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Event Preview: Pound 2016 Melee feat. Mango, Hungrybox, Plup, Westballz, Axe, aMSa, Hax$, and more


After a five year hiatus, the legendary *Pound* tournament series has returned. The tournament has gave us many historic moments over the years such as Mango's rise to godhood, Armada's last time losing to non-gods, and PPMD's (Dr. Peepee at time) legendary Pound V run. Pound 2016 is shaping out to continue the hype with 51 of the MIOM Top 100 in attendance and 933 total attendees for Melee. Here's everything you need to know about Melee at Pound 2016.

Viewing Guide

All the action at Pound 2016 will be streamed by the VGBootCamp crew from April 2nd-3rd. Exciting stream content such as mono-character crew battles, a Chudat vs. HugS exhibition, an aMSa vs. Amsah exhibition (which will feature very confusing commentary), and a SmashG0D vs. Hungrybox exhibition will all take to the main stage on day one. Need even more reasons to tune in? Top casters such as HomeMadeWaffles, Wobbles, Webs, TheCrimsonBlur, Vish, Husband, Wife, and more will be holding it down on the mic. The full commentary schedule can be found here. Be sure to keep up with the live brackets on smashgg. Here is the full stream schedule:


All times EST
CORRECTION: The tertiary stream is https://www.twitch.tv/DCeSportsLANs, not DCeSportsLAN

Mango vs. Hungrybox: The Rematch


Photo by Michael Hathaway (@tl_peanuts)

The rivalry between Mango and Hungrybox has changed drastically recently, with Hungrybox having the upper hand in 2016 sets 3-2. Mango and Hungrybox are both the favorites to win Pound 2016, so their likely meeting in Winners Finals and Grand Finals could decide everything. They also traded sets at Battle of the Five Gods in Grand Finals, with Hungrybox adapting to Mango's hyper-aggressiveness in Set 2 to win the tournament. With Hungrybox looking stronger than ever, it will be up to Mango to strike the perfect balance between his signature rushdown style and a more disciplined style to win his third Pound title.

America's Stars

With Mango and Hungrybox being the only members of the top 6 at Pound 2016, many of America's best will be hungry to show their might.


Photo by Michael Hathaway (@tl_peanuts)

SoCal will be invading the East Coast with 6 of their top 10 power ranked players. Aside from Mango, Westballz will be leading the pack after a string of impressive recent performances. Despite going out at 17th at Genesis 3, he placed 3rd at BEAST 6 beating Leffen, and 5th at Battle of the Five Gods, beating Mango. His biggest demon at Pound will be Hungrybox, although Westballz has looked stronger and stronger at each consecutive meeting. MacD also put out a strong performance at Battle of the Five Gods after enlisting the help of KirbyKaze to help analyze and refine his gameplay. Will MacD be able to replicate his improved punishes and edgeguards at Pound 2016? Additionally, S2J will be bringing his fiery Falcon play to Pound. He had a tough time at Battle of the Five Gods, losing to Mew2King and Plup. However, S2J has only been stronger at national he's attended. Can S2J finally break into the coveted top 8 at Pound? HugS is coming back to the East Coast not only for revenge on Chudat, but to show that his neutral-heavy Samus is the best Samus in the world. He used his newly discovered "multi tournament conditioning" tech to upset SFAT at Battle of the Five Gods, showing that he can still play with the best in 2016. The newly sponsored Mike Haze has been improving at a rapid pace, and his new sponsorship from Amino Apps may only push him further at Pound 2016. Finally, Norwalk's Alex19 will be using "the magic" that helped him beat Silent Wolf and Wizzrobe at Genesis 3 to cause even more upsets at Pound 2016. Also be sure to look out for Kira and Bizzarro Flame (who recently moved back to NorCal but is still ranked in SoCal), two of SoCal's top 20.


Photo by Michael Hathaway (@tl_peanuts)

Florida will be bringing all of their top 6 to a national for the first time since CEO 2015. Aside from Hungrybox; Plup, Colbol, Wizzrobe, Gahtzu, and Gravy are all looking to prove themselves at the national level. Plup bounced back from his Genesis 3 performance at Battle of the Five Gods, where he beat Mew2King for the first time and went toe-to-toe with Armada, all with Sheik. However, it was his Samus that had more success against Mango than his Sheik, who struggled with its punishes and approaches against spacies in general over the weekend. Likewise, Florida veteran Colbol has seen success with his Fox and Marth, the latter being especially helpful against space animals. As long as he can keep the SDs to a minimum, Colbol will be poised for success this weekend. Finally, there is the 20GX crew: Wizzrobe, Gahtzu, and Gravy. Wizzrobe has recently been making a case for being the best Captain Falcon, as evidenced by his strong runs at Genesis 3 and PAX Arena. In addition to beating S2J and Lucky at those tournaments, Wizzrobe came close to beating Mew2King and Westballz. Could Pound 2016 be Wizzrobe's big top 8 breakout? For Gahtzu and Gravy, a good bracket as well as the ability to stay consistent will pave the road to success.


