Gaming
esports
Friendlies: Ken, the 'King of Smash'
Ken no longer rules the Melee community with an iron fist, but he will always be the King of Smash.
Time changes things.
Ken Hoang, known to Melee fans simply as Ken, was a monster. In the early days of Melee, Ken was a force in the scene. Smart, skilled and driven, he won nearly every tournament he attended between 2002 and 2007, talking trash and taking down every opponent that stood in his way in one of the longest single-game dynasties in eSports history.
After a long and arduous campaign, Ken gave it up. Done with the game he once loved, he disappeared for years. But when he finally came back to the scene, Ken had changed. These days, Ken is still an excellent player. But how he approaches the game and the community has changed — and for Ken, it’s made all the difference.
Prove your worth
“I always felt like I had a purpose in life … like I had to do something to stand out.”
This statement isn’t about Smash. It’s about Ken. From a young age, Ken had always yearned for a way to distinguish himself. “I had that fire in me that just wanted to prove something.” Unlike many of the top Melee competitors, Ken came into Melee with a background in competitive gaming. He strove to be the best at Starcraft: Brood War as well, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t do it. “I wanted to be the best at Brood War and I couldn’t do it. I was playing in icCup (an early StarCraft matchmaking service) and the highest I got was B- or C+.”
For Melee fans, Ken is a household name
© Robert Paul/@tempusrob/rmpaul.com
When he immediately became the player to beat in Melee, he knew that it was his shot at greatness. As early as TG4 in 2002, Ken was defeating all comers, and from there he didn’t slow down for years. It surprised even him. “I was kinda in disbelief at first when I was destroying people. I thought there were better players — especially I thought the Japanese players were a lot better than we were. Kind of like Starcraft and Koreans, I always figured that’s the way that it was.”
But for years and years, Ken never found a challenge. The story of Ken’s early career has been well-chronicled by "The Smash Brothers" documentary. For Smash fans who haven’t seen it yet, the documentary’s episode featuring Ken is required viewing. So as interesting as Ken’s saga of domination is, we won’t be covering it here. Instead, let's dive into the issues that drove Ken from the game he loved — and the unlikely situation that brought him back.
A ruler stretched thin
One thing that many people don’t appreciate is that during his dominance of the MLG scene, Ken was a full-time art student. Anyone who has taken part in extra-curricular activities during school understands that juggling schoolwork with a second interest can be a daunting task. But even sports teams and clubs are structured to complement schoolwork. MLG wasn’t. “It was rough for me because I would travel to all these tournaments, and then finish all my work on the plane or in between matches.” He was regularly pulling all-nighters, and as Ken’s time continued to be stretched thin his life outside of Smash suffered. “My [artwork] started getting weaker and weaker. One of my teachers actually called me out in class one time during a critique. He said, ‘You used to have good stuff. What happened?’ ”
Ken and PC Chris were MLG rivals, but times change
© Robert Paul/@tempusrob/rmpaul.com
That combined with his quickly dwindling popularity made it easy for Ken to entertain the thought of giving up Melee for good. Ken was the best player in the world, but he also came from outside of the existing scene. Being the best and an outsider was a recipe for conflict. “People just got tired of me winning over and over. They would just s***-talk me at tournaments or on Smashboards. Back then the things that people would say was way worse. But what I think put the nail in the coffin for me was just traveling so much. It’s stressful — I think I traveled to at least two or three tournaments a month. I was barely home, and traveling alone was not very fun.”
Giving up the crown
After MLG Finals in 2006, Ken put down his controller and intended to never pick it back up. “I was done with Smash. I ignored anybody who was from the community.” For over five years, Ken didn’t play a single game of Melee. It was 100 percent out of his mind. Ken’s passion for the game was gone, and it was a chapter of his life that he was happy to leave behind. But in 2013, he was reluctantly dragged back into the community. “When the documentary came around, Samox was literally begging me, ‘You’ve got to do this, you’ve got to tell your story,’ and out of nowhere I decided to do it.”
Even watching the documentary, it’s clear to see — Ken wasn’t very enthusiastic about the project. Like a heartbroken man answering questions about an ex-lover, Ken looked pained talking about his former Melee life. The GameCube controller even felt awkward in his hands. “I couldn’t believe that I used to be good at Melee. Everything felt so foreign to me. Kinda like riding a bike for the first time all over again.”
Ken is happy to put on a show for his fans
© Robert Paul/@tempusrob/rmpaul.com
Royal responsibility
After the unprecedented reception to the Smash documentary, Ken started to hear voices talking about him again — but they weren’t singing the same tune as before. Instead of criticism, he was being praised for his place in the Melee community, something that he hadn’t happened experienced for years. “All these people contacted me on Twitter and said, ‘You’re an inspiration,’ or ‘It’s because of you that I play Marth,’ and it felt good. I was there to make somebody else feel good about themselves, or inspire something.”
To Ken, these new fans were precious, and he couldn't ignore them. Part of the reason is because he knows what it’s like being in their shoes. “The fan in me knows how they feel. Like me and Jaedong; I used to be a big Jaedong fan during Brood War, and now he plays StarCraft 2. Even though he’s not the best, I always watch every game that he plays, and I always root for him.”
Ken is now sponsored by Team Liquid. While he plays Melee regularly and goes to some tournaments, his team gives him the flexibility to pursue his art while continuing to compete. “I think if any other team would have asked me to be on their team, I probably wouldn't have come back. Because I was such a big fan of Liquid [from Starcraft] I decided to do it. With Liquid, it’s kind of like a family, you know? If I told Liquid that I had to do work, or that I couldn't make it to a tournament, they’d be OK with it.”
It also gives Ken an opportunity to rest his hands when he needs to, something that many older players struggle with. “I’ve been playing for so long. … I’m old! Nowadays it’s hard for me to consistently train at that top level like I used to. Once my elbow and my wrists go out, that’s the end of Melee for me. To me, my health is more important than Smash. I’m also an artist, I do other things.”
The benevolent king
These days, Ken still loves Melee. But his attitude has changed from the early days. Ken is no longer reigning over the Melee scene with an iron fist. He’s a kind ruler who fights for his subjects, and to him, that’s just as it should be. “Every single time I go to Evo, this guy named Fuzzyness from the UK comes up to me and says, ‘Ken, it must be really hard for you. You used to be the best and now you’re not. It must be hard for anybody who used to be the best.’ And I tell him, ‘It depends on how you approach the game.’ Nowadays I play for the fans, and I play to have fun, and I’m not super competitive like I was back in the day. It definitely would be hard if I decided to try to be number one again, but I don’t think that’s my goal.”
“I don’t have that fire that I did back in the day. I think it’s because I’ve done it and been to the top, and I don’t think I’ll ever be at the top until I get that fire back. But even if I get destroyed at tournaments nowadays, people just like watching me play. And if that brightens up their day, I’m down to do it.”
Check in again next Tuesday for Friendlies, our look at the people who make up the Smash Bros. community.
For more Smash Bros. features, follow @redbullESPORTS on Twitter.
