“It’s hard being Mango”: Melee God explains what went down at Genesis 9

Melee God Joseph "Mango" Marquez was recently under fire for going on a Twitter rant and sandbagging at Genesis 9 over the SSBMRank. Now, the pro player has cleared up what actually went down.

The SSBMRank is a newly instated way to calculate who the top Melee players in the world are based on tournament outcome, skill, and consistency. Mango was ranked third, causing him to claim he was "shafted." He then played Dr. Mario at Genesis 9, where he purposefully underperformed and then left.

"Enjoy your Mango without Melee," he said.

The outburst on Twitter didn't sit right with many in the Melee community. While some understood his frustration with the SSBMRank, others felt he was overreacting. His claim that Melee wouldn't be enjoyable without him also had some Melee players questioning how much they should really tolerate Mango's salty behavior.

As the backlash mounted, Mango decided to write up a TwitLonger about the real reason behind his poor performance at Genesis 9.

Mango admitted right away that he had not been motivated to compete at Genesis 9. Nor had he wanted to compete at Mainstage or the Ludwig Invitational. It was starting to get to him. Mango explained that going to three tournaments in a row that he didn't want to play in while the community "kept giving him s—" caused him to snap.

Mango wrote that he didn't want to worry about the tournament and would have rather watched the Eagles game, but felt he needed an excuse to not try. He then called the ranking a "scapegoat."

"I think me and aMSa could both be second and third and it would make sense but I just wanted to be mad at something to get out of trying," he admitted. "I actually had a fun time playing Doc and wasn't even mad or sad when I lost."

But then Mango checked Twitter and saw people talking negatively about him. This hurt his feelings, especially the comments coming from Smash players he liked. This is when he decided to write his emotional tweet, which he now regrets.

Said Mango: "I do wanna apologize for acting like I'm bigger than Melee because I think nothing is bigger than the game itself. And that was just said in a moment of frustration."

At this point, it was clear that Mango was feeling a bit emotional about his journey in Melee. He said he loves the Smash community but it can be hard when he has tons of hate being sent his way.

Mango admitted that he can often get depressed but tries to suppress it to keep his streams positive. He has also been having a hard time caring about the game. He recently saw a sports psychologist in an attempt to get over his constant desire to retire from Melee. But for now, Mango will be taking a few months off to play other games and "get my head on straight."

"It might sound corny, but it's hard being Mango and some people think it's so easy just because I'm so loved," Mango wrote. "I swear I'm not some evil person or a big cry baby. I'm just a guy from Norwalk who never asked to be in this position but is trying his absolute hardest to do what's best for the game he loves and the people who support him."