Since the early days of competitive Super Smash Bros. Melee, the rivalry between Northern and Southern California has been heated. This Saturday, October 15, Blood for Blood aims to settle the age-old score by bringing SoCal's iconic tournament series, Super Smash Sundays (Saturday, in this case) to NorCal and with it, some of the best that both regions have to offer.
Here's what you need to know about SSS: Blood for Blood.
SoCal's Offensive
) is coming into the event as the region's flagbearer. Westballz has had flashes of brilliance throughout 2016, placing top 8 at EVO 2016 and Syndicate, but also moments of weakness, such as his 33rd place finish at Pound 2016 and 13th place finish at last weekend's The Big House 6. Should he play on point, he could very well win the tournament handily.Another case of "will do well on a good day" is fan favorite Johnny "Tempo | S2J" Kim (
). Despite overcoming his long-time bane in the form of Westballz to secure a top 6 finish at EVO 2016, his 33rd place finish at The Big House 6 leaves much to be desired. Still, his performance at The Big House 6's crew battle bracket, where he took out 8 of the Floridian crew's stocks in grand finals, shows that under the right circumstances, he is unstoppable.Top 6 finishes at Dreamhack Austin and Get On My Level made for an amazing early 2016 for Joey "Selfless | Lucky" Aldama (
), though he hasn't made top 8 at a major post-May. One of the best Fox specialists in the world, Lucky delivers solid play throughout every tournament albeit under-placing at recent majors like The Big House 6. As a staple of the SSS series, a win for him at Blood for Blood would mean a lot for both him and SoCal.Other notables include:
- Melee's resident statsman and NorCal-turned-SoCal player Daniel "Tafokints" Lee ()
- Will "Reno" Hsiao () of 'Renofield' fame
- SSBMTutorials' Dave "Kira" Kim ().
- and more!
Defenders of NorCal
Zachary “CLG | SFAT” Cordoni (
) and Kevin “CLG | PewPewU” Toy () are perhaps two of SoCal's biggest threats this tournament, placing 5th and 7th at The Big House 6, respectively. In addition to their impressive individual performances, their doubles game, believed to be one of the best in the game, will prove most challenging to defeat. At The Big House 6's doubles event, they knocked out the then-favorites, brothers Adam “Alliance | Armada” Lindgren and Andreas “Alliance | Android” Lindgren, twice in winners and grand finals, to place 1st.With a 2-0 set count against Westballz this year, DaJuan “WFX | Shroomed” McDaniel (
), the third member of NorCal's trifecta, will prove to be the biggest hurdle for the SoCal gatekeeper. Shroomed’s versatile Sheik clocked in at 9th place at The Big House 6 last weekend, and like the rest of his crew, is looking for blood.Many of NorCal's elite will be making it out to the event including:
- recent Twitch hire Michael "SPY | Nintendude" Brancato ()
- Josua "S0ft" Davis (), formerly of Georgia
- Charles "Cactuar" Meighen () of Smash Practice
- Pound 2016 top 6 finisher Sam "Laudandus" Rohrer ()
- Jeff "SilentSpectre" Leung () and Brandon "Homemadewaffes" Collier () of Wombo Combo fame
- and more!
Ryan "The Moon" Coker-Welch (
) is set to be the sole out-of-California top player at the event and a serious threat in his own right. Past a rocky start early on in the year, his recent results have been relatively consistent with a 2nd place finish at Heir 3, one of Europe's largest tournaments, being a highlight. Wins over the likes of Lucky, Chu Dat, Android and Duck show that he has what it takes to shake up the tournament's dynamics.
The conflict between NorCal and SoCal has been a storied one and it will be interesting to see how it develops at Blood for Blood. Being a traditionally SoCal tournament hosted on NorCal turf, the latter’s players having won many of the recent SSS events they’ve attended, a lot is at stake for both regions.For more on Blood for Blood, be sure to stay tuned to its stream on TeamOXY’s Twitch channel starting 10 AM and its brackets on Smashgg.
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