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)