So for those who are not familiar, Top of the Food Chain is a new and exciting event held in Chesapeake, VA, to bring together a lot of the area's talent. Organized by our friend Blackula and Jaimie Cheek (Aim for the The Feet), ToTFC's are roughly bi-monthly -- the next event, ToTFC 4, will take place on Oct. 5th. The tourney is held at Club Relevant, which is a relatively new venue that holds regular music concerts along with gaming events, and it joins a growing roster of tournaments and locals along the VA/MD/NC axis. In addition to ECT winner Tom Brady, who stopped by on Saturday to join in the action, the surprise of the weekend was Flash player Sid the Haze, a Portsmouth local who was at the second edition of ToTFC. This time, he put Chronos and Blackula into losers, and eliminated Superman mainstay Fuerte on his way to Grand Finals.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this was, at times, some of the best Flash gameplay we've seen to date. After a great back-and-forth match between Sid and Blackula in which Sid pressured Blackula's Lantern relentlessly, Sid and Brady met in Winners Finals. When the set opened, Brady looked extremely comfortable, denying Sid any chance to get in and making good use of the range afforded by Aquaman's trident. The first game was a quick victory for Tom; and although Sid managed to get a couple of openings in Game 2, Aquaman's trait denied him any payoff, preventing him from stringing together any significant damage. With friends cheering him on from the background, Sid adjusted his buttons before the 3rd match (as he apparently had configuration issues in the first two games). With everything back in order, the 3rd match was very close, until Sid hit Tom with a pair of lows to take the win. By game 4, Sid was picking up momentum, and began to smother Tom with Flash's pressure, locking him down in the corner. But some immaculate spacing and some timely mixups by Tom eventually brought him back into contention for the lead, and he was able to keep Sid at bay and eventually chip him out for the win.
In Grand Finals the two would meet again, and with Sid's buttons in working order from the get-go, the set was much more competitive from the start. Tom controlled the ground well and grabbed an early lead in Game one, but Sid did a good job of controlling the airspace and caught Tom leaving the ground a few times to even up the match. With Tom ultimately forced to save himself with a losing clash, Sid waited patiently and found an opportunity to chip him out for the win. Tom stormed back in a quick Game 2, landing nearly everything to finish the match in about 30 seconds of game time, and ending with a nasty meter-burned b3 into a stage transition. Game 3 looked good for Tom as well, as he varied his pressure and kept Sid from getting comfortable and ended the match on a convincing note. But playing patiently, Sid went up by about 150% life in the 4th game, outspacing Tom, baiting whiffs and hardly giving Aquaman any chance to breathe. Staggering his strings, Sid kept Tom guessing and continued to whittle down his life for the win.
With the set tied 2-2 and Sid having to win or go home, the Flash player continued to attack early in the 5th match; but Tom kept his cool, taking some key opportunities to punish Sid for mistakes. With Sid fervently trying to make his way in, Tom took advantage of his eagerness to attack by interrupting his pressure and jump-ins with a number of d2's. And with Sid reeling, on his last bit of life and trying to readjust, Tom went on the offensive, squashing any hopes of a late-game comeback and earning himself the tournament victory.
The win in Virgina ends a tournament drought for Tom; and with other players having leveled up significantly in recent months, he will no doubt be looking to prove his mettle against some of the game's finest at Summer Jam. The Flash has been looking better and better with each patch that goes by; and with many of his advocates quick to identify him as a Top 5 character, there are a lot of eyes on him as he continues to make his way farther and farther into tournament brackets. With Atlanta's AK Harold winning the area's Batlle n' Brew Tournament no less then a few days ago and Sid's impressive run at ToTFC, the virtual shots have been fired and the community is beginning to take notice. But will Flash players be able to overcome his more difficult matchups in the bigger tournaments?
Injustice continues to evolve bit by bit; and the next few months are sure to be exciting to watch.
Results:
1. Tom Brady (Aquaman)
2. SidTheHaze (Flash)
3. Fuerte (Superman)
4. EMP ReSe Killanator (Doomsday)
5. Blackula (Green Lantern, Catwoman)
5. Hatake Osawa (Black Adam)
7. Dark Steel (Hawkgirl)
7. Renegade (Batgirl)
9. Chronos
9. TH
9. ReSe Tactics
9. Mr Snow
13. Mr Aquaman
13. Srryimwhte
13. Gruff
13. That Guy
17. Evid3ntz
17. LulzLou
17. J Truth
17. Agent
17. Zappa
17. Korpse
17. Ice Angel
17. Sean Miyagi
25. ReSe Jared Banner
25. General Roxus
25. Mac Ross
25. Aimforthefeet
25. Vegeta
25. AVP
Bracket:
http://challonge.com/totfc3igau
Stream Archive:
http://www.twitch.tv/totfc1/b/440250935
http://www.twitch.tv/totfc1/b/440366462
On a final note -- this article is a special dedication to Mr. William Menoutis. Tom, this one's for you!
