Despite the hate and apple stuck in his teeth, Cody Schwab gets incredible win at GENESIS X3 Melee Major

After one of the most incredible Losers runs of all time, Cody Schwab has won the GENESIS X3 Super Smash Bros. Melee Major.

“Against all odds, I somehow won GENESIS through 11 sets in Losers, through every heavy hitter,” Cody said on X (formerly Twitter). “I’ve given this game everything I physically can, and despite everything, it’s been the greatest ride of my life.”

The Melee tournament at GENESIS X3 was stacked. So stacked, in fact, that the best players in the world found themselves in the Losers side of the bracket in Top 64. Zain Naghmi, Cody Schwab and Juan ‘Hungrybox‘ DeBiedma are the top-ranked players, but surprise upsets had them fighting to see who would make it through each other to reach Top 8.

This means that pretty early into the competition, Cody had to fight Zain and then Hungrybox to avoid elimination — all on the first day. Cody fought through his two tough opponents to make it to the Top 8, where he started on Losers against Kyle ‘Krudo.’

Cody Schwab, often considered the best Fox in the world, was on fire the entire tournament. His lightning-fast punishes, high IQ mix-ups and strong ledge play had him steamrolling his Losers opponents, whether the crowd liked it or not.

After Krudo, Cody took down Justin ‘Wizzrobe‘ Hallett’s Captain Falcon in a 3-0 stomp. He was then in Losers Semi-Finals against Alexandra ‘Salt‘ Rennie, a Captain Falcon player ranked #8 in the world after becoming a threat in the scene in the 2020s.

One of the newer names in the Top 8, the crowd was hyped by her GENESIS X3 run and rooted for her throughout the set against Cody Schwab. At one point, the one-sided chanting became so intense — with the audience screaming to ‘kill him’ — that Salt and Cody both gave the crowd stern expressions mid-set.

Even though the audience was hoping for a continued Salt run, Cody Schwab had a convincing final game and eliminated her from the tournament. After winning the incredibly intense set, Cody was met with more cheering for Salt, who had already left the stage.

After that, it was a Fox mirror with Miles ‘Soonsay‘ Foster. The audience was now in favour of Cody, who nobody could deny was playing like a mad-man all weekend. He ultimately beat Soonsay 3-1 to make it to the Grand Finals.

The battle against Jake ‘Jmook‘ DiRado, his doubles partner earlier that weekend, was largely one-sided, with Cody taking every single game the first match. This is despite Cody continuously eating a green apple and getting pieces of the fruit noticeably stuck in his teeth during the set.

Jmook, he 7th-best player in the world, was clearly growing frustrated and couldn’t hide the disappointment on his face.

Cody Schwab reset the bracket, meaning he’d have to beat Jmook one more time due to coming from Losers side. This match was a little closer, with Jmook seemingly gaining some confidence in the matchup. But Cody ultimately took the win, ending one of the most intense and challenging Losers runs of all time.

Ahead of GENESIS X3, it was said that this would be the last Major for Cody Schwab ahead of his break from Melee.

After winning, Cody addressed the crowd: “I need to work on myself as a person. And I need a team. […] I want to be the best person for this community and need time off to do that. I will come back the best player for the community, but that will include Z jumping, sorry.”

Cody has claimed he wants to leave the Melee scene in the past, but he never really took a long break. Only time will tell if he means it this time, especially after the continued toxicity from the crowd and social media during his run.

“Whether you love me or hate me, I want to be someone that can engross you in the game and bring fruit to the community that’s given me so much I’m going to do my absolute best to come back financially and emotionally secure, and give this game the GOAT Fox it deserves,” Cody tweeted.

“I’m not that person yet, but for all of you, I’ll try my best. Thank you Melee, the best game in the world.”

Despite the negativity, Cody Schwab’s GENESIS X3 run will be one to remember, whether you’re a fan or not. The incredibly consistent skill and grit he showed that weekend has cemented him as possibly the best player in Melee right now.