Super Sweet Tournament Recap (June 7-8 in Ann Arbor, MI)

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June 19, 2014

Technically the 17th tournament in the well-known "Sweet" series, Super Sweet was a 2-day Melee and Project:M tournament held in Ann Arbor, Michigan on June 7th and 8th. Twitch.tv/VGBootCamp and Twitch.tv/MeleeItOnMe streamed it, with the former uploading all the streamed matches here. (Full video playlists for each event are listed at the end.)

Registration was capped at 150 entrants, but the total wound up being 165 somehow. The official Tournament Organizer was none other than MeleeItOnMe's Juggleguy. Many refer to Alex Strife's Apex series as the "Super Bowl of Smash," but there is also near-unanimous agreement that Juggleguy is the best "T.O." In terms of scheduling, seeding, organization, and overall fun factor, he simply has no equal.

Super Sweet Tournament Recap (June 7-8 in Ann Arbor, MI)

So it was only mildly surprising when three of the five "Smash Gods" showed up. Mango and Mew2King are regular fixtures at big tournaments, but Armada was a special addition—the Swedish player is currently staying in the U.S. to attend several big events going down over the summer (EVO, CEO, and MLG Anaheim). Other notable out-of-state attendees included Kris 'Toph' Aldenderfer and Bobby 'Scar' Scarnewman from California, Jeffery 'Axe' Williamson from Arizona, and 17 players from Ontario, Canada, including David 'KirbyKaze' MacDonald and Camilo 'Weon-X' Morales.

Most of the day 1 was spent on Melee pools, which went through 2 rounds of elimination to round out the Top 32 bracket being held on day 2. The Project:M bracket also played out until Top 8 with basically no upsets, leaving Armada, Mango, Mew2King, and Axe on the Winners side and Tom 'HammerTime' Stavri, Anther, Shady, and Kelly 'Kels' Smith on the Losers side. The first day of a big Melee tournament is always the most relaxed.

Day 2 started with Melee Doubles. Mew2King and Armada comprised one totally unfair team that casually waded its way through one side of the bracket. Mango and Scar were nearly as dominant on the other side, but when the two teams met in Winners Finals, Mew2King and Armada remorselessly pummeled Mango and Scar to claim a 3-0 win over the west coast representatives in under 9 minutes. Scar and Mango then played KirbyKaze and Bernard 'Raynex' Maffi in Losers Finals and took their own 3-0 over (though each match was respectably close), sending them home with 3rd place. Moving on to Grand Finals, Mango and Scar looked to have found their stride and were fighting with greater coordination, but it still wasn't enough to take on the brick wall that is Mew2King and Armada. The final count was 3-1.

Project:M Singles Top 8 was also fairly straightforward. Armada's Pit once again proved to be untouchable, with only Mew2King managing to win a single game against him in the Winner Finals (his only loss for the entire P:M tournament). Anther's Pikachu made an impressive run through the Losers Bracket, even defeating Axe in the Pikachu ditto and Kels' Fox, but finally lost to Mew2King to take home 3rd place. Mew2King went on to play Armada in Grand Finals, losing 3-0 with his MewTwo and Fox.

Melee Singles started at Top 32. Some notable events include Drephen, an old-school Sheik main, defeating James 'Duck' Ma, one of the best Samus players in the world, and a hard-fought 3-1 win by Axe over KirbyKaze. HammerTime's win over Abhishek 'Prince Abu' Prabhu was one of the biggest upsets in the Losers Bracket, and Drephen barely lost to Raynex to be eliminated in 9th place. Sadly, Weon-X eliminated KirbyKaze in the same round that Kels knocked out Kalamazhu (two of the Midwest's strongest players), but friends meeting in bracket is an inevitability when both of them just won't stop winning matches.

Top 8 Melee Singles

Losers Bracket (for 7th): Duck (Samus) vs. EMG|Weon-X (Fox)

Duck recently won 2-0 over Weon-X at Get On My Level 2014 in May. In both that set and this one, Duck's trademark spacing techniques (especially Up-Tilt, AKA the "Duck-Tilt") were matched against Weon-X's speed and high damage output. This rematch was closer, but ultimately Duck claimed another 2-0 against the Canadian Fox main.

