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Plup
McGrath at The Big House 7 in 2017
Current team
TeamRed Bull
Games
Personal information
NameJustin McGrath
Born (1993-11-24) November 24, 1993 (age 30)
NationalityAmerican
Career information
Playing career2010–present
Team history
2015–2022Panda Global
2018–presentRed Bull
Career highlights and awards
  • 2x DreamHack champion (2017, 2018)
  • GENESIS champion (2018)
  • Smash World Tour champion (2021)
  • 2x CEO champion (2022, 2023)
Twitch information
Channel
Followers104 thousand
Last updated: September 2023

Justin McGrath, better known as Plup, is an American professional Super Smash Bros. player from Orlando, Florida. McGrath is considered to be one of the best Super Smash Bros. Melee players in the world, having been ranked as one of the top 10 Melee players every year since 2015.[1][2]

McGrath initially rose to prominence in 2015 after placing highly in several major tournaments.[3][4] Among his best placings are first at GENESIS 5, second at The Big House 7 and Smash Summit 9, and third at EVO 2016 and EVO 2018. McGrath was initially the best Samus player in the world but later switched to primarily playing Sheik. In addition to playing Samus and Sheik, McGrath uses Fox as a secondary. McGrath has also competed professionally in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, playing primarily with Mega Man and Ridley, and Project M playing primarily with Samus. McGrath was formerly sponsored by Panda Global.[5] A 2021 list compiled by PGstats ranked McGrath as the tenth-greatest Melee player of all time.[6]

Early life

When McGrath was seven years old, he received a Super NES from his father.[7]

Career

McGrath began his Super Smash Bros. career in 2010. He entered the CEO 2010 tournament as a Samus player and finished in 13th place out of a total of 62 players.[8] In 2014, he finished in 13th place out of over 600 players at Apex 2014. In 2016, McGrath finished in third place at CEO 2016 Prologue, CEO 2016, and EVO 2016. After finishing in the top 10 at Shine 2016 and Summit 3, he was ranked as the sixth-best placer of the season. In 2017, McGrath won his first major at DreamHack Atlanta 2017 after defeating Hungrybox in the finals and placed second at Big House 7. In 2019, he finished in second at Smash Summit 9.[7]

Notable tournament placings

Only Majors and Supermajors are listed.

