Adam "Armada" Lindgren and Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma have been the two best players in 2016. The big question is who is the best? Armada had a dominating 2015 and finished first on the annual SSBMRank. He started 2016 with a win at Genesis 3, the largest tournament of the year.
Hungrybox finished third at Genesis 3, but went on a hot streak afterwards. He won four consecutive events, including Battle of the Five Gods, where he defeated Armada in a swift 3-0 set. Hungrybox gained a reputation as the best in the United States and people began to wonder: is Hungrybox the best player in the world?
In Armada's opinion, "It was a little unfair to give Hungrybox the number one rank before Smash Summit 2--as some were saying. If he won this event, then he deserves the throne, which is why I wanted to win this so bad."
Smash Summit 2 would be the perfect opportunity to answer that question.
For Armada and Hungrybox, it was business as usual. On the first day of singles, Armada won his sets against Eric "ESAM" Lew and Jeffrey "Axe" Williamson without dropping a single game. Hungrybox won against Johnny "s2j" Kim 3-1 and Zachary "SFAT" Cordoni 3-0 to also advance into day two in the winner's bracket.
The second day began unexpectedly for Armada. In surprising fashion, Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman swept Armada 3-0 in winner's semis. Historically, Armada has dominated Mew2King, but Mew2King was able to make the better decisions and capitalize on Peach's weaknesses.
After the set, Armada lamented, "I was very pissed after losing. I rarely win the tournament if I lose early. I considered going Fox for the rest of the tournament."
On the other side of the bracket, Hungrybox had a nail-biting set against his rival Joseph "Mango" Marquez. Mango gained a 2-1 match lead, but Hungrybox clutched the set by winning both games to advance into winner's finals.
In winner's finals, things looked troublesome for Hungrybox. Mew2King's Fox outmaneuvered Hungrybox's Jigglypuff to win game one on Battlefield, but consistency has always been an issue for Mew2King. He began making crucial mistakes and Hungrybox capitalized at every opportunity to win the next three games. Hungrybox was now one set away from winning the entire event.
Meanwhile, Armada breezed through the loser's bracket. He defeated Dajuan "Shroomed" McDaniel 3-1 in loser's quarters. Armada proceeded to sweep Mango 3-0 in a rather sloppy set. Despite a clean win with Marth, Mew2king picked Sheik and Fox against Armada in their rematch. The change in characters did not end up working out for Mew2King and Armada ended up winning 3-0.
With the stage set, Hungrybox and Armada would duke it out in grand finals. Armada needed to win two sets to take the tournament. The first set went back and forth with Armada taking game one. The counter picks played into each player's favor with Hungrybox winning game two on Dreamland and game four on Fountain of Dreams. Unfortunately for Hungrybox, Armada won on his counter picks, winning game three on Pokemon Stadium and game five on Final Destination.
Armada reset the bracket. Both players needed one more set to win the event and take over as best in the world.
Game one started strongly in Armada's favor on Battlefield, but Hungrybox found an amazing opportunity to use Jigglypuff's rest to steal game one and gain the counter pick advantage. Armada would have to win on one of Hungrybox's preferred stages to win the set.
Armada won his counter pick with a clean two-stock win on Pokemon Stadium. Game three went to Dreamland, Hungrybox's preferred stage and the tables slowly turned in Armada's favor. Unlike Battle of the Five Gods, Armada played more aggressively. The change of pace confused Hungrybox and Armada won most of the skirmishes.
Armada cleanly won game three and took the counter pick advantage back. Hungrybox decided to go back to Dreamland on game four, but fell short once again. The neutral game was immaculate from both players as they fought each stage in extended tests of patience. Hungrybox cracked first in many of the situations, meaning Armada would secure the win at Smash Summit 2.
Reflecting on his victory, Armada stated, "I felt that I played too passively at Battle of the Five Gods. I laser camped too much and realized that I needed to play more aggressively. Playing Hungrybox forces me to focus and read movement really well."
He added, "I'm glad that I won this event. I don't really care what other people say on social media. In my mind, I want to be the best and Smash Summit 2 proved that."