The Grand Finale

Let’s ignore MLG and their problems for a second. Forget about the, the technology malfunctions and HORRIBLE, never-ending, repetitive commercials that the streamers have suffered through between EVERY match. Let’s just, for one day, forget about that.

Because we’ve seen some incredible melee. The best part? It’s not over.
Before I start breaking down my bracket predictions, (which are going to be wrong, like most predictions are) it’s interesting to note; the people who qualified for pools via open bracket (shout-outs to PPU, Fiction, Colbol, and Axe) actually performed better than 6 players already IN the pools to begin with. Let’s also not forget the four players who qualified for losers bracket (Shroomed, S2J, Plup, and Lucky) because they are still VERY able to cause a scene here at MLG 2014. This is going to be good.

Shroomed vs. Soft
This is actually a rematch of a last-game, last-stock, timed-out scenario where Shroomed’s taunt was met by a rest MILISECONDS too late, and Shroomed claimed victory via percentage. I expect both players to come into this match ready to play and guns blazing (…actually, not really. It’s going to be a camp fest.) I expect Shroomed to, once more, take it. He has clearly had the better weekend so far, as Soft got pummeled in his pool and won’t have the mental tenacity to edge out a VERY good Shroomed. This one should be close, and I PROMISE, the salt will be real.

S2J vs. Amsa
How can you not love Amsa? The man has talent and his skill is fine art. That being said, this has been a very hard weekend on our favorite low-tier, and it just got worse. Unlike spacies, Falcon does not require the technical finesse to achieve victory (It adds. No doubt.), and has a simple-yet-effective style of gameplay that runs circles around Yoshi. It’s said that the matchup is 70:30 in Falcon’s favor and, playing a bit of Falcon myself, it’s not hard to see why. Unless Johnny (S2J) lets this odd matchup get into his head, this should be the chopping block for Amsa. Shout-out’s to an amazing player; it’s been a pleasure watching you.

Remen vs. Lucky
This has been odd and, should I say, disconcerting. Watching Remen play confuses me. First, PP stomps the kid… makes him look like he doesn’t even play. One close match later, Remen takes a game from the ever-consistent PP. However, numbers don’t lie. Against the fox mains in his group, (Hax, Colbol, Leffen) he is 0-3, going 1-9 in sets, only one victorious match vs. Colbol. I think Lucky doesn’t have to get lucky in this one. This will be a done deal and the Socal fox will send this man home.

Plup vs. Zero
One week, he is the champion of Smash 4. Shortly after, he takes a rude beating in Melee. Zero has obviously had up’s and down’s lately, but I believe he can win this one. Plup is by no means a slouch, but something inside me tells me that Zero has the technical skill to out-play (…er, out-fox) this Samus. The key for Zero will be keeping a calm mind and being patient before spamming his technical aggression. I expect this one to be close with Zero being victorious. NOTE: this is the only match where I predicted that the non-open-bracket contestant to win.

PPMD vs. Mango
Going to be honest. Coming into this week, I didn’t think it was possible for PP to lose MLG. I thought there was NO ONE who could get in his way. Then I saw Mango in the crew battle. Then I saw Leffen beat him for PP’s first lost set of the year….OF THE YEAR. This match is Mango’s to take, and I think he could edge PP out. When Mango goes into the zone, there is no one who can beat him…my only doubts come from Mango’s odd loss to Westballz. Which Mango will we see in quarter-finals? Crew battle Mango? Or 0-3 vs. Westballz?

M2K vs. Armada
This is a match I’m very sick of seeing…no disrespect intended, because in all fairness, they are amazing sets to watch. It’s just, Armada has beat him time and time again, save SKTAR 3. Armada won’t drop this…at least, he won’t drop quarter-finals to M2K. M2K’s only hope is that he somehow doesn’t have to face PP, and can meet Armada in GF and do what only M2K can do…unleash the robot…the cold-hearted robot who doesn’t make mistakes and doesn’t take prisoners. Other than this happening, I don’t see Armada dropping this one or any against M2K in the near future. I can only hope that M2K can overcome this mental roadblock either here or at Evo…because his mental roadblock vs. PP needs to be addressed as well.

Since these are the only matches that are BOUND to happen, this is all I can really give my two-cents on. With that being said, I wish the best of luck to the remaining 20 players, and I would love to see some of my predictions proved wrong. I love upsets, underdogs, plot-twists, nail-bitters and etc. etc. Regardless of how well the event is run, we should see some top-level play from the best players. I’m pumped and ready for Melee.
​​​​​​​​-Sasquatch

1. Mango (from losers)
2. Armada
3. PPMD
4. M2K
5. Leffen, HBox
7. PPU, Axe
12. Westballz, Hax, Lucky, Zero
16. Shroomed, S2J, Fiction, Colbol
20. Soft, aMSa, Remen, Plup