The country’s reigning champion has walked many roads, but none have been as memorable as this one. 

Every competitive game has its heroes, villains and most importantly, champions. For every single one to grace a scene, each come stories about their journey.

Adrian “TSF | Enigwa” Marin is Super Smash Bros. Philippines’ resident Wario specialist, theory-crafter and the reigning champion of the scene. Entering with a bang in July of 2015, Enigwa has been winning tournaments left and right.

He’s also amassed a following of his own due to his unorthodox playstyle, character of choice and tendency to create highlight-reel worthy moments. Aside from this, he and his older brother, fellow top player Arion “TSF | Arihead” Marin, organize one of the National Capital Region’s most popular weekly tournament series, The Smash Fort in the Bonifacio area.

While he’s considerably active on the community forums sharing his thoughts on the current metagame, there’s a lot more to the 18 year old champion than meets the eye. He has got a lot to share, not just about him as a player but also him as Adrian, the person.

Enigwa and his brother Arihead celebrating the former’s win at ESGS Brawlfest. Credits to Smash Bros Philippines.

Enigwa The Traveller

Although Enigwa was born in Manila, Philippines, he’s traveled and lived across the globe for most of his life. His father, famous Latin musician Elkin Marin, was hired to play his music alongside his band at many 5-star hotels when he was active. This meant that his family moved with him whenever he had a new contract.

Despite the constant migration, Enigwa says he never felt lonely: “Actually, I always had my yaya (nanny) and brother looking after me,” he told me. “I consider myself lucky for getting to know so many cultures!”

Gaming had a huge role for Enigwa and his brother growing up. Since his older brother introduced it to him, he’s been hooked. During their years on the road, they relied on their favorite console, the Nintendo Gameboy to entertain them; Pokemon Gold and Silver being his game of the choice.

At a young age, Enigwa’s competitive streak was already ignited, thanks in part to his brother’s friendly rivalry with him in games. “I always, always hated losing against him,” he admitted.  “I always hated losing and was determined to improve.”

A highlight of their friendly brotherly rivalry was Super Smash Bros. Brawl circa 2009. Neither of the two were in the competitive scene at the time but Enigwa kept tabs as to improve himself and gain an edge over his brother. Originally specializing in Mario, Pikachu and Meta Knight, he started shifting towards his present character, Wario, after being amazed by the French player Gluttony’s play-style. Little by little, he started surpassing his older brother, both improving as they continued playing against each other.

Come 2014, the Marin family decided to move back to the Philippines from Hong Kong. Enigwa was aware of the growing scene in Hong Kong and the global scene in general but unfortunately had participated in neither. As a result, he and his brother made it a point to find the local community and compete in it.

The moment the two found out about Imperium eSports Bar’s Nintenday tournaments, Nintenday July in particular, they knew they had to come. For Enigwa, this was to be the first time he would be competing in an offline setting, practicing mostly with other “netplay warriors” online like the famous AceStarThe3rd.

He didn’t expect to win or even place high at all, being his first tournament. Despite the odds, he defeated top Mario specialist Don “PBE | DYG” Giron 3-1 in Grand Finals to secure himself 1st place.

Fellow Smash Fort organizer DJLive and Enigwa enjoying their team’s Halloween party. Credits to Jason “Rizal” Jalou De Ramos.

Enigwa The Competitor

Enigwa‘s foray into competitive gaming didn’t start in Super Smash Bros. as some might expect. Instead, he started on the series he grew up with the most, Pokemon. Before competitive Smash, he was known by his real name on Smogon, an influential competitive Pokemon forum. There, he was popular for being a prominent staller, or a player who utilizes defensive tactics and time-consuming strategies.

Developing and improving upon many stalling strategies, Enigwa’s Pokemon of choice, Mr. Mime, was the centerpiece of his plans oftentimes. “Mr. Mime is my favorite Pokemon, and he happens to put up ‘walls’,  which is associated with my style of play; a very defensive and frustrating strategy, particularly to my opponents.” Describing his playstyle as “very defensive” and “punishing” he quips that one needs be “dynamic” as well.

Going into Super Smash Bros. itself, Enigwa takes everything he said about his playstyle in Pokemon and applies it in a fighting game setting. His playstyle somewhat revolves around Wario’s Waft: a fart move that charges over the battle’s duration and resets once used. As it can potentially knock the opponent out incredibly early, it serves as a comeback tool, a finishing move and a deterrent to scare opponents into not attacking him out fear of the Waft.

Walking the talk, it’s that dynamic mindset that’s helped Enigwa win ESGS Brawlfest, Smash Fort Cup and the like. In his words, “consistency” and “making the right decisions” are what challenges him the most at the moment. Consistency-wise however, he’s won 6 out of the 8 major tournament’s he’s entered.

Enigwa’s not stopping there. All of his tournament wins were hard-earned and his losses affected him bad. They’ve given him the determination to try even harder and the moral of not letting the wins get to his head. “It would be incredibly arrogant of me to let these wins get to my head, as I’ve only gotten better because of my opponents, my brother, and now The Smash Fort.”

Adrian

“The community is my primary social group,” Enigwa tells me. “I have actual, real life ties to the community, and that’s important.” In a sense, aside from his general likability, it’s that mutual passion for the game that acts a glue for him and the community.

Every single time he’s moved from country-to-country, Enigwa or Adrian rather, had to make new friends. “I just didn’t expect to meet such genuine people!” Using Super Smash Bros. and his identity as Enigwa as a conduit to make friends, Adrian has not only helped in the development a solid community skill-wise, he’s also forged bonds that go into and beyond just the game.

Finishing our interview with a large smile emoticon: “I love Super Smash Bros, I love Wario, I love The Smash Fort, I love Smash Bros Philippines, and I will do my best to continue winning!”

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