Hungrybox

About

Hungrybox, real name Juan DeBiedma, is a professional Super Smash Brothers player best known for his dominant and controversial play of the character Jigglypuff in Super Smash Brothers Melee. He is considered one of the five "Gods of Melee" by the community and has maintained an active presence in the scene for over a decade, becoming co-owner of the esports organization Team Liquid, organizing WiFi Smash tournaments and maintaining a notable Twitch channel.

History

Hungrybox was born June 21st, 1993, in Argentina.^[1] He began competing in Smash competitively in 2007 at the age of 14.^[2] After seeing improved results over the following years, he grew notoriety as one of the "Five Gods of Melee" around EVO 2013. He joined Team Curse, which eventually became Team Liquid, in 2015 and is currently a co-owner of the brand. Throughout much of the 2010s, Hungrybox received high placings at tournaments through his unique play of the character Jigglypuff.

Though Jigglypuff is not considered one of the best characters in Melee, Hungrybox employs a unique, highly-defensive playstyle centered around capitalizing on opponents' mistakes through impatience. This often results in long sets where neither Hungrybox nor his opponent will interact with each other for fear of losing their stocks, and it is not uncommon for Hungrybox to "time out" opponents, meaning he will win a match because he has taken less damage or more stocks than his opponent when the game's eight-minute timer runs out. This has made Hungrybox a notorious figure in the Smash community,^[3] and crowds have directed anger and boos toward Hungrybox as he plays (example shown below, left). At Pound 2019, a spectator through a real crab at Hungrybox after he won a set (shown below, right).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hungrybox organized WiFi Smash Ultimate tournaments known as "The Box" while growing his Twitch channel. After offline events returned, Hungrybox initially struggled to reclaim his dominance at the head of the Melee scene before winning Get On My Level 2022 in July.

Pop-offs

Throughout his career, Hungrybox has become well known for his exuberant celebrations after winning sets or matches, known as "pop-offs" (compilation of pop-offs posted by Nikq shown below, left). In 2021, Hungrybox popped off so hard after winning a match on his stream that he immediately fainted (shown below, right).

iBDW's "Reverse Pop-off"

iBDW's Reverse Pop-off On Hungrybox refers to a viral moment in the Super Smash Brothers Melee community in which competitor Cody "iBDW" Schwab lost a set against Juan "Hungrobox" Debiedma but afterward jumped and screamed in Hungrybox's face — "popped off," in gaming lingo — as if he had won. The moment was a prank on Hungrybox, who is known for his enthusiastic pop-offs when he wins big sets or tournaments. The moment caused some controversy among the Melee community, as some viewed it as unsportsmanlike, but Hungrybox took the prank in good humor, and memes of the moment soon followed.

Double Down 2022 Controversy

On July 10th, 2022 at Double Down 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Hungrybox attracted controversy for competing on the final day of Double Down 2022 despite "vomiting blood" that morning, as he tweeted.^[4] He stated it was "not COVID" and that he intended to play on the final day of the tournament. He played and won one set against SFAT before disqualifying himself from the remainder of the tournament. The controversy led to a wave of backlash against Hungrybox for potentially putting others at risk by playing sick and maskless, as well as against the tournament organizers for allowing Hungrybox to compete despite his condition. Hungrybox apologized for his actions and insisted he would strictly follow mask protocols at future events.^[5]

Online Presence

Hungrybox is most active on Twitter and Twitch. He joined the former^[6] in February of 2011 and gained over 314,000 followers in eleven years. After focusing heavily on his Twitch^[7] channel during COVID-19, he has gained over 397,000 subscribers.

Search Interest

External References