The day started bright and early for those Super Smash Bros. Melee competitors who had managed to make it through the first day of the Evolution Championship Series in Las Vegas. As always, the best-of-three tournament format meant the day was primed for upsets -- and it didn't disappoint.

Melee's demigods were among the first to be reminded of their mortality. First to fall was Tempo Storm's Jeffrey "Axe" Williamson, as the 10th-ranked player reported on Twitter that he'd lost a tense Game 3 situation to Michael "Nintendude" Brancato's Ice Climbers. Just two hours later, viewers were treated to a similar story, when Smash Studios' Colin "Colbol" Green took down the eighth-ranked player and fan-favorite Masaya "aMSa" Chikamoto's Yoshi in a Game 3 last-hit scenario. Colbol went on to eliminate Axe in losers, securing 17th after two huge upsets.

The upsets just kept on coming -- and not even Melee's perennial gods were safe. Echo Fox's Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman took some longtime advice from his fans when he came up against Rishi "Rishi" Malhotra, opting into the Marth ditto to start off the set. However, after trading games, Mew2King switched over to Sheik and ran it back to Battlefield, where he'd lost Game 2. Mew2King managed to take the first two stocks, only to throw two of his own away shortly after, eventually getting two-stocked and dragged into the lower bracket.

Even defending champion, Alliance's Adam "Armada" Lindgren, bled. Just outside of winners quarters, OG's James "Swedish Delight" Liu showcased immaculate edgeguarding as Sheik in Game 1 against Armada's Peach, forcing Armada onto Fox for Game 2 on Pokémon Stadium. Unable to win on his opponent's counter pick, Swedish opted to keep things up close and personal, going with Yoshi's Story in Game 3. Swedish's discipline took Armada to a last-stock situation, landing a tech chase into yet another fantastic edgeguard to claim the set.

This result sent two of Melee's most fabled players on an early collision course, as Armada and Mew2King were forced to fight for elimination. Mew2King got off to a hot start with a dominant Game 1, and nearly took the 2-0, but Armada's Game 2 comeback seemed to put cracks in Mew2King's mentality. When Armada drew a stitch face to close out Mew2King's third stock in Game 3, Mew2King looked all but defeated, and he shortly self-destructed to exit the tournament at 13th.

The remainder of the top six players, however, came out of Saturday unscathed, leaving Cloud9's Joseph "Mang0" Marquez, Team SoloMid's William "Leffen" Hjelte, Team Liquid's Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma and Panda Global's Justin "Plup" McGrath all sitting pretty on the winners side of top 8. Meanwhile, Armada and Swedish Delight wait in losers alongside Justin "Wizzrobe" Hallett and Tempo Storm's Johnny "S2J" Kim. The remaining bracket kicks off Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET.

--Brendan Hickey