“This is not the time to play favourites”: Cody Schwab to boycott tournaments that don’t ban Mang0

Top Super Smash Bros. Melee player Cody Schwab has made it clear that he won’t be attending any events where Joseph ‘Mang0’ Marquez is allowed to compete.

Yesterday, Cloud9 dropped Mang0 after he was with the esports organisation for 11 years. This came after an incident on Ludwig Ahgren’s stream where Mang0 was harassing female streamers while intoxicated. It’s still unclear if tournament organisers will also be banning Mang0 from their events.

Cody Schwab is one of the top-ranked pros in the Melee scene, known for his incredible dedication to the grind and his aggressive Fox play. However, he has been seen as a controversial figure in the Smash community for his constant strong opinions on social media.

This time, Cody decided to take a stand against Mang0’s behaviour. He said during a stream: “Certain YouTubers do have points that [the Smash community] plays favourites. This is not the time to play favourites. At all. You gotta step up. And if you can’t step up and do the right thing, I already said I’m not going to your events. I don’t think you should be in a position of power right now. From the botto mof my heart, I don’t.

“I’m sorry if you feel attacked by that but respectfully I don’t care. This is too important. It’s too important.”

Cody went on to say that allowing Mang0 to attend tournaments would be a ‘slap in the face’ to notoriously banned player Abdulaziz ‘Hax$’ Al-Yami, who recently passed away after begging the Smash community to accept him and allow him to compete again despite previous threats against William ‘Leffen’ Hjelte, often seen as a bully in the competitive scene. Why would Hax$ be permabanned while Mang0 isn’t?

However, Cody was not in support of a permanent ban for Mang0, stating instead that he should ‘miss a ranking at least,’ giving him a year to focus on himself and go to Alcoholics Anonymous rather than grind Melee. This would ensure that ‘alcohol won’t be a problem anymore’ before Mang0 can attend tourneys again.

“Keep in mind, I’m one of the most biased people towards Mang0 at this point,” Cody concluded. “He’s stuck his neck out for me multiple times. He’s been nothing but a good friend to me.”

For Cody Schwab, Mang0 getting banned would be a wake-up call for the fellow top competitor and a way for him to get help for his public alcohol addiction — one that even Mang0 himself has said he will address after he acted inappropriately towards women at Ludwig’s Mario Kart event.

Many in the Smash community reacted positively to Cody’s strong message, which was delivered before Cloud9 made its official announcement. One fan pointed out that the Melee scene shouldn’t allow Mang0’s behaviour after the #MeToo movement, which exposed plenty of Melee players who had harassed, abused, and sexually assaulted women and minors. If the community continued to shelter these players, not only would the events be perceived as dangerous, but sponsors would also be less likely to get involved, further reducing the financial support for Melee esports.

Plenty in the Smash community have continued to stand up for Mang0, believing what he did wasn’t that big of a deal and expressing sympathy on Reddit and X. This has concerned other Smash players, who agree with Cody that the Melee scene is very biased when it comes to who does and doesn’t face consequences.