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The no-more hero
Of all the Super Smash Bros Melee tournaments in 2015 few are more exciting than HTC throwdown. With over five hundred attendees, twelve thousand dollars in pot bonuses, and an absolutely stacked roster of top players, this is looking to be one of the most memorable events of the year. What makes HTC so interesting, however, is that it looks to showcase the full resurgence of old royalty as well as representing a huge step forward for the entire Smash scene.
Of Stakes and Stories
More than money and fame are on line; the pride of top players is more of a factor here than ever before. Top tier talent such as PewpewU, Shroomed and Axe (placing 10th, 11th and 8th on the mid-year SSBM Rank respectively) are hungry for higher placements. Plup and his novel Sheik, with a placement of 9th at Paragon LA and healthy collection of wins against MIOM’s 3rd Mango, is definitely one to watch. SFAT lies very close behind with a placement of 13th at Paragon LA and 12th on the mid-year MIOM ranking. The potential for upsets at HTC is staggering, with the attendance being one of the best in recent memory.
Perhaps the most interesting competitor with something to prove is none other than TSM’s own Leffen. Coming off a 6-0 loss at Smash@Pax and most recently being four-stocked at Paragon LA by a certain King of the Mews, Leffen seeks to prove himself in the eyes of the public once again. Will he return to form in time for revenge at HTC?
Speaking of returning to form, recent tournaments Smash@Pax and Paragon LA saw an occurrence that many thought they would not witness for many months: The Return Of The King.
Mew2king isn’t the only one who hasn’t been performing to expectations, however. Joseph ‘Mango’ Marquez has had a rather underwhelming year, only placing 1st at two nationals (Press Start and BAM7) in the first half of 2015. Such results ended up with the self-proclaimed GOAT landing a 3rd place ranking on the 2015 mid-year SSBM rank. While his long-time international rival Armada will be attending Dreamhack rather than HTC, his road to victory will be far from easy against titans such as Hungrybox and Mew2King.
The Impact
On top of all the exciting player stories and matches to watch on tourney day, the impact HTC Throwdown will have on the Smash bros Community as a whole is monumental. HTC reaching out to the Smash Community and funding such a large tourney is a big step towards Smash breaking out into much more mainstream eSports popularity. With a prize pool of over ten thousand dollars this places HTC Throwdown as the 13th largest major in Melee history in terms of prizes, outranking both Evo 2014 and 2013 as well as all CEO events. In conjunction with the steadily approaching Dreamhack, a new bar for Smash events is being set and new standards for prize pools, support, and tournament scale are being reached.
The stream for the event will be provided by HTC's Twitch channel and a tentative schedule for the event is available here. All information pertaining to HTC Throwdown can be found on the Smash.gg site. This includes venue location, contact information and methods of getting to the venue. For those interested in attending or watching the event be sure to check it out.
Deku Tree is a content creator on youtube and a frequenter of Smashboards. Go follow him on Twitter @Treethesheikguy.
