing 2nd behindAzen andChillin atMLG Chicago 2006. However, Isai and Ken would later winMLG Las Vegas 2006, the final MLG National Championship forMelee teams in 2006. Following this win, El Chocolate Diablo became inactive for almost a year until their final appearance atSuper Champ Combo, where they placed 7th.

Loss of interest inMelee[edit]

Despite his success, Isai gradually lost interest inMelee in 2007. In early 2010, Isai expressed interest in playingMelee seriously again,[4] but after smashing withScar and entering a handful of tournaments, Isai still did not find it enjoyable anymore.

Notable sandbagging incidents[edit]

At Apex 2012, he was unexpectedly convinced by the crowd to play aMelee exhibition match against the other Smash veteranCaptain Jack. However, heonly sandbagged and was 4-stocked, much to the audience's disappointment.

Tournament placings[edit]

Super Smash Bros.[edit]

BulletPoints.pngThis Smasher article or section lacks a complete results table. You can help SmashWiki byadding the missing results.
The editor who added this tag elaborates:Smash 64
TournamentDate1v1 placement2v2 placementPartner
S.N.LAugust 31st, 20031st——
MELEE-FC DiamondJuly 12th-14th, 20071st——
Pasadena 64 Smash TournamentAugust 24th, 20081st——
CGC IXMay 2nd, 20091st——
CGC @ SFSU XIIOctober 10th, 20091st——
CGC @ SFSU 15February 6th, 20101st——
Tourney Play 4February 12th-14th, 20101st2ndJel
CGC @ SFSU XVIMarch 6th, 20101st——
Good Shit GermanJuly 25th, 20101st——
64 Washington TournamentAugust 21st, 20101st——
GENESIS 2July 15th-17th, 20112nd——
Apex 2012January 6th-8th, 20122nd1stNintendude
Apex 2013January 11th-13th, 20132nd——
Apex 2014January 17th-19th, 20141st——
GENESIS 3January 15th-17th, 20164th3rdRith
SFS #23 (low tiers)June 17th, 20161st——
Snosa IIJune 18th-19th, 20163rd3rdKeroKeroppi
Super Smash Con 2016August 11th-14th, 20163rd1stAlvin
GENESIS 4January 20th-22nd, 201713th——
B.E.A.S.T 7February 17th-19th, 20171st——
Super Smash Sundays 58May 21st, 20173rd——
Snosa IIIJune 17th-18th, 20175th1stGyaki
Get On My Level 2017July 28th-30th, 20172nd1stThe Z
Super Smash Con 2017August 10th-13th, 201713th1stAlvin
Kansai 2018February 11th, 201817th——
Called Out 3June 23rd, 20182nd2ndKort
Super Smash Con 2018August 9th-12th, 20183rd3rdSleepy Fox
Inka Fest 2019July 13th-14th, 20194th4thWizzrobe
Snosa 5January 4th, 20205th1stSleepy Fox
Quarantined Rapport WestOnlineMarch 28th-29th, 20203rd——
RAINN Charity Tournament WestOnlineJuly 11th, 20201st——
Keystoned VMarch 20th, 20221st1stJosh Brody
Super Smash Con 2022August 13th, 20223rd1sttacos
Super Smash Con 2023August 10th-13th, 20231st / 2551st / 65SuPeRbOoMfAn
Snosa 6February 21-23, 20252nd / 841st / 30Mercy
Supernova 2025August 7th-10th, 20253rd / 2461st / 52SuPeRbOoMfAn
Inkafest 3January 22nd-25th, 20263rd / 515th / 19JaimeHR
GENESIS X3Febuary 13th-15th, 20261st2ndHuntsman

Super Smash Bros. Melee[edit]

