Ken Hoang
Encyclopedia
Ken "Kenny" Hoang is a Vietnamese American
professional electronic sports player who plays Super Smash Bros. Melee
and has earned $50,000+ USD doing so.
Hoang is the 2004-2005 national champion of Major League Gaming
, the 2007 international champion of EVO
World Finals, and was the highest ranked Super Smash Bros. Melee player in the United States. He was also the world champion for several years, having defeated reputable players from around the globe, including top Japan
ese players such as Aniki, Captain Jack, Masashi, Bombsoldier, Korius, and Mikael in the summer of 2005 and 2006. In the competitive gaming community, he is known simply as "Ken" or by his gamer tag "SephirothKen".
Ken possesses the highest major tournament win-to-loss ratio of any Super Smash Brothers Melee player. His three years of dominance earned him the nickname "The King of Smash" within the community. His primary character in the game is Marth
, and his secondary is Fox
. He received minor television coverage in MTV
's True Life
: I'm a Professional Gamer, and received further coverage in the fall of 2006 after MLG arrived on cable television.
Ken was one of the contestants in Survivor: Gabon
, which premiered September 25, 2008 on CBS.
in Illustration and looks forward to spending time drawing and has expressed interest in working for Wizards of the Coast
and Nintendo
.
In August 2008 it was announced that Ken would be appearing in the latest series of Survivor
on the American television network CBS
. He has openly stated that he believes himself to be the underdog but hopes that this will garner popular support.
when it was released for the Nintendo 64
, but never competed in a major tournament for the game. When Super Smash Bros. Melee
was released for the Nintendo GameCube
, Ken initially did not enjoy it, but the game grew on him after a period of a few months. By the time he attended his first tournament, he already built up a reputation in his town as the best Smash player. This tournament differed from most later Super Smash Brothers Melee tournaments in that matches were free-for-all matches between four players rather than a 1 vs 1 match. The other players teamed up against Ken to eliminate him.
In 2003, Ken competed in his first major tournament, part of the Tournament Go (TG) series, one of the first major Super Smash Brothers Melee tournament series. In this, the fourth installment of the tournament series, Ken won the singles (1 vs 1) tournament and lost in the doubles (2 vs 2) tournament to the winners of the first two TG tournaments.
Seven months later, in August 2003, Ken attended and won TG5. This was the first tournament where he partnered with Isaih Alvarado (otherwise known as "Malva00") for doubles. Their victory in the doubles tournament started a two-and-a-half year winning streak. They won every doubles tournament they entered until MLG Chicago in July 2006, where they were defeated by Azen and Chillindude829 in the finals and received second place. However, they reclaimed their title later that year in August at MLG Orlando where they defeated Azen and Chillindude829 6-3 in the finals.
For the next two years, Ken continued to win nearly every competition he entered. The worst loss he ever garnered in his competitive career was in August 2004 at TG6 where he placed 9th out of approximately 128 competitors.
Although he is currently inactive, he was regarded as one of the top players long after his departure from the tournament scene. In September 2006, Ken was nominated in "The Dangerous Five" as one of "The World's Most Dangerous Gamers" by Electronic Gaming Monthly
, in which he was called "The Duper" for his fast, smart, and aggressive play.
Ken was chosen to join the Fang tribe in the first episode when Danny (GC) Brown picked him. This was on the underdog tribe, attending seven out of the eight pre-merge Tribal Councils. He formed an early bond with fellow Fang castaway Michelle Chase, who ended up being the first person voted off. During the second Tribal Council, Ken was a target for elimination by Gillian Larson, but was spared as the rest of the tribe saw Gillian as the weaker player. In episode three Ken single-handedly won the first Immunity
Challenge for Fang, in which his puzzle-solving skills were pitted against physics teacher Bob Crowley of the Kota tribe. Though Kota was in the lead at the end of the first section of the challenge, which allowed Bob a head start in solving his puzzle, Ken solved the puzzle first and saved his tribe from Tribal Council.
Ken made the merge and was in the merged tribe, named Nobag, a phrase he coined himself. Ken was the fifth place finisher, and sixth member of the jury. He voted for Susie Smith in the final Tribal Council, who placed second.
Vietnamese American
A Vietnamese American is an American of Vietnamese descent. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American group....
professional electronic sports player who plays Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee, known in Japan as , often abbreviated as SSBM or simply as Melee, is a crossover fighting game released for the Nintendo GameCube shortly after its launch in . It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 game Super Smash Bros., and the predecessor to the Wii game Super Smash...
and has earned $50,000+ USD doing so.
