Armada is your Melee EVO 2015 Champion!

[AlphaZealot]

After 3 days of Smashing, nail biting drama, and several unexpected results, [A]rmada has come out as the EVO 2015 Super Smash Brothers Melee champion. Players during the weekend were treated to the highest level of play seen since Apex 2015 and yet another crazy finish. [A]rmada overcame a strong performance from TL | Hungrybox before taking the crown 3-2 in a close grand finals. The victory came after a long drought for the former #1 player in the world and after winning the crowd chanted his name, along with over 205,000 viewers on Twitch.

Champions were crowned at EVO 2015 ​

The top 8 was filled with character diversity, an issue that has been troubling of late with the rise of the 20XX meta and was a concern coming into EVO 2015. Viewers were treated to Fox, Falco, Sheik, Samus, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Marth, and Ice Climbers. Sadly, no Captain Falcon. The biggest surprise was Plup's Samus and high level of play after having his controller break the previous night. Also on display was ChuDat's Ice Climbers which reminded many of his 2007 prime. While Chu had chances to go deeper in the bracket, he was unable to come up with the SoPo magic that was witnessed just a day before.

PPMD even brushed off his Falco in the winners finals against a driven Armada. Though flashy, it didn't pay off and Armada managed to take the winners finals in a clean 3-0 sweep. PPMD's day was cut short by another 3-0 sweep against Hungrybox in the Loser's Finals.

Controversy
Some controversy has come out of the event as once again Hungrybox used ledge stall mechanics to control the pace of play - taking a game from Armada in a time out and upsetting Mango in the losers bracket. The strategy meant Hungrybox lost the crowd for the day and was even booed after his 2-1 victory over Mango, where Mango suicided twice in game 3. Despite the crowd being against him, Hungrybox managed to defeat Plup and PPMD en route to his third grand finals (historically) against Armada. For Hungrybox, his fortunes turned in the losers bracket after switching to a standing position - after which he would not lose again until the grand finals. Despite using the ledge against Armada in winners and Mango in losers, he went away from the strategy late in the bracket and didn't employ it in the grand finals, where he lost 3-2 to Armada's Fox.

The Melee Finals of EVO 2015​

Status of Leffen
One of the favorites to win the event after a dominant performance at CEO 2015 only weeks ago, Leffen washed out of the event with losses to Hungrybox's Jigglypuff 2-0 in winners and to Plup's Samus in losers. Matchup inexperience likely played a key role in both of these losses. Unable to again make a stand at the grandest stage, Leffen will head home with his status among the top of the Melee hierarchy still in doubt.