Offline tournament Online tournament

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Tournament[9][10] Date 1v1 Placement 2v2 Placement Partner
CEO 2010 June 5–6, 2010 13th 9th Nasty
Apex 2012 January 6–8, 2012 33rd 2nd Hungrybox
Apex 2013 January 11–13, 2013 17th 2nd Hungrybox
Tipped Off 9 December 14–15, 2013 7th 1st Hungrybox
Apex 2014 January 17–19, 2014 13th 3rd Hungrybox
MLG Anaheim 2014 June 20–22, 2014 9th 5th Hungrybox
CEO 2014 June 27–29, 2014 5th 2nd Hungrybox
EVO 2014 July 11–13, 2014 9th 1st Hungrybox
Tipped Off 10 September 20–21, 2014 5th 1st Hungrybox
The Big House 4 October 4–5, 2014 9th 2nd Hungrybox
Paragon 2015 January 17–18, 2015 5th 1st Hungrybox
Apex 2015 January 30–February 1, 2015 49th 13th Colbol
Smash 'N' Splash June 13–14, 2015 2nd 2nd Wizzrobe
CEO 2015 June 26–28, 2015 7th 7th DruggedFox
EVO 2015 July 17–19, 2015 4th 3rd Hungrybox
Paragon Los Angeles 2015 September 5–6, 2015 9th — —
HTC Throwdown September 19, 2015 25th 7th Wizzrobe
The Big House 5 October 2–4, 2015 13th 7th DruggedFox
Smash Summit November 7–8, 2015 4th 5th PPMD
Eclipse 2015 November 14–15, 2015 4th 1st Axe
DreamHack Winter 2015 November 26–29, 2015 3rd 7th Wizzrobe
GENESIS 3 January 15–17, 2016 9th 25th M00NShoez
Battle of the Five Gods March 17–19, 2016 5th — —
Pound 2016 April 2–3, 2016 5th 1st Hungrybox
Smash Summit 2 April 21–24, 2016 5th 2nd Hungrybox
CEO 2016 June 24–26, 2016 4th 2nd Axe
EVO 2016 July 15–17, 2016 3rd — —
Super Smash Con 2016 August 11–14, 2016 769th 129th Wizzrobe
Shine 2016 August 26–28, 2016 7th 1st Mew2King
The Big House 6 October 7–9, 2016 17th 5th Westballz
Smash Summit 3 November 3–6, 2016 5th 5th Hungrybox
GENESIS 4 January 20–22, 2017 5th 4th Axe
Smash Summit 4 - Spring 2017 March 2–5, 2017 5th 5th Westballz
CEO: Dreamland April 14–16, 2017 5th 5th Axe
DreamHack Austin 2017 April 28–30, 2017 5th 2nd Mew2King
Smash 'N' Splash 3 June 2–4, 2017 5th 4th Axe
CEO 2017 June 16–18, 2017 2nd — —
Bad Moon Rising 2 July 1, 2017 13th 1st Druggedfox
EVO 2017 July 14–16, 2017 5th — —
DreamHack Atlanta 2017 July 21–23, 2017 1st 1st Mew2King
Super Smash Con 2017 August 10–13, 2017 3rd 2nd Mew2King
Shine 2017 August 25–27, 2017 5th 4th Swedish Delight
GameTyrant Expo 2017 September 29–October 2, 2017 5th 3rd Mew2King
The Big House 7 October 6–8, 2017 2nd 5th Mew2King
Too Hot to Handle October 28–29, 2017 3rd 1st Crush
Smash Summit 5 November 2–5, 2017 5th 2nd Mew2King
GENESIS 5 January 19–21, 2018 1st 1st Mew2King
EGLX 2018 March 9–11, 2018 2nd 1st Mew2King
Smash Summit 6 May 3–6, 2018 5th 3rd Mew2King
Get On My Level 2018 May 18–20, 2018 2nd 1st Mew2King
DreamHack Austin 2018 June 1–3, 2018 1st 1st Mike Haze
CEO 2018 June 29–July 1, 2018 2nd 1st Mew2King
EVO 2018 August 3–5, 2018 3rd — —
Shine 2018 August 24–26, 2018 4th 2nd Swedish Delight
The Big House 8 October 5–7, 2018 2nd 3rd Westballz
Smash Summit 7 November 15–18, 2018 9th 1st Mew2King
GENESIS 6 February 1–3, 2019 3rd 3rd Mew2King
Pound 2019 April 19–21, 2019 3rd 1st Mew2King
Get On My Level 2019 May 17–19, 2019 9th 4th Wizzrobe
Smash 'N' Splash 5 May 31–June 2, 2019 5th 3rd Mew2King
Smash Summit 8 June 13–17, 2019 7th 2nd Zain
CEO 2019 June 28–30, 2019 5th 2nd IBDW
Super Smash Con 2019 August 8–11, 2019 17th 2nd Mew2King
Shine 2019 August 23–25, 2019 17th (DQ) 1st Mew2King
The Big House 9 October 4–6, 2019 9th 1st Mew2King
Mango's Birthday Bash December 7–8, 2019 7th 1st Mango
GENESIS 7 January 24–26, 2020 25th 1st Mew2King
Smash Summit 9 February 13–16, 2020 2nd — —
LACS 2 July 25–26, 2020 4th — —
Smash Summit 10 Online November 19–22, 2020 17th — —
Smash Summit 11 July 15–18, 2021 4th — —
Riptide September 10–12, 2021 2nd 1st Hungrybox
Smash World Tour 2021 December 17–19, 2021 1st — —
GENESIS 8 April 15–17, 2022 13th 1st aMSa
Smash Summit 13 May 12–15, 2022 2nd — —
CEO 2022 June 24–26, 2022 1st — —
Riptide 2022 September 9–11, 2022 2nd 1st Hungrybox
Lost Tech City 2022 September 30–October 2, 2022 2nd 1st Hungrybox
Smash Summit 14 November 3–6, 2022 9th — —
GENESIS 9 January 20–22, 2023 4th 1st Hungrybox
MAJOR UPSET April 1–2, 2023 2nd 1st Hungrybox
The Big House 11 October 20–22, 2023 2nd 2nd Joshman

References

  1. ^ "SSBMRank 2017". Red Bull.
  2. ^ "#MPGR2019: 10-1". Red Bull. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
  3. ^ "Plup could be first ever to defeat all of Big 6". July 10, 2016.
  4. ^ "CEO 2016 Smash Bros preview - the rivalry, the robot, the rest". June 22, 2016.
  5. ^ Justin McGrath [@Panda_Plup] (December 3, 2022) "I'm quitting Panda. I've truly enjoyed my time there, and they treated me well. I know that, at a certain point, they had the community's best interests in mind. I just don't think I can support them anymore. Now I must sleep 1000 years in preparation for da next tournament" (Tweet). Retrieved December 3, 2022 – via Twitter.
  6. ^ "The Melee Stats Top 100: The Top 10". PGstats. November 22, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Justin 'Plup' McGrath: Esports – Red Bull Athlete Page". Red Bull. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  8. ^ "Get to know Smash Bros. star Justin 'Plup' McGrath". Red Bull. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  9. ^ "Melee - Pluplue". SmashBoards. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  10. ^ "Results - Plup". Start.gg. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
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