Photo by Michael Hathaway (@tl_peanuts)
NorCal will be bringing a few of their best to Pound, with PewPewU and SFAT leading the pack. SFAT had a fantastic start to the year with his Genesis 3 and PAX Arena performances, but he will be looking to bounce back from his Five Gods run where he narrowly drowned in pools. SFAT's strong mindset is what he will need to replicate his Genesis 3 success. Joining SFAT is his good friend and doubles partner PewPewU, who is looking to break his infamous 9th place national curse this weekend. He showed promise in his set against Ice at Battle of the Five Gods, but his nerves got the best of him in his set against Westballz. If PewPewU can keep his composure at Pound, his unique and creative style could break the curse. Some more NorCal players to watch out for include Laudandus, HomeMadeWaffles, Dizzkidboogie, and Toph.


Photo by Robert Paul (@tempusrob)
MD/VA is defending their region on a national level for the first time since Super Smash Con, and they are bringing all of their heavy hitters. Nintendude will be looking to send off MD/VA with a bang now that he is moving to NorCal. Will he be able to repeat his Genesis 3 success, or will he fall like he did at Battle of the Five Gods? (Although, Nintendude was quite sick that weekend.) Coming back to the big stage for the first time since Paragon LA is the fan-favorite Ice Climbers, Chudat. Although Chudat may fall under the radar for many, his EVO 2015 performance coupled with local wins over Westballz and HugS have shown that he cannot be slept on at Pound. Chillin will be looking to return to prime form, and his close (albeit sloppy) set with PewPewU at Genesis 3 showed that he still has the potential to compete at the top 2016. Can Chillin keep rising, or will Pound 2016 B (pun intended) the start of another slump? There are many more MD/VA threats to look out for at Pound 2016, including Milkman, Redd, lloD, Plank, Cyrain, SmashG0D, DoH, Hat, SG, Wenbobular, Aglet, and many more.


Photo by Thomas Tischio (@Tisch_Photos)

The U.S. Northeast is extremely dense with talent, and many of their best will be at Pound 2016. Fan favorite Fox and 20XX master Hax$ will be making his 2016 national debut after an extended hiatus. Although his hand and sleep problems still prevail, Hax$ showed glimmers of his old self at Super Nebulous 4 last weekend where he beat Westballz. Will Pound be Hax$' grand return, or will the fatigue across two days be too much for him? New York City's confident slicer and dicer The Moon has been on fire with strong finishes at Shots Fired 2 and Do or DI. The Moon is excellent against spacies, so his main challenge at Pound will be more unfamiliar mid/low-tier matchups, which have been his Achilles Heel in the past. Joining The Moon is his static teams partner DJ Nintendo. His Fox and Pikachu are generally very consistent at national tournaments, making him an easy shoe-in for anywhere from 17th-33th place. Zhu has generally been consistent with his Falco and secondary Fox/Sheik, but he will be looking to break past the 13th/17th place barrier at Pound. Finally, Swedish Delight's wins over Westballz and Hax$ at Super Nebulous 4 last weekend could give him the momentum he need's to make a deep run at Pound. Some more U.S. Northeast top talent at Pound includes Slox, Zanguzen, Minty, Swiftbass, Mafia, Crush, Captain Smuckers, and Jflex.


Photo by Thomas Tischio (@Tisch_Photos)

The Midwest will be coming in strong with many of their best at Pound 2016. Duck has had a very solid 2016 so far, starting off the year by finishing 13th at Genesis 3. Combine that a recent a set win over MacD and a very close set with Axe at Rubicon 7, and Duck could put in another strong run at Pound. A good friend of Duck and a Samus slayer, KJH will be looking to continue his swift growth at Pound. His extremely technical play has helped him beat players such as Westballz and Kirbykaze this year, potentially making Pound another point of improvement for KJH. Keep an eye out for more Midwestern players at Pound such as Frootloop, Prince Abu, Vro, and Drephen.


