Anyone who knows the Terry Brothers from their run in Mortal Kombat 9, knows that they had a habit of switching places with each other from tournament to tournament. Throughout the history of the game, Denzell would tear the bracket up at one event, and at the next MIT would make Top 8 instead; until they finally broke even at MLG Dallas. In keeping with tradition, the last time the Vegas crew made their way down to Wednesday Night Fights, it was Malik "MIT" Terry who made his way to 2nd place. This time, it was Denzell who managed to make his way to the top of the heap, and he was eventually able to collect a WNF victory to go along with his impressive runner-up finish in IGAU at EVO. With the addition of Vegas, this edition of WNF was fairly stacked, with nowhere to hide in the bracket. But although there were likely a number of great matches, but our viewing experience this week was limited to Top 3.
Ine one of the most anticipated matches of the night, Denzell and his Green Lantern faced off against WNF multi-time champion RDK Tyrant, who is coming off his record-breaking month-long chokehold on the tournament's top spot. The action in Winners Finals started quickly, with both players staying mobile and jockeying for position. Going back and forth, they traded damage throughout their first life bars until Tyrant caught Denzell after a standing Oa's Rocket with a meter-burned Swamp Hands, dashing up to full combo into the background interactible and give himself a solid lead. But Denzel responded, catching Tyrant out of a frametrap and jumping all over him, and eventually zoning him out as he tried to back away and create space. The second game started off with both players trying to zone each other from fullscreen, until Tyrant found an opening and dashed in to hit Denzell out of the air. After Tyrant pressured Denzell to go up by most of a life bar, Denzel responded and opened up a Resets R' Us store at Tyrant's expense. Down to their last bit of life, another meter-burned Swamp Hands spelled the beginning of the end for Denzell, as Tyrant wisely staggered his followup to keep Denzell from clashing and take the match. Although Tyrant came storming out of the gate again in Game 3, Denzell began to play a cat-and-mouse game, walking just into Tyrant's attack range and then jumping back to zone him with rockets and Minigun A missed read on an airgrab allowed Denzell a full combo punish, and he carefully backed away to Zone Tyrant out once again and send him to Losers 2-1.
Losers Finals was between Tyrant and his teammate, previous WNF multi-winner RDK Godspeed. Godspeed wasted no time, and was all over Tyrant from the get-go. Playing aggressively and mixing Black Adam's trait into his pressure, he never let Tyrant get comfortable and took the first game with a convincing lead. In Game 2, Godspeed continued to rush Tyrant down like mad, paying for it a few times when Tyrant used the Walking Corpse armor to grab him through the onslaught. Although Godspeed played a risky, breakneck game and was caught by Swamp Hands a couple of times coming in, he traded damage for damage, keeping the match even as he worked to get the upper hand. Caught by a punish as he attempted to pressure Godspeed after a blocked b23, Tyrant was forced to clash, sent back to fullscreen, and finished off with a Low Lighting, putting Godspeed into Grand Finals.
Grand Finals found both rivals on equal footing as the set began. Although DJT has a lot of Black Adam experience thanks to his brother MIT, Godspeed has played him before (at Vindication earlier this year) and looked comfortable. Denzell made a number of intelligent reads in Game 1, using meter to blow through Black Adam's Lightning Cage wakeup and eventually forcing Godspeed to clash. After Godspeed returned the favor, Denzell continued to space himself well and eventually caught Godspeed after a whiffed b23 to take the win. But in Game 2, Godspeed headed back to his trusty Metropolis Rooftop, and the battle for interactibles ensued. With both players both using the flying robots to deal damage and punishing the other's attempts to grab them, the game came down to the wire until Godspeed was able to grab one final robot to close Denzell out and take the game. The 3rd match started off with both players playing footsies, but a Black Magic from Godspeed turned into a downhill spiral when he missed the fact that he didn't yet have the meter to Meter Burn it. On autopilot, he went for the divekick followup, which was blocked by Denzell for a full punish, and Denzell continued to ride his momentum to build a significant lead. But eventually Godspeed fought his way back to even, and the two became tangled in a top-notch struggle for an edge. The final moments of the set were fantastic as both players pulled out all the stops, and Godspeed ultimately read Denzell's b3 with a divekick to reset the bracket and give himself one more chance.
