Zain changes pop-off meta with cartwheel after winning Get On My Level: Forever

Get On My Level: Forever just wrapped up this weekend with one of the funniest pop-offs in Super Smash Bros. Melee history.

Top Melee player Zain Naghmi celebrated his victory against Juan ‘Hungrybox’ DeBiedma in the Grand Finals with a somersault across the stage.

Without the support of Nintendo, Super Smash Bros. Melee has continued to thrive as a FGC esport thanks to the community’s passion. Tournaments are often crowd-funded and completely organised by individuals, with competitors grinding all weekend for clout and ranking rather than a big payout.

While a lack of a governing body has often led to questionable community behaviour and decisions, it has also allowed the Melee scene to showcase its personality a lot more than larger and more structured esports scenes. FGC fans watch Melee not just for the high-stakes, top level gameplay but to follow the careers and antics of their favourite players.

One staple of Super Smash Bros. Melee tournaments is the pop-off, which is when the winner of a challenging match or a Grand Final celebrates on stage. When your scene is fueled by pure passion and glory rather than money, pop-offs are a way to let out all that pent up tension during a meaningful matchup where you want to prove yourself to the community.

Hungrybox has often been seen as the king of pop-offs, known for throwing chairs (at a previous GOML), crying on his knees, and even passing out. This made it all the more entertaining when Zain pulled out a wild pop-off after beating Hbox in the Grand Finals of GOML 2025.

Get On My Level: Forever was a massively stacked event, with the Melee side being a sort of East vs. West showdown. However, Zain came through the Winners side with barely a scratch on him. The Marth main was having an extremely consistent day as he entered the Grand Finals.

Meanwhile, Hungrybox was having a bit more of a challenge, with a close match against fellow Jigglypuff main Duncan ‘SDJ’ Meara in the Winners Quarters Finals knocking Hbox to the Losers bracket. He fought his way through some of the best players — Masaya ‘aMSa’ Chikamoto and Justin ‘Wizzrobe’ Hallett to name a few — to beat SDJ in the Losers Finals once they met again.

The Grand Finals was intense, but Zain was not relenting much at all. While it looked like Hungrybox could turn the Grand Finals around, Zain was able to get Jigglypuff from 0 to a KO to finish it off. Zain only lost one game, meaning he only lost five games the entire tournament.

At the end of the match, Zain jumped out of his seat and did a cartwheel across the stage. This is an insane evolution to the pop-off meta that may change how pop-offs are done at future events.

Analysing the pop-off a bit closer, it’s possible that it was inspired by Jigglypuff’s own celebration when she wins a game. It also appeared quite similar to how characters roll out of shield during a match. It’s also possible that Zain just wanted to flip around on stage.

Either way, the Smash community should probably hide the chairs at whatever big tournament is next as Hungrybox will likely be looking for a way to take back his pop-off crown. Meanwhile, Zain has now won three Get On My Level tourneys in a row, heating up the fight for the 2025 SSBMRank top spot.