Even the undisputed number one could not break the Curse. The forces of fate smiled upon 2GG this weekend, as a new champion was crowned at 2GGT: ZeRo Saga, and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U’s 2016 ended with one of, if not the best, tournaments of the year. Much of the established ideas about Smash 4 were given a proper shake-up during this event, making the up-and-coming Panda Global Rankings even more contentious. Let’s look back at some of the key moments from this weekend’s action in Las Vegas.

Locus, the Fist of Canada

Another tournament, another Ryu to dragon punch through some of the top competitors. This time, the Power of Nothingness came to UBC|Locus, a Ryu main currently residing in British Columbia. Initially going into Losers after losing 2-0 to LG|Abadango, something must have awakened in Locus, as he proceeded to Shoryuken all the way to top 12–earning him the SRK seal of approval.

Every one of Locus’ matches was close, going 3-2 against all of his opponents until he met his maker just before Top 8 Losers side. His play can best be described as fearless, running straight into damage to kill his opponents with a Rage True Shoryuken even earlier than normal. This fearlessness from Locus caused absolute terror for his foes, with many spending much of the match running scared from the threat of a dragon punch.

His Losers bracket run saw him defeating Seagull Joe, Japan’s 9B, and 7s|saj before running into Mr. R, who was just coming off a 3-1 loss to IMT|ANTi. Many would think this match would be free for Mr. R, as an accomplished Sheik should be able to camp out Ryu with no real difficulty. This did not deter Locus, barrelling directly into much of Mr. R’s attacks in order to land those few powerful strikes needed to put Sheik into kill percentage. With the set going to game 5, Locus ended it in the craziest way possible, finishing Mr. R by juggling him across the top platforms of Town and City into a lethal aerial SRK. The combo looked more like something from Marvel rather than Smash, sending Mr. R soaring off the top platform at 17th place. This victory brought the house down, and we weren’t even in top 16.

Locus took on Tweek next, forcing this Cloud main to switch back to his old main of Bowser Jr. to try and find an answer to the World Warrior. Tweek was clearly debilitated by Locus’ “no fear” approach, looking lost in the final matches as Locus surged to victory.

With TSM|ZeRo now in Losers, the crowd was cracking with excitement. Could Locus defeat another legend on his way to top 8? The answer was no, as his audacious approaches simply did not work against the dominating ledge game and mobility of ZeRo’s Diddy. After several back to back nailbiters, it was a bit of a comedown seeing ZeRo dismantle Locus, but this Ryu will likely return and hopefully, he’ll be able to temper his recklessness into more controlled aggression.

The Civil War continues as the Curse deploys its enforcers

Before the brackets started, 2GG held a special exhibition where ZeRo was set to play against all the players that had bested him in past sets. It was a gruelling gauntlet of 12 players, resulting in ZeRo being on the sticks for roughly 5 hours as previous bracket demons returned to challenge him again. The result was a blowout 12-0 victory for ZeRo, with it going to game 5 with only two out of the 12 players. Based on this performance, a final 2016 tournament win looked assured, right?

The curse did not seem to think so. The wheels were set in motion in Winners Quarters, as ZeRo had to play nemesis C9|Ally in the first match of top 8. Although ZeRo did defeat Ally with no major difficulty the night before, the 2016 set count was still 4-1 in Ally’s favour. Their last meeting at Endgame resulted in ZeRo’s first win against Ally for 2016, so maybe he had the technology to vanquish Ally where it really counted.

This was not the case, as a gruelling five game series saw Ally take the win, making it 5-1 in sets and fulfilling the first stage of the Saga Curse. While Ally would go on to lose to eLv|Larry Lurr in Winners’ Semis, his job as the curse’s enforcer was complete. The set count will reset come 2017 and with 2GG’s Civil War Saga in March of next year, we may see this rivalry change direction as ZeRo regains his footing.