Below are the results for the top 64, characters, and payouts for Melee at EVO 2015.
EVO 2015 Melee Top 8 - 1,869 entrants ($18,690 prize pool)
July 17 - 19, 2015
1. [A]rmada (Fox) - $11,214
2. TL | Hungrybox (Jigglypuff) - $3,738
3. EG | PPMD (Marth, Falco) - $1,869
4. PG | Plup (Sheik, Samus) - $747.60
5. C9 | Mango (Fox) $373.80
5. TSM | Leffen (Fox)- $373.80
7. MH | ChuDat (Ice Climbers) - $186.90
7. TP | Axe (Pikachu) - $186.90
9. Ice (Fox, Sheik)
9. CLG|PewPewU (Marth)
9. HugS (Samus)
9. DruggedFox (Sheik, Marth)
13. Liquid|Ken (Marth)
13. Lucky (Fox)
13. Tempo|Westballz (Falco, Fox)
13. Duck (Samus)
17. Fly Amanita (Ice Climbers)
17. Santiago (Fox)
17. SFAT (Fox)
17. Hax (Fox)
17. GC|SilentWolf (Fox)
17. TAY|Javi (Fox)
17. S2J (Captain Falcon)
17. MacD (Peach)
25. Reno (Marth)
25. WFX|Shroomed (Sheik)
25. DJ Nintendo (Fox)
25. VGBC|aMSa (Yoshi)
25. Laudandus (Sheik)
25. DarkRain (Captain Falcon)
25. Zanguzen (Falco)
25. XTR|Eddy Mexico (Luigi)
33. Azen Zagenite (Marth, Falco)
33. Lovage (Fox)
33. Kalamazhu (Peach)
33. DarkAtma (Sheik)
33. Poor Zhu (Falco)
33. 62-Bit|Vish (Captain Falcon)
33. Kira (Sheik)
33. Far! (Falco)
33. Swedish Delight (Sheik)
33. OkamiBW (Sheik)
33. COG|Wizzrobe (Captain Falcon)
33. Animal (Fox)
33. Darrell (Samus)
33. Azusa (Peach)
33. Frootloop (Falco)
33. The Moon (Marth)
49. MIOM|Tafokints (Sheik)
49. Forward (Falco, Fox)
49. Lord (Captain Falcon)
49. JJS|MikeHaze (Fox)
49. KPan (Fox)
49. Cactuar (Fox)
49. Prince Abu (Jigglypuff)
49. VS|Blea Gelo (Luigi)
49. Drephen (Sheik)
49. FSBR|Crush (Fox)
49. VGBC|Redd (Fox)
49. FatGoku (Fox)
49. Joey Cheung (Falco)
49. Dart (Marth)
49. Light (Peach)
49. SS|Colbol (Fox)

 

[CptJPuff]

This EVO has been the most hype by far.

Also, nice disrespect with that medal, Mang0.

EDIT: Was going to post this pic originally, but forgot.



Look at all those viewers.

 

[Deleted member]

Chile and Sweden literally trashing on America, goddamn we're bad at video games.

 

[Dokokashira]

Man, I wanted Hungrybox to win just for the massive salt.

 

[Man Li Gi]

Wish Hbox won to see the salt from all the Melee fans.

Armada winning is something that should've happened last year.

You don't know how hyped I was when I saw Hbox land a rest in game 2 against Mango. My family was questioning my sanity.

 

[Ridel]

Good job from both players!

 

[Atm0s]

This EVO really did have some hype moments, even in the stall matches. Congratulations to Armada!

 

[Jiggly]

So hbox has the most consistent evo record over the last 3 years. How is he the worst god?

 

[Gawain]

Dat medal toss by Mang0 though.

 

[PootisKonga]

Hey look Fox won a Melee tournament once again how original


In all seriousness, great job to both players and I was glad to see so much character diversity in a high level Melee tourney!

 

[ShortcutButton]

Leffens status still in doubt? Maaaaan

 

[Lichi]

Absolutely loved this EVO. Also have to mention, despite the negative crowd reaction, Hbox is just such a good sport. Don't hate.

 

[XDaDePsak]

Wake me up when melee gets Ike DLC

 

[SphericalCrusher]

What an amazing, and crazy tournament. So many close sets almost make me want to start smoking. I predicted Armada taking it, so I'm glad to be right. Wow and congrats again to the top 8!

 

[dahuterschuter]

ARMADA you insane ******* you played like a maniac today you magnificent Swede you deserve the win.

Also PP 1st at Apex 3rd at EVO top three in the two biggest tournaments of the year my favourite Smasher right there good job Kevin we love you.

Also shout outs to mang0 for the salt and keeping the entertainment alive tossing that medal creating EVO moments.

Where's plup btw?

 

[J.P]

Seriously if you found H-Box game cheap or lame you don't like Melee, you just like flashy and fast stuff.

 

[Deleted member]

View attachment 62468

no

 

[gridatttack]

That was great. So much hype.

Perhaps except the last match of HBox and Mango...
It was heartbreaking :<

Though I dont get the hate at the end at Hbox.

And mango throwing the medal to the public? Wut.

 

[AlphaSSB]

I was rooting for Hungrybox, personally, but those Top 8 matches were phenomenal!

