After three days of competition and over 2,300 competitors, one of the largest Super Smash Bros. Melee tournaments of all-time at the Evolution Championship Series has come to a close, with one of the game's oldest legends, Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma, taking home the gold and the glory.
The weekend led to eight top competitors coming together at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas with their eyes set on their share of over $23,000. Players like Hungrybox, Adam "Armada" Lindgren, Justin "Plup" McGrath, Joseph "Mango" Marquez, Johnny "S2J" Kim, Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman, Weston "Westballz" Dennis, and Kevin "PewPewU" Toy duked it out in front of over 12,000 people.
While Hungrybox was crowned champion, it didn't come without a fight, as he lost early to Plup in the winner's semifinals. Following that loss, he faced off with S2J and then Mang0 to earn his rematch with Plup, which he won. Then, it was Armada, who he took to ten games, last stock in the final game to win it all.
Surprising matches of the night weren't exclusive to Plup's victory over Hungrybox. Recently sponsored by Tempo Storm before the event, S2J upset Westballz, a matchup which has often occurred in the favor of Westballz.
The most shocking placements included Mew2King and Mango, who took fifth and fourth respectively after Plup took the win over Hungrybox. This is Plup's highest finish at a major tournament, showing that he is the next player to join the top echelon of the Five Gods and godslayer William "Leffen" Hjelte.