Interview & Feature conducted & written by Mauricio 'Ahab' Muniz

___

This year’s top 100 Melee It On Me Ranking is best defined through the rising talent shaking up the Melee establishment. Several players made their debut into the list with spectacular growth and results. Rishi “SmashG0D” Malhotra is one of those rising players. The Marth main from the Maryland-Virginia region was ranked 62nd this year with wins over Hugo “HugS” Gonzalez, Aaron “Professor Pro” Thomas, and Shepard “Fiction” Lima along with a 25th place finish at Evo 2016.

SmashG0D is best known for his unforgettable set at Evo 2016 where he almost defeated Adam “Armada” Lindgren in round 2 pools. It went to a last game last stock situation that could have gone down as the greatest upset ever. One of Armada’s best known strength is his unwavering ability to win against non-gods. There have been plenty of close encounters, but the last time Armada lost to a player outside of the big six was at Pound 4 in 2010 against Amsah “Amsah” Augustuszoon. Beating Armada would have been a historical feat. and SmashG0D knew that.

Leading up to Evo 2016 he didn't grind Melee. In fact, he was on vacation for the first two weeks of July with minimal Melee access. When he returned to the U.S. he practiced everyday with a concentration on mental adjustments rather than technical execution. His objective with his practice isn't to overwork technical execution or match-up analysis. He's done years of both. Rather, his routine was meant to help him access a mindset that helps him reach peak potential. He refers to that mindset as the champion's mentality. Up until now, Evo was the only tournament he achieved the champion’s mentality when he intended on it and he did it against the best of them all, Armada.

“I took the loss to Armada extremely hard,” SmashG0D told me. “Even still I’ll think every once in a while what would things look like now if I managed to take that set off.” He watched the match soon after the set's conclusion, but it was months before he could bring himself to rewatch the set for analysis.

Though he gained popularity for that set, it was never enough for him. “And people will say ‘Oh, but it’s Armada.’ To me that doesn’t mean anything, everybody is human,” he said, “Armada can be number one; I can also be number one.” It probably wouldn’t help that he was reminded of that fateful match long afterward. “Well for a few months, every local I’d go to people would be like ‘Oh man I wish you’d beaten Armada',” he would commonly reply with “Yeah, me too.”

He said he still has gaps to fill in both his gameplay and mindset, but that he’s actively working on correcting both. After Evo he placed 49th at Super Smash Con 2016, 17th at Olympus, and ended on a high note with a 9th place at Eden. Nonetheless, for being the second time he traveled out of region for a supermajor he already placed in the top 32 of one of the largest ever. “Evo’s always held a special place in my heart. In my head it’s always been the world stage even though it is the two out of three tournament,” he said.

SmashG0D’s career started long before Evo. His name and rise is fresh in the eyes of some though he started back in 2005 with his brother Arjun “lloD” Malhotra, ranked at 54th this year. They were always the youngest kids at tournaments and because of their young age their tournament attendance was limited to two or three a year. His young age also explains the nature of his tag. On Smashboards it was originally Smash G 0 D with the final three letters spaced out.The first time he traveled out-of-region was at Evo 2015 where he placed 65th. Once he left for college he was able to devote more time to Melee.

lloD and SmashG0D have faced-off several times in bracket throughout the years with the wins and losses changing favor. Their brotherly rivalry only goes so far since they’re steady teammates at major tournaments with great success. Together they’ve overcome several higher seeded teams at major events. They placed 9th at Pound 2016, 9th at Evo 2016, and 7th at Super Smash Con 2016.

At college SmashG0D found significant theorycrafting and practice in Arjun “Junebug” Rao, a fellow VA player and powerhouse Project M player ranked at 2nd on Smashboards. “I lived with him for two years in college and both of us got significantly better,” said SmashG0D. Junebug was the most impactful player when it came to theorycrafting for SmashG0D. He also spent enormous time discussing the game with Michael "Nintendude" Brancato, shaping his way of viewing Melee.

SmashG0D was always splitting his time between different Smash games leading up to Evo 2015. He was capable of reaching high levels in more than just Melee.  In September 2014 he was ranked 3rd in the MD/VA Project M power ranking and ranked 5th in their Smash 4 PR in August 2015. In April 2015 he was ranked at 14th on the MD/VA’s Melee PR.

It was in March 2015 that SmashG0D made the decision to pursue Melee over the rest. MD/VA has long been known for its weekly Melee series, Xanadu, hosted and streamed by VGBootcamp. That month Ryan “The Moon” Coker-Welch attended a Xanadu and wiped the competition. SmashG0D said that The Moon was disappointed with the lack of competition and would return next week hoping to play against MD/VA’s finest. None of their best could make it but SmashG0D wanted to prepare for The Moon, so he asked Chillin and Redd for advice on how to beat The Moon since he was a Fox main at the time.

On the day of the tournament SmashG0D switched to Marth on a whim and defeated The Moon in winners semifinals. Although The Moon ran it back and won in losers final, SmashG0D was motivated. If he practiced and applied himself, being a top Melee player was possible.

Over a year later, he's risen up to the #4 spot in the Melee PR in MD/VA. With hopes of attending all the major events of 2017, SmashG0D is working toward continous improvement. “I think every time I traveled I got significantly better which is why I have high hopes for 2017,” he said. “I like to talk to people about the game while I’m friendlying with them to pick their brain, to find a trick.” He said traveling is essential for any player who wants to improve.

“If you pick up one little trick from a top player you’re playing with, that can go a long way. And it has gone a long way for me. That’s what I’m saying about filling the gaps. That’s how you fill in the gaps -- by going and playing other people. When you’re just playing the same people in your region for weeks and weeks and weeks, you’re not actually going to get that much better. You might get good at beating those people, but in the long run you really need to get some out of region exposure.”

SmashG0D reflected on a chat he had with Mustafa "Ice" Akcakaya at a Xanadu weekly about mentality and goals. “Ice’s advice to me was to set small goals for yourself. Don’t just say ‘I’m gonna get top 8 at EVO’ if you haven’t got top 8 at any other major before or even top 16. You have to set reasonable goals.”

Leading up to Genesis 4, SmashG0D shared his thoughts on his goal. “I think if I’m playing my best, I can get top 16 at Genesis,” he said, “I know it’s gonna be super stacked, but I feel like I’m capable of making those upsets. Top 16 is going to be my somewhat reachable goal, and then definitely I’m aiming for top 32 one hundred percent. From there I’ll keep moving forward.” Over the Genesis 4 weekend, SmashG0D finished 17th at Genesis 4. He upset James "Swedish Delight" Liu in round 2 pools 2-1 and upset Professor Pro once more in the top 64 bracket 3-1 before losing to Weston "Westballz" Dennis 0-3 and Kyle "Dizzkidboogie" Athayde 0-3. SmashG0D was one round away from reaching the top 16 and that's a gap he's likely to close within the year. 

You can read more about SmashG0D on his own personal blog where he provides introspections about his tournament perforances and his approach to the game.