It's the first day of the world's largest fighting game tournament, the Evolution Championship Series, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Nearly 15,000 competitors have gathered to compete in nine different fighting games, with over 2,300 of them competing in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

In a sea full of people, there stands a man with a Pikachu hat and an Arizona flag on his back. Jeffrey "Axe" Williamson is a legend, someone who's been on top of the Super Smash Bros. scene since his first national, Genesis, in 2009. With Pikachu by his side, Axe cemented himself as the ninth best Smash player in the world last year, according to Super Smash Bros. content and analysis site Melee It On Me's SSBM Rank. Editor's Picks Leffen won't attend Evo due to visa delays

Evo Smash 4 preview: the field is wide open

From Smash to Street Fighter: the nine games of Evo preview 2 Related

At Evo 2016, he looks to win it all, something that's never too far out of his reach. He's been close before, taking fourth at Genesis 3 and fifth at Community Effort Orlando 2016, and he believes that Evo will be his time to shine, albeit not on Fox.

"I think [I have a shot to win this tournament.] I've already beaten most of [the gods] a couple of times in the past, and a couple this year and I feel like it's really doable," Axe tells ESPN.com. "I just have to be super on point and I can't be stopped. I know that for sure. Even loser's bracket Mango or beast mode Armada, I feel like I can take them to be honest. It takes a lot of preparation and mental power and just feeling well. There's a lot of little factors I need to be on top of to perform my best."

Fifth at CEO is a good indication that Axe can perform as expected, but at Evo, there are nearly 1,800 more players in attendance, in comparison to CEO's 683. Axe says that makes this event infinitely more difficult, and that to win it all, you have to play your best.

"This tournament has way more players [than CEO], so it's going to be a lot harder because all of the top players are here minus Leffen and PPMD," he says. "It's going to be very difficult still, but technically it's kind of the same top players. More of the top 100 players are here than they were at CEO. A lot of the top 100 players still give me problems, so it's going to be a lot more difficult overall, but I feel more ready than I did for CEO."

Jeffrey "Axe" Williamson is often considered the best Pikachu player in the world. Provided by Stephanie Lindgren/Dreamhack

At CEO, he fell to Justin "Plup" McGrath, another player within the Top 10, who like Axe, is considered a "demigod." In Melee, there are five gods: Adam "Armada" Lindgren, Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma, Kevin "PPMD" Nanney, Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman, and Joseph "Mango" Marquez. Demigods are players within the top echelon who continuously challenge and at times beat the gods, or their counterpart William "Leffen" Hjelte.

For the past few years, Axe, alongside names like Plup and Weston "Westballz" Dennis, have become demigods. But none have been able to take it all the way and win super majors, such as Evo, CEO, or Genesis. I ask Axe who is the next player to join the demigods.

"Normally, it's a player that's not currently a top 100," he says. "It's usually not a player who's at the top. I'm looking at the players who are on the come up. Pretty much the players that come out of nowhere. It's those kind of players who surpass people and enter the top six."

So if a new face breaks through, they'll need to beat the Top 10, which is currently not solidified in 2016. Axe, who was among the final list last year, thinks that a new player, Zac "SFAT" Cordoni, has entered the list, while the remainder of the list, besides DaJuan "Shroomed" McDaniel, stays the same.

"The top order is so confusing to order, but based off how good I think players are, I think Armada is the best. He's number one. He just has the most skill, the most consistency," he explains. "He's crazy, he's a beast. Hungrybox has to be second at this point. Armada, Hungrybox, Mango, Leffen, Mew2King, PPMD, Plup, Axe, SFAT, and Westballz. Wes hasn't been doing so hot lately, but I know he has the skill. He's hella good."

Only one will be crowned the champion of Evo. That opens the field significantly for new people to break through, and Axe thinks as long as he beats Hungrybox and his consistent Jigglypuff, he'll have his best shot. "It's terrible [to play against Jigglypuff]," Axe says. "I hate it. I do want to beat Hungrybox really bad. I've been watching our sets and it's doable, so I have a few tricks up my sleeve for that."

But above all, he believes that Mango will take the tournament, if he doesn't himself. A previous champion of Evo 2013 and 2014, Mango is favored to repeat and win Evo once again. He's been outspoken about wanting it all, and practicing a ton to get there. America's hometown hero has the best shot he's had in quite sometime.

"I'd say Mango has a great shot at first. Mango wants it very badly, and I think that the only way for Mango to win is only if he goes absolute beast mode," Axe explains. "The one trait Mango has that all of the other top players don't have, of the Top 6, is the ability to go in the zone, where he has absolute focus and everything is 100 percent different. I think he's going to take the tournament."