Hosted in the biggest event centre in the country, Jaarbeurs in Utrecht, this international event brings together 15 of SmashEurope’s Melee top 20 and USA’s Weston “G2 | Westballz” Dennis, a top 10 player worldwide and one of the most frequent travelers across the Atlantic in recent times.
Competitors
2016 has been a hot year for European Melee with 11 tournaments reaching over 100 entrants, a big increase on this time last year when there had only been 8. This growth is due in large part to the Avalon Series TOs, whose Avalon M series of tournaments has consistently brought large scale, high skill competition from around Europe to the Netherlands.
Syndicate will feature many of the names who have previously populated the top 8s at Avalon and 15 of SmashEurope’s top 20 including:
Adam “ [A] Armada ” Lindgren |
| With William “
TSM Leffen
” Hjelte still on a break from serious competitive
Melee
, Armada is far and away the favourite for first place but each of the following players should provide stiff competition as they struggle to join Leffen in ascending to the next level. Anything but a win here will be a big upset.Mustafa “ Ice ” Akcakaya |
| Having left mYinsanity earlier this week, unless he has a new contract already lined up, Ice will be looking to not just solidify his position as Europe’s number 3 and a top 20 player worldwide but also show what he can do against Armada and Westballz. Ice vs Westballz is always tremendously entertaining and though the American has won the past 5 sets, Ice will be sure he can pull off the win after coming so close at Smash Con 2016.Aaron “ VwS Professor Pro ” Thomas |
| Widely considered the fourth best in Europe and having made multiple trips across the Atlantic to compete in North America this year, Professor Pro is pushing hard for improvement. The hard work is paying off as well as he racks up wins on both sides of the pond, most recently 3-0’ing Ryan “The Moon” Coker-Welch at Shine 2016. That said, he is by no means a lock-in for 4th or better as demonstrated by a recent close loss to Overtriforce at Heir 3 despite an overall winning record.Amsah “ Amsah ” Augustuszoon |
| The former king of European Melee is still competing at the top level taking three of the five Avalon M tournaments including a win over Ice at the start of the year. Since then, he has yet to outplace expectation but if he can reconnect with that form he will be in for a top placing and stake his own claim for top 4 in Europe. A predicted clash with Westballz in winners quarters has potential for an upset if Amsah can emulate the Sheiks who beat the world class Falco (and occasional Donkey Kong) earlier in the year.Alvaro Garcia “ HEIR Trifasia ” Moral |
| Newly sponsored by Team Heir thanks to his win in The Contract at Heir 3, Trifasia will be looking to do better than his previous streak top 6 finishes at EU majors. Most recently at Heir 3 he also landed 5th place in the main bracket beating Amsah and Leffen’s Mewtwo and losing only to special guest Americans The Moon and Daniel “V
GBC ChuDat
” Rodriguez. Trifasia is currently ranked 1st in Spain and is on a strong upward curve of international recognition after only playing outside his home country for the past two years.Roberto “ Overtriforce ” Iglesias |
| Hot off 4th place at Heir 3 where he was the highest placing non-Armada European, Spain’s number 2 player will be looking to reclaim the number 1 spot and stake a claim for fourth in Europe by taking names, perhaps names including Miguel, Aaron and Alvaro.Miguel “ Zgetto ” Rodriguez |
| The top spacie main in the Netherlands is one of his country’s best hopes for defending their home turf as he looks to improve on an unfulfilling Heir 3 finish, landing 25th after having to play Edgard “n0ne” Sheleby early in losers bracket.Andreas “ Android ” Lindgren |
| Known more for his doubles achievements than singles, a 3-0 victory over Ice at Heir 3 goes some way to change that and more big wins here could help him rise to the top of Europe’s pool of high-level Sheiks.József “ HEIR reaper ” Ozoral |
| An unorthodox Marth with an unorthodox keyboard controller. Europe’s top Marth player has made great strides in his play in recent times but has yet to turn that into a top 8 placing at a European major, could this be his time?Manuel “ Däumling ” Däumling |
| The best Ice Climbers player in Europe is in a contentious battle with reaper for second best in Germany. After a 13th place at Heir 3 the proficient wobbler will be wanting to go even further at Syndicate.Charles “ REVO Fuzzyness ” Kimmelman |
| Like Android, Fuzzyness is known nowadays more for his exploits outside singles bracket, in this case as a streamer and world record-holding speedrunner. Joining Team RevolutioN has seen him return to competition including an impressive 5th place at DreamHack Summer.Jaap “ LLL Jeapie ” van der Zee |
| One of the flashiest and most exciting European players to watch will be one keep an eye out for on the streams as he shoots for a top 8 placing this weekend. Winning Avalon M-IV certainly shows he is capable of it.Faouzi “ Baxon ” Kedjam |
| Despite a slew of top level wins, including a local victory over Westballz, Baxon has yet to bring it all together for a top placing a major event and will be hoping to make Syndicate his own.Adam “ Adam ” Ayonmike |
| Having seemingly settled on maining a dynamic Fox, Adam will be trying to end a series of finishes ranging from predicted to underwhelming.Mahieddine “ Mahie ” Tsouria |
| France’s best Marth is coming off an excellent 9th place finish at Heir 3 beating reaper in the ditto and surprise n0ne-beater Austrian Peach main Ares before falling to Leffen’s Mewtwo.Weston " G2 Westballz " Dennis |
| Back at a European major for the first time since his two dramatic sets against Leffen at B.E.A.S.T 6, Westballz attends Syndicate as a wild card of sorts. Throughout the summer, his punish-heavy Falcos has had a wide rang of results ranging from great to mediocre. Should he play on point, Syndicate might be the chance for him to defeat his long-time roadblock, Armada.Exhibitions
More than just a singles event, Syndicate will also feature two exciting exhibitions in the form of a showcase set between two of the most explosive and dynamic players in the world, Westballz and Jeapie. Secondly, a crew battle between five top Europeans, Trifasia, Amsah, Baxon, reaper and Fuzzyness and five of Armada’s characters.
Armada has proven recently at Smash Summit that his secondaries are no slouch, it’s a safe bet we will see his Peach and Fox but will he bring out the Young Link and perhaps the Sheik and Falco that won him Heir 2? Tune in to Salty Playground on Saturday evening to find out.
Stream Info
Catch the streams on Geeky Goon Squad and Salty Playground starting at 11 AM CET (6 AM EST) Saturday and 10 AM CET (5 AM EST) Sunday. Follow the bracket on smashgg.
Who do you think is going to win Melee at Syndicate 2016? Let us know in the poll below.
For more coverage on the European scene, stay tuned on Smashboards. You can follow this article's author on Twitter.
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