Zain Naghmi

Zain Naghmi ( or , born June 11, 1996), better known as Zain, is an American professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player from Virginia. Beginning his career in 2014, he rapidly climbed the ranks, becoming a top 100 player in the world within only two years, a top 10 player since 2018, and was ranked the number one player in the world in 2022, 2024 and 2025. Naghmi plays Marth and is currently considered the best Marth player in the world. He was sponsored by Golden Guardians from February 2020 to March 2023. In April 2023, he was signed by Moist Esports, which later merged with Shopify Rebellion, to which he is still signed.

His most notable tournament placings include first at GENESIS 7 and GENESIS 8, second at The Big House 9 and Smash Summit 11 and third at Smash Summit 12 and Super Smash Con 2019. A 2021 list compiled by PGstats ranked Naghmi as the ninth-greatest Melee player of all time.

Early life Naghmi was born on June 11, 1996, and grew up near Chantilly, Virginia. He is of Pakistani descent; his father Hasan emigrated to the United States from Pakistan in 1972 and works in real estate, while his mother Fatima works in cybersecurity. He largely competed in local tournaments while in his first year at Virginia Tech, and had soon established himself as a formidable opponent among the Maryland/Virginia scene. the highest non-ranked tournament in the region.

2017–2018: Beginning of professional career Zain's 2017 season began with an appearance on the SSBMRank, a semiannual power ranking presented by Red Bull, where he was ranked as the 66th best Melee player for his performance in 2016. A heavy influence on the ranking was his performance at The Big House 6, where he placed 17th overall including a 2–0 victory over Justin "Plup" McGrath, who was ranked 6th in the world at the time. Zain's placing earned him some interest from Plup's team, Panda Global, who offered him a sponsorship; however, the deal never went through. He was again approached by Panda Global who offered him a full sponsorship - this time, Zain accepted, with the team officially announcing the signing on April 12, 2018.

2018–2019: Panda Global and the rise to the top Under Panda Global, Zain enjoyed success at major tournaments including first place finishes at Pound Underground, OMEGA II, and Shine 2018. However, despite his success, Zain parted ways with the team on November 8, 2019, along with teammates Cosmos and Kelazhur - no explanation for Zain's departure was given by either the organisation or Zain himself.

Zain also played for the MUN Huskies in the Collegiate Starleague (CSL), an intercollegiate esports league. The CSL hosted its grand final for the 2018 competitive season at Shine 2018, where the Hokies ultimately placed in second after losing to the University of Central Florida. Zain won Melee singles without losing a set, defeating Hungrybox - the number-one player in the world - in grand finals. However, with the release of the Project Slippi mod for Melee, matches and tournament could take place online. During the pandemic, Zain has won Pound Online, the Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 2, and Smash Summit 10, all three of which took place online.

On April 17, 2022, Zain won GENESIS 8, his second consecutive GENESIS title. With this win, he became the first player since Adam "Armada" Lindgren to repeat as GENESIS champion. Zain would be ranked as the number 1 player in the world on PGstats Summer 2022 MPGR.

On October 23, 2022, Zain won the Melee portion of the Ludwig Smash Invitational.

In 2022, Zain was ranked as the number one Melee player in the world.

On March 29, 2023, Zain's contract with Golden Guardians ended. Shortly afterwards, on April 6, he signed with Moist Esports, under the Moist Moguls brand co-owned by MoistCr1TiKaL and Ludwig Ahgren.