Photo by Robert Paul (@tempusrob)

There will also be a few lone representatives of their region at Pound. Axe has had a solid 2016 so far, but his performance at Battle of the Five Gods may have been a good wake up call for him. If Axe can overcome players such as Westballz and MacD, another top 6 placing could be in store for the world's best Pikachu. DruggedFox has returned to his roots by switching back to Fox, despite switching to Falco at the beginning of the year. His Fox demonstrated great potential against Axe and MacD at Battle of the Five Gods, meaning that Pound could possibly be DruggedFox's best tournament yet. Representing Washington State is Bladewise, one of the West Coast's premier Peaches. His unorthodox style has netted recent wins over players such HugS, possibly making Pound another good run for Washington's #2.

World Warriors

International competition was a defining element of Pound 4 and Pound V, and Pound 2016 will be no different, with top competitors coming in from Japan, England, the Netherlands, and Canada.


Playing overseas for the first time since EVO 2015 is everybody's favorite Red Yoshi, aMSa. Though his EVO run was not as spectacular as his Apex 2015 performance, aMSa always seems to have a new bag of tricks every time he travels to the U.S. For aMSa to turn heads at Pound, not only will he have to overcome difficult matchups such as Peach and Captain Falcon, but he will have to potentially adapt to the players who have taken to time to grind the Yoshi matchup during aMSa's break.

Although European staples such as Armada, Leffen, and Ice will not be at Pound, Professor Pro, Amsah, and Zgetto will be looking to fill their shoes. Professor Pro has made great strides in his gameplay recently, even managing to take a set off Leffen at Kickstart 7, a British monthly. European veteran Amsah will be competing in America for the first time since Apex 2012. One of the biggest adjustments Amsah will have to make will be playing with NTSC Sheik's improved grab game, a change that helped him take down Armada at Pound 4. Travelling from The Netherlands with Amsah is Zgetto, one of Europe's premier Foxes. Zgetto will also have the benefits of playing with NTSC, only improving his generally consistent play.

Coming in from The Six are n0ne and Ryan Ford, arguably the two best players in Canada now. n0ne made a splash at Genesis 3 by beating PewPewU and nearly defeating HugS, but a loss to CDK in losers left him sitting at 33rd place. The flashy Falcon has been wanting to prove himself at a big national for a while now, and Pound 2016 is shaping out to by n0ne's time to shine. Ryan Ford has steadily been improving since his return last year, and Pound may very well be his chance to return to his peak form. A surprising loss to Frycook kept Ryan Ford from making top 64 from G3, but very strong results in Southern Ontario and Québec could give him the confidence he will need for Pound 2016.

Doubles Preview


Photo by Michael Hathaway (@tl_peanuts)

There will be many tough teams, whether they are completely new teams or static teams. Here are some of the top threats:

SFAT :foxmelee: and PewPewU :marthmelee: (Team CLG aka PewFat): With teams such as Armada/Mew2King and Mew2King/Hungrybox out of the way, Pound 2016 could very well be the first major win for the PewFat under the CLG name.

Hungrybox :jigglypuffmelee: and Plup :sheikmelee::samusmelee:: The last national they teamed at was Paragon Orlando (excluding the EVO side event), where they took home first place. Their uncovential team of Jigglypuff and Samus has proved to be very effective in the past, and throwing Plup's Sheik into the mix makes Hungrybox and Plup one of the favorites to take the tournament.

Mango :falcomelee::foxmelee: and S2J :falconmelee:: Although Mango left S2J hanging at Genesis 3, Team Norwalk's performance at Dreamhack Winter proved that the two friends can be a very effective team. Their relentless aggression combined with Falco's ability to easily save Captain Falcon from offstage could lead them to success at Pound.

Those are only a few of the best teams to look out for at Pound 2016. More top teams include DJ Nintendo/The Moon, MacD/Westballz, Colbol/Gahtzu, Wizzrobe/DruggedFox, Chudat/Chillin, Duck/KJH, Swedish Delight/Slox, Amsah/Zgetto, n0ne/Ryan Ford, Bladewise/Prince Abu, aMSa/Toph, lloD/SmashG0D, and Frootloop/Laudandus.

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Hyped for Pound 2016? Create your own fantasy team on smashgg for a chance to win some sweet prizes, and comment your predictions in the comments or tweet on Twitter with the hashtag #Pound2016.
 
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Comments

IDC what logic says at this point. Although Hbox and Mang0 are probably going to meet at GF, I wanna see Westballz tear it up through winners, get beat by Hbox in winners semis, meet Mang0 in losers, beat him, and get an Hbox V. Westballz grand finals! Holy ****, that would be hype. That could happen if Westballz stops SDing for one second.
 
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