Panda

From Liquipedia Smash Wiki
For the Melee player, see Panda.
[e][h]Panda
Team Information
Location:
Team Captain:
Links
History
Created:
2015-06-30
Disbanded:
2023-01-16

Panda, formerly Panda Global, is an esports team with players in Super Smash Bros. and the FGC.

Overview[edit]

Panda entered Smash as a team by picking up, ESAM, MVD, and SS on June 24, 2015.[1] They later expanded into Melee by picking up Sheik player Plup.[2]

Panda also makes the Panda Global Rankings, a list that ranks the Top 50 Wii U players in the world, and the PGRU, which lists the top 50 Ultimate player in the world. In 2022, they worked with Nintendo to organize the Panda Cup circuit.

2022 Controversy[edit]

On November 29, 2022, the Smash World Tour organization announced the abrupt cancellation of both the 2022 Smash World Championships and a potential 2023 Smash World Tour.[3][4][5] In their official statement, they accused Nintendo of forcing them to do so, while also accusing Panda's CEO and co-founder Alan "SamuraiPanda" Bunney of attempting to sabotage the SWT throughout 2022 by trying to discourage major tournament organizers from joining the SWT, claiming that the circuit would be shut down. SWT also accused Bunney of attempting to seize broadcasting rights from Beyond The Summit for several tournaments partnered with Panda, and operating in an unscrupulous manner.[3] These accusations were corroborated by officials from both BTS and Golden Guardians.[6][7]

The allegations resulted in strong backlash against Panda from players and fans. A number of top players consequently decided to boycott the Panda Cup Finale, the event acting as the culmination of the Panda Cup circuit. Similarly, some players decided to withdraw from the Last Chance Qualifiers for the Panda Cup.[8][9]

In the days following SWT's statement, both Panda and Nintendo would deny all allegations of wrongdoing, claiming that the Smash World Tour's cancellation was SWT's own decision.[10][11] Nintendo did not directly address the accusations towards Bunney, while Panda denied all of them. However, the interaction between BTS and Bunney was acknowledged, with Panda even admitting that the latter "spoke in a manner which did not reflect either guidance from Nintendo or our own standards". Both Panda and Nintendo's responses were received negatively, and led to further backlash from the community. Some broadcast talent and players employed by Panda also voiced their disapproval on social media.[12][13][14] Notably, iBDW, WaDi, and Plup all decided to become free agents after Panda issued their statement.[15][16] Lead PGStats content producer for Melee, turndownforwalt, also left Panda at this time.[17]

History[edit]

  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2021
  • 2020
  • 2019
  • 2018
  • 2017
  • 2016
  • 2015
  • Show All
  • January 2nd - Tisch's resignation comes into effect.
  • January 15th - ESAM leaves Panda.[18]
  • January 16th - Marss leaves Panda.[19]
  • April 2nd - WaDi joins Panda.[31]
  • April 3rd - turndownforwalt joins Panda as their lead producer for PGStats.[32]
  • July 16th - Prince and Panda part ways.[33]
  • January 9th - Panda Global parts ways with MVD and Wobbles.[36]
  • February 1st - Stimpy joins Panda Global.[37]
  • March 22nd - Marss and Coney join Panda Global.[38]
  • July 19th - Prince joins Panda Global.[39]
  • November 8th - Panda Global parts way with Zain and Cosmos.[40]
  • April 12th - Zain joins Panda Global.[41]
  • June 28th - Alpharad joins Panda Global as their Creative Director.[42]
  • July 26th - Cosmos joins Panda Global.[43]
  • June 24th - ESAM, MVD, and SS join as the team's first Smash players.
  • June 30th - Plup becomes the team's first Melee player.
  • November 2nd - Wobbles joins the team.[48]

Player Roster[edit]

Former[edit]

