What’s a 2GGC Civil War?

The Civil War is starting today and running all weekend (March 24-26). With 47 of the world’s 50 best players in attendance, a story line crafted around the game’s biggest rivalry, and culminating with a marquee 10 v. 10 crew battle between the two warring factions, 2GGC Civil War is poised to be Smash 4’s biggest moment.

If you aren’t familiar with the video game and burgeoning e-sport Smash 4, formally titled Super Smash Bros for the Wii U, then you are missing out. Smash 4 is the super fun fourth iteration of the wildly successful Super Smash Brothers franchise. In the game, players take of control iconic video game heroes and villains as they fight to knock each other off floating islands called stages. And that is pretty much all you need to know to take in your first game of Smash.

Though there is an incredible depth of strategy under the surface, like so many other great spectator sports, the overall object is simple enough that a first time viewer shouldn’t feel lost. For example, a novice soccer spectator won’t understand the tactics of the 4-5-1 formation, but they’ll still feel the excitement of the ball advancing towards the opponents goal, the nervousness when the opponent is pressing forward, and the bliss of a goal.

The same principal is true here. You don’t need to understand advanced techniques like ledge canceling, jab recents, and auto canceling fast fall aerials to be able to understand that Mario is kicking ass in this clip, and it’s awesome to behold.

It’s really a great time, and you should be watching this weekend as the action and drama unfolds. Here’s the streaming schedule, and you can tune in right here.

Fantasy Smash

It isn’t just the game itself that makes Smash 4 fun, it’s the players. And to that end, 2GG has partnered with Smash.GG to bring in an additional feature that makes the viewing experience even more fun – fantasy smash bros.

It works just like a daily fantasy football. You have a set budget that you spend to add players to your team. A player’s price is dependent upon their tournament seeding and expected finish. The better a player finishes ultimately, the more points you get. Pick your 12 player team without going over budget and you are good to go.

I love this for the same reason I love Fantasy Football. It gives me a reason to care about games I otherwise would not. Listen, I’m a Kansas City Chiefs fan and always care about their games, but watching two other subpar teams without a rooting interest is pretty boring. However, as soon as Isaiah Crowell started carrying my fantasy team last year (probably tells you something about how good my team was overall), you better believe I was excited to tune into the lowly Browns games to cheer on my boy. Throw dem pizza lunchables on the field! (explicit language warning).

It’s the same deal here. I love smash, and love watching it. I have players I naturally root for because they are from my part of the country or because I like there play style, but this just makes the tournament viewing experience as a whole, so much more exciting.

I highly recommend you join in the fun.

My Picks

There are just way to many incredible players heading to this tournament to even begin to go over all of them, so I’m just going to who I picked for my fantasy team to give just a small sample of the huge array of competitors in this stacked field.

TSM | ZeRo – $250

The most expensive player in the field is well worth the price to your fantasy team. The leader of the #TeamZeRo faction of the civil war has been the most dominant player in the world throughout the life of this game. Points get exponentially higher with better finishes, so why not start building your team with the odds on favorite to win the tournament. When ZeRo’s Diddy Kong pushes his opponents off the ledge, they might as well just put their controller down because ZeRo seems to have every option covered with his suffocating, precise play style.

NRG | Nairo – $230

The current number three ranked player in the world (check out the Panda Global Ranking for the full list) and biggest Smash 4 streamer is a great addition to any squad. Recently, Nairo took a trip to Japan to play in a last chance qualifier for their biggest tournament Tokaigi. He won that qualifier and went on to win Tokaigi itself, dispatching many of Japans top threats – who will be in attendance at Civil War – in the process. His achilles heal is ZeRo himself, an obstacle he just can’t seem to overcome (or avoid). On the ohter hand Nairo should be favored in virtually any other match. Plus, lets be real, everyone has a ZeRo problem.

Echo Fox | MkLeo – $230

Currently ranked 8th in the world, but this 16 year old kid from Mexico is better than that. Ask anyone. When discussions of who can surpass ZeRo come up, it’s usually MkLeo that is brought up first. Despite struggling to get his footing in his first few appearances in the states, MkLeo was able to notch his first major victor with a 1st place at Genesis 4. This master swordsman switches between Marth and Cloud depending on matchup, and has taken numerous sets off ZeRo himself. At this point Leo must be considered a top threat in any tournament he enters.

Captain Zack – $170

Zack’s incredibly flamboyant personality is mirrored by his spicy, unpredictable play style that is a perfect fit for his character of choice, Bayonetta. Zack is perhaps most famous for his taunts both inside the game and out of it. As you would expect, this kind of behavior brings a lot of attention and scrutiny, but so far Zack has walked the walk – finishing 5th at Genesis 4 and 5th at Frame Perfect Series 2 last weekend. Leaving a trail of frustrated opponents in his wake, Captain Zack is certainly making a case for himself as the best Bayonetta in the world. You do you Zack!