Hoang is the 2004-2005 national champion of Major League Gaming
Major League Gaming
Major League Gaming , founded in 2002 by Sundance DiGiovanni and Mike Sepso, is a North American professional Electronic sports organization, headquartered in New York City, New York. MLG has held official video game tournaments throughout the United States and Canada. Major League Gaming...
, the 2007 international champion of EVO
Evolution Championship Series
The Evolution Championship Series is an annual video game tournament that focuses exclusively on fighting games. In fighting game communities it is commonly referred to as "Evo", and is currently the premier video game tournament for fighting games in the United States...
World Finals, and was the highest ranked Super Smash Bros. Melee player in the United States. He was also the world champion for several years, having defeated reputable players from around the globe, including top Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese players such as Aniki, Captain Jack, Masashi, Bombsoldier, Korius, and Mikael in the summer of 2005 and 2006. In the competitive gaming community, he is known simply as "Ken" or by his gamer tag "SephirothKen".
Ken possesses the highest major tournament win-to-loss ratio of any Super Smash Brothers Melee player. His three years of dominance earned him the nickname "The King of Smash" within the community. His primary character in the game is Marth
Marth (Fire Emblem)
is a character from Intelligent Systems's Fire Emblem series of video games. He is the central protagonist and Lord-class character of the original game Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi, the third game, Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo, and the two remake games Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and...
, and his secondary is Fox
Fox McCloud
is an anthropomorphic video game character and the main protagonist of the Star Fox series. He was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and designed by Takaya Imamura. As his name implies, he is a red fox and the main player character of the series....
. He received minor television coverage in MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's True Life
True Life
True Life is a documentary series running on MTV since 1998. Each episode follows a particular topic, such as heroin addiction as in the first episode, "Fatal Dose." The show is created by following a series of subjects by a camera crew through a certain part of their lives.-Topics covered:True...
: I'm a Professional Gamer, and received further coverage in the fall of 2006 after MLG arrived on cable television.
Ken was one of the contestants in Survivor: Gabon
Survivor: Gabon
Survivor: Gabon — Earth's Last Eden is the seventeenth season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. The premiere aired September 25, 2008, with the first two episodes screened back-to-back....
, which premiered September 25, 2008 on CBS.
Personal life
Ken currently attends CSULB working on his BFABachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
in Illustration and looks forward to spending time drawing and has expressed interest in working for Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
and Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
.
In August 2008 it was announced that Ken would be appearing in the latest series of Survivor
Survivor (U.S. TV series)
Survivor is an American version of the Survivor reality television game show, itself derived from the Swedish television series Expedition Robinson originally created in 1997 by Charlie Parsons. The series premiered on May 31, 2000 on CBS...
on the American television network CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. He has openly stated that he believes himself to be the underdog but hopes that this will garner popular support.
Gaming
Ken started playing Super Smash Bros.Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros., known in Japan as , is a fighting game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan on January 21, 1999, in North America on April 26, 1999, and in Europe on November 19, 1999. Super Smash Bros. is the first game in the Super...
when it was released for the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
, but never competed in a major tournament for the game. When Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee, known in Japan as , often abbreviated as SSBM or simply as Melee, is a crossover fighting game released for the Nintendo GameCube shortly after its launch in . It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 game Super Smash Bros., and the predecessor to the Wii game Super Smash...
was released for the Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, Ken initially did not enjoy it, but the game grew on him after a period of a few months. By the time he attended his first tournament, he already built up a reputation in his town as the best Smash player. This tournament differed from most later Super Smash Brothers Melee tournaments in that matches were free-for-all matches between four players rather than a 1 vs 1 match. The other players teamed up against Ken to eliminate him.
In 2003, Ken competed in his first major tournament, part of the Tournament Go (TG) series, one of the first major Super Smash Brothers Melee tournament series. In this, the fourth installment of the tournament series, Ken won the singles (1 vs 1) tournament and lost in the doubles (2 vs 2) tournament to the winners of the first two TG tournaments.
Seven months later, in August 2003, Ken attended and won TG5. This was the first tournament where he partnered with Isaih Alvarado (otherwise known as "Malva00") for doubles. Their victory in the doubles tournament started a two-and-a-half year winning streak. They won every doubles tournament they entered until MLG Chicago in July 2006, where they were defeated by Azen and Chillindude829 in the finals and received second place. However, they reclaimed their title later that year in August at MLG Orlando where they defeated Azen and Chillindude829 6-3 in the finals.
