Cloud9 has announced that they’ll be dropping Joseph “Mango” Marquez from their roster.
Mango originally joined Cloud9 back in May 2014. He was previously able to secure tenure with Cloud9 due to him being with the professional eSports organization for over 11 years now. Notably, he was known for being the longest tenured player over the course of Cloud9’s entire history.
#Ludwig Mango no longer invited to Ludwigs events pic.twitter.com/W5f7SlKQQL
— Livestream Fails (@LSF_Forwarder) June 22, 2025
In response to of all of this, Mango has accepted responsibility for his actions noting that he feels as though that he’s “let so many people down.” He acknowledges that he has a problem and intends to “stop drinking immediately and get it together” while he tries to “redeem [himself] over time.”
Despite the unfortunate situation, Mango wishes Cloud9 well and seems to accept the decision while apologizing.
“I’m sorry Cloud9,” said Mango in one of his Tweets. “You guys were always amazing to me and I’m so sorry it has to end this way. Appreciate everyone at the organization. Cloud9 will always have a special place in my heart.”
Though Mango is worried that he will probably be banned from Super Smash Bros. Melee events due to his actions, no such announcements have been made thus far. While he works on himself, Mango notes that we “probably won’t hear from [him] for a while.”
Mango is generally known as being one of the “Five Gods of Super Smash Bros. Melee,” forever cementing his place as one of the greatest players to ever compete at the game and having had a direct hand in shaping the game’s meta over 20 years after the game was released.
His collective achievements are too many to list, but some of his major wins include taking Evo 2013, Evo 2014, The Big House 4, The Big House 6, The Big House 9, Genesis, and many, many more events.
Statement from Cloud9
We are aware of the incident involving Joseph “Mango” Marquez and fully acknowledge the concerns raised by our community and partners.
Following an internal evaluation, we have made the decision to release Mango from Cloud9.
Regardless of tenure or accomplishments, the behavior demonstrated is entirely unacceptable and directly conflicts with out organization’s core values. We maintain a zero-tolerance stance regarding harassment or any other form of inappropriate conduct.
Our primary focus remains fostering a respectful, inclusive, and safe environment for everyone associated with Cloud9. We will continued to collaborate closely with our talent, partners, and community to uphold and reinforce these standards.
We wish Mango the best in his future endeavors.
Official Statement from Cloud9 pic.twitter.com/BF7AvTvqt3
— Cloud9 (@Cloud9) June 24, 2025