Gaming
esports
Friendlies: Hungrybox, the Antithesis
In a fast-paced Melee world, Hungrybox walks a road less traveled, in more ways than one.
Over the years, Melee has been called many things. A party game. A dead title. A game only for kids. But one thing Melee has never been called is slow. Now more than ever, players are upping the pace of the game and taking characters to their absolute limits. Zero-to-death combos and lightning fast movement are commonplace at the highest levels. Just about everyone accepts the fact that more speed equates to better performance.
Everyone, that is, except Hungrybox.
Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma is an exception to most every rule within the Melee community. He plays a floaty character that doesn’t require as much tech as the rest of the high tier cast. He has the patience to play a slow and methodical game if he has to. And on top of that, he’s known for popping off after matches — something not often seen from players that "play lame." In many ways, Hungrybox is the opposite of what someone would come to expect from a top Melee player — something he’s well aware of. And while it isn’t always easy for him to exist as the only one of his kind, Hungrybox doesn’t plan to let it get in the way of his dream to be the best.
Sibling rivalries
As a kid, Hungrybox loved his games as much as the next child. But games weren’t a hobby for him so much as they were a pat on the back for his achievements. “[Video games were] sort of a reward system I would work out with my parents to get new games if I did well in school and such. Game Boy Advance had some of my fondest memories, specifically the Super Mario Advance series.” Hungrybox and his two older brothers we both gamers, but they didn’t share many interests within that sphere. Hungrybox liked Nintendo games, but his oldest brother enjoyed shooters, while the middle brother would play a bit of everything. But the one game that everybody liked to play was Smash.
“Smash happened to be another thing that we all enjoyed. Gaston, the oldest, quickly grew dissatisfied with it but the middle brother, Fermin, enjoyed the series, especially Brawl. The reason I started being competitive stemmed all the way back from simple sibling rivalry.”
Middle school masters
Fueled by this new game and the desire to compete, Hungrybox and his best friend Luis, a.k.a. Captain Crunch, set out to play in tournaments — but not the kind an eSports fan today might expect. “We went to s****y FFA tourneys at first. Luis would usually do better than me, and when we finally started going to legit monthlies, Gigabits in Orlando, his mom didn't like him playing so much. I got destroyed at those tournaments but I loved competing so I kept doing it.”
To this day, Hungrybox pulls out his Ness from time to time. That’s because he wasn’t a Jigglypuff player from the start: He was a Ness main for some time. However, as he played more and more, Jigglypuff started to appeal to him — for both practical and antagonistic reasons. “When I started understanding a couple more dynamics, I started to play Jigglypuff. I saw my older brother use her Rest move in 64 and I tried it in Melee and it made people explode. My friends got upset when I used it on them so that was great.”
Melee continued to become an increasingly serious endeavor for Hungrybox and Captain Crunch. As young kids, they looked up to the players of that era, including some of Hungrybox’s contemporaries today. “YouTube wasn't really a thing back in '07 so we had to download videos and watch them over. Bombsoldier, Ken, PC Chris, M2K and all of the other old school greats were legends to us.”
HBox with his teammate, Chillin
© Robert Paul/@tempusrob/rmpaul.com
A not-so-warm welcome
Hungrybox and his Jigglypuff started to regularly place high at Florida tournaments when he was still young. His signature back-air "Wall of Pain" and rests started winning him matches, and adding to his reputation.
But despite prodigious status as a young up-and-comer, Hungrybox found that few people were excited about his success. “I believe around 2008, I would start getting third place at locals over and over. People didn't like that at all.” Jigglypuff is an uncommon character, and is rarely a crowd favorite due to her unorthodox playstyle.
"There’s a huge stigma against Puff. I’ve had Florida crowds cheer against me at nationals. It's the fact that no one really likes giving Puff credit. You can't really combo her … and she seems easier to play. Puff is a weird character altogether. She has five jumps so she doesn't have to worry about being gimped or dying suddenly out of nowhere. You have to play patiently to beat her.”
