Read part 4, here!

Loser’s Bracket MaNg0

That loss hit me hard, because now I knew I’d have to bust a Pound 3 on the biggest stage ever. I had to play SFAT after and he should have beaten me as well, but I somehow clutched that one out as well. I was done with my day and just wanted to sleep and get ready for top 8. I was not happy at all with my play that day. Even later in the day while I was having a good time with my friends, it really bugged me that I was in loser’s. I was just thinking to myself, is this what I want my legacy to be? Losing to Wobbles and getting like 5th place at Evo. I was very, very dissapointed with myself, but I knew that the tourney was far from over. And it’s not like i’m not comfortable in losers, so I had that going for me. I went to bed and got like 7 hours of sleep (wanted more, but I’ll take it), and got myself ready for TOP 8!

So the day had finally come, Top 8 at Evo. To say I was excited is an understatement. I was pumped, focused, and ready to beat anyone who got in my way. I woke up feeling pretty good and with the right mindset. On the way to the venue and walking in I didnt really say much, I was just getting myself prepared mentally. I didnt even want to talk to anyone, because I knew if I did, I’d start making jokes, laughing, smiling, and I knew that would throw me off. So I kept to myself as much as I could.

I bought myself a bowl of fruit and a Gatorade (WAS LIKE 10 DOLLARS OMG). I just paced around the venue, not smiling, eating my fruit, taking deep breaths and telling myself over and over that I knew I could do this. I saw all the people in top 8 playing team friendlies (it was the only TV and everyone was trying to warm up).

Usually I don’t really like warming up, but I made the better decision for once and got in the rotation. I took those team friendlies so seriously, I got upset at myself every time I made a tech error and lost a stock. After a few of those I got up and went to the restroom and chugged a bunch of water. It was really hard for me not to get hype during KOF, because that was super hype and fun to watch. But I stayed focused anyway.

So that finally ended, and they gathered us to take a picture that I absolutely did not want to take (LMAOO). I just wanted to play. After the picture, we all walked up to the stage. I stayed behind everyone, keeping to myself. At least 20 people told me “you got this mango,” “you better win,” on my way to the stage. Usually that doesn’t mean much to me, but this time it was different. It meant people had faith in me even when I was in losers and knowing me winning would require such a journey.

Once we got on the stage I became a different person. The only thing on my mind was Melee, and winning at any cost. The 7 other people on stage with me were no longer people, or friends, or anything. They were just Melee characters in the way of my victory. It was just me and an Icies, Peach, Dr. Mario, Falco, Sheik, Puff, and Marth. So the bracket starts and it’s Shroomed vs Armada and DaJuan GETS ROCKED (LMAOOO). So just like that, 1 down, and it was my set next.

Ice was a good person for me to play first, he took a set off me at beast when I was playing lazy and careless. So I knew if I beat him convincingly, that I’d be in good shape. Our set starts and after moving around for like 10 seconds I knew it was gonna be a good day, and I ended up kinda styling on him. Hearing the crowd love what I’m doing always gets me pumped, but this time I didn’t let it affect the way I would play. I was gonna play to win and nothing was gonna change that.

Now I have to play the winner of PP and Wobbles, I wanted Wobbles to win because I would have preferred to play him later in the bracket when I was more warm so I could run him over and show everyone that yesterday was just a one time thing. Wobbles ended up beating PP, so now I had to play PP, and M2K had to play Armada.

I was cheering for M2K, but every part of me wanted Armada to win so that I could play him. I knew I had to get through PP first, but I wasn’t sweating him too much. I knew only one person had a chance of beating me in that bracket, and it was Armada.

Me and PP start our set, and my shield game and movement were ON POINT, so I win the first match very convincingly. Second game was a little different though. PP switched up the way he was playing and opted for more grabs, which threw me off and caught me slipping a few times. I was down to my last stock and just told myself “you don’t want this to go to game 3.” I rewatch the last stocks of that game, and we both made pretty bad decisions. In the end, he made the last one with an awful dash attack. I get the grab and charged an up smash, which mighta been the worst option, but he jumped into it. NO COMPLAINTS HERE.

Now I had to watch M2K vs Armada hoping that Armada would win. Good thing Jason CHOKED IT AWAY and then counter picked Marth (thanks Jason <3). So now the stage was set, the match everyone wanted, two legends going at it at Evo in a 2 out of 3.

LET’S GO!!!

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Armada is coming! Read part 6 here!