Losers Bracket (for 7th): Raynex (Fox) vs. IPG|Kels (Fox)

Kels beat Raynex 2-1 in pools on day 1, and they met again on day 2 in top 8 of the Losers Bracket. Kels' superb stage control and stronger follow-ups netted him a quick 3-stock then 2-stock over a discouraged-looking Raynex.

Winners Semifinals: C9|Mango (Falco) vs. AGC|Axe (Pikachu/Falco)

Mango maintained stage control most of the time, but Axe periodically caught him with quick low % edgeguards (Pikachu's speciality). Axe won the third match on Final Destination, where Pikachu can combo Falco to kill him out of a single grab, only to get JV 3-stocked (3-stock with 0%) in a Falco ditto right afterward. 3-1 for Mango (Semifinals and onward are traditionally best of 5).

Winners Semifinals: P4K EMP|Armada (Peach) vs. P4K EMP|Mew2King (Fox/Sheik)

Mew2King recently beat Armada at SKTAR3—his first win in their entire tournament history—so this set was a big deal. It was Armada's devastating control and damage output vs. Mew2King's stellar movement and quick switching between defense and offense. Armada clearly had the upper hand throughout, not to mention fortuitous luck in pulling Peach's strongest turnip, the Stitchface, and closed it out 3-1.

Losers Quarterfinals (for 5th): AGC|Axe (Pikachu/Falco) vs. IPG|Kels (Fox)

Again, Axe's Pikachu continually snagged low % offstage kills, but his lightning fast Falco proved to be an even greater obstacle for Kels. Both players were laughing and enjoying themselves throughout the set. Quick 3-0 for Axe.

Losers Quarterfinals (for 5th): Duck (Samus) vs. P4K EMP|Mew2King (Sheik)

Mew2King's short hop Forward-Aerials and simple Down-Throw combos were too much for Duck; the Samus main's intelligence and spacing couldn't make a dent in his opponent. Mew2King just played the matchup well, and in Melee, the ambiguously-gendered ninja trumps the space-traveling bounty hunter. Clean 3-0 for Mew2King.

Losers Semifinals (for 4th): P4K EMP|Mew2King (Sheik) vs. AGC|Axe (Pikachu)

Mew2King seemed increasingly confident at this point, even giving Axe props after the Pikachu player pulled off an impressive KO. Axe kept it even in spite of several tragic mishaps on Battlefield (a stage notorious for its wonky edge mechanics), but the final result was still another 3-0 for Mew2King.

Winners Finals: P4K EMP|Armada (Peach) vs. C9|Mango (Fox)

This was their first time playing since EVO 2013, almost a full year ago. Some things never change: Mango became increasingly aggressive, and Armada responded with the touch of death. In his best moments, Mango would expertly outmaneuver Armada and bait him into leaving himself open, but Armada was more composed and finished off his opponent's stocks much more quickly. It went down to the wire, but Armada took a 3-2 win and knocked Mango into Losers Finals.

Losers Finals: P4K EMP|Mew2King (Sheik) vs. C9|Mango (Falco)

The matches swung back and forth drastically. When Mango took an early lead, he would continue playing wisely and easily hold onto it, but a stronger start from Mew2King would demoralize Mango and lead him to make increasingly reckless decisions. The final match was a 4-stock for Mew2King. Mew2King won the set 3-1 and went on to rematch Armada in Grand Finals.

Grand Finals: P4K EMP|Mew2King (Fox/Sheik) vs. P4K EMP|Armada (Peach)

As the commentators pointed out, Mew2King plays the textbook Fox vs. Peach matchup, whereas Mango focuses on the other person's particular playstyle. But once Armada hits you, every Fox is the same: you're getting combo'd, then you're offstage, then you're dead. Mew2King was precise, calculating, and unafraid to shoot tons of lasers (or needles), but in the end, it just wasn't enough. Armada took Grand Finals 3-1, winning the Melee Singles tournament without dropping a set and taking home 1st place in every event.