If tournament careers were based on locals, Rico Suave would likely be able to retire right now and still have room to spare. That's how effective he's been at vanquishing some of the East Coast's top competition lately at NJ/NY area events. After winning Injustice at The Break for his 3rd week in a row, and beating EVO champ KDZ for the second time in as many weeks, Rico returned to his home base at Next Level to collect his weekly rent payment check. But although Rico looked as strong as ever, this week's tournament was anything but a foregone conclusion. The story of Wednesday night's action was CEO/UFGT champ Chris G, who has yet again upgraded his Green Arrow playbook and was able to make this one of the most competitive series of finals yet.
This week, we saw some fun Martian Manhunter play from Arturo alongside his Green Lantern, along with Cheetos' Doomsday and a pinch of Cyborg from Mojo M. Cheetos played consistently well, eliminating both TSF Ramon and NLBC fan favorite Grr before making his way to Losers Semis. Arturo was able to demonstrate his grasp of the Doomsday matchup, however, as he made life hard for Cheetos, staying on top of him and taking away his options to win both of their matches.
Chris G brought out his Arrow with a different tactic this time, and it helped change the dynamic of his matches vs. Rico's BA. The two met in Winners Finals, and the differences were evident right away. Rather than playing a strictly rushdown/counterpoke game, Chris took to zoning from the very beginning, using GA's fire arrows and pestering BA from a distance. This made it harder for Rico to get in -- and harder for him to play the keepaway game as well . When Rico would finally get close, Chris would have an ice arrow stocked and switch to attacking with mixups at a moment's notice. In Game 1 Chris never gave Rico a chance to relax, and looked to have the win wrapped up with a few seconds remaining; but Rico patiently worked his way in, and with 6 seconds left, he grabbed the Watchtower interactible. With Chris failing to contest the airspace, the hit took him down to a sliver of life and Rico chipped him out with a low lightning for the win. In the second game, Chris pressured Rico early on, and made use of some nice fire arrow setups with the Hall of Justice's wheeled interactible. Rico made an effort to bring himself back, but Chris held onto his lead and used GA's jump-back arrow to extinguish the final bits of BA's life.
Game 3 started well for Chris; but Rico was able to reverse the momentum, until Chris caught him with a d1~ice arrow into GA's Super reset. With Chris not using an unclashable combo ender after his b3, Rico was able to clash, bringing the health back to even. The two fought until they both had a pixel of life each, and the last minute struggle saw Rico narrowly take the game with low lightning. Chris' great start to Game 4 was again tempered by Rico's timely punishes, and Chris was never again able to reclaim his lead. Taking his usual gamble, Chris decided to save his meter in the Clash for GA's super. But with Rico gaining enough health to bolster a significant lead, the gap was too large to overcome, and Rico used his lightning and trait to end Chris' chances of a comeback and win the set.
This put Chris and Art on a collision (collusion? hehe) course in Losers. The set was an enjoyable one, with Chris pressuring Art heavily in the beginning. As Art began to uncork some of MMH's myriad setups, Chris defended patiently and waited for chances to interrupt. But noticing that Art was jumping a lot, Chris began to protect the skies and eventually caught Art in a Super ender to take the 1st match. Arturo played well in Game 2, timing his telports well and using orbs to keep the pressure on Chris after knockdown. Although Chris kept it close for a while, Art started to pull away later in the match and mixed up his offense well to win his 1st game of the set. In the 3rd match, Chris landed nearly everything en route to the win, including some downright nasty Sky Alerts to hit MMH out of both jump-ins and teleports. And in Game 4, Chris went up by a full life bar early on; and although Art gained ground with a few judicious reads, Chris continued to roll and closed the set out with his Super.
Grand Finals between Chris and Rico was as hotly contested as Winners Finals was, with the first match coming down to the last hit for both players. Chris took to the air, but Rico read it and hit him with a divekick for the win. The 2nd game was close throughout, until Chris caught Rico with the combo to Super late in the match. But with Black Adam all but dead, Chris dropped the potential game-winning combo ender, and Rico seized the opportunity to trap Chris in a MB Black Magic to full combo and steal Game 2. And in Game 3, Rico controlled the action the entire way to take the set 3-0.
With Rico winning events on both sides of the Hudson, everyone is waiting to see if anyone can step up and challenge his recent dominance. Summer Jam is now about a week away; and with some players making their first tournament appearances, along with some returning faces we haven't seen in a while, it should be a good test for some of the East Coast's best. Will anyone be able to prevent the East from becoming a permanent World of Dictators?
*On a special note: we'd like to wish Arturo "Sabin Madcatz Maxcpm HiChew" Sanchez a very special happy birthday!
