Ryan "The Moon" Coker-Welch has been making noise in recent months. At The Big House 6, he took Joseph "Mango" Marquez to Game 5 and finished ninth overall. At Smash Summit 3, his vibrant personality shined on the commentary couch, garnering many fans over the course of the weekend. Despite his solid 2016 performances and strong social media presence, The Moon is notably missing a prefix in front of his name; He's teamless.

When it comes to top Marth players, most think of Kevin "PPMD" Nanney's immaculate movement, Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman's punish game or Kevin "PewPewU" Toy's creativity. The Moon's particular strengths are hard to put in a highlight reel; He's smart and adaptive to situations, often giving up small freebies as experiments, so that he can exploit these patterns later. Very often, he'll lose the first game of a set and then demolish his opponent in the next two. His game doesn't have the most finesse but he gets wins over top players.

The Moon recognizes that his ranking is lower than other players, but he knows that he can give even the best a hard time. In regards to the attitude of other top players, he said, "They know my rank, but I know they are scared of me. Even if I don't win every time, I make them work and they know they can't sleep on me or they will pay."

In 2016, The Moon defeated many of the Top 15 players, including Weston "Westballz" Dennis and Joey "Lucky" Aldama. He also had many close sets with the top tier, including a close five-game set against Mew2King at Super Smash Con 2016 that could have gone in The Moon's favor had he not suicided in a crucial game. His set against Mango at The Big House 6 went to the last hit on the final game, and he could have won if any little thing went differently. Most recently, he defeated Zachary "SFAT" Cordoni at Smash Summit 3 despite losing the first two games.

In many aspects, The Moon's rise as a player parallels SFAT's. For the longest time, SFAT struggled to close out the final game of sets against the best players even when he started the sets strong. It wasn't until recently that SFAT found success over the likes of players such as Mango or Hungrybox. For The Moon, it might only be a matter of time before he sees similar breakthroughs of his own and defeat the "gods" of melee.

The Moon talks a lot about overcoming breakthroughs in the past by meticulously grinding techniques and movement in order to incorporate them into his gameplay. He rose quickly in the tri-state region and continues to make a presence at majors. He credits his work ethic as a primary reason for his rapid improvement, whereas many others fail and stop progressing.

"I'm not afraid to fail and look stupid, and I'm going to keep trying to improve. I'm confident in my process and the difference between me and the best is a matter of making a few mistakes. I know that I can compete at a high level just like the other guys," he says.

Although The Moon finished ninth at Smash Summit 3, he continues to keep his head up. Between commentary shifts, he made sure to practice long hours with the other top players. He leaves the Smash Summit 3, proud of the hard work that he put into his gameplay, and the community is eager to see more of his game play and awesome personality. Still, he remains focused on his dream of winning a major that has most of the top fifty present.

Hopefully by then, The Moon finds a team that will support his endeavors.