Riptide was held this past weekend, with over 3,000 attendees. The competition was fierce, but only one play could come out on top for Melee. With top players such as Juan “Hungrybox” Debidma, Justin “Plup” McGrath, Justin “Wizzrobe” Hallett and Zachary “SFAT” Cordoni to name a few. But it was Panda Globals’ very own Cody “iBDW” Schwab who took home the gold at the first-ever Riptide.
Want to see Riptide’s schedule? Click here!
Melee Event Overview
Riptide started on Friday for Melee with a Doubles tournament. However, Saturday was when the real fun began. Pools were filed with 738 people from across the United States and many had their eye on the prize. Still, only the top players were able to get into top eight. On Sunday, the tournament came to a close when iBDW ran a train on Hungrybox and his Panda Global counterpart Plup, taking home the $7,380.
Who got into top eight, find out here!
iBDW’s Run
iBDW dominated his bracket to get to the top eight, only dropping two games on his way there. However, the true challenge was just ahead of him. to get to grand finals. His first opponent in top eight was Hungrybox, who also had an excellent run at Riptide and looked poised to take it. Even still, iBDW was able to dominate by playing patient and waiting for an opening. In their final game, Hungrybox missed a crucial punish on iBDW’s get-up, resulting in a neutral reset and iBDW taking the set, sending Hungrybox to losers side.
His next opponent was Plup and of course, the two Panda Global players had an excellent first set, one of the best of the tournament (maybe besides Hungrybox vs. Plup). The set went back and forth going to game five. In-game five, iBDW was able to get an insane triple dash attack that sent Plup off stage. iBDW was then able to read the neutral get up with an up smash resulting in iBDW taking game five over Plup.
Grand Finals
Plup defeated Hungrybox in another game five scenario. Where he popped off at the end, not giving Hungrybox any room to breathe. Regardless, both panda global competitors met once again in Grand Finals to see who would take home the number one spot.
The crowd was roaring as many thought that after Plup’s amazing victory over Hungrybox, he would take home first place. But, iBDW had other plans. While Plup did take game one, iBDW turned up and gave Plup no room to breathe. iBDW was able to take the next two consecutive games with a two-stock lead.
Finally, game four went down to the wire with both players on their last stock. iBDW was able to crowd Plup with Shines hitting two off stage, but Plup was able to ake it back, but the Fountain of Dreams platform was just low enough for iBDW to get an up smash on Plups roll back on stage, finishing the set and the tournament. The crowd was set ablaze with excitement and at that moment, you could see the overwhelming emotions that iBDW felt. With tears in his eyes, he popped off as the pressure of grand finals was relieved. Replaced by the overwhelming excitement of his first-ever first place in an offline tournament took hold.
The Future of Competitive Melee
While Riptide is over, there is still more Melee to come in the future. Riptide’s sister tournament, Low Tide City 2021, will be held on October 1st-3rd in Round Rock, Texas. Followed by Pinnacle 2021 on October 8th-10th and Super Smash Con on October 15th-17th in Virginia. There is also Mainstage 2021 and Genesis 8 to look forward to as well. Melee looks to have a bright future and the community is finding to see more top-level Melee in the future.
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