Credit to @dreamhack on Twitter

Melee brought a lot of flavor to Dreamhack Austin this weekend, some sour and some sweet. Hungrybox wins yet again, Mang0 misses grand finals, and Chudat continues his reign as the best Ice Climbers. Here are some of my takeaways from the Texas major.

Armada does not need to answer to anyone

Uproar and dissatisfaction imploded when Armada announced he would not compete this weekend because of “controller issues.” Some implied he did not want to taint his immaculate record and others crudely compared him to Hungrybox playing at Genesis 4 with a broken finger. But here is the thing: Armada does not have to answer to anyone.

In his entire Melee career, Armada has dropped out of four tournaments. His record as one of, if not the best in the world, speaks for itself. Armada is a perfectionist, and if he does not feel he will perform to the standards he sets for himself, then he owns the right to drop out.

Chudat is the best Ice Climbers main in the world

In Tafokints’s first quarter rankings for 2017, he placed Chudat at the number nine spot. Dizzkidboogie took the next Ice Climbers spot all the way at 24, fifteen spots behind Chudat. The gap is enormous, and he continues to prove his top ten ranking.

Chudat only dropped sets to Hungrybox, but took him to his brink in the process. Chudat beat Mang0 again and even knocked Mew2king out in losers finals. He earned his second place finish at Dreamhack and continues to reign supreme as Melee’s best Ice Climbers main and one of the best players in the world.

Leffen still has room to grow

Before Leffen’s ban from America he had a bright flame burning, but his absence quelled that fire. Since his return, he won Don’t Park on the Grass, but nothing else. Day two of Dreamhack he lost 3–0 to Mang0 and got eliminated day three by Mew2king in a sloppy set.

The slump is equatable to his mid-2015, but even then he cleaned up that summer going on a tear winning CEO, FC Return, and WTFox. If that is any indication, Leffen will return to prominence at some point this year.

Mango continues to struggle

2017 Mang0 is by no means washed up, but he is struggling to adapt to the modern meta. His last supermajor win was 2016’s Big House 6 where he triumphed from winners bracket, defeating Armada in the second set of grand finals. Since, he has been knocked into losers relatively early and failed to summon another infamous losers run to victory.

His recent demon is Chudat who is now up 3–0 in sets over Mang0 in 2017. Mang0, who is historically an Ice Climbers slayer, has yet to find an answer for Chudat. Since picking up Tafokints as his coach, Mang0 has found little success, but 2017 is young.

In 2017, it is still Armada versus Hungrybox

Hungrybox won Dreamhack Austin 2017, but Armada still owns the year. In their 2017 head to head, Armada is up 2–0, but Hungrybox creeps right behind him. Hungrybox has won every event that Armada has not attended this year outside of CEO Dreamland which Mew2king won.

Mew2king also shows prominence with that win, but like 2016, it really does come down to Armada versus Hungrybox. At this point, those two are in their own tier followed by Mew2king and Mang0 as the wild cards who could either knock the top two off or lose to anyone in the top 20. Slightly below is Plup, who fell to Hungrybox and Mew2king, and SFAT who failed to place top eight.