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Zain
Naghmi in 2023
Current team
TeamMoist Esports
GameSuper Smash Bros. Melee
Personal information
NameZain Naghmi
Born (1996-06-11) June 11, 1996 (age 28)[1]
NationalityAmerican
Career information
Playing career2014–present
Team history
2018–2019Panda Global
2020–2023Golden Guardians
2023–presentMoist Esports
Career highlights and awards
  • Ranked #1 (2022)
  • 2x Shine champion (2018, 2022)
  • 2x GENESIS champion (2020, 2022)
  • 2x LACS Champion (2020, 2022)
  • Smash Summit 10 champion (2020)
  • Pound champion (2022)
  • Ludwig Smash Invitational champion (2022)
  • Tipped Off 14 Champion (2023)
  • Fête 3 Champion (2023)
  • 2x Get On My Level champion (2023, 2024)
  • Super Smash Con champion (2023)
  • Collision champion (2024)
  • Pat's House 4 champion (2024)
  • Riptide champion (2024)
  • Wavelength champion (2024)
  • Luminosity Makes Moves Miami champion (2024)
Twitch information
Channel
Followers73,700
Last updated: April 12, 2024

Zain Naghmi (/zæn/ or /zeɪn/,[2] born June 11, 1996), more commonly known by his tag Zain, is an American Super Smash Bros. Melee player from Reston, Virginia. Beginning his career in 2014, he rapidly climbed the ranks, becoming a ranked top 100 player in the world within only two years, a top 10 player since 2018 and was ranked the number one player in the world in 2022. Naghmi plays Marth and is currently considered the best Marth player in the world.[3][4] He was sponsored by Golden Guardians from February 2020 to March 2023. In April 2023, he was signed by Moist Esports.

His most notable tournament placings include first at GENESIS 7 and GENESIS 8, second at The Big House 9 and Smash Summit 11 and third at Smash Summit 12 and Super Smash Con 2019. A 2021 list compiled by PGstats ranked Naghmi as the ninth-greatest Melee player of all time.[5]

Career

[edit]

2013–2017: Non-ranked beginnings

[edit]

Zain first began competing in Melee tournaments in May 2014, with his first tournament being at "Smash @ Clarendon", 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.

2017–2018: Beginning of professional career

[edit]

Zain's 2017 season began with an appearance on the SSBMRank, a semiannual 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]

2018–2019: Panda Global and the rise to the top

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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 MUN Huskies 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]

2020–present: Mogul Moves, Golden Guardians and Slippi

[edit]

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.[17][18] Zain won Melee singles without losing a set, defeating Hungrybox - the number-one player in the world - in grand finals.[17] 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.[17] 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.[19] 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,[20] the Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 2,[21] and Smash Summit 10,[22] all three of which took place online.

On April 17, 2022, Zain won GENESIS 8, his second consecutive GENESIS title.[23] With this win, he became the first player since Adam "Armada" Lindgren to repeat as GENESIS champion.[24][25] Zain would be ranked as the number 1 player in the world on PGstats Summer 2022 MPGR.[26]

On October 23, 2022, Zain won the Melee portion of the Ludwig Smash Invitational.[27]

In 2022, Zain was ranked as the number one Melee player in the world. [28]

On March 29, 2023, Zain's contract with Golden Guardians ended. Shortly afterwards, on April 6, he signed with Moist Esports, under the Moist Moguls brand co-owned by MoistCr1TiKaL and Ludwig Ahgren.[29]

Notable tournament placings

[edit]

Only Majors and Supermajors are listed.