 

[SmashShadow]

Congrats to Armada! That man has not only put in work this year like nobody has but is also one of the chillest smash community members around. Congrats to HungryBox too, played an amazing and kept him on his toes.

 

[Zeth444]

Does anyone has a link to Mang0's Medal Toss highlight? Closed The stream after Hbox lost. Too sad. That Man is The reason why Jiggly is Top Character, he has The most consistent EVO placement (if Im no mistaken hes aways at top 3). I wanted him to win só bad. (Yet... Congrats to Armada, You deserved this victory).

 

[Spoice]

We not gonna talk about Plup trashing Leffen then?

 

[Casval]

Plup was hype. Druggedfox was hype. Chudat was hype. Mango was disrespectful with that medal toss.

Good tournament, can't complain.

 

[PCHU]

I think the thing that disappointed me the most was the crowd's reactions to the HBox strats; I get that it really isn't that great to watch, but the fact is that they completely missed what happened when he got onstage -- lasers ate him up.
It was also weird that there was more of a cheer for uthrow uair than a rest, but I guess people just wanted Melee to be over with by that point, either that or HBox really lost a lot of respect from people, which is unfortunate.

I did want to see PPMD take it, and the 3-0 looks really bad if you didn't watch the matches, but watching him play again was truly phenomenal and I'm really hyped to see him again.

All this being said, absolutely no disrespect to any of the players here; they all put in tons of work and they deserve all the money and praise they got.

 

[MintChipper]

RESET is only one letter away from REST. Coincidence? Im not so sure

— ESAM (Stride Esports) (@imESAM) July 19, 2015

 

[#HBC | Red Ryu]

Mango and Leffen in losers, then got knocked out earlier than I thought they would.

Wowsa.

Armada with the win to a wonderful tournament.

 

[SmashBro99]

View attachment 62468
Seriously if you found H-Box game cheap or lame you don't like Melee, you just like flashy and fast stuff.

As if it's anything more

Glad HBox didn't win, not because of how he played.

 

[proxibomb]

Mango was pretty disrespectful this tournament. You've already got two EVO wins under your belt. At least celebrate your current position by keeping your medal.

 

[Globe]

Amazing work Armada! Really happy to see Armada successful. lol fox wins again!

Also Mango salt hasn't been better

 

[Rᴏb]

This is going to be the best ending to Armada's documentary episode.

 

[Plunder]

Shoutouts to Druggedfox, Plup, Chu, Ken and Axe for bringing some major hype to this Evo.

 

[Purin a.k.a. José]

Though I got mad with HBox shenanigans, the Top 8 was pretty hype. Also, despite not being his fan, Plup choosing Samus again brought the biggest smile to my face! Good games to everybody who was there and to everybody who was watching any game! See you next year.

 

[Meta1]

WHAT THE **** IS THIS I THOUGHT MANGO WAS THE BEST AND WHERE THE **** IS M2K SMASH IS RUINED FOREVER BY ROYTARDS BTW MELEE TAKES NO SLILL BECAUSE THERES NO LILMAC

 

[Legonro]

If you booed Hbox while he was getting his medal, then **** you

 

[Joe Shmo]

IMO this tournament had the best non-top 8 matches of all time

 

[EnigmaticScarecrow]

Wake me up when melee gets Ike DLC

Well, we already had the Great Melee Patch of 2004 sooo...

 

[EarthCrash]

A very enjoyable Top 8, completely insane from start to finish.

 

[febLey]

Amazing finals.
I had so much fun watching them.
Can't wait for the next Evo.

Congrats to Armada and Zero.

 

[Casval]

Shoutouts to Druggedfox, Plup, Chu, Ken and Axe for bringing some major hype to this Evo.

#hypeboys

They had some of the best matches to watch all tournament. The only other person who was as fun for me to watch was probably PP, but everyone expected PP to be PP already.

 

[SonicWinDX]

I was sad that Mang0 had so much issues with the puff, but glad Armada finally won EVO. Really deserved this.