Armada (gamer)

Armada
Armada in 2018
Current team
TeamAlliance
GamesSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Project M
Super Mario 64
LeaguesMajor League Gaming
Evolution Championship Series
Personal information
NameAdam Lindgren
Nickname(s)Swedish Sniper
Born (1993-03-28) 28 March 1993 (age 31)[1]
Career information
Playing career2003–2019
Team history
2009–2014Empire Arcadia
2014Play 4 Keeps
2014–2019Alliance
Career highlights and awards
Melee
Project M
Twitch information
Channel
Followers151,100
Last updated: April 12, 2024

Adam Lindgren (born 28 March 1993), known by his handle Armada, is a Swedish professional Super Smash Bros. player. He is widely considered one of the greatest Super Smash Bros. Melee players of all time and the greatest Melee Peach player of all time.[2] Lindgren has won several major tournaments: he is a three-time champion of GENESIS, two-time champion of EVO, two-time champion of Apex and one-time champion of The Big House.[3] Considered one of the "Five Gods" of Melee, alongside Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman, Joseph "Mang0" Marquez, Juan "Hungrybox" DeBiedma, and Kevin "PPMD" Nanney, Lindgren was ranked one of the top two Melee players in the world every year from the beginning of formal rankings in 2013 until his retirement from singles tournaments in 2018, with Lindgren ranked as the number one Melee player in the world in 2015 and 2016.[4] A 2021 list by PGstats ranked Lindgren as the second-greatest Melee player of all time.[5]

He uses Peach and Fox,[6] and formerly used Young Link as a secondary character.[7] Lindgren rose to fame playing Peach exclusively, but he added Fox as a secondary in early 2015 in order to deal with a select few opponents.[8] He is also considered one of the best doubles players in the world and is famous for teaming with both of his brothers Andreas "Android" and Alexander "Aniolas" Lindgren, as well as with Mew2King.[9][10] Lindgren has also played Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Project M competitively, primarily playing Inkling in the former and Peach and Pit in the latter. Lindgren has been nicknamed the Swedish Sniper due to his precision with projectile attacks.[11]

Lindgren retired from professional Melee singles tournaments in September 2018, citing declining interest in the game.[12] Since 2020, he has instead focused on speedrunning the game Super Mario 64 and livestreaming on Twitch.

Career

Super Smash Bros. competition

Armada at The Big House in 2016

Lindgren started his gaming career in 2003 competing in the Swedish Nintendo Championship.[13][non-primary source needed] Armada came to prominence in 2007 finishing 4th at The Renaissance of Smash 4, his first national tournament. Seven months later, he finished 3rd at Epita Smash Arena 2, the largest tournament in Europe at the time, defeating top ranked Japanese player, Masashi, before losing to Ryota "Captain Jack" Yoshida.[citation needed]

In 2009, Lindgren had firmly established himself as the strongest player in Europe and decided to enter GENESIS, a tournament held in Antioch, California which was attended by the best players in the larger and more prominent American community. Many Americans did not expect Armada to do well, but he shocked the country by reaching the finals of the tournament, upsetting top American players such as Mew2King and Mang0. Armada would eventually lose in Grand Finals to Mang0, but GENESIS established Armada as a legitimate contender for best in the world and was the start of a prolific rivalry between Armada and Mang0.[14]

Each passing year, Lindgren was ranked progressively higher. In July 2011, Armada won the major tournament at the time, GENESIS 2, defeating number one ranked player, Mang0.[15] Lindgren remained undefeated worldwide[16] for two years until EVO 2013 where he lost the title and 1st rank back to Mang0.[citation needed]

After Apex 2013, Armada announced his retirement from competitive Melee[17] although he did return to compete in EVO 2013, where he placed 4th, losing to PPMD 0–2 in winners' bracket and being eliminated by Mang0 0–2 in losers' semis. He returned to the scene a year later, with B.E.A.S.T, a tournament held in his hometown of Gothenburg which he helped to organize, as his first tournament back.[citation needed]

Lindgren also had a fairly short-lived, but very successful career in Project M, winning Apex 2014's Project M title by defeating Mew2King in grand finals.[18] On 6 November 2014 he left Empire Arcadia and became sponsored by professional gaming team Alliance.[19]

Lindgren initially showed some interest in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U stating that he found it considerably different from Melee and felt that he needed to spend more time playing it, but has not publicly practiced or competed in the game since a short time after its release.[20] Since 2015, Armada has switched from using only Peach to both Peach and Fox in tournaments. He cites Fox's ability to put mental pressure on opponents as a reason for this change.[21][22][23][non-primary source needed] Armada faced PPMD in the Grand Finals of Apex 2015, while coming from the losers bracket, but eventually lost after forcing a bracket reset.[24] Armada was the EVO 2015 Melee champion after defeating Hungrybox in the Finals.[25] By winning EVO, Lindgren received the largest single prize ever awarded in a Melee tournament at that time.[citation needed]

After winning EVO 2015, Melee It On Me (MIOM) ranked Armada as the best Melee player for the 2015 Summer SSBMRank, ahead of Leffen and Mang0.[26]

At The Big House 5 in Dearborn, Michigan, Armada and his Europe crew lost to SoCal, placing 2nd.[27] In doubles, Armada won with his brother Android, beating Mew2King and Hungrybox in Grand Finals.[28] In Singles, he beat Hungrybox 3–2 in Grand Finals to win the tournament.[29] Armada was ranked the number one player in the world on the Melee it On Me (MIOM) year end SSBMRank for 2015.[30]

Armada continued his tournament success in 2016 and 2017, winning events such as GENESIS 3, Dreamhack Winter 2016, GENESIS 4, and EVO 2017 as well as a multitude of doubles events with his teammate and brother Android. In addition, Armada won the first four iterations of the highly prestigious invitational tournament series Smash Summit. In doing so, Armada became the first Melee player to win the same major tournament series three and four times consecutively.