Offline tournament Online tournament

Super Smash Bros. Melee

[edit]
Tournament[30] Date 1v1 placement 2v2 placement Partner
Super Smash Con 2015 August 6–9, 2015 33rd — —
EVO 2016 July 15–17, 2016 49th — —
Super Smash Con 2016 August 11–14, 2016 33rd 17th SypherPhoenix
The Big House 6 October 7–9, 2016 17th 33rd SypherPhoenix
GENESIS 4 January 20–22, 2017 33rd 17th Redd
CEO Dreamland April 14–16, 2017 17th 9th SypherPhoenix
Super Smash Con 2017 August 10–13, 2017 5th 13th SypherPhoenix
The Big House 7 October 6–8, 2017 17th 7th MilkMan
DreamHack Denver 2017 October 20–22, 2017 7th — —
GENESIS 5 January 19–21, 2018 13th 33rd R2DLiu
Smash Summit 6 May 3–6, 2018 3rd 7th HugS
CEO 2018 June 29 – July 1, 2018 5th 25th MilkMan
EVO 2018 August 3–5, 2018 9th — —
Super Smash Con 2018 August 9–12, 2018 9th 7th MilkMan
Shine 2018 August 24–26, 2018 1st — —
The Big House 8 October 5–7, 2018 4th — —
GameTyrant Expo 2018 November 2–4, 2018 3rd 1st SFAT
Smash Summit 7 November 15–18, 2018 7th 7th Rishi
GENESIS 6 February 1–3, 2019 9th 65th Arris
Pound 2019 April 19–21, 2019 4th 4th Chillindude
Smash Summit 8 June 13–17, 2019 5th 2nd Plup
Super Smash Con 2019 August 8–11, 2019 3rd 5th MilkMan
The Big House 9 October 4–6, 2019 2nd — —
DreamHack Rotterdam October 18–20, 2019 1st 1st S2J
GENESIS 7 January 24–26, 2020 1st 5th Hungrybox
Smash Summit 9 February 13–16, 2020 4th — —
Pound Online April 24–26, 2020 1st — —
LACS 2 July 25–26, 2020 1st — —
Smash Summit 10 Online November 19–22, 2020 1st — —
LACS 3 December 19–20, 2020 5th — —
Smash Summit 11 July 15–18, 2021 2nd — —
Smash Summit 12 December 9–13, 2021 3rd — —
LACS 4 January 29–30, 2022 1st — —
GENESIS 8 April 15–17, 2022 1st — —
Pound 2022 April 22–24, 2022 1st — —
Smash Summit 13 May 12–15, 2022 5th — —
Battle of BC 4 June 10–12, 2022 2nd — —
Get On My Level 2022 July 1–3, 2022 3rd — —
Double Down 2022 July 8–10, 2022 5th — —
Super Smash Con 2022 August 11–14, 2022 4th 5th Rishi
Shine 2022 August 26–28, 2022 1st — —
Riptide 2022 September 9–11, 2022 5th — —
The Big House 10 October 7–9, 2022 4th 33rd Michael Quiggles
Ludwig Smash Invitational October 21–23, 2022 1st — —
Smash Summit 14 November 3–6, 2022 5th — —
Apex 2022 November 19–20, 2022 2nd — —
GENESIS 9 January 20–22, 2023 5th — —
Collision 2023 March 10–12, 2023 2nd — —
Battle of BC 5 May 19–21, 2023 3rd — —
Tipped Off 14 June 3–4, 2023 1st 5th moky
LACS 5 July 7–9, 2023 2nd — —
Fête 3: By the Sea July 14–16, 2023 1st — —
Get On My Level 2023 July 21–23, 2023 1st — —
Super Smash Con 2023 August 10–13, 2023 1st — —
Shine 2023 August 25–27, 2023 2nd — —
The Big House 11 October 20–22, 2023 4th — —
GENESIS X February 16–18, 2024 3rd — —

References

[edit]
  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. ^ @zainnaghmi (September 13, 2020). "Zain (Like the beginning of Xanax)" (Tweet). Retrieved October 24, 2022 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ "MPGR Melee Power Rankings". smash.gg. smash.gg.
  4. ^ Michael, Cale (16 February 2020). "iBDW comments on the evolution of the Fox matchup in Super Smash Bros. Melee". DotEsports.com. Dot Esports. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  5. ^ "The Melee Stats Top 100: The Top 10". PGstats. November 22, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d Lee, Alexander (29 August 2018). "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 (9 November 2019). "Panda Global parts ways with Smash Bros. players Zain and Cosmos". DotEsports.com. Dot Esports. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  17. ^ a b c Michael, Cale (February 6, 2020). "Golden Guardians signs Super Smash Bros. Melee pro Zain, Teamfight Tactics streamer DogDog". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  18. ^ Ahgren, Ludwig. "HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE I AM SIGNING @ZainNaghmi TO MOGUL MOVES FOR @Genesis_Smash". Twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ Robertson, Scott. "Pound Online - Melee Singles". Smash.gg. Smash.gg. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  21. ^ Collier, Brandon. "Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 2 - Melee Singles". Smash.gg. smash.gg. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  22. ^ "Smash Summit 10 Online". smash.gg. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  23. ^ "Genesis 8". smash.gg. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  24. ^ "GENESIS 2: Melee Singles Bracket". Smashboards. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  25. ^ "Genesis 3". start.gg. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  26. ^ "PGstats | MPGR Early 2022: Top 10". pgstats.com. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  27. ^ "Ludwig Smash Invitational - Melee Singles (Main Event)". start.gg. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  28. ^ GimmeDatWheat (2023-01-21). "SSBMRank 2022: The Top Ten". Medium. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  29. ^ Cale, Michael (April 6, 2023). "Fated reunion: Ludwig, Moist Esports sign top Smash Melee player Zain". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  30. ^ "Melee - Zain". SmashBoards. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
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