For anyone who had a chance to check out Defend the North, it was a memorable event already by its first few matches. Stationed at the pole position of an impressive run of regionals and majors for early 2014 (DTN, Apex, Kumite, Winter Brawl, and SCR all in Jan.-Feb.), it was DTN's task to kick the new year off with a resounding bang. But I don't think anyone could have predicted how big of an explosion it was going to be.
Despite having a 30-odd man bracket, Defend the North was filled to the brim with dangerous competitors -- and accordingly filled to the brim with highly entertaining and wildly unpredictable matches. From the very beginning of pools, it was an emotional rollercoaster as spectors and stream monsters alike watched close match after close match. Several players came within inches of an upset, and other players watched their hopes of Top 8 slip away by mere pixels. And at the end of it all, Rico Suave emerged at the top of the heap.
Heading into today's Top 8, it was clear that things were fully charged. In winners was Rico Suave, who after finally hitting his pinnacle of success at Summer Jam, had taken a bit of a break to focus on KI and taken a bit of a bump at NEC as a result. Alongside him were KDZ, who after winning the biggest spate of tournaments of anyone in this game to date, had been rejuvenating and rebuilding since the balance patch. Then there was REO, who after months of lying low and apparently having quit the game, resurfaced to fly immediately back to Top 8 with his threatening Martian Manhunter. And DarthArma, who has quietly and faithfully become one of most lethal and consistent threats to don Batman's cape -- and a perennial mainstay in Top 8.
In losers we had Rev0lver, who has evolved from a fan sweetheart into one of the biggest reasons a lot of people don't make it out of pools. Grr, who has been putting in his share of work and is now comfortably breaking enough backs in order to throw down his knife in Top 8 whenever he shows up. Mr. Aquaman, who has been a consistent Top 16 threat and fought his way back to finals day; and DragonGod, who has struggled at times against stiffer competition, but overcame his drought to make Sunday's finals.
The Top 8 was an exciting and oftentimes surprising ride. REO barged in with a full head of steam, catching DarthArma off-guard as he cruised through a 2-0 victory. But Rico Suave was in top form and was prepared for him, sending him back to the drawing board and down to the Losers' bracket with an extremely solid-looking 3-0 deconstruction in Winners' finals. A heated exchange of armor between Rev0lver and Grr electrified the start of Losers matches, but Grr's abundance of armor overwhelemed a lot of Lex's punish attempts and trap setps by sheer force at some points. Grr adjusted well after losing the first match, playing aggressively at just the right times to seal himself the victory.
DragonGod's surprising run was one of the bigger stories of the tournament, defeating 7L, Mr. Aquaman, and KDZ to make it to Losers Semis. But after Arma sent him packing, the match between Arma and REO in Losers finals was one of the highlights of the tournament. With both players pulling out all the stops and going toe to toe at an extremely high level, they fought to 2-2 and Arma eventually pulled ahead, frustrating REO's late attempts to trap him in setups and using Batman's air control to edge out a win.
Grand Finals was hugely dominant from DarthArma at the outset, as he handily packaged up Rico's Black Adam and buried it in a 2-0 deficit. But in another surprising twitst, Rico pulled his Aquaman up from the watery depths and imediately Trident Rushed DarthArma's footsie game to a halt. Aquaman's range quickly became a problem for Arma, and though he fought well Rico quickly evened the score. But in a burn burner of a 5th match, Arma went into a projectile blitz during the final round, hitting Rico with back to back jumping Scatter Bombs, followed by four straight meter-burned batarangs, and stole the game to reset the bracket.
And the final set was white-knuckle all the way as Darth Arma again pulled off a Gotham-styled comback to take game one, and Rico narrowly prevailed to win the next two games. But Rico looked dominant in the final match as he fought of Arma's advances to secure himself the victory. This victory makes an incredibly strong statement for Rico and shows that he is still a force to be reckoned with (with more than one character!) as we move forward into this busy and exciting IGAU tournament season.
TOP 8
1) RG Rico Suave (Black Adam, Aquaman)
2) EMP DarthArma (Batman)
3) EMP REO (Martian Manhunter)
4) EMP DragonGod (Black Adam)
5) EMP KDZ (Superman, Wonder Woman, Sinestro)
5) Emperor Grr (Bane)
7) PTH Rev0lver (Lex Luthor)
7) PTH Mr. Aquaman (Ares)
STREAM ARCHIVE
http://www.twitch.tv/nycfurby/b/494724065?t=1h47m40s
MATCH LOG
Winners
EMP REO (MMH) over EMP DarthArma (Batman) 2-0
RG Rico Suave over EMP KDZ (Wonder Woman, Superman) 2-0
Losers
Emperor Grr (Bane) over Rev0lver (Lex Luthor) 2-1
EMP DragonGod (Black Adam) over PTH Mr. Aquaman (Ares) 2-1
EMP DarthArma (Batman) over Emperor Grr (Bane) 2-0
EMP DragonGod (Black Adam) over EMP KDZ (Sinestro, Superman) 2-1
EMP DarthArma (Batman) over EMP DragonGod (Black Adam) 2-0
Winners Finals
RG Rico Suave (Black Adam) over EMP REO (Martian Manhunter) 3-0
Losers Finals
EMP DarthArma (Batman) over EMP REO (Martian Manhunter) 3-2
Grand Finals
RG Rico Suave (Aquaman, Black Adam) over EMP DarthArma (Batman) 2-3, 3-1
Despite having a 30-odd man bracket, Defend the North was filled to the brim with dangerous competitors -- and accordingly filled to the brim with highly entertaining and wildly unpredictable matches. From the very beginning of pools, it was an emotional rollercoaster as spectors and stream monsters alike watched close match after close match. Several players came within inches of an upset, and other players watched their hopes of Top 8 slip away by mere pixels. And at the end of it all, Rico Suave emerged at the top of the heap.