Former PlayersFormer Players
PlayerMainJoin DateLeave DateNew Team
United States SS
Shane Bruce		VillagerNessCloud
Join Date: 
2015-06-24
Leave Date: 
2017-01-02
United States Trela
Alberto Miliziano		Ryu
Join Date: 
2016-06-22
Leave Date: 
2017-01-02
United States Rich Brown
Rich Brown		Mewtwo
Join Date: 
2017-01-17
Leave Date: 
2017-10-17
United States MVD
Jestise Negron		Diddy Kong
Join Date: 
2015-06-24
Leave Date: 
2019-01-04
United States Wobbles
Robert Wright		Ice Climbers
Join Date: 
2015-11-02
Leave Date: 
2019-01-04
United States Zain
Zain Naghmi		Marth
Join Date: 
2018-04-12
Leave Date: 
2019-11-08
United States Cosmos
Brian Kalu		Inkling
Join Date: 
2018-07-26
Leave Date: 
2019-11-08
Canada SuPeRbOoMfAn
Dan Hoyt		Captain FalconPikachuKirby
Join Date: 
2017-01-17
Leave Date: 
2020-07-08
United Kingdom Stimpy
Asa Butterfield		Pikachu
Join Date: 
2019-02-01
Leave Date: 
20??-??-??
Japan PrinceYoshi
Join Date: 
2019-07-19
Leave Date: 
2021-07-16
United States FullStream
Joshua Thompson		Inkling
Join Date: 
201?-??-??
Leave Date: 
2021-07-16
United States iBDW
Cody Schwab		Fox
Join Date: 
2020-05-05
Leave Date: 
2022-12-02
United States WaDi
Chris Boston		R.O.B.Mewtwo
Join Date: 
2021-04-02
Leave Date: 
2022-12-02
United States Plup
Justin McGrath		SheikFox
Join Date: 
2015-06-30
Leave Date: 
2022-12-03
United States ESAM
Eric Lew		Pikachu
Join Date: 
2015-06-24
Leave Date: 
2023-01-15
United States Marss
Tyler Martins		Zero Suit Samus
Join Date: 
2019-03-22
Leave Date: 
2023-01-16

Organization[edit]

Active[edit]

Organization Organization
ID Name Position Join Date
United States SamuraiPanda
(
Alan Bunney
)
Owner & Co-founder
Join Date: 
United States BobbyWasabi
(
Robert Wilson
)
PGStats Lead Producer
Join Date: 
2021-06-01
Canada Kantrip
(
Trevor Lukan
)
Social media manager
Join Date: 
United States JutSocial media manager
Join Date: 
United States Fizz
(
Maxwell Tuttle
)
PGStats Editor
Join Date: 
United States L4st
(
Ryan Krichbaum
)
PGStats VO
Join Date: 

Former[edit]

Former Organization Former Organization
ID Name Position Join Date Leave Date New Team
United States Tisch
(
Thomas Tischio
)
PGStats Director
Join Date: 
Leave Date: 
2023-01-02[49]
United States JD3D Artist
Join Date: 
Leave Date: 
2022-12-31[50]
United States Coney
(
Zak Zeeks
)
Commentator & content creator
Join Date: 
2019-03-22
Leave Date: 
2022-12-31[51]
United States TKbreezy
(
Terrence Kershaw
)
Commentator & content creator
Join Date: 
2022-06-16
Leave Date: 
2022-12-31[52]
United States brentos
(
Brent Vickers
)
PGStats Writer
Join Date: 
2022-05-02
Leave Date: 
2022-12-31[53]
United States Jaaahsh
(
Josh
)
Director of Talent Management & head TO
Join Date: 
Leave Date: 
2022-12-31[54]
Australia Little Z
(
Zach
)
Content creator
Join Date: 
2020-12-03
Leave Date: 
2022-12-05
United States KidLiquid
(
Chris Okamura
)
Head of socials
Join Date: 
Leave Date: 
2022-12-03
daraThumbnail designer
Join Date: 
Leave Date: 
2022-12-03
cinnarinPGStats VO & PGStats Writer
Join Date: 
2022-05-02
Leave Date: 
2022-12-03
United States VikkiKitty
(
Victoria Perez
)
Commentator
Join Date: 
2022-06-16
Leave Date: 
2022-12-03
United States turndownforwalt
(
Walter Brandsema
)
PGStats Lead Producer & commentator
Join Date: 
2021-04-03
Leave Date: 
2022-12-02
paula
(
Paula Valbuena
)
Thumbnail designer
Join Date: 
Leave Date: 
2022-12-02
United States Alpharad
(
Jacob Rabon IV
)
Creative director & co-owner
Join Date: 
2018-06-28
Leave Date: 
2020-12-??[55]

