InfinityCON held the first in-person Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament in Tallahassee, Florida, on June 5th-6th in over a year. The tournament was initially was meant to be a Florida regional but quickly gained attention in the smash community. Players eager to finally slap the sticks offline had their chance to do so, with 422 players in attendance. With this, many player’s concerns arose surrounding the tournament’s ruling that the vaccination was not mandatory to enter.
The tournament runner Cyrus “Cagt” Gharakhanian addressed the circumstances in a Twitter post, stating that the decision to let non-vaccinated players in was out of his control due to venue guidelines and Florida’s laws made it illegal to require vaccinations to attend events. Cagt sighted the “State of Florida Office of the Governor Executive Order Number 21-81.” Specifically, section 2 where it states, “Businesses in Florida are prohibited from requiring patrons or customers to provide any documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccination or post-transmission recovery to gain access to, entry upon, or service from the business.”
Tournament Overview
Despite COVID-19 concerns, the tournament went well, only with some minor streaming hiccups on day one. Top players from Florida and the rest of the United States were in attendance. Players such as Griffin’ Fatality” Miller, Antony “MuteAce” Hoo, Aaron “Aaron” Wilhite, Nicholas “Ned” Illinois, Kolawole “Kola” Aideyan and Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman, to name a few. The tournament had its ups and downs, but Grand Finals was when it truly shined. Kola’s Cloud clashed with Ned’s Sephiroth in the first match, a genuinely poetic matchup for Grand Finals. Both players fought valiantly, with two out of the three matches going to last stock. Still, Kola was able to take Grand Finals from the winner’s side in a 3-0 shutout set. This article aims to analyze the Grand Finals set between Kola and Ned and briefly go over the respective player’s climb to Grand Finals.
Kola’s Run to Grand Finals
Kola is a top player from Georgia who is considered the best Roy player globally and has strong secondaries in Cloud and Snake. His playstyle is highly aggressive, utilizing his character’s fast movement to catch his opponents in tight situations. Kola opted to use Cloud for most of his tournament run but switched to Roy if someone tried to counter pick against Cloud. Kola’s run started in Pools A1. He swept his first three sets 2-0 but went 2-1 against Frank “ParaCane” Loppolo in Pools Semi-Finals. In winner’s top 64, Kola faced off against Jake’s Steve; Kola swept the set 3-0, moving on to face Sebayee’s Mr. Game & Wach. Kola took the set 3-1 against Sebayee and met MuteAce’s Peach in Winner’s Quarter-Finals. Kola again swept the set against MuteAce to condition him to do precisely what Kola wanted him to do, landing him the set and a spot in Winners Semi-Finals to face Aaron.
Kola’s Set Against Aaron
Kola’s set against Aaron was a back and forth battle of a set. Aaron played extremely well, getting some flashy combos like a down-tilt into a 0 to death and his outstanding gyro play. Kola was caught off guard at first but was able to get a 2-1 lead on Aaron, forcing Aaron to change to Diddy Kong for game four. Aaron’s switch to Diddy Kong paid off in-game four, tying the set 2-2. Kola opted to switch to Snake for game five and was able to take the set by forcing Aaron to recover high, punishing it with an up tilt, taking the set and moving on to face Robert “Myran” Herrin in Winners finals.
Kola’s Set Against Myran
Against Myran’s Olimar, Kola opted to go Cloud yet again. Kola had incredibly dominant games against Myran. Taking games one and three with two stocks left, having complete control of both matches. However, Myran was undeterred and was able to break Kola’s momentum in games two and four, taking Kola to another game five sets. Game five was tight, but Kola was able to take it in a last stock situation landing him Winner’s side of Grand Finals. Kola played a total of 29 games, going 26-6 on his journey to Grand Finals.
Ned’s Climb to Grand Finals
Ned is a top player from Chicago. He is one of the best Pokémon Trainer’s in the world while also having solid secondaries such as Pyra/Mythra and Sephiroth. He opting to use Sephiroth for most of the tournament, changing to Pokemon trainer when his tournament life was threatened. Ned started in Pool A4, where he swept pools taking each game 2-0, including his Winners Semi-finals set in pools against Mew2King.
Ned’s Sets against Choco Taco & MuteAce
In Winners top 64, Ned faced off against Anthony “Choco Taco” Riley, where Ned took the set 3-1. Ned moved on to face Kobe “Kobe” Murray, where Ned swept the set 3-0. This victory got him to Winners Quarter-Finals, where he met Aaron. Aaron smacked Ned down to losers side, however, taking the set 3-0. Ned, now finding himself in losers, faced off against Jake to get into top 8. Ned was able to take the set 3-0. Ned’s next opponent was MuteAce. Ned was able to take the set against MuteAce 3-1. Still, MuteAce had some “questionable” decisions within the set. Such as opting not to charge a forward smash when breaking Ned’s shield, which ended up losing MuteAce the game or throwing a Bob-omb point black while not having stage control. Nevertheless, Ned moved on to Losers Quarter-Finals, where he faced off against Fatality.
Ned’s Sets against Fatality & Kobe
In Ned’s set against Fatality, Ned opted to go Pokemon trainer against Fatality’s Captain Falcon. Ned was able to take the set from Fatality 3-1, having a dominant game four. Where Fatality went for it all off stage, SD-ing giving Ned a three-stock win to take the set. Ned went to Losers Semi-Finals, where he rematched against Kobe, who just beat Aaron, who sent Ned to Losers side earlier in the tournament. Kobe, looking for revenge, had a grueling set with Ned but, ned was able to take the set 3-2, getting him to losers Finals where he faced Myran. Myran took game one of the set. However, Ned caught on to Myran’s strategy after the loss, taking the rest of the set 3-1, landing him losers side of Grand Finals. Ned played a total of 38 games, going 29-9 on his way to the Grand Finals.
Grand Finals set: Kola Versus Ned
For the Grand Finals set, Kola and Ned went into game one, with both participants opting to reimagine the Advent Children final boss fight. With Ned going Sephiroth and Kola going Cloud. Kola took game one with a decisive two-stock victory. Forcing Ned to change to Pokemon Trainer, which made Ned change to Roy.
Switching up characters allowed Kola to play his aggressive Roy in game two. Forcing Ned into tight situations where Kola could read what option Ned would take to get out of it. Kola took game two in a last-hit last stock situation. With the tournament on the line, Ned opted to take Kola back to Pokémon Stadium 2 for game three. Both players chose to stay with their respective mains. Game three, Kola had Ned on the ropes. However, Ned was able to bring it back to a last stock situation where Kola was off stage; Ned went for it all with a Charizard back air but missed and fell to his doom. Giving Kola the set 3-0 and the Infinity Con 2021 Champion title.
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