In an unexpected turn of events, Robert "Wobbles" Wright found himself going into the grand finals without dropping a set at the Evolution Championship Series in 2013, the same event that included all five gods of Super Smash Bros. Melee. The beloved Ice Climbers player triumphed over Joseph "Mango" Marquez, Kevin "PPMD" Nanney and Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma. But the storybook run came to an abrupt end as Mango recovered from the loser's bracket to defeat Wobbles in two consecutive sets.

Fans hoped that the second place finish at Evo 2013 was a start of things to come, but Wobbles lived true to his word and retired from competitive play. For the next couple of years, Wobbles shifted from a player to a community figure, primarily as a commentator at majors and as a teacher at local tournaments in Texas. Editor's Picks Leffen won't attend Evo due to visa delays

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Occasionally, he competed at larger regionals -- he did phenomenally well for a player out of commission -- defending his turf from the likes of Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman, Weston "Westballz" Dennis, and Joey "Lucky" Aldama. Wobbles viewed Smash majors as fun events to hang out with friends. It wasn't always smooth sailing, though. In 2015, he entered Evo with Mario and finished in 129th place.

On November 2015, Wobbles signed with esports team Panda Global as a commentator and a competitor. Since then, he has found himself competing at events with a mix of peaks and valleys in both performance and mindset. He performed well at the Low Tier City events in Texas, but he also finished an abysmal 97th at Genesis 3.

While most Ice Climbers prefer efficiency by wobbling their opponents, Wobbles, despite what his name might suggest, prefers other unique options and uses de-syncs to create highlight-worthy combos. For Wobbles, the innovation brings him more enjoyment than mashing "A" at a set rhythm over and over again, but he's realized that this hasn't led to the best results.

"I look at some of the sets I've lost," he said. "There have been many close games where I lose by a stock because I went for a riskier play instead of wobbling."

Robert "Wobbles" Wright is considered one of the best Ice Climber players in the world. Provided by Rob Paul

There are two Wobbles: one that loves to play for fun and one that plays competitively. Wobbles laments what competition turns him into, sheepishly admitting that he turns into a sore loser. Given his competitive drive, he notes that it's very frustrating to play in "try-hard" mode.

"In a tournament set, I have to play safe when I'm going for the win and focus on what works," he said. "In the Peach matchup, I blizzard and set up walls for the entire match. Eventually, I get bored and mess up, then he takes the stock."

Even when Wobbles won a set, he frequently left upset and tilted. He realized he was okay with playing competitively and wobbling against better players like Hungrybox or Mew2king, but he didn't always see it that way when facing players in a lower tier. Every moment against a better player was a learning experience for him to refine his gameplay. Coming off this epiphany, he shifted his mindset towards playing competitively against other players as well.

"I've turned tournament sets into a teacher-student relationship with my opponent," he said. "I bring in situations to see if they can deal with it. If they make dumb mistakes, then they need to learn. I'm the teacher passing out the test."

In regards to wobbling, he added, "If my opponent ended up getting wobbled seven or eight times in a set, they clearly didn't pass the test. Study and come back next time because you didn't learn and certainly didn't deserve the win."

The teacher-student mentality has liberated Wobbles from the issues of playing his hardest. Still, he knows he's at his best when his overall mindset is not so much about winning as it is about keeping a healthy mental state. In the past month, Wobbles has focused on playing Overwatch and strumming the guitar instead of grinding on Melee. This allows him to stay calm and become less frustrated with the game while maintaining his mood and energy levels.

"Back in 2013, I was having fun and enjoying the moment," he said. "Defeating three gods and finishing in second was the byproduct. My main focus this time is just to have a good mindset, have fun, and enjoy myself as much as possible while not intentionally sabotaging my chances [by not wobbling]."

Pretty much the moment I am facing anybody who constitutes the slightest threat at Evo, they're getting wobbled. Mercilessly. - PG Wobblin' Wobbles (@PG_Wobbles) July 6, 2016

A mentally healthy Wobbles is definitely a scary one. He's performed well in Texas over the past two years, but can he perform at a national level again? Maybe we'll see a glimmer of Evo 2013 Wobbles this weekend.