At Smash Summit 2, Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman's Marth looked unstoppable against Adam "Armada" Lindgren's Peach. Outplaying the best player in the world, Mew2King showcased strong stage control, forcing Armada into difficult decisions. In every rock-paper-scissors scenario, Mew2king was one step ahead. It was a masterful display of Melee that fans have been dying to see from him for years.
Later at EGLX, Mew2King clutched a five-game set against Joseph "Mango" Marquez and took Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma to a full set before losing. At DreamHack Austin, Mew2King dominated Mango again with a 3-0 victory and almost took the set against Hungrybox in winner's finals. In the span of three months, Mew2King demonstrated that he could compete with anyone in the world.
Yet, he has not won a major in 2016.
The issue? All of these sets were in winner's bracket.
For players like Mango, the loser's bracket is a place of redemption, with many of his victories emerging from a loss early on. On the other hand, the loser's bracket is where things fall apart for Mew2King.
It's difficult to determine when exactly these issues started. At Apex 2012, he forfeited immediately after losing to Robert "Wobbles" Wright to finish an overall 17th place. Since then, Mew2King hasn't made a substantial loser's bracket run. In 2016, Mew2King has not fared much better, even with his improvements against world class players like Armada and Hungrybox.
In the winner's bracket, Mew2King wins 67% of his sets against the top 30 players; but statistically, Mew2King sees a large performance drop in his loser's bracket sets with an abysmal 14%. His only win was against Justin "Wizzrobe" Harlett in a character matchup that he hadn't lost in over six years. Interestingly enough, his six losses were all to players that he defeated in the past six months.
This begs the question: why the huge drop off in play? And how much of this is due to his self-diagnosed mentality issues? Examining the individual sets might paint a fuller picture of the problems plaguing Mew2King.
Examining the Losses
Michael "Nintendude" Brancato (At Genesis 3)
Mew2King can be inconsistent against Ice Climbers, even with Peach. But for the most part, Mew2King played the matchup correctly with a very defensive approach to avoid getting grabbed. In one of the games, he managed to hold a lead, only needing to camp the top platform with a minute remaining on the clock. Instead, he approached Nintendude, only to get wobbled. It's tough to say if mindset was the main cause of this loss, although Mew2King would later on attribute his failure to the perceived pressure from the audience.
Jeffrey "Axe" Williamson (At PAX Arena)
PAX Arena was arguably Mew2King's worst performance from an eye-test standpoint. He moved sloppily and missed basic combos that he normally was able to hit. In this set, Axe ran circles around Mew2King, as he looked incredibly lethargic in movement and decision making. He later confessed that he hadn't touched Melee in nearly two weeks, which explained his overall poor performance.
Robert "Wobbles" Wright (Battle of the Five Gods)
Ice climbers have always been a menace for Mew2King and he never found his footing in this particular set. From the start, Wobbles found several wobbling opportunities, which frustrated Mew2King, forcing him into questionable counter picks and lackluster play. Early mistakes snowballed into missed inputs and a complete abandonment of his defensive game-plan. The end result was a triple three-stock in favor of Wobbles and the most lopsided loss for Mew2King in 2016.
Adam "Armada" Lindgren (Smash Summit 2)
Mew2King's Marth defeated Armada in three consecutive games in their earlier match. Instead of sticking with Marth, he switched to Sheik and Fox. The matches were still close and although it's tough to say if Mew2King would have won with Marth, it's possible he handicapped himself by picking less optimal characters. In his post-tournament interview, he mentioned that he only plays Marth when he's in the right mood.
Joseph "Mango" Marquez (EGLX and DreamHack Austin)
The sets against Mango are the toughest to examine. Unlike his sets against Armada, the results cannot be attributed to switching characters. At EGLX, he defeated Mango's Falco in winner's but lost to his Fox in loser's. The reverse happened at DreamHack Austin, with Mew2King taking down Mango's Fox in winner's, but losing to Falco in loser's.
Mew2King has mentioned in previous interviews that he enjoys playing Mango because of his fun and aggressive play style. From watching the matches, there was nothing out of the ordinary from Mew2King and the difference in results could be a combination of factors: Mango tends to play more careful when facing elimination, making it difficult for Mew2King to find openings. It's also important to point out the fluky "phantom hits" that worked in Mango's favor in their two loser sets.
Up Ahead
The good news for Mew2King is that he is capable of defeating anyone. He silenced doubters who thought he would never defeat Armada or come close to competing with Hungrybox. Some of his losses were due to variance and others due to his mentality. No matter the reason, the important thing for him now is to figure out a routine to recuperate if he loses his first set in an event.
Perhaps, this is where an esports psychologist trainer like Weldon Green from the League of Legends community could help out. If these issues are resolved, we may just see the return of the king.