ZeRo was not out by any means, as an angry Losers bracket ZeRo is more force of nature than man. Facing down Locus’ Ryu, 2GG|komorikiri’s Bayonetta, NRG|Nairo’s Ryu and Bowser, ZeRo was on course for a runback Smash 4 enthusiasts had been waiting for since KTAR XIX. With the last set between MKLeo and ZeRo being a narrow 3-2 win for the world number one, this match was expected to be a close one. In reality, it was a complete blowout for MKLeo, dismantling ZeRo’s ledge traps and punishing his constant use of Monkey Flip with Marth’s ability to dominate the mid-range. Once Leo had cottoned on to ZeRo’s reliance on the banana at the ledge and his weaker neutral, it was curtains for the world number one. The plot armour crumbled, the curse was fulfilled as ZeRo was sent out at fourth place.

Komorikiri, the Hope of Japan

With a recent win at Smashdown World notched on his sword, komorikiri was looking promising going into ZeRo Saga. However, so did the rest of Japan, with compatriots Abadango and DNG|Kameme cleaning up at the USA versus the World crew battle the night before. It would be a race to the top among the Japanese contenders, with all of them desperate for a win on US soil.

DNG|Nietono was the first out, not even making it to top 48 after losing to Ryo and Mr ConCon in pools. 9B soon followed, losing to CLG|VoiD in pools and being eliminated by Locus and his Ryu at 25th place. DNG|Kameme was next, getting upset earlier in bracket after his Sheik was sent spiralling into the abyss by FS|Fatality’s Falcon. Defeating Tyrant and Zinoto with back to back 3-0s, he had to battle with ANTi in a runback of Smashdown World, where Kameme lost to ANTi’s magic bag of counterpicks. While Kameme did pull out his own counter picks for this set, defeating ANTi’s Mario with his Yoshi in game 4, his signature red Mega Man was knocked out of commission by the Italian plumber, granting him a ninth place finish.

In the same stage of bracket, komorikiri and Abadango were forced to duel, resulting in two of Japan’s finest going out at ninth place. Abadango had finally lost to Larry Lurr 3-1 in Winners Quarters, while komorikiri had been dispatched by MKLeo in an intense Cloud mirror in the first round of Winners’ top 48. The match between komorikiri and Abadango was intense, with countrymen trading stocks and growing ever bolder as the set went on. In the end, the Buster Sword beat the Shadow Ball, with komorikiri clutching out a 3-2 victory of Abadango.

While he would lose to ZeRo in the following round, komorikiri has truly established himself as Japan’s number one player, with the potential to go even further if he puts a little more work into his Bayonetta to complete his holy trinity of guest fighters.

The eternal rivalry of Larry and VoiD

Speaking of countrymen clashing, SoCal brethren Larry Lurr and VoiD were both on a tear this Saga, both determined to break into Winners Finals and clear the dreaded fourth place. Starting off by sending JK to Losers’ 3-0, VoiD had to do battle with the wunderkind MKLeo to keep his Winners’ bracket life going. It was down to the wire, with Leo forcing momentum shifts with a drop of a hat, thanks to his immaculate spacing on Marth’s tipper. VoiD’s nerve held though, sending MKLeo to rampage through Losers and forcing VoiD to face his demon, NRG|Nairo in Winners’ Semis. Despite the 5-0 set count in Nairo’s favour, every single set between these two has been close, with Nairo clutching out the victory each time. One only need to flash back to Abadango Saga to see how close these sets can be. VoiD’s diligence in figuring out the ZSS matchup had clearly worked, as he forced Nairo to switch to Lucina after victory in game 1. VoiD was clearly unafraid of the power of Zero Suit Samus in Rage, which had been Nairo’s trump card in their previous sets, so Lucina was his only option. Well I say only option, as Nairo did eventually switch to Bowser in game 4. While Nairo’s Bowser was undefeated in tournament, VoiD was taking none of Nairo’s nonsense and finally took a set, making it 5-1 at the end of 2016.