Heading into today's Top 8, it was clear that things were fully charged. In winners was Rico Suave, who after finally hitting his pinnacle of success at Summer Jam, had taken a bit of a break to focus on KI and taken a bit of a bump at NEC as a result. Alongside him were KDZ, who after winning the biggest spate of tournaments of anyone in this game to date, had been rejuvenating and rebuilding since the balance patch. Then there was REO, who after months of lying low and apparently having quit the game, resurfaced to fly immediately back to Top 8 with his threatening Martian Manhunter. And DarthArma, who has quietly and faithfully become one of most lethal and consistent threats to don Batman's cape -- and a perennial mainstay in Top 8.
In losers we had Rev0lver, who has evolved from a fan sweetheart into one of the biggest reasons a lot of people don't make it out of pools. Grr, who has been putting in his share of work and is now comfortably breaking enough backs in order to throw down his knife in Top 8 whenever he shows up. Mr. Aquaman, who has been a consistent Top 16 threat and fought his way back to finals day; and DragonGod, who has struggled at times against stiffer competition, but overcame his drought to make Sunday's finals.
The Top 8 was an exciting and oftentimes surprising ride. REO barged in with a full head of steam, catching DarthArma off-guard as he cruised through a 2-0 victory. But Rico Suave was in top form and was prepared for him, sending him back to the drawing board and down to the Losers' bracket with an extremely solid-looking 3-0 deconstruction in Winners' finals. A heated exchange of armor between Rev0lver and Grr electrified the start of Losers matches, but Grr's abundance of armor overwhelemed a lot of Lex's punish attempts and trap setps by sheer force at some points. Grr adjusted well after losing the first match, playing aggressively at just the right times to seal himself the victory.
DragonGod's surprising run was one of the bigger stories of the tournament, defeating 7L, Mr. Aquaman, and KDZ to make it to Losers Semis. But after Arma sent him packing, the match between Arma and REO in Losers finals was one of the highlights of the tournament. With both players pulling out all the stops and going toe to toe at an extremely high level, they fought to 2-2 and Arma eventually pulled ahead, frustrating REO's late attempts to trap him in setups and using Batman's air control to edge out a win.
Grand Finals was hugely dominant from DarthArma at the outset, as he handily packaged up Rico's Black Adam and buried it in a 2-0 deficit. But in another surprising twitst, Rico pulled his Aquaman up from the watery depths and imediately Trident Rushed DarthArma's footsie game to a halt. Aquaman's range quickly became a problem for Arma, and though he fought well Rico quickly evened the score. But in a burn burner of a 5th match, Arma went into a projectile blitz during the final round, hitting Rico with back to back jumping Scatter Bombs, followed by four straight meter-burned batarangs, and stole the game to reset the bracket.
And the final set was white-knuckle all the way as Darth Arma again pulled off a Gotham-styled comback to take game one, and Rico narrowly prevailed to win the next two games. But Rico looked dominant in the final match as he fought of Arma's advances to secure himself the victory. This victory makes an incredibly strong statement for Rico and shows that he is still a force to be reckoned with (with more than one character!) as we move forward into this busy and exciting IGAU tournament season.
TOP 8
1) RG Rico Suave (Black Adam, Aquaman)
2) EMP DarthArma (Batman)
3) EMP REO (Martian Manhunter)
4) EMP DragonGod (Black Adam)
5) EMP KDZ (Superman, Wonder Woman, Sinestro)
5) Emperor Grr (Bane)
7) PTH Rev0lver (Lex Luthor)
7) PTH Mr. Aquaman (Ares)
STREAM ARCHIVE
http://www.twitch.tv/nycfurby/b/494724065?t=1h47m40s
MATCH LOG
Winners
EMP REO (MMH) over EMP DarthArma (Batman) 2-0
RG Rico Suave over EMP KDZ (Wonder Woman, Superman) 2-0
Losers
Emperor Grr (Bane) over Rev0lver (Lex Luthor) 2-1
EMP DragonGod (Black Adam) over PTH Mr. Aquaman (Ares) 2-1
EMP DarthArma (Batman) over Emperor Grr (Bane) 2-0
EMP DragonGod (Black Adam) over EMP KDZ (Sinestro, Superman) 2-1
EMP DarthArma (Batman) over EMP DragonGod (Black Adam) 2-0
Winners Finals
RG Rico Suave (Black Adam) over EMP REO (Martian Manhunter) 3-0
Losers Finals
EMP DarthArma (Batman) over EMP REO (Martian Manhunter) 3-2
Grand Finals
RG Rico Suave (Aquaman, Black Adam) over EMP DarthArma (Batman) 2-3, 3-1
Attachments
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