Top 4:
1) G4C RG Rico Suave
2) AGE Chris G
3) TS Hi-Chew Sabin
4) Cheetos
Stream Archive:
http://www.twitch.tv/teamsp00ky/b/442406122
Bracket:
http://nextlevel.challonge.com/NLBC31INJ
This week, we saw some fun Martian Manhunter play from Arturo alongside his Green Lantern, along with Cheetos' Doomsday and a pinch of Cyborg from Mojo M. Cheetos played consistently well, eliminating both TSF Ramon and NLBC fan favorite Grr before making his way to Losers Semis. Arturo was able to demonstrate his grasp of the Doomsday matchup, however, as he made life hard for Cheetos, staying on top of him and taking away his options to win both of their matches.
Chris G brought out his Arrow with a different tactic this time, and it helped change the dynamic of his matches vs. Rico's BA. The two met in Winners Finals, and the differences were evident right away. Rather than playing a strictly rushdown/counterpoke game, Chris took to zoning from the very beginning, using GA's fire arrows and pestering BA from a distance. This made it harder for Rico to get in -- and harder for him to play the keepaway game as well . When Rico would finally get close, Chris would have an ice arrow stocked and switch to attacking with mixups at a moment's notice. In Game 1 Chris never gave Rico a chance to relax, and looked to have the win wrapped up with a few seconds remaining; but Rico patiently worked his way in, and with 6 seconds left, he grabbed the Watchtower interactible. With Chris failing to contest the airspace, the hit took him down to a sliver of life and Rico chipped him out with a low lightning for the win. In the second game, Chris pressured Rico early on, and made use of some nice fire arrow setups with the Hall of Justice's wheeled interactible. Rico made an effort to bring himself back, but Chris held onto his lead and used GA's jump-back arrow to extinguish the final bits of BA's life.
Game 3 started well for Chris; but Rico was able to reverse the momentum, until Chris caught him with a d1~ice arrow into GA's Super reset. With Chris not using an unclashable combo ender after his b3, Rico was able to clash, bringing the health back to even. The two fought until they both had a pixel of life each, and the last minute struggle saw Rico narrowly take the game with low lightning. Chris' great start to Game 4 was again tempered by Rico's timely punishes, and Chris was never again able to reclaim his lead. Taking his usual gamble, Chris decided to save his meter in the Clash for GA's super. But with Rico gaining enough health to bolster a significant lead, the gap was too large to overcome, and Rico used his lightning and trait to end Chris' chances of a comeback and win the set.
This put Chris and Art on a collision (collusion? hehe) course in Losers. The set was an enjoyable one, with Chris pressuring Art heavily in the beginning. As Art began to uncork some of MMH's myriad setups, Chris defended patiently and waited for chances to interrupt. But noticing that Art was jumping a lot, Chris began to protect the skies and eventually caught Art in a Super ender to take the 1st match. Arturo played well in Game 2, timing his telports well and using orbs to keep the pressure on Chris after knockdown. Although Chris kept it close for a while, Art started to pull away later in the match and mixed up his offense well to win his 1st game of the set. In the 3rd match, Chris landed nearly everything en route to the win, including some downright nasty Sky Alerts to hit MMH out of both jump-ins and teleports. And in Game 4, Chris went up by a full life bar early on; and although Art gained ground with a few judicious reads, Chris continued to roll and closed the set out with his Super.
Grand Finals between Chris and Rico was as hotly contested as Winners Finals was, with the first match coming down to the last hit for both players. Chris took to the air, but Rico read it and hit him with a divekick for the win. The 2nd game was close throughout, until Chris caught Rico with the combo to Super late in the match. But with Black Adam all but dead, Chris dropped the potential game-winning combo ender, and Rico seized the opportunity to trap Chris in a MB Black Magic to full combo and steal Game 2. And in Game 3, Rico controlled the action the entire way to take the set 3-0.
With Rico winning events on both sides of the Hudson, everyone is waiting to see if anyone can step up and challenge his recent dominance. Summer Jam is now about a week away; and with some players making their first tournament appearances, along with some returning faces we haven't seen in a while, it should be a good test for some of the East Coast's best. Will anyone be able to prevent the East from becoming a permanent World of Dictators?
*On a special note: we'd like to wish Arturo "Sabin Madcatz Maxcpm HiChew" Sanchez a very special happy birthday!
Top 4:
1) G4C RG Rico Suave
2) AGE Chris G
3) TS Hi-Chew Sabin
4) Cheetos
Stream Archive:
http://www.twitch.tv/teamsp00ky/b/442406122
Bracket:
http://nextlevel.challonge.com/NLBC31INJ
