On Mother’s day, the final Summit Champions League Season 2 tournament for Super Smash Brothers Melee was held. The Summit Champion League took place over four weeks, with 16 players split into two divisions for week one and the results of each week determining the following week’s seeding and placement. Each week prior to week four was won by different players, Mango, Zain, and Wizzrobe respectively. A lot was on the line for week four, with a $4,000 prize pool. The top six placed players would qualify for Smash Summit 11, joining other top players William “Leffen” Hjelte and Masaya “aMSa” Chikamoto, who had already received their invitation.
Week Four Summary
Week four was a grueling tournament for the participants. The two who fought their way to Grand Finals were Zain on the winners and Mango on the losers side. Each player had won one of the tournaments leading up to week four, fighting each other for their respective wins.
The match-up between Zain and Mango was a highly anticipated one, with Zain being ranked number one in the world, and Mango known as the “GOAT” and a “Melee God”. Some in the community put the “number one in the world status” on these sets. Zain seems to have every Fox and Falco’s (spacies) number in North America but struggles against Mango’s Falco. On the other hand, “Mother’s day Mang0” is a feared opponent to face, winning three events on mother’s day in the past.
Zain’s Run to Grand Finals
Zain had a relatively straightforward run to Grand Finals in week four compared to Mango’s. Going up against Jason “Gahtzu” Diehl first, Zain took the set 3-1, followed up by Kurtis “Moky” Pratt, who he 3-0d relatively quickly. Next, Zain went up against Zachary “SFAT” Cordoni taking another 3-0 set to get to Grand Finals. Zain played a total of ten games, sailing his way to grand finals where he would have to face the winner of Mango vs. SFAT in Losers Finals.
Mango’s Run to Grand Finals
Mango had a rough start to week four, going up against Justin “Plup” McGrath in the first round. Plup took the set 3-2, sending Mango to the shark-infested waters of the losers bracket, where players such as Juan Manuel “Hungrybox” DeBiedma, Justin “Wizzrobe” Hallett, Avery “Ginger” Wilson and Cody “iBDW” Schwab resided. His first set in losers was against Ginger, taking the set 3-0 and moving on to fight Wizzrobe in losers round three. In week three, Mango faced Wizzrobe in Semifinals with Wizzrobe, taking the set 3-2. The set was hard-fought, with Mango coming out on top 3-2, taking the time to imitate Wizzrobe’s victory expression directly after winning the set.
After his set with Wizzrobe, Mango faced Moky and had a decisive victory, taking the set 3-0. To get to losers Finals, Mango had to face iBDW, who just beat Plup, the player who sent Mango to the losers bracket early. However, Mango knows the Fox match-up much better than Sheik’s and dominated the set 3-1. In the losers finals, Mango faced SFAT, and again, took another set 3-0. To get to Grand Finals, Mango played 23 games, more than double Zain’s games played.
Zain Vs. Mango Grand Finals: First Set
The two players finally met at Grand Finals. Mango coming from losers, needed to reset the bracket while Zain had a bit of a buffer, only needing to win one of the two sets while Mango had to win both. The first match of the set started on Battlefield. Mango came out swinging, knocking out Zains first stock within the first nineteen seconds of the game, taking the game with two stocks left, forcing Zain to counter pick the stage.
First set: Game Two
Zain chose Final Destination (FD), which is his best stage by far. However, Mango has beaten Zain multiple times in the past on Final Destination. It looked as if the game would go to Zain early on, but Mango brought it back, tying the stock count. Zain eventually made a mistake that positioned him off stage, giving Mango a free kill with Falco’s down Smash covering the ledge to take game two.
First Set: Game Three
In-game three, Zain opted to go back to FD. Game three seemed to be when Zain started to pick up the pace, taking out Mango’s first stock in eleven seconds with a quick judgment call, reverse up-b off stage. The match went back and forth with Mango evening up the stock count by pressuring Zain on the left side of the stage, forcing Zain to roll in, resulting in a devastating combo. However, Mango was caught off stage and tired to side-b to the ledge but misgauged his height, causing him to SD and lose the third game in the first set.
First Set: Games Four & Five
In the fourth game, Mango counter-picked to Dreamland, which is one of Marth’s worst stages. Still, Zain dominated game four, finishing by mixing up his down throw up-tilt combo with a forward smash. The final round of the set went back to Dreamland, Mango started strong, but Zain was challenging to finish because he was power shielding all of Falco’s lasers which is one of Falco’s best initiation tools. Still, Mango came out on top with two stocks left, resetting the bracket.
Zain Vs. Mango Grand Finals: Final Set
The second set was a stark contrast to the first set. The first match was on FD, and it seemed as if Zain caught on to Mango’s recovery options. Zain had a solid read on Mango’s recovery but got a “Phantom hit,” which halved the damage with no knockback. Even with this gift from the heavens for Mango, Zain took the match handly.
Mango had the counter pick for the second match, taking Zain to Dreamland yet again. This game was heavily in Zain’s favor. Zain covered all of Mango’s recovery options, while Mango went for a risky shine spike losing him a stock. Mango got frustrated and made multiple mistakes overextending, basically giving Zain a free win. Game three went back to Dreamland. Zain dominated the third and final game, coving Mango’s options on and off stage. Zain took the Torunemnt going 3-0 in the final set.
Overview of Grand Finals
Mango had played very well against Zain in the first set but seemed “out of gas” in the second set. Rightfully so, having played over double the high-level games, Zain had to play to get to Grand Finals. While Zain has had difficulties with Mango in the past. Having the title of “Best in the world” is no fluke proving that he deserves the title. At the same time, some protest Zain’s position by claiming that he is only winning because of the online setting. No one can deny how dominant Zain has been performing this past year.
The next big tournament for Melee is Smash Summit 11, with both Mango and Zain successfully qualifying for the tournament. It will be interesting to see if they will meet up at Smash Summit 11. This will give the community a chance to see how both players fair in an offline setting.
Stay Connected
You can “like” The Game Haus on Facebook and “Follow” us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles written by other great TGH writers along with Jeff!
“From Our Haus to Yours”