Meanwhile for Larry, he had to face down his own demon in the form of Abadango. With losses to Abadango at Evo and CEO this year, Larry was determined to finally take a set with Fox and end the tyranny of the psychic cat. His spacing on Neutral Air was phenomenal, abusing Mewtwo’s weakness to crossups to wear down Abadango’s defences and finally score a win. Imbued with confidence after this win, it was up to Larry to face off against Ally. The set count in 2016 was 4-3 in Ally’s favour, with their last set at Abadango Saga going 3-0 to Larry, so the result could have gone either way, should Larry have the confidence to stick with Fox for the whole set. Fox stayed on target and the spirit of 20XX prevailed, setting Larry up to face VoiD in a SoCal Winners Finals.

This Winners Finals marked the 37th set between the two combatants since the beginning of Smash 4, with the current set count being drawn at 18-18, thanks to Larry’s victory over VoiD at LA Smash City. You’d be selling yourself short to say this rivalry is close; the balance of power shifts every other tournament with these two. The nature of Fox vs. Sheik ensures that each match is explosive, with Fox’s difficulty recovery but high burst damage countering Sheik’s consistent damage output but difficulty in closing out a stock. Outside of the one match on FD where Larry switched to DK, this matchup played out as expected, with the two going to a game 5 in yet another close set.

The pendulum swing was on Larry’s side for this Saga, as he clutched the set out to sail into Grand Finals of another Saga and the advantage in the VoiD/Larry rivalry. With the Saga seeming to smile on Larry, he looked primed to take the final Saga of the year and add to his previous Saga victory at Mexico Saga. Unfortunately for him, Mexico wanted revenge.

¡ Viva Mexico! Leo takes his first major

With a recent victory at Showdown: Battle Royale and experience against most of the USA’s top talent, MKLeo was one to watch during ZeRo Saga. With an inhuman ability to adapt to his opponent and mastery characters who can easily force momentum swings, Leo is a dangerous player, no matter the state of the match. Getting knocked into Losers by VoiD, the Mexican mercenary went on a Losers run the likes of which we haven’t seen since Larry’s own Losers run at Abadango Saga.

Leo turned into an unstoppable force in Losers, constantly gaining momentum with every victory. Shields were broken and swords sliced through souls as Leo racked up victories on RNG|Dabuz, ANTi, Ally, ZeRo and VoiD on his way to Grands. His final match versus ZeRo was brutal, getting a zero to death for the first stock and then ending the set with a disgusting pivot up-smash read to keep the Saga Curse alive with a 3-0 win. His Losers Finals match against VoiD was a completely different story than in Winners, downloading VoiD’s playstyle from the previous set to demolish him 3-0.

You could have mistaken Winners, Losers’ and Grand Finals of ZeRo Saga for something out of Melee, with Fox, Marth and Sheik all making it to the final stages as opposed to newer fighters like Diddy, Cloud or Bayonetta. It was truly a clash of the titans for Grands, with Leo resetting the bracket with a swift 3-1 in set one, just for Larry to fire back and bring the second set to a game 5 situation. It was neck and neck but the might of Mexico was just too powerful, with Leo defeating Larry and taking the crown at ZeRo Saga. Not only does the victory act as Leo’s first major win out of Mexico, but he is now the youngest person to ever take a Smash 4 major at the tender age of 15. The new generation of Smashers is here folks, and they are out for blood.

I have to say, ZeRo Saga acts as a perfect end to what turned out to be an amazing year for Smash 4. With tournament organizers, players, commentators and the general community really stepping up their game throughout the summer, the future of this game looks incredible, let me tell you. The Saga Curse remains in-tact for now and we must now all wait for the excitement to start again at Genesis 4 next month. If you thought 2016 was eventful, prepare yourself for 2017.

RESULTS

1. SF|MKLeo (Marth, Cloud/Mexico)

2. eLV|Larry Lurr (Fox, DK/USA)

3. CLG|VoiD (Sheik/USA)

4. TSM|ZeRo (Diddy Kong/USA)

5. NRG|Nario (Zero Suit Samus, Lucina, Bowser, Ryu/USA)

5. C9|Ally (Mario/Canada)

7. 2GG|komorikiri (Cloud, Sonic, Bayonetta/Japan)

7. IMT|ANTi (Mario, Cloud/USA)

Source: smash.gg