Across the Globe: Europe's Melee Threats at Genesis 4

The year's first super-major, Genesis 4, is happening right now in San Jose, California. Find out here about the fierce Melee talent it has attracted from across the Atlantic.

Adam “Armada” Lindgren - After a dominating end to the year, Armada was crowned the king of 2016. Now, he is simply aiming to stay on top and continue his push to be considered the greatest player of all time by racking up more and more wins. With Juan "Hungrybox" Deb potentially weakened significantly with a broken finger, Armada’s stacked half of the bracket will likely mean he faces Mango in winners semis. Last year this matchup was one of very few that were not kind for the Swedish maestro. Will 2017 be any different?

William “Leffen” Hjelte - Now back up to or around peak performance, Leffen is a major, major threat to take the win here, which would surely be his biggest so far. At Don’t Park on the Grass the field offered up little resistance as the returning Fox main beat Hungrybox twice to a reasonably comfortable win. However, Leffen's projected bracket path takes him through three of his most troublesome rivals in Duck, Plup and an in-form Mew2King. With the winner of the Armada/Mango/Hungrybox triangle waiting on the other side, this will be a trial by fire as Leffen aims for gold in California.

How close will Leffen be to his peak this weekend?​

Mustafa “Ice” Akcakaya - In the final few months of 2016, Ice seemed to come alive. He took Armada to game 5, achieving 3rd at The Big House 6 and all-around strong results suggest the player who has been held back for a while with mentality issues is getting it together on the big stage. Last Genesis was good for Ice too with a 7th place finish but now that is almost expected and he must surely be aiming higher.

Aaron “Professor Pro” Thomas - Contender for last year’s most travelled after frequently hopping across the Atlantic to compete with the highest level players, the UK’s Professor Pro reached his highest height so far with a 5th place at UGC Smash Open. Ranked 24th in the world and 4th in Europe, he has also started to take sets from Europe’s number 3 Ice, winning 2 of the last 4. A strong start to the year could be influential in securing a new team for Professor Pro after just recently leaving VwS Gaming.

Amsah Augustuszoon - Amsah returned to winning ways in the Netherlands beating Zgetto and Jeapie to win Avalon M-VII, but lost to two fellow Europeans at Arcamelee 2 failing to make it to finals to challenge The Moon. The European legend will be looking to make a splash at Genesis after relatively tame performances at Don’t Park on the Grass and Pound 2016 and especially since he has just signed with esports team Asterion.

Amsah's dislike of the Ice Climber-Sheik matchup is so strong he often counterpicks Fox.​

Miguel “Zgetto” Rodriguez - For a while it seemed the balance of power in the Netherlands might be swinging towards this Fox main, however the most recent result saw Amsah come out on top. One place Zgetto could look to outdo his countrymen is in international results, which have been fairly lacklustre in majors including two 33rds at Pound 2016 and Don't Park on the Grass. Another European legend, Zgetto has the talent and ability, he just needs to convert that into results.

Andreas “Android” Lindgren - Ranked 63rd in the world at the end of the year and still sitting comfortably in the upper tier of players in European Melee, Android’s story here, as with other recent American tournaments, will be about producing a breakout performance and starting to beat people around and above him in the rankings.

Adam Ayonmike - Adam has a lot of raw skill and has recently seen some very positive results including beating Chillindude at Eclipse 2 and taking several notable names during a stay in New York between Don’t Park and Genesis. This weekend will test whether his east coast bootcamp has helped him develop some consistency in achieving top wins.

Zorc has wins over several top Europeans, including the flashy Falcon Jeapie.​

Gaute “Zorc” Berge - A promising young Falco and Norway’s best player, Zorc sits just outside Europe’s top 20 players.

Filip “Dev” Nilsson - Swedish in origin but ranked 4th in the UK where he lives, Dev also sits in the tier just below Europe’s more well-known threats.

Also look out for other European threats like Hans "pheX" Bechtolf , Vincent "BrTarolg" Tam , Dusan "Usleon" Haro , Jacob "Daydee" Stenberg , Robin "FA0" Castlin , Fraser "TimeMuffin" Cunningham , Lee "Phade" Thomson and Dylan "Maskless" Clark .