Gallery[edit]

Logos[edit]

  • Panda logo prior to December 3, 2020

    Panda logo prior to December 3, 2020

References[edit]

  1. ↑ MVD, ESAM and SS join Panda Global
  2. ↑ Plup joins Panda Gaming
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Smash World Tour announces the cancellation of the Championships
  4. ↑ The Verge's article on Smash World Tour cancellation
  5. ↑ Esports Insider's article on Smash World Tour cancellation
  6. ↑ LD's tweet regarding SWT's allegations
  7. ↑ nazhjin's tweet regarding SWT's allegations
  8. ↑ Kotaku article about event boycott
  9. ↑ Dexterto article on the controversy
  10. ↑ Matt T.M. Kim (2022-12-02). "Nintendo Issues Full Statement Over Smash World Tour Cancellation". IGN. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
  11. ↑ "Official response statement by Panda Global". Panda Global. 2022-12-02. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
  12. ↑ Tkbreey's statement about SWT's statements
  13. ↑ ESAM's "what was that" tweet
  14. ↑ iBDW's response to Panda statement
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 iBDW leaves Panda
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 WaDi leaves Panda
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 turndownforwalt leaves Panda Global
  18. ↑ ESAM leaves Panda
  19. ↑ Marss leaves Panda
  20. ↑ TKbreezy and VikkiKitty join Panda
  21. ↑ Plup leaves Panda
  22. ↑ TKbreezy leaves Panda
  23. ↑ cinnarin leaves Panda
  24. ↑ Dara leaves Panda
  25. ↑ Vikki leaves Panda
  26. ↑ Tisch leaves Panda
  27. ↑ KidLiquid leaves Panda
  28. ↑ JD leaves Panda
  29. ↑ Alan no longer CEO
  30. ↑ Little Z leaves Panda
  31. ↑ WaDi joins Panda
  32. ↑ turndownforwalt joins Panda Global
  33. ↑ Prince and Panda part ways
  34. ↑ iBDW, Juggleguy, Chia, and Kantrip join Panda Global
  35. ↑ SuPeRbOoMfAn and Panda Global part ways
  36. ↑ Panda Global parts ways with MVD and Wobbles
  37. ↑ Stimpy joins Panda Global
  38. ↑ Marss and Coney join Panda Global
  39. ↑ Prince joins Panda Global
  40. ↑ Panda Global parts ways with Zain and Cosmos
  41. ↑ Zain joins Panda Global
  42. ↑ Alpharad joins Panda Global
  43. ↑ Cosmos joins Panda Global
  44. ↑ Panda Global Says Farewell To Trela and SS
  45. ↑ SuPeRbOoMfAn and Rich Brown join Panda Global
  46. ↑ Rich Brown parts ways with Panda Global
  47. ↑ Trela joins Panda Global
  48. ↑ Wobbles coming back to competitive Smash, joins Panda Global
  49. ↑ Tisch leaves Panda Global
  50. ↑ https://twitter.com/JDMH_/status/1599199236259606528
  51. ↑ Coney leaves Panda Global
  52. ↑ TKbreezy leaves Panda Global
  53. ↑ https://twitter.com/brentos_fresh/status/1599188467463835649 brentos leaves
  54. ↑ Jaaahsh leaves Panda Global
  55. ↑ Alpharad announces he has been hands off of panda for a few years
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