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this was, at times, some of the best Flash gameplay we've seen to date. After a great back-and-forth match between Sid and Blackula in which Sid pressured Blackula's Lantern relentlessly, Sid and Brady met in Winners Finals. When the set opened, Brady looked extremely comfortable, denying Sid any chance to get in and making good use of the range afforded by Aquaman's trident. The first game was a quick victory for Tom; and although Sid managed to get a couple of openings in Game 2, Aquaman's trait denied him any payoff, preventing him from stringing together any significant damage. With friends cheering him on from the background, Sid adjusted his buttons before the 3rd match (as he apparently had configuration issues in the first two games). With everything back in order, the 3rd match was very close, until Sid hit Tom with a pair of lows to take the win. By game 4, Sid was picking up momentum, and began to smother Tom with Flash's pressure, locking him down in the corner. But some immaculate spacing and some timely mixups by Tom eventually brought him back into contention for the lead, and he was able to keep Sid at bay and eventually chip him out for the win.
In Grand Finals the two would meet again, and with Sid's buttons in working order from the get-go, the set was much more competitive from the start. Tom controlled the ground well and grabbed an early lead in Game one, but Sid did a good job of controlling the airspace and caught Tom leaving the ground a few times to even up the match. With Tom ultimately forced to save himself with a losing clash, Sid waited patiently and found an opportunity to chip him out for the win. Tom stormed back in a quick Game 2, landing nearly everything to finish the match in about 30 seconds of game time, and ending with a nasty meter-burned b3 into a stage transition. Game 3 looked good for Tom as well, as he varied his pressure and kept Sid from getting comfortable and ended the match on a convincing note. But playing patiently, Sid went up by about 150% life in the 4th game, outspacing Tom, baiting whiffs and hardly giving Aquaman any chance to breathe. Staggering his strings, Sid kept Tom guessing and continued to whittle down his life for the win.
With the set tied 2-2 and Sid having to win or go home, the Flash player continued to attack early in the 5th match; but Tom kept his cool, taking some key opportunities to punish Sid for mistakes. With Sid fervently trying to make his way in, Tom took advantage of his eagerness to attack by interrupting his pressure and jump-ins with a number of d2's. And with Sid reeling, on his last bit of life and trying to readjust, Tom went on the offensive, squashing any hopes of a late-game comeback and earning himself the tournament victory.
The win in Virgina ends a tournament drought for Tom; and with other players having leveled up significantly in recent months, he will no doubt be looking to prove his mettle against some of the game's finest at Summer Jam. The Flash has been looking better and better with each patch that goes by; and with many of his advocates quick to identify him as a Top 5 character, there are a lot of eyes on him as he continues to make his way farther and farther into tournament brackets. With Atlanta's AK Harold winning the area's Batlle n' Brew Tournament no less then a few days ago and Sid's impressive run at ToTFC, the virtual shots have been fired and the community is beginning to take notice. But will Flash players be able to overcome his more difficult matchups in the bigger tournaments?
Injustice continues to evolve bit by bit; and the next few months are sure to be exciting to watch.
Results:
1. Tom Brady (Aquaman)
2. SidTheHaze (Flash)
3. Fuerte (Superman)
4. EMP ReSe Killanator (Doomsday)
5. Blackula (Green Lantern, Catwoman)
5. Hatake Osawa (Black Adam)
7. Dark Steel (Hawkgirl)
7. Renegade (Batgirl)
9. Chronos
9. TH
9. ReSe Tactics
9. Mr Snow
13. Mr Aquaman
13. Srryimwhte
13. Gruff
13. That Guy
17. Evid3ntz
17. LulzLou
17. J Truth
17. Agent
17. Zappa
17. Korpse
17. Ice Angel
17. Sean Miyagi
25. ReSe Jared Banner
25. General Roxus
25. Mac Ross
25. Aimforthefeet
25. Vegeta
25. AVP
Bracket:
http://challonge.com/totfc3igau
Stream Archive:
http://www.twitch.tv/totfc1/b/440250935
http://www.twitch.tv/totfc1/b/440366462
On a final note -- this article is a special dedication to Mr. William Menoutis. Tom, this one's for you!
. Love you bro, you help the community so much 