Shoyo James – $130

Coming from the midwest region where there aren’t as many high profile tournaments, Shoyo James is a bit less of a known quality. However, this might work to his advantage while fighting players who will have to adapt to his play on the fly (though that goes both ways). What we do know about his play is that he’s very, very good. He and his Diddy Kong even knocked off Ally the number two ranked player in the world in January. James will be looking to improve on his 33rd place finish at Genesis 4 at Civil War. I think he just might do it.

Wrath – $130

Well this one is sure to be controversial. Wrath, another young gun with tons of potential, has a very divisive style. He plays Sonic and tries to do so optimally – even when that means running away from the opponent for minutes on end trying to run out the clock. He’s done this to claim wins over Ally and other top pros. Last week, he won an online tournament hosted by Nairo, while playing covertly under a friends tag. This, of course, caused even more drama, while proving once again Wrath is really good. Let the hate fuel you, young Wrath.

Yatta Gaming | JK – $50

Not going to lie to you guys, I haven’t caught too many of JK’s games on stream. Here’s what I know. He’s the number one player on the Las Vegas Power Ranking, over the likes of FOW. FOW being a crowd favorite who was selected to participate in the Civil War crew battle and is priced at $150 for this tournament. So you’re telling me I can get a guy ranked higher on the local PR for a third of the price? Sign me up for that. He also plays Bayonetta, which you might be able to tell is a character I’m buying fantasy stock in.

eM | Zenyou – $50

This has to be a mistake in terms of pricing. I don’t know how you can justify not picking up Zenyou for a mere 50 bucks. Remember that Mario clip I linked earlier, well that savage beating was dished out by none other than this dude right here. So aside from the electric, combo based play that gets the people going, he’s also put in incredibly solid 5th and 9th place finishes at the previous two 2GGC events. What gives with this pricing? Pick him up, the steal of the tournament.

Ryuga – $50

Edit: I just learned Ryuga will be unable to attend for family reasons 😦

I’ve decided to slot the Japanese Donkey Kong main, HIKARU, into this slot.

Another great value. One of the best Michigan players, which happens to be a hot spot for smash talent. Perhaps best known for his exceptional doubles play, Ryuga is absolutely a threat in singles as well. With his Corrin, a character with absurd range, Ryuga applies a forces his opponents to space perfectly around him. Most are not up to the challenge. For the value, I’ll take my chances on this player who got 17th at Frostbite 2017 along with the likes of Captain Zack, Ken, Komorikiri, Ned, and Abadango, all of which are well over $100 here.

Shaky – $50

This one is a bit of a homer pick, as Shaky is the only player in the tournament I’ve fought myself (besides one game against ESAM on For Glory!). However, this is far from a throwaway. Despite dropping off this year due to inactivity, this is a player who ranked 16th in the world in last years Panda Global Rankings. When he has shown up to tournaments this year, he’s done well – claiming an impressive 33rd place finish at both Evo and Genesis 4. This shows he still has the skills to play with anyone, and if he has been secretly preparing for this tournament… watch out for a run that could catch a few people sleeping on Sunday.

Fuwa – $30

Fuwa is a Japanese Marth main, who has already impressed so far in her first appearance in the US. At Frame Perfect Series 2 she took a respectable 33rd, and at a stacked Wednesday Night Fight event (with many players preparing for Civil War), she claimed 13th. This bodes well for Fuwa to return tons of value at this price. I expect that as the nerves of playing in the states calm down, her play will only continue improve. The scary thing is that her results in Japan indicate we haven’t seen anything yet. At $30, what more can you ask for.

Kome – $30

Kome is another underpriced Japanese player that I’m happy to snap up for my squad. One of my strategies is to pick players who main good characters. Well, that doesn’t apply here because Kome is a Shulk main (far below the likes of Bayonetta, Mario, Diddy Kong, and Marth on tier lists). That said, he is in my estimation the best Shulk in the world, and that can cause problems. Not only may people be unfamiliar with the matchup, they certainly haven’t played a Shulk like Kome’s before. One problem with this theory is the other player vying for the title of best Shulk, Nicko (also $30), is from Southern California where Civil War is taking place. Maybe Kome will end up facing players with more experience in the matchup than he’s used to. Regardless, it will be fun to see what happens.

Wrap Up

There you have it. The only thing left to do is make your fantasy team before singles start Saturday morning, and then to see if you can top my own killer squad.

You’ll see me at the top of leader board (I hope). Team name: Benjalz’s Yallzs

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed the content you can hit me with that follow on twitter @Chicken_Fryd!

All of these incredible images are credited to @SPIFspace. Please hit him with a follow and check out his website here!