Day 2’s top 64 bracket continued the Melee excitement. In round 5 of Winner’s, MMG|Shroomed and SS|Soft’s match would end up going to the final frame. With the set tied at 1-1, Shroomed held onto a minor percentage lead and Soft landed a rest that ordinarily would have sent Shroomed to his death. However, as Shroomed was flying towards the stage boundary, the timer hit “0:00:00” just before he hit it, saving Shroomed from the jaws of defeat. S0ft would end up finishing 17th overall, gaining more than enough points to qualify for MLG Finals.
CT|ZeRo impressed many in loser’s bracket, beating HugS and Darc to take an astonishing 9th place and also earning his entry into the MLG Anaheim Bracket with 2740 points. Also in loser’s bracket, MMG|Shroomed was in the hunt to obtain a qualifying spot, but fell short, losing to his former Norcal rival, Zhu, in a close best of 3 set.
TOP 8
Winner’s Semis
EG.PPMD vs. EMP Armada (EG.PPMD wins 2-1)
In a beautiful display of “footsies”, PPMD and Armada were going toe-to-toe in a classic Falco vs Peach matchup on Battlefield. After two games on battlefield, the set was tied at 1-1. With PPMD’s counter-pick, he opted to switch to Marth on Pokemon Stadium to face Armada’s Peach. PPMD’s impressive dash dances, side+b’s, fairs, and d-tilts proved to be overwhelming, winning with a commanding JV2-stock.
C9.Mango vs P4K EMP Mew2King (Mango Wins 2-1)
Right from the get-go, Mew2King exerted himself forcefully with an array of tech-chases and gimps to 3-stock Mang0’s Falco in game 1 with Sheik. As a result, Mang0 decided to switch to Fox and ended up taking game 2 against Mew2King’s Sheik on Yoshi’s Story. Since this was a best of three set, Mango was able to ban M2K’s favorite counter pick of Final Destination, and so M2K instead chose Fountain of Dreams and switched to Marth. In a rather sloppy game, Mang0 ultimately scraped together a victory over Mew2King to advance to Winner’s Finals.
Loser’s Top 8
Westballz vs. SFAT (Westballz wins 2-0)
In a classic battle of Norcal vs. Socal, this match had the most on the line, given that the winner would leave with a spot in the MLG championship bracket whereas the loser would leave with nothing. Westballz’ classic pressure would put SFAT on the ropes in the majority of the games. Although SFAT would manage to make the games close, Westballz ended up victorious with the set and a MLG spot.
VGBC|Hax vs. Zhu (Hax wins 2-0)
Another Falco vs. Fox matchup. Although many have scoffed at Hax for switching to Fox, this may be one of the sets that shows the long term benefits of switching to a top-tier main. Both matches were very close for the two spacie mains, but it would be Hax’s safe pressure and strong punishes that would earn him the victory.
Loser’s Quarters
Westballz vs EMP Armada (Armada Wins 2-0)
The last time we saw this match was back at Evo 2013 in the early portion of loser’s bracket, where Westballz went Captain Falcon. Here he went with his main, Falco, to compete against the Peach from Europe. Similar to his set with Mew2King, Westballz gained an early lead and was one strong hit away from taking game 1. However, Armada proved to be too consistent, clutching out game 1. In game 2, Armada exhibited more control against Westballz’ shield pressure to win the set.
VGBC|Hax vs. P4K EMP Mew2King (Mew2King wins 2-0)
Is this the time of 20xx? In two exciting matches on battlefield, Hax showed off his incredibly technical Fox that was dominating the on-stage neutral game. However, some minor lapses in fighting against Mew2King on the ledge would ultimately lead to Hax’s demise in a heartbreaker.
Loser’s Semis
EMP Armada vs. P4K EMP Mew2King (Mew2King wins 2-1)
Loser’s semi’s would feature a match between two crew mates. In game 1, Mew2King went Sheik on Final Destination against Armada’s Peach. Mew2king’s gameplan was to use several needles with spaced aerials. Fortunately, Armada is very used to long-attrition battles and was able to overcome Mew2king’s defensive style with down-tilts that would lead to long combo-strings.
As a counter-pick, Mew2king switched to Fox on Pokemon Stadium, an amazing counter-pick for Fox players. Armada ended up pulling a commanding lead and controlling the match. At over 100% on his last stock, Mew2King managed to string together some hits and make a come from behind victory to force a game 3.
The last match would end up on Battlefield. Once again, Armada took a very generous lead going into the last stock. In surprising fashion, Mew2King would end up making the comeback on Armada, finishing with a crucial up-smash to break a 5-year curse and send Armada to a 4th place finish.
Winner’s Finals
C9.Mang0 vs EG.PPMD (PPMD wins 3-1)
In another exciting set, we saw a Falco/Fox match in Winner’s Finals. PPMD would end up narrowly winning the first 2 games with some long combos. In game 3, Mang0 showed signs of life, dominating PPMD in game 3 on Dreamland. In game 4, PPMG took Mango to Final Destination. The level of play between the two was exciting to see, between the impressive follow-ups and technical proficiency. It would be PPMD’s wise decision to opt for grabs that ended up winning game 4 and a trip to grand finals.
Loser’s Finals
P4K EMP Mew2King vs. C9.Mang0 (Mew2King wins 3-1)
In a rematch of Winner’s Semis, Mew2King again began the set with Sheik to fight against Mang0’s Fox in game 1 on Dreamland. Mang0’s pressure once again ended up overwhelming Mew2King to take game 1. Unlike Winner’s Semis, this was a best of 5 set, giving Mew2King access to Final Destination. There Mew2king brought out his classic grab combos to make quick work of Mang0’s Falco. Riding the momentum, Mew2King ended up staying as Marth and winning the next two games against his rival, Mang0.
Grand Finals
EG.PPMD vs. P4K EMP Mew2King
In an unusual decision, Mew2King started the set with Sheik, even after defeating Mango with Marth. However, the decision paid off as Mew2King ended up winning the attrition battle against PPMD’s Falco.
In game 2, PPMD would make an unorthodox decision to counterpick Mew2King to Final Destination in a Marth Ditto. Similar to Apex 2014, PPMG used his immaculate dash dance game to bait Mew2King into over-committing. His amazing control and precision would give him the game 2 victory.
Game 3 featured more traditional characters between the two with Mew2King’s Sheik against PPMD’s Falco. Unexpectedly, PPMD’s game on the ledge forced Mew2King into bad aerials that PPMD would end up crouch cancelling and countering viciously to take the match.
With his back against the wall, Mew2King decided to stay Sheik on Fountain of Dreams to tackle PPMD’s Falco. Regardless, PPMD’s Falco was simply too much against Mew2King’s Sheik, 4-stocking Mew2King to take SKTAR3.
Final Results
1. EG.PPMD
2. P4K EMP Mew2King
3. C9.Mang0
4. EMP Armada
5. VGBC|Hax
5. Westballz
7. MIOM|SFAT
7. Zhu
The full bracket can be found here:
Matches will be posted on VGBootCamp
MIOM|Tafokints
For future recaps, try to stay away from the phrase “would be”.
It’s mostly used in films to describe what is about to happen: “But it would be Luke Skywalker who found the droids” and then you see Luke finding the droids.
When you say “but it would be Hax’s safe pressure and strong punishes that would earn him the victory.” And that’s the end, it’s sort of an anticlimax, and it feels clunky.
“It was Hax’s safe pressure and strong punishes that earned him the victory” is a lot cleaner and more pleasant to read.
Otherwise this is a great article, keep’em comin’