Isai Alvarado
| Isai | |
|---|---|
| Joel Isai Alvarado | |
| Status | Semi-active |
| Born | March 17, 1985 |
| Hometown | San Jose, California |
| League |
Major League Gaming Apex |
| Games |
Super Smash Bros. 64 Super Smash Bros. Melee |
| Championships | SSB64: Apex 2014 |
| Nickname(s) |
Isaiah malva00 |
Joel Isai Alvarado (born March 17, 1985), known as Isai (often referred to as "Isaiah"), is an American Super Smash Bros. 64 player widely regarded as the greatest of all time.[1] He is credited with developing the modern metagame and is formerly among the ten highest ranked Super Smash Bros. Melee players in the United States until retiring in 2007. In the competitive gaming community, he is known simply as "Isai" or by his gamer tag "malva00". He is regarded as a team specialist in Super Smash Bros. Melee and garnered an almost three year winning streak with his teammate, Ken Hoang.[2] The team won the Major League Gaming Las Vegas 2006 Melee doubles championship.[3] His primary character in Melee was formerly Captain Falcon and used multiple secondary characters such as Sheik, Fox, and Marth.[4][5][6]
After his retirement from competitive Melee in 2007, Isai played at GENESIS 2 where he teamed with Johnny "S2J" Kim and he lost an exhibition match at Apex 2012 against Ryota "Captain Jack" Yoshida after the crowd cheered for him to get on the stage.[5]
Isai was formerly sponsored by CLASH Tournaments.[7] He used to occasionally stream on their channel.[8]
Career
Isai is predominantly a Super Smash Bros. 64 player, he became acquainted with the community surrounding its sequel, Super Smash Bros. Melee, entering his first tournament, Tournament Go 4 (TG4), on January 19, 2003. He teamed with top ranked player, Ken Hoang in Tournament Go's fifth incarnation TG5, for Doubles events and continued to team with Ken in later tournaments beginning an undefeated streak which lasted from 2003 to 2006.
Isai is known for not taking Melee singles events seriously often referred to as "sandbagging" and retired from playing that game competitively in 2007. He later shifted his focus back to Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 64.
He is the champion of Apex 2014 for Super Smash Bros. 64, defeating Moyashi in grand finals using only Jigglypuff.[9]
Personal life
Isai is of Mexican descent and is from San Jose, California.[10][5] He was born on March 17, 1985.[10] Alvarado is a graduate of San Jose State University and was the president of the school's chapter of Beta Alpha Psi.[11]
Notable tournament placements
Smash 64
| Tournament[12] | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MELEE-FC Diamond | July 12-14, 2007 | 1st | — | — |
| GENESIS 2 | July 15-17, 2011 | 2nd | — | — |
| Apex 2012 | January 6-8, 2012 | 2nd | 1st | Nintendude |
| Apex 2013 | January 11-13, 2013 | 2nd | — | — |
| Apex 2014 | January 17-19, 2014 | 1st | — | — |
| GENESIS 3 | January 15-17, 2016 | 4th | 3rd | Rith |
| Snosa II | June 18-19, 2016 | 3rd | 3rd | KeroKeroppi |
| Super Smash Con 2016 | August 11-14, 2016 | 3rd | 1st | Alvin |
Melee
| Tournament[13] | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament Go 4 | January 19th, 2003 | 7th | - | - |
| Tournament Go 5 | August 2-3, 2003 | 3rd | 1st | Ken |
| Game Over | January 10, 2004 | 3rd | 1st | Ken |
| Tournament Go 6 | August 21-22, 2004 | 5th | 1st | Ken |
| MOAST 3 | January 15-16, 2005 | 1st | 1st | Ken |
| MLG DC 2005 | January 29-30, 2005 | 2nd | 1st | Ken |
| MLG San Francisco 2005 | February 26-27, 2005 | 5th | 1st | Ken |
| Jack Garden Tournament | August 20, 2005 | ? | - | - |
| Gettin' Schooled 2 | June 25-26, 2005 | 7th | 1st | Ken |
| MLG New York Opener 2006 | April 21st-23rd, 2006 | 6th | 1st | Ken |
| MLG Dallas 2006 | 13t | 1st | Ken | |
| MLG Anaheim 2006 | June 23-24, 2006 | 4th | 1st | Ken |
| MLG Chicago 2006 | July 21-22, 2006 | 8th | 2nd | Ken |
| Zero Challenge 2 | August 15-17, 2006 | - | 1st | Captain Jack |
| MLG Orlando 2006 | August 26-27, 2006 | 4th | 1st | Ken |
| MLG New York Playoffs 2006 | October 13-14, 2006 | 6th | 3rd | Ken |
| NorCal Tournament 2 | October 28, 2006 | 9th | 1st | Ken |
| MLG Las Vegas 2006 | November 18-19, 2006 | 6th | 1st | Ken |
| Cataclysm 3 | March 3-4, 2007 | 13th | 1st | Mew2King |
| MELEE-FC Diamond | July 12-14, 2007 | - | 5th | Mew2King |
| Zero Challenge 3 | July 20-22, 2007 | - | 1st | The King |
| Super Champ Combo | September 29-30, 2007 | - | 7th | Ken |
| GENESIS 2 | July 15-17, 2011 | - | 13th | S2J |
References
- ↑ Lindbergh, Ben (2015-02-18). "Fight Club: Catching a Beating at the Super Bowl of 'Super Smash Bros.'". Grantland. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
- ↑ Holmes, Jonathan (2014-08-24). "Experts think competitive doubles could make it big in Smash Bros.". Destructoid. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
- ↑ "Carbon Wins the 2006 Boost Mobile MLG Pro Circuit National Championship, Taking Home $100,000". PRNewswire. Major League Gaming. 20 November 2006. Retrieved 2015-06-06.
- ↑ Zentagon (2015-04-07). "Isai - The Gentle Giant of Smash". goldper10. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
- 1 2 3 Travis Beauchamp (2013-10-11). The Smash Brothers. East Point Pictures. Retrieved 2015-01-29.
- ↑ Kyle Magee (2006-08-09). "Isai". Major League Gaming. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
- ↑ Walker, Ian (2014-05-22). "Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman and Adam "Armada" Lindgren Released from CLASH Tournaments Roster". Shoryuken. Retrieved 2015-06-06.
- ↑ Sedda (June 4, 2015). "Smash of Ages: A Smash 64 Regional". Melee It On Me. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
- ↑ CT Chibo (January 23, 2014). "CT Earns Top Placements at Apex 2014". CLASH Tournaments. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
- 1 2 "malva00". Smashboards. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
- ↑ "STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS – MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL (ELC) COLLEGE OF BUSINESS, Spring 2014" (PDF). San Jose State University. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
- ↑ "Smash 64". SmashBoards. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
- ↑ "Melee". SmashBoards. Retrieved September 16, 2015.