Yo Dreamhack Tho
As Dreamhack approaches, so too does the end of the year. And what a year it has been. Leffen became a god. The previous tournament attendance record was broken three times. Armada became the BOAT. Four new major teams picked up players. The GOAT went full buster. $10K is par for the course. Hax$ is basically the Smash Derrick Rose at this point.
Dreamhack is one last shot at tipping people’s memories of 2015 in your favor. With annual rankings being called for, yearly earnings being tallied up and the prestige of the best player of the year on the horizon, players are vying to have one final smashing success this weekend.
For some, it’s a chance of redemption. Mang0 has fallen from his once mighty perch atop the mountain. After dominating the scene for almost two years, the GOAT took a fall in 2015. With a losing record against Armada, dropping the threpeat of Evo (taking only 6th place), and 4th place finishes at Apex and Big House, Mango’s darkest moment of the year came with a 17th place finish at HTC Throwdown. Some have choked up the slump to a shift in emphasis on streaming. Others have pointed to the rise of Leffen and the true return to form from Armada. Whatever the reason, Mang0 has lagged behind in the Fox ditto, leaving him at a disadvantage in the rapidly evolving Fox heavy metagame of Melee. His year hasn’t been without victory (1st at Paragon and Press Start), but the days of constant gold are in the rearview mirror. A win at Dreamhack would allow Mango to start to turn the tides of fate back in his favor, as well as finish the year on one of his few positive notes he’s landed.
On the opposite side, it’s a chance at solidifying a legacy defining years for others. Throughout the year, Armada has dominated the smash scene in a way that has never been seen before. The Swedish champion has raked in over $60K over the course of the year with over a dozen major tournament wins, including the two largest tournaments of all time. His transition to dual maining Fox and Peach has completed, with the EVO champion taking tournaments with both characters. The Sniper wasn’t the only Swede to have an amazing year. 2015 was the year where we saw Leffen ascend from a challenger to a fully fledged god. The TSM recruit controlled the summer with gold finishes at CEO, WTFox, FC15 and SSC. After a slight cooldown in the fall, compounded with visa issues, Leffen’s year has taken a slight turn down. After a year of claiming his long desired title, Leffen needs a win at Dreamhack to prevent Armada from stealing his year.
For a myriad of others, a strong placing at Dreamhack is a chance to put an excellent capstone to a year of growth. Axe, with his consistent advancement of the metagame, looks to secure another top 4 and lock in his 7th ranked slot. Lucky and SFAT continue to duel in and out of region for the last spot in the top 10. Plup, after switching to Sheik, looks for the final validation for his character switch. Shroomed, with the same switch, looks for any validation for the same. Westballz, after multiple strong in region performances, is attempting to finally rack up a strong out of region win. S2J fights, as always, for the honor of Falcon. For countless Europeans, the event is a chance to put their country and their continent onto the Melee map.
For Melee as a whole, the event is perhaps the most exciting weekend in the 15 years of the game. Dreamhack is one of the most prestigious circuits in the entirety of esports. The prize money is the highest that the community has ever seen. Whenever we look back at Melee, Dreamhack will be a turning point. A beacon of skill, prestige and wonder.
Whatever the hell happens, it’s gonna be exciting.
Writer: peanuts
CSS: FO-nTTaX
Awesomeness: peanuts