With so much hype surrounding the upcoming release of Super smash bros for Nintendo switch, one could forget about the current smash 4 season. However they would be foolish to do so. Smash 4 is in a very interesting place right now with the Smash Switch release looming. But that hasn’t taken anything away from the current season, as each tournament continues to deliver exciting action. Smash Masters League: Battle for Vegas wrapped up over the weekend, and did not disappoint.
Shockers
youtube
Lets start with the most shocking storylines of the tournament.
The biggest surprise was Liquid Saleem “Salem” Young not making into top 8. Salem is a very talented player and is currently ranked #2 in the world, but he has had a big problem the past few tournaments with beating certain players. His past 2 to tournament losses have been to Griffin “Fatality” Miller. Fatality’s Captain Falcon is no joke and once again was Salem’s Achilles heel. Salem is still a great player and hasn’t fallen off by any means, but he has slipped a bit. It is still very early in the season but I think Salem needs to do some soul searching and maybe even pick up a secondary to cover a few match-ups.
Just as shocking was just how well Fatality has been playing lately. Making a respectable losers bracket run, and once again taking out #2 in the world. Fatality has always been teetering on the edge of top 10 level play for a while. His recent tournament results have been stellar and have put him in a great position early on in the season. Fatality got knocked out at fourth place but made a huge push in top 8 and also toward his standings in the next PGR.
Notable Match-ups
youtube
There were many exciting matches at Battle for Vegas and all delivered on the hype. Kevin “Brosinex” Alvarado winning 2-0 over C9 Elliot “Ally” Carroza was a huge, hype upset. Brosinex’s Ryu definitely caught Ally off guard and led him to a game 1 comeback, followed by a dominant game 2. The crowd went wild as the hometown hero upset one of the best players in the world.
P1 Tweek Vs Echo Fox MVG Mk Leo was a very intense set that went down to the absolute final hit. In a game four situation Tweek’s Bayonetta aided him in a valiant comeback attempt. But ultimately he fell victim to an up throw at extremely high percent after whiffing a grab attempt. Tweek got knocked out at 5th place but put up a heck of a fight. Another thing to highlight is how we can without a doubt call Tweek the best Bayonetta, as he consistently beats other Bayonetta’s in the ditto. Tweek showed some true innovation with some slick new combos we rarely see from other Bayonetta’s.
Grand Finals
Youtube
The Grand Finals stage was set with NRG Nairo taking on Echo Fox MVG Mk Leo. Nairo was seemingly unstoppable all weekend taking out all foes in his path, not losing a single set. He did so while taking out some of the best Bayonetta players in the process. Very impressive to see him consistently beating the games best character.
Mk Leo made an impressive losers bracket run after losing to Nairo in winners semis. This Set had a very big fight feel to it but didn’t last too long. Nairo didn’t necessarily dominate the set, but he applied non-stop pressure to Leo throughout. He had an answer for everything Leo could throw at him and never took his foot off the gas. Every time Leo got a slight lead, Nairo quickly answered with a ladder combo to end Leo’s stock.
Even after switching to Bayonetta Leo couldn’t overcome the peoples champ. In what was a bit of poetic justice. Nairo ended the set by taking a couple of extremely early stocks off of ladder combos to decisively win 3-0. NRG Nairo was consistent all weekend and pummeled the competition to another huge tournament win, adding to his #1 spot case.
Lastly lets looks at a few highlights from the tournament. First off NRG Nairo is REAL, just as real as predicted earlier in the season. Nairo is so consistent and definitely getting better each day. Next, Tweek is definitely the best Bayonetta. In a meta where more and more players are picking up the character, Tweek shines. He dominates the ditto (most of the time) and continues to innovate with the character. Lastly the Bayonetta “problem” is changing up a bit. Although more people are picking her up, players are adapting and finding ways to beat her. The meta is changing with every tournament, and it looks like we’re in for a very interesting rest of the season.
Did you catch Battle for Vegas on stream? What did you think? Let us know In the comments below!
Featured image courtesy of twitter.
You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from other great TGH writers along with Kenny
From our Haus to yours.