Armada's lowest placing in his entire Melee career, excluding tournaments which he forfeit or did not seriously compete, is 5th place at both Paragon Orlando 2015 and Get On My Level 2016.

Lindgren retired from professional Melee singles tournaments in September 2018, citing declining interest in the game, although he still occasionally enters doubles tournaments teaming with his brother Andreas "Android" Lindgren.[12]

Speedrunning

Armada began speedrunning the 70 star category of Super Mario 64 in 2020 and is currently tied for 22nd in the world.[31] He also runs a YouTube channel with over 125,000 subscribers.[32]

Personal life

Lindgren has 10 siblings, two of whom, Alexander "Aniolas" and Andreas "Android", also play Melee competitively.[33] Lindgren formerly worked as a substitute teacher in Gothenburg, but now dedicates his time fully to competing, producing YouTube videos, and streaming on Twitch.

Armada is one of the subjects of the documentary Metagame, a sequel to The Smash Brothers by producer Travis "Samox" Beauchamp,[34] which premiered on a Twitch livestream in 2020.[35][36]

References

  1. ^ Carpenter, Nicole (18 September 2018). "Super Smash Bros. Melee legend Armada retires from singles-play". Dot Esports. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Ultimate SSBM Rank: The Race for No. 1". 27 December 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  3. ^ "Smasher:Armada". SmashWiki. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  4. ^ "The "Five Gods"".
  5. ^ "The Melee Stats Top 100: The Top 10". PGstats. 22 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Armada tweets about his mains".
  7. ^ "Armada tweets about Young Link "He is Dead!"".
  8. ^ "Melee It On Me 2014 rankings, #2".
  9. ^ Higgins, Chris (28 October 2014). "How eight-player Super Smash Bros brawls will work". Red Bull. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  10. ^ "The most important people in esports in 2014". The Daily Dot. 24 December 2014. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  11. ^ Lee, Daniel (7 November 2016). "Armada becomes three-time Smash Summit winner". ESPN.com. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  12. ^ a b I'm quitting melee singles. youtube.com (18 September 2018). Retrieved on 2018-09-18.
  13. ^ Armada_ comments on Armada here, AKA the EVO champ for Melee, AMA time. Reddit.com (22 July 2015). Retrieved on 2015-10-04.
  14. ^ "The biggest rivalry in 'Super Smash Bros. Melee' history". mashable.com. 20 January 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  15. ^ Groot, Justin; Groot, Justin (20 December 2016). "How Adam 'Armada' Lindgren Became World's Best 'Smash Bros.' Player". rollingstone.com.
  16. ^ "Smasher:Armada - SmashWiki, the Super Smash Bros. wiki". www.ssbwiki.com. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  17. ^ Omni (22 January 2013). "Apex 2013 Champion, Armada, Announces His Retirement". SmashBoards. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013.
  18. ^ Usmani, Basim (24 February 2014). "This Is Your Brain on ESports". Vice Motherboard. Archived from the original on 30 January 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  19. ^ Ian J. Barker (6 November 2014). "Alliance signs Smash powerhouse Armada". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 13 February 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  20. ^ Ian J. Barker (4 October 2014). "Zero and Armada talk Smash 4 at Big House 4". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 13 February 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  21. ^ AMHenry comments on Armada here, AKA the EVO champ for Melee, AMA time. Reddit.com (22 July 2015). Retrieved on 2015-10-04.
  22. ^ Armada_ comments on Armada here, AKA the EVO champ for Melee, AMA time. Reddit.com (22 July 2015). Retrieved on 2015-10-04.
  23. ^ Armada_ comments on Armada here, AKA the EVO champ for Melee, AMA time. Reddit.com (22 July 2015). Retrieved on 2015-10-04.
  24. ^ Taylor, Nicholas 'MajinTenshinhan' (1 February 2015). "Apex 2015 results feat. Mango, PPMD, Armada, Mew2King, Hungrybox, Leffen, Wobbles, Ice, Axe, aMSa, PewPewU, Lucky and more". EventHubs. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  25. ^ Womack, Barrett (20 July 2015). "Melee at Evo 2015: Armada Is the Champion". Red Bull Esports. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  26. ^ Melee It On Me – SSBMRank 2015 Top 25 1. Meleeitonme.com. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.
  27. ^ "The Big House 5 - Crew Battle". smash.gg. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  28. ^ "The Big House 5 - Melee Doubles". smash.gg. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  29. ^ "The Big House 5 - Melee Singles". smash.gg. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  30. ^ "SSBMRank 2015 #1". meleeitonme.com. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  31. ^ "Super Mario 64". www.speedrun.com. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  32. ^ "Armada - YouTube Channel Stats :: Let's Play Index". letsplayindex.com. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  33. ^ Apex 2010: Interview With Armada & Aniolas Part 1 – SSBB - SSBB. VGBootCamp. 19 October 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2015 – via YouTube.
  34. ^ Schreier, Jason (18 April 2014). "Telling The Story Of The Best Smash Bros. Players Around". Kotaku. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  35. ^ Michael, Cale (23 November 2020). "Super Smash Bros. Melee "Metagame" documentary to begin airing on Dec. 11". Dot Esports. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  36. ^ Erskine, Donovan (11 December 2020). "Watch the Super Smash Bros. Melee Metagame documentary here". Shacknews. Retrieved 4 December 2024.