As of this weekend, the full roster is set for Beyond the Summit’s upcoming Melee invitational, Smash Summit 10 Online. However, one inclusion in particular has proved to be quite controversial. Many Smashers have taken to Twitter to debate the validity of Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma’s invitation to Smash Summit 10 Online.
The controversy exploded after a tweet from Joseph “Mang0” Marquez on November 16. In it, he suggested Hungrybox ought to practice Melee in preparation for Smash Summit 10 Online instead of streaming Ultimate. Hungrybox responded with a quote tweet advertising his upcoming Smash Ultimate streams and linking to his Twitch channel.
Streaming my Ultimate run at Mega Smash Mondays tonight!
7PM EST
Ultimate Juice Box #20 on Wednesday! https://t.co/DnzNKw06RN https://t.co/Nw5fHugiCl
— hungrybox (@LiquidHbox) November 16, 2020
Mang0 replied by calling Hungrybox a “joke” and saying he “used to have the utmost respect” for Hungrybox as a competitor. Mang0 also said “join armada and call it a day,” referencing his recent Twitter argument with Adam “Armada” Lindgren. Many players consider Armada the greatest Melee player of all time, but he retired from Singles competition in 2018. He and Mang0 argued in October after Armada claimed that the Melee meta has changed only minimally since 2018.
Origins of the Hungrybox Smash Summit 10 debate
Hungrybox will be the only competitor at Smash Summit 10 Online who received a direct invite. Sixteen players qualified through the Slippi Champions League, while three others qualified through Rollback Rumble. As a result, several members of the Melee community have argued that Hungrybox did not deserve the final slot.
However, Hungrybox initially participated in the Slippi Champions League, but he dropped out to take a planned vacation. So while he was never eliminated from the League, he did not have the opportunity to qualify for Summit. In addition, Aiden “Calvin” McCaig stated that Hungrybox’s status as the reigning champion justified his invitation to Smash Summit 10.
https://twitter.com/aidencalvin/status/1328182788533624834
Still, many community members contend that there are other players more deserving of the Summit spot. Cody “iBDW” Schwab specifically criticized Hungrybox for accepting the Summit spot despite seemingly not taking the tournament seriously.
it's ok to take a break from melee and take a break from competing or work on streaming
it's fucking wack to take a spot at summit when you're not going to take it seriously and take it away from someone who's been grinding their ass off
— Cody Schwab (@iBDWSSBM) November 16, 2020
