This weekend's Genesis 4 will be
Rivals of Aether's biggest offline event yet.
Featuring a five-figure prize pool and talent from all over the world, here's everything you need to know about
Rivals of Aether at Genesis 4.
Main Information and Stream
Stream Information:
You can catch the top 8 for the singles bracket on the
2GGaming stream, which starts at 6PM PST on Saturday, January 21.
Brackets:
Brackets for the singles event can be found
here. Refer to the table below for the full schedule.
Schedule:
Start Time (in PST)
|
Event
1/20 Friday 3 PM & 7 PM | Freeplay Meetups & Doubles Tournament
(More Information here)
1/21 Saturday 10 AM | Official Rivals side event starts
1/21 Saturday 4 PM | Top 32
1/21 Saturday 6 PM | Top 8
Since
Rivals is a side event, the organizers will still be taking registration at the door should anyone want to sign up in-person.
Scheduling Conflicts:
The organizers are willing to work with players participating in multiple events. If you want to play but are worried about missing your main event, fear not.
Prizepool and Payouts:
The prize pot is currently over $11,000 with payouts to the top 16.
Storylines
The Big Guns
Name
| character |
Description
Name: Ralph “
Ralph
” Arroyo |
| When talking about a national Rivals event, the first name mentioned should always be Ralph. He’s the clear favorite for #1 and a known NorCal smasher who's been the king of Rivals dating back to the beginning. Even though his streak of dominance hasn't been broken yet, other players have been rising ever closer to his level. Ralph plays the game with a clinical, pragmatic style and
makes insane strings look like no big deal.
Name: Joshua “
FullStream
” Thompson |
| Right behind him, the player closing in on Ralph the quickest so far has been FlySociety’s FullStream. FullStream has been at the top of the NA circuit all season and is a master at almost every character. He completely dropped his main (Wrastor) in the middle of the season and still went on to win events with multiple different characters. Now the question is - has he been hiding tech on his main or will he really be playing “secondaries” at G4?
Name: Forrest “
MrLz
” Griffin |
| Following up FullStream, MrLz has also made an appearance in the Rivals scene. Known for taking down the Paragon PM event he’s looking to do the same at G4 with Rivals. What makes him especially scary is that most of the Rivals circuit has been online, and MrLz says his offline game is a totally different beast. It’s true that live tournament play puts different stresses on players (plus it's lagless), and MrLz’ track record with big events hints that he won’t be choking at G4.
Name: Alex “
CakeAssault
” Strobel |
| Another young player, CakeAssault surprised everyone with how easy he made it look to get first at Super Smash Con this year.
Name: Anthony “
Kaos
” G |
| Even though the Rivals scene is primarily North American, there’s also a contender coming all the way from Europe. Kaos, a French
Brawl
player and and ex-
League of Legends
pro is making the long trip with the help of the travel voucher he won in the online circuit. His stats from EU Rivals tournaments are scary indeed with him winning every event he’s played in. Everyone's anxious to see if he'll be just as unbeatable against the American Rivals scene or if EU won’t be able to stand up to the NA meta.
The Contenders
Name
|
Character
William “
LBO
” Dunmire |
Nathan “
AZCards
” Bloeman |
Ryan “
FailWhale
” Estrada |
Neal “
Handbutt
” Sama |
Isaac “
DolphinBrick
” Leslie |
Justin “
MSB
” M |
Joey “
Turquoise
” |
Warren “
Tandori
” Kertis |
Daniel “
Arcanine
” Zsiros |
From the rest of the
Rivals online leaderboards to the unknowns hoping to catch people off guard, it’s going to be a crazy event.