In the second set, Denzell's crisp reactions were on display once again, and he countered Godspeed in every little gap with Green Lantern's b1's to rack up a pile of damage. But Godspeed stayed cool and kept himself in the game, slowly working his way back. Two favorable clashes for Denzell gave him a solid lead once again, however, and he caught Godspeed in one final combo for the first win of Set 2. Godspeed, looking extremely focused, headed back to the rooftop, but Denzell continued to play incredibly well and kept Godspeed from making use of the interactibles. But once Denzell started to lay back and zone, Godspeed was able to tip things back into his favor as he interrupted GL with Black Magic, low lightning, and divekicks. As usual, the set came down to an extremely close final segment, but Godspeed was eventually forced into the corner, giving himself nowhere to go and opening him up to GL's 50/50 game. Denzell hit him with a chess-like series of final attacks in rapid succession, tagging him with a double overhead for the win and grabbing his first victory at WNF.
All of the matches in Top 3 were a blast to see this week, and they showcased some high level play along with some new bits of matchup tech. Denzell's Lantern play was impeccable, and he really made use of the character's best elements on his way to the win. Godspeed also looked better than ever, and showed that he cannot be taken lightly as we move into the late summer and fall tournament season. Vegas has their sights set on the Fall Classic, where they will hopefully be making an appearance. And Denzell's victory means that we can add Green Lantern to the list of characters that have successfully topped a highly competitive tournament bracket. With the Flash terrorizing locals, and the list of dangerous characters growing at a deliberate pace, the game is evolving week by week and it's exciting to watch.
Top 8:
1) Denzell
2) RDK|GodSpeed
3) RDK|Tyrant
4) EGP pboardplayer 88
5) EMPEROR_THEO
5) IC Flawedzilla
7) Mucho Free Slayer
7) Rip
Stream Archives:
http://www.twitch.tv/leveluplive/b/442537645?t=49m54s
http://www.twitch.tv/leveluplive/b/442550837
Bracket:
http://levelup.challonge.com/wnfae2013_1_6_inj_se
Ine one of the most anticipated matches of the night, Denzell and his Green Lantern faced off against WNF multi-time champion RDK Tyrant, who is coming off his record-breaking month-long chokehold on the tournament's top spot. The action in Winners Finals started quickly, with both players staying mobile and jockeying for position. Going back and forth, they traded damage throughout their first life bars until Tyrant caught Denzell after a standing Oa's Rocket with a meter-burned Swamp Hands, dashing up to full combo into the background interactible and give himself a solid lead. But Denzel responded, catching Tyrant out of a frametrap and jumping all over him, and eventually zoning him out as he tried to back away and create space. The second game started off with both players trying to zone each other from fullscreen, until Tyrant found an opening and dashed in to hit Denzell out of the air. After Tyrant pressured Denzell to go up by most of a life bar, Denzel responded and opened up a Resets R' Us store at Tyrant's expense. Down to their last bit of life, another meter-burned Swamp Hands spelled the beginning of the end for Denzell, as Tyrant wisely staggered his followup to keep Denzell from clashing and take the match. Although Tyrant came storming out of the gate again in Game 3, Denzell began to play a cat-and-mouse game, walking just into Tyrant's attack range and then jumping back to zone him with rockets and Minigun A missed read on an airgrab allowed Denzell a full combo punish, and he carefully backed away to Zone Tyrant out once again and send him to Losers 2-1.
