Monster Gaming Recap

Genesis 6 was Team Liquid’s tournament. Let’s count the awards: 1 Melee Singles 1st place finish, 1 Ultimate player placing 1st in doubles, 2 Melee players placing 2nd in doubles, and an Ultimate Singles finishing in 13th.

Melee Singles promised to be dramatic. Going into the tournament, Genesis was one of the few supermajors Hungrybox hadn’t already won and this was his year to do it. With Armada retiring, Leffen disqualifying himself, and Mew2King focusing on Ultimate, this was Hbox’s year. Hungrybox didn’t disappoint despite tight challenges all through top 16, including a tense 3-2 win over S2J and 3-1 over Westballz. 

When the top 8 came, so did the classic Plup-Hungrybox slugfest. Mid-game, the audio cut out from one side of both players headphones, forcing both Plup and Hungrybox to take them out. That opened Hungrybox up to deeply personal jeers from a hostile crowd. The king of clutch came through, powering past the crowd, and mounted a comeback with an offstage gimp game 4 and taking game 5 next with a popoff we’ll never forget.

Axe was the true hidden boss of the tournament, playing Pikachu better than the character has ever been played in Melee. Hungrybox battled Axe in a set so tight it had a timeout and numerous nail-biting endings but in the end, Hungrybox won 3-2. Acknowledging just how well the other had played, the two raised each other’s hands up at the end of set.

Team Liquid destroyed the doubles bracket as well as ChuDat and Hbox only lost to SFAT and PewPewU - the doubles team to beat in Melee. Though they lost in Grand Finals, they beat team PewFat in Winner’s Finals 3-1 showing their Climber-Puff duo can compete with any team.

In Ultimate Doubles, Team Liquid’s Salem teamed with MVG Dark Wizzy. Their Lucina-Mario combo only dropped one set in Grand Finals to a red-hot Marss and Light. Salem’s research led him to a Ganondorf pick that disrupted Marss and Light’s momentum. They won the second set 3-2 and showed that they’re the Ultimate team to beat.

Salem’s success extended to singles as well, taking 13th in a tournament with over 2,000 entrants. Though he got upset by K9sbruce before top 64, he rebounded quickly and made a strong lower bracket run against grueling competition. Salem defeated Seagull Joe, Umeki, Magister, and Larry Lurr before falling to 3-2 to Captain Zack - who had just defeated Ally and Nairo!

Armada also made some waves, placing 97th. While it was below his seeding, he still posted one of the better results for a Melee-turned-Ultimate player, landing next to Mew2King and beating fighting games polyglot Apologyman. He got a well-earned 5th in Melee Teams as well, showing he’s a threat in old and new games alike.

With the Chongqing Major freshly wrapped up, the qualifiers for the DreamLeague Major began giving our teams only a few days of rest before resuming their duties. We are pleased to report that PSG.LGD, Fnatic, EG, Team Liquid, and Na`Vi have made it through their respective qualifiers and will be attending the tournament in Stockholm. Alliance unfortunately did not manage to go 3 for 3 in Major qualifiers but will still have a chance to attend should they win the upcoming StarLadder Minor. It may be a rougher path but we believe they are more than up to the task as they adjust to the new patch.

PSG.LGD, Fnatic, and EG all took first place in their qualifiers and we could see any of those three teams secure their invite to TI9 in Stockholm. The Chinese qualifier was the first time we saw PSG.LGD playing with Xm in place of Maybe and while Maybe will be missed, Xm put up some wonderful results which secured their top seed as a qualifier team. Similarly, it only took EG one game after the group stage to secure their invite as they beat Forward Gaming 2-1. Due to SEA receiving less qualifier slots it took Fnatic one more match to punch their ticket to Sweden but aside from dropping one game to Mineski they did so flawlessly. 

Na`Vi will be attending their first Major of the DPC after narrowly missing out on Kuala Lumpur earlier in the season. Starting from the lower bracket they took down Winstrike, Pango, Old But Gold, and eventually Gambit to snag the 2nd qualifier slot for the CIS region. After their tremendous performance at MegaFon we’re excited to see what they can do at the Major itself.

Lastly, Team Liquid will hopefully be attending the DreamLeague Major with their full roster after they found themselves playing with Shadow as a stand-in during the Chongqing Major. They made it through the qualifier by besting the TI8 winner OG 2-0 in groups before taking down Kaban and Vega Squadron in the lower bracket after losing to Team Secret in order to secure their invite.