It's easy to overlook the passion players put into Melee or any Esport for that matter. It's easy to forget the amount of competitors who enter events like Evo 2016 looking to prove themselves. The narratives of the absolute best players often obscure the ones of the lower ranked players.





But everyone suffers when it comes to major tournaments. It's important to remember that almost every top Melee player does not want to settle unless it's with the trophy.





Armada's loss to Hungrybox at Evo is a perfect example of this.

some say he's still sitting on that chair to this day pic.twitter.com/H3lHY3O4pj — Silviu (@Silziu) July 18, 2016

Sure, top eight or top thirty-two at Evo is amazing. Just getting to those points in Melee, especially when the Gods are waiting further down the bracket, is hard enough. However, that won't drive the thirst away for many players. They're motivated to do better or disappointed for not playing well enough in bracket.





It's a mixture of reactions. Not all players respond the same, but they're all responding about the same thing: loss.





So, I've collected various tweets from the Melee players that placed top thirty-two and onward, which shows the heartbreak players feel. But there are proud and happy moments too. Most if not all these tweets are cherry-picked out of an entire players Twitter feed.





I'm not trying to show a players entire character from a couple of tweets, but to show how frustrated, happy, or proud players can feel in moments of defeat. Enjoy these tweets as a way to understand how players take losses, not as a way to generalize a player.





The list would no doubt be longer if I were to include the players who drowned in pools.









Please don't talk to me about EVO tonight, I don't wanna hear how proud I should be or how good I played — Adam Lindgren (@ArmadaUGS) July 18, 2016

Dreams can be crushed in the most brutal of ways =(

Not felt this bad after a loss in a long time — Adam Lindgren (@ArmadaUGS) July 18, 2016

I'm always gonna be salty after tournaments. I did aight at this one, though. Fun times. — Justin McGrath (@PG_Plup) July 18, 2016

Let the record state .. I will never ever be this depressed about losing ever again .



I will fuck these chuckle fucks when the time comes. — Joseph Marquez (@C9Mang0) July 18, 2016

5th :/ i never have good composure at evo on day 3s. I want to fix it but.. idk how. Gg to armada/mango tho — Jason Zimmerman (@MVG_Mew2King) July 18, 2016

5th place evo chamionship 2016. Ggggggggggs Only going up from here ! — Tempo | S2J (@Tempo_S2J) July 18, 2016

7th place in singles, finally breaking my curse



1st place in teams, the back 2 back Evo wins



:))))))))) love yall — Kevin Toy (@CLG_PewPewU) July 18, 2016

Lol I didnt deserve to win...couldnt play at all. Sucks to suck in front of everyone. Congrats to s2j tho he hasnt beaten me in a while. — Weston Dennis (@G2Westballz) July 17, 2016

When you reach top 8 at Evo but you ain't satisfied. pic.twitter.com/vN3xRYgF23 — Weston Dennis (@G2Westballz) July 19, 2016

Never been so mad at myself — DaJuan McDaniel (@ShroomedWFX) July 17, 2016

Still can't believe I got 9th at @EVO and had a chance to make top 8. Love everyone who supported me today. It's been a great day. — cg | Zhu (@PoorZhu) July 17, 2016

People keep telling me congrats on 9th and it's making me sad :( — Ducky Blues (@ssbDuck) July 17, 2016

Wow that was the worst I've ever played against @G2Westballz. Good games, he can play so much better than me under pressure — Poor | James (@SSB_Swedish) July 17, 2016

I was not the chamion :( one day — SS | Colbol (@Colbol725) July 17, 2016

I lost, am fraud. Fox unwinnable w/o tech chases and my tech chases are seemingly random I just have them 50% of time — Dustin White (@Iaregravy) July 17, 2016

Not soul crushed Gg s to everyone I played I think now I know exactly what I need to do ! — Mustafa Akcakaya (@Ice_Fights) July 17, 2016

To the AZ Melee community:

I'm sorry.

I lost... I understand everything I did wrong. It's my fault... — AZ Axe (@TempoAxe) July 17, 2016

I've never taken a loss this hard before. I'm still so depressed and embarrassed about it. I don't know what's wrong with me.

I'm so sorry. — AZ Axe (@TempoAxe) July 17, 2016

Getting so hype watching top 8.

Sad I'm not on stage, but I can't be upset watching good Melee. This is incredible — AZ Axe (@TempoAxe) July 17, 2016

Fml last stock SD vs Nintendude :/ ended 17th but not like thiiiiis — Kashan Khan (@LiquidChillin) July 17, 2016

Played like such garbage today in every event — SmashG0D️ (@SmashG0D) July 16, 2016

Summary: 25th in melee singles, 9th in teams, and 3rd in Rivals. I can do way better. — SmashG0D️ (@SmashG0D) July 16, 2016

Finish 25th. Losing to @G2Westballz. Disappointed I couldn't perform how I wanted to this tournament. Just another bump in the road. — Zac Cordoni (@SFAT) July 16, 2016

EVO was cool

got 25th

not bad, not good



i was moved outta leffens pool and into hbox's



coulda made it further but chillindude upset wizy — n0ne (@n0ned) July 17, 2016

I'm so fucking sad I'm not in this top 8 — Fit Laudandus (@Laudandus) July 17, 2016

So disappointed with how I played. Good stuff to Colbol. — Amino|Dark Mike Haze (@MikeHazeGaming) July 17, 2016

Outside of that match though Im proud of my progression. I gave my all the past few months and improved dramatically



See you at Smashcon :) — Amino|Dark Mike Haze (@MikeHazeGaming) July 17, 2016

Dreams dead boys. Little errors cost games, ggs Moon! — PG Wobblin' Wobbles (@PG_Wobbles) July 16, 2016

Evo's given me a bunch to think about. I got pretty frustrated but held it together, didn't play amazingly but didn't crumble. — PG Wobblin' Wobbles (@PG_Wobbles) July 17, 2016

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