For the next two years, Ken continued to win nearly every competition he entered. The worst loss he ever garnered in his competitive career was in August 2004 at TG6 where he placed 9th out of approximately 128 competitors.
Although he is currently inactive, he was regarded as one of the top players long after his departure from the tournament scene. In September 2006, Ken was nominated in "The Dangerous Five" as one of "The World's Most Dangerous Gamers" by Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
, in which he was called "The Duper" for his fast, smart, and aggressive play.
Notable Tournament placings
Note: These are only major tournaments which include professional and amateur tournaments with 60 or more players. This list does not represent the number of tournaments Ken has attended in total.2003
- 1st - Tournament Go 4 (TG4) ($900)
- 1st - SoCal Inland Empire SSB:M
- 1st - Tournament Go 5 (TG5) ($1000)
2004
- 1st - Game Over ($650)
- 1st - The 0-C (Zero Challenge) ($650)
- 1st - MELEE-FC ($500)
- 9th - Tournament Go 6 (TG6)
- 1st - Major League Gaming (MLG) 2004 Season Finals New York ($2000)
- 1st - MLG 2004 Season points
2005
- 2nd - MOAST 3 ($400)
- 1st - MLG 2005 (Season OpenerTournament) DC ($1000)
- 1st - MLG 2005 (Season Tournament) San Francisco ($500)
- 2nd - MLG 2005 (West Coast Regionals) Los Angeles ($1000)
- 1st - MLG 2005 (East Coast Regionals) Atlanta ($2000)
- 1st - MLG 2005 (Central Regionals) Chicago ($2000)
- 1st - MLG 2005 Season Finals New York ($5000)
- 1st - MLG 2005 Season points leader
- 1st - Jack Garden Tournament (JGT) (Japan)
- 1st - Getting Schooled 2 ($800)
- 1st - MELEE-FC3 ($800)
2006
- 1st - Champ Combo: NorCal Edition ($400)
- 1st - Champ Combo: Yayuhzzz Edition ($400)
- 1st - 0-C2 (Zero Challenge 2) ($1200)
- 2nd - MLG 2006 (Season Tournament) New York ($1200)
- 1st - MLG 2006 (Season Tournament) Dallas ($2000)
- 1st - MLG 2006 (Season Tournament) Anaheim ($2000)
- 1st - MLG 2006 (Season Tournament) Chicago ($2000)
- 5th - MLG 2006 (Season Tournament) Orlando ($300)
- 7th - MLG 2006 (Season Playoffs) New York ($375)
- 1st - NCT2: The Big One ($1080)
- 3rd - MLG 2006 (National Championships Singles) Las Vegas ($3000)
- 1st - MLG 2006 (National Championships Doubles) Las Vegas ($5000) per team member
- 1st - MLG 2006 Season points leader ($4000)
2007
- 4th - 0-C3 (Zero Challenge 3)
- 1st - EVOEvolution Championship SeriesThe Evolution Championship Series is an annual video game tournament that focuses exclusively on fighting games. In fighting game communities it is commonly referred to as "Evo", and is currently the premier video game tournament for fighting games in the United States...
World 2007 ($5000)
2008
- 2nd - EVO World 2008
Ken was chosen to join the Fang tribe in the first episode when Danny (GC) Brown picked him. This was on the underdog tribe, attending seven out of the eight pre-merge Tribal Councils. He formed an early bond with fellow Fang castaway Michelle Chase, who ended up being the first person voted off. During the second Tribal Council, Ken was a target for elimination by Gillian Larson, but was spared as the rest of the tribe saw Gillian as the weaker player. In episode three Ken single-handedly won the first Immunity
Immunity (reality television)
Immunity in reality television is a concept that is widely used in weekly elimination-type reality television shows by which a contestant participating in such a show may not be "kicked off" or eliminated from competition in a particular time period...
Challenge for Fang, in which his puzzle-solving skills were pitted against physics teacher Bob Crowley of the Kota tribe. Though Kota was in the lead at the end of the first section of the challenge, which allowed Bob a head start in solving his puzzle, Ken solved the puzzle first and saved his tribe from Tribal Council.
Ken made the merge and was in the merged tribe, named Nobag, a phrase he coined himself. Ken was the fifth place finisher, and sixth member of the jury. He voted for Susie Smith in the final Tribal Council, who placed second.