Losers Finals was between Tyrant and his teammate, previous WNF multi-winner RDK Godspeed. Godspeed wasted no time, and was all over Tyrant from the get-go. Playing aggressively and mixing Black Adam's trait into his pressure, he never let Tyrant get comfortable and took the first game with a convincing lead. In Game 2, Godspeed continued to rush Tyrant down like mad, paying for it a few times when Tyrant used the Walking Corpse armor to grab him through the onslaught. Although Godspeed played a risky, breakneck game and was caught by Swamp Hands a couple of times coming in, he traded damage for damage, keeping the match even as he worked to get the upper hand. Caught by a punish as he attempted to pressure Godspeed after a blocked b23, Tyrant was forced to clash, sent back to fullscreen, and finished off with a Low Lighting, putting Godspeed into Grand Finals.
Grand Finals found both rivals on equal footing as the set began. Although DJT has a lot of Black Adam experience thanks to his brother MIT, Godspeed has played him before (at Vindication earlier this year) and looked comfortable. Denzell made a number of intelligent reads in Game 1, using meter to blow through Black Adam's Lightning Cage wakeup and eventually forcing Godspeed to clash. After Godspeed returned the favor, Denzell continued to space himself well and eventually caught Godspeed after a whiffed b23 to take the win. But in Game 2, Godspeed headed back to his trusty Metropolis Rooftop, and the battle for interactibles ensued. With both players both using the flying robots to deal damage and punishing the other's attempts to grab them, the game came down to the wire until Godspeed was able to grab one final robot to close Denzell out and take the game. The 3rd match started off with both players playing footsies, but a Black Magic from Godspeed turned into a downhill spiral when he missed the fact that he didn't yet have the meter to Meter Burn it. On autopilot, he went for the divekick followup, which was blocked by Denzell for a full punish, and Denzell continued to ride his momentum to build a significant lead. But eventually Godspeed fought his way back to even, and the two became tangled in a top-notch struggle for an edge. The final moments of the set were fantastic as both players pulled out all the stops, and Godspeed ultimately read Denzell's b3 with a divekick to reset the bracket and give himself one more chance.
In the second set, Denzell's crisp reactions were on display once again, and he countered Godspeed in every little gap with Green Lantern's b1's to rack up a pile of damage. But Godspeed stayed cool and kept himself in the game, slowly working his way back. Two favorable clashes for Denzell gave him a solid lead once again, however, and he caught Godspeed in one final combo for the first win of Set 2. Godspeed, looking extremely focused, headed back to the rooftop, but Denzell continued to play incredibly well and kept Godspeed from making use of the interactibles. But once Denzell started to lay back and zone, Godspeed was able to tip things back into his favor as he interrupted GL with Black Magic, low lightning, and divekicks. As usual, the set came down to an extremely close final segment, but Godspeed was eventually forced into the corner, giving himself nowhere to go and opening him up to GL's 50/50 game. Denzell hit him with a chess-like series of final attacks in rapid succession, tagging him with a double overhead for the win and grabbing his first victory at WNF.
All of the matches in Top 3 were a blast to see this week, and they showcased some high level play along with some new bits of matchup tech. Denzell's Lantern play was impeccable, and he really made use of the character's best elements on his way to the win. Godspeed also looked better than ever, and showed that he cannot be taken lightly as we move into the late summer and fall tournament season. Vegas has their sights set on the Fall Classic, where they will hopefully be making an appearance. And Denzell's victory means that we can add Green Lantern to the list of characters that have successfully topped a highly competitive tournament bracket. With the Flash terrorizing locals, and the list of dangerous characters growing at a deliberate pace, the game is evolving week by week and it's exciting to watch.
Top 8:
1) Denzell
2) RDK|GodSpeed
3) RDK|Tyrant
4) EGP pboardplayer 88
5) EMPEROR_THEO
5) IC Flawedzilla
7) Mucho Free Slayer
7) Rip
Stream Archives:
http://www.twitch.tv/leveluplive/b/442537645?t=49m54s
http://www.twitch.tv/leveluplive/b/442550837
Bracket:
http://levelup.challonge.com/wnfae2013_1_6_inj_se
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