Ken Hoang

Infobox Pro Gaming player
playername = Ken Hoang

birthday = October 10, 1985
nickname = SephirothKen
status = Inactive
hometown = Westminster, California
country = United States
team = El Chocolate Diablo
leagues = Major League Gaming
Evolution Championship Series
years = 2003-present
games = "Super Smash Bros. Melee", "Super Smash Bros. Brawl"
coach =
website = Ken Hoang (born October 10, 1985) is a Vietnamese American professional electronic sports player who plays "Super Smash Bros. Melee" and has earned over $50,000 USD doing so.

Hoang is the 2004-2005 national champion of Major League Gaming, the 2007 international champion of Evo World Finals, [cite web|author=Glenn Cravens|date=2008-02-28 |url=http://www.gameriot.com/blogs/Get-Your-Tournament/EVO-announcement-coming-Friday/|title=EVO announcement coming Friday|publisher=The Game II|accessdate=2008-03-03] and is the highest ranked "Super Smash Bros. Melee" player in the United States. [http://www.mlgpro.com/article.php?potw=20 MLG Player of the Week] ] He is also the current world champion, having defeated reputable players from around the globe, including top Japanese players such as Aniki, Captain Jack, Masashi, Bombsoldier, Korius, and Mikael in the summer of 2005 and 2006. [cite web|author=Alphazealot|date=2007-11-22 |url=http://www.mlgpro.com/?q=node/170188|title=Smash Pro Profiles from 2006|publisher=Major League Gaming|accessdate=2008-03-03] He was inducted into the Smash Hall of Fame in 2008. [ [http://www.wifiwars.com/?q=node/62 Smash Hall of Fame] ] 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. [cite web|author=CAMILLE DODERO|date=2006-11-21 |url=http://thephoenix.com/Article.aspx?id=28078&page=5|title=The next action sport|publisher=The Phoenix|accessdate=2008-03-03] His three years of dominance earned him the nickname "The King of Smash" within the community.cite web|author=Sean Campbell|date=2006-05-29 |url=http://dpad.gotfrag.com/portal/story/32773/?spage=2|title=Are They Worth Fighting For?|publisher=GotFrag DPAD|accessdate=2008-03-03] 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. [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12353167/ Pro video gaming comes to cable TV] ]

Ken is one of the contestants in "".cite web |url=http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/bio/ken_17/bio.php?season=17|title=CBS.com, Ken Hoang bio|accessdate=2008-08-27] , which premiered September 25, 2008 on CBS. [ [http://www.asianweek.com/2008/09/04/asian-reality-what-were-watching-this-fall/ "What We’re Watching This Fall"] . AsianWeek. Retrieved on 2008-09-15.]

Biography

Ken started playing "Super Smash Bros." 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 an 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.cite web|author=Alphazealot|date=2006-01-04 |url=http://www.mlgpro.com/?q=node/43972|title=The King of Smash: MLG Interviews Ken|publisher=Major League Gaming|accessdate=2008-03-03]

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. [cite web|author=KishPrime|date=2005-05 |url=http://www.meleefc.com/fc1.htm|title=MELEE-FC: Where it all began|publisher=MELEE-FC|accessdate=2008-03-03] cite web|author=Alphazealot|date=2006-01-04 |url=http://www.mlgpro.com/?q=node/43972|title=The King of Smash: MLG Interviews Ken|publisher=Major League Gaming|accessdate=2008-03-03] [cite web|author=MattDeezie|date=2003-01-19 |url=http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=25052&page=3|title=TG Results and Aftermath|publisher=Unpublished|accessdate=2006-11-05]

Seven months later, in August 2003, Ken attended and won TG5. This was the first tournament where he partnered with Isai 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. [cite web|author=Alphazealot|date=2006-07-31 |url=http://www.mlgpro.com/?q=node/44040|title=MLG Chicago Smash Wrap-Up|publisher=Major League Gaming|accessdate=2007-05-24]

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 is still regarded as one of the top players.cite web|author=Alphazealot|date=2007-09-05 |url=http://www.mlgpro.com/?q=node/155885|title=MLG Interview with Ken|publisher=Major League Gaming|accessdate=2008-03-03] Ken thanks his parents, his siblings, and his many fans for supporting him throughout his entire career. 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. [Citation| last=| first=| author-link=| title=The World's Most Dangerous Gamers| newspaper=Electronic Gaming Monthly| volume=| issue=208| pages=52-53| year=2006| date=October 2006| url=http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3157187]

Personal life

Ken currently attends CSULB working on his BFA 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 will 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. cite web |url=http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/bio/ken_17/bio.php?season=17|title=CBS.com, Ken Hoang bio|accessdate=2008-08-27]

urvivor: Gabon

Ken was chosen to join the Fang tribe in the first episode, which was the underdog tribe, losing all 3 consecutive challenges in the first episode, and having to go to tribal twice. He formed an early bond with fellow Fang-castaway, Michelle, who ended up being the first person voted off. During the 2nd tribal council, Ken was a target for elimination by Gillian 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 (of Kota). Though Kota was in the lead at the end of the slide portion of the challenge, getting Bob the puzzle pieces faster, Ken solved the puzzle first and saved his tribe from tribal council.

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)cite web|author=Sean Campbell|date=2006-05-29 |url=http://dpad.gotfrag.com/portal/story/32773/?spage=2|title=Are They Worth Fighting For?|publisher=GotFrag DPAD|accessdate=2008-03-03]
* 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 - Evo World 2007 ($5000)

2008

* 2nd - Evo World 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.mlgpro.com/?q=node/43972 Interview with Ken Hoang on MLG]
* [http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=83821 Smash Player Rankings on Smashboards]