This anti-Jigglypuff mentality is commonplace in the modern era, and Hungrybox is still tangling with it, even after his crowning as a so-called "God" of the game. Moments like his play during Evo 2015 Top 8 have split the community — some respect that he plays to win, and the rest decry his "less exciting" or "lame" Jigglypuff as nothing but gimmicks and annoying keep-away. But this feeling of resentment toward Hungrybox isn’t just about the character. It has been around for some time and originated much earlier in his career.
It is not lost on Hungrybox that his abrasive attitude has burned some bridges, not only in Smash but in life. As a young kid, the excitement of winning came through in his actions, but was not always received the way it was intended to be. But by the time he realized this, it was too late.
Hungrybox is sponsored by Team Liquid
© Robert Paul/@tempusrob/rmpaul.com
“I tend to be emotional when I play and/or when I interact with people. Perhaps sometimes I say too many things and it comes across in a really bad way. I was raised with the idea that I should always be very proud of my accomplishments. I loved sharing what I had done, or my success on an exam, or who I had beaten at a local tournament. I was dumb for realizing that I had been accidentally bragging a lot. As idiotic as it sounds, I didn't realize it. When I went to college I was no longer a top-tier student, and I found myself resenting the try-hard 4.0 kids who destroyed everyone academically. It was then that I realized that I had been the person I least wanted to be: That Guy.”
Floaty, but fragile
Hungrybox, as excellent a player as he is, has struggled mightily in Smash. He has struggled with the public’s opinion of him, and at the same time, his opinion of himself. “In my own eyes, I have two images [of myself.] A) One of the Five Smash Gods, a role model to his fans, and someone who means well. The best Jigglypuff player. A player intense in game and outside. B) A walking joke. Overdramatic idiot who wanted so badly to be in the spotlight that he ended up expressing through Smash. Impatient douche who's very fake and usually wears a mask in front of everyone.”
Mindset is everything to a competitor, and depending on his mood Hungrybox’s performances can swing drastically in one direction or the other. He points toward MLG 2014 as an example of a less-than-stellar mindset resulting in subpar results. “MLG 2014 was rough. I had been in a very self-hating mindset due to a conversation I shouldn't have had the night before singles, and I ended up getting seventh.” Evo 2015, on the other hand, was a tournament where all of his mental affairs were in order, and he very nearly won the largest tournament of all time, with the help of his support group. “Three people really do stand out to me. My girlfriend, Luis, and Uuaa [Danny Diaz]. They've been my support group for the past two years in everything I do in Melee. When I get out of line they let me know. When I’m not playing well they give me feedback. When I'm being too in my head they sorta snap me out of it.”
But one thing that Hungrybox will not apologize for is his emotion. “People wonder why I tend to pop-off after certain sets. It's just massive relief.”
“Playing Puff against Fox with thousands of dollars and thousands of doubters in between my opponent and I is basically juggling balloons with scissors for hands. And when people do ask why I’m ‘so dramatic’ after a set … it’s like, how can I not be?”
When Hungrybox plays, he can be very emotional
© Robert Paul/@tempusrob/rmpaul.com
This is who I am
Hungrybox has accomplished a lot in life. Not only is he one of the best Smash players in the world, he’s a process engineer at WestRock, a packaging solutions company. But looking back, Hungrybox still wishes that some things had been different. “More than anything else in the world, I want to just get along with everyone. But it's so fragile now. The image that people have of me, especially people on the West Coast, is literally awful. And there's not much I can do to fix it. I would love to sit down and talk to every person who thinks wrongly of me. Try to understand their point of view and then share mine. But I feel like it's far too late.”
But reconciliation or no, Hungrybox is going to keep playing Melee. It’s his escape, and even though things may not be perfect, he’s found his place. And in a way, Jigglypuff’s unorthodox style and controversial place in the game fits Hungrybox just right.
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