TournamentDate1v1 placement2v2 placementPartner
Tournament Go 4January 19th, 20037th——
Snexus 2July 12th, 20032nd2ndRecipherus
Tournament Go 5August 2nd-3rd, 20033rd1stKen
Game OverJanuary 10th, 20043rd1stKen
Zero Challenge 1January 17th-18th, 20042nd——
Smash 4 CashJune 20041st2ndMatt Deezie
MLG Chicago 2004June 19th-20th, 20042nd1stKen
MELEE-FC1July 9th-10th, 20043rd1stKen
Tournament Go 6August 21st-22nd, 20045th1stKen
MLG San Francisco 2004September 11th-12th, 20042nd——
MLG Los Angeles 2004September 25th-26th, 20042nd1stKen
MLG New York 2004October 24th, 20042nd1stKen
MOAST 3January 15th-16th, 20051st1stKen
MLG DC 2005January 29th-30th, 20052nd1stKen
MLG San Francisco 2005February 26th-27th, 20055th1stKen
Gettin' Schooled 2June 25th-26th, 20057th1stKen
MELEE-FC3July 10th-12th, 20054th1stKen
MLG Seattle 2005September 10th-11th, 20055th1stKei
MLG Los Angeles 2005October 14th-16th, 20051st1stKen
MLG Atlanta 2005November 25th-27th, 20054th1stKen
MLG New York 2005February 24th-26th, 20064th1stKen
Cataclysm 2March 4th, 20063rd1stMew2King
Champ Combo: Yayuhzzz EditionMarch 25th, 20069th1stKen
Champ Combo: NorCal EditionApril 8th, 20062nd1stKen
MLG New York Opener 2006April 21st-23rd, 20066th1stKen
MLG Dallas 2006May 19th-20th, 200613th1stKen
MLG Anaheim 2006June 23rd-24th, 20064th1stKen
MLG Chicago 2006July 21st-22nd, 20068th2ndKen
Zero Challenge 2August 15th-17th, 200665th or 81st1stCaptain Jack
MLG Orlando 2006August 26th-27th, 20064th1stKen
MLG New York Playoffs 2006October 13th-14th, 20066th3rdKen
SMASHTALITY 2October 21st, 200625th5thWes
NorCal TournamentOctober 28th, 20069th1stKen
MLG Las Vegas 2006November 18th-19th, 20066th1stKen
Cataclysm 3March 3rd-4th, 200713th1stMew2King
Prodigy's Tourney 3/17March 17th, 2007—1stSilentSpectre
UCLA Monthlies IIMarch 24th, 200781st1stBob$
NorCal BiWeekly 4/07April 7th, 2007—1stTang
Super Smash Royale IIIApril 28th, 20072nd1stKen
MLG Long Island 2007May 5th-6th, 20077th1stMew2King
NorCal BiWeekly 6/30June 30th, 2007—2nd?
MELEE-FC DiamondJuly 12th-14th, 200741st5thMew2King
Zero Challenge 3July 20th-22nd, 200725th1stThe King
NorCal BiWeekly 9/22: Prep 4 SCCSeptember 22nd, 2007—2ndBob$
Super Champ ComboSeptember 29th-30th, 200733rd7thKen
CGC @ SFSU 15February 6th, 201017th5thScar
Tourney Play 4February 12th-14th, 20107th——
CGC @ SFSU 16March 6th, 201025th——
GENESIS 2July 15th-17th, 2011—13thS2J
Apex 2012January 6th-8th, 2012—97thVans

Trivia[edit]

  • The only four players to have beaten Isai'sPikachu in tournament sets arewangera,Mariguas,Alvin, andNax.
  • Isai often used the in-game tags "VI" and "MEL" inMelee. InSuper Smash Bros, his YouTube video tag is "malva" if it is an online match or "Isai" if it is a console match. His nickname "malva" originates from his mother's Windows login name (she used the initial 'm' for her name plus a shortened version of her last name, Alvarado or 'alva').
  • Isai's YouTube name is MevseC. This nickname originates from the fact that he plays Marvel vs. Capcom (MvsC). He added the two 'e' letters in the middle to make it look cooler and sound like a name.
  • Isai calls online Smash "fake Smash" due to the delay and lag experienced online. He also calls it fake Smash because, by definition, it is emulated and thus merely a copy or imitation of the real game on console.
  • Noticing that there were exceptionalSmash 64 players in Japan and Peru, Isai traveled to both of these countries and played the top players there (e.g.Jousuke, the Japanese national champion andGerson, the Peruvian national champion). He is one of the fewSmash 64 players to make a serious effort to travel internationally multiple times in order to play the topSmash 64 players from around the world.
  • Isai is the oldest player to win a major (as well as supermajor)Smash tournament, winningSmash 64 singles atSuper Smash Con 2023 at the age of 38 years, 4 months, 26 days.

External links[edit]

References[edit]