Until the very end of 2016, Justin "Syrox" Burroughs wasn't a Melee player that anybody outside of his local Colorado had heard of. However, after he took third at Rewired 2016 and fifth at Eden in quick succession, his tag became about as well-known as most top 25 players.





His rise to prominence is a unique one, so here's a look at who he is.

.@SyroxM is not a documentary baby, he started playing in 2011. Just so yall know cuz people say he is and he doesn't like it  — ESAM @ Airport (@PG_ESAM) December 17, 2016

​​First off, he's not a so-called "doc kid," or somebody that got interested in the game around the time of EVO 2013 and the Smash Documentary. He started playing the game in 2011, when the now-18-year-old Syrox was just 11 or 12.

One of the biggest ways of knowing that he has potential to keep moving up in the world is to take a look at Colorado's current PR and see how weak the state is compared to MD/VA, California, Florida, Tri-state, and other areas that most top players come from.





Syrox is the only notable player with real upset potential to ever have come out of Colorado. The fact that his region doesn't have some of the biggest names in Smash, but he's able to compete at the level of those Smashers, is a testament to his skill.





Even ​within his own state, he rose fast. March 2015 he was an Honorable Mention. A month later, he was No. 2. Come their next PR, he was No. 1, a spot he's held ever since.

​​As a player, Syrox is a bit of a techskill fanatic. He's very confident in his ability to press buttons, which is a hallmark of doc kids and likely why people thought he was one.





However, instead of just being good at pressing buttons and not having a solid gameplan to back it up, Syrox's gameplan is augmented by his techskill. The clip in the above video where he utilizes an invincible ledgedash through Luigi's Green Missile to guarantee an up smash is just one example of this.





The quick style that he plays with also makes his punish and neutral both flashy and difficult to handle for his opponents.

​​Between stocks or when he's allowed to goof off are when his hand speed is really allowed to shine.





Even if being able to rapidly alternate between B and A while mashing X or Y isn't practical for a match, it's a fun looking thing to do.

​​As for wins, the young prodigy has taken a handful of big names. He has set wins over the likes of Zachary "​SFAT" Cordoni, Johnny "​S2J" Kim, Weston "​Westballz" Dennis, DaJuan "​Shroomed" McDaniel, Edgard "​N0ne" Sheleby, and ​more.

Hey @SyroxM IDK if you saw or not, but you managed #24 on the most recent MIOM Glicko rankings! https://t.co/OdBNAf6PAA — Aedan Garcia (@20YY_Hector) April 7, 2017

​​All these impressive wins and consistently strong placings have led Syrox to be ranked ​​​No. 67 on the 2016 SSBMRank along with managing ​No. 24 on the SSBM Glicko Rankings through March of 2017.





At this point in time, there's nowhere for Syrox to go except up. His highs have shown that he's perfectly capable of competing at least at a top 20 level, so top 10 isn't far from out of the question for him. A bit of consistency appears to be all he needs to reach the highest level of Melee.

Decided to leave @EndGame_TV, I'm a free agent now.



Thanks for all the help EGTV! — Syrox (@SyroxM) May 2, 2017

The best thing for him to help achieve that at this point in time would simply be a sponsor. He's been a free agent since the start of May, and he definitely deserves another organization to help get him out to more events!

Images courtesy of ​MeleeEveryday and the ​SSBWiki