Even before bracket had started, 2GGC: Civil War had set the world of Smash 4 aflame. With players split into two factions—Team Ally and Team ZeRo—the first season finale of the 2GG Championship Series was set to be the most stacked Smash 4 tournament of all time. Most of the PGR Top 50 were in attendance, along with hidden bosses and local talent from around the world. It was fate then, that Civil War turned out to be the most exciting and volatile event that Smash 4 has ever seen.

Every Pool a Death Pool

With such a high concentration of Top 100 players at one event, each pool could have been the Top 48 of a big regional. Many potential Top 16 contenders were sent into Losers early, thanks to every pool being flush with talent. TSM|ZeRo was one of the first to sink into the depths, losing to SoCal Fox Xzax in Winners Finals of his pool, adding one big shark to the loser’s side. Genesis 4 champion Echo Fox|MVG|MKLeo soon followed with a 2-0 loss to Sonic main Meteor, proving that no-one would be spared a tough trip through pools.

Shulk mains were on pool cleaning duty with Nicko sending IMT|ANTi to Losers with a 2-0, while Kome from Japan was able to dispatch fellow blonde-haired swordsman user P1|Tweek with an impressive 2-1 victory. It seems after the success of M at BEAST 7, Shulks are really starting to come out of the woodwork and show their stuff.

Starting to pick up speed after his tournament absence, FOW was able to send MSF|Larry Lurr into Losers while the newly sponsored curse struck EG|Zinoto, losing 2-1 to the winner of the PG Key to Civil War online qualifier, Sonido. With other PGR players like RvL|Mr E, InC|Wadi, Ned, Mew2King and Samsora also in Losers, the chances of a historic run throughout the lower bracket looked impossible for any player.

The Rout of the Generals

With many of Team ZeRo’s heavy hitters already in Losers after the massacre in pools, it was looking grim for the bookie’s favorite going into top 96. MKLeo was the first of ZeRo’s lieutenants to fall, going out at an unheard of 65th place after losing to Falco and Meta-Knight main, AC, 3-2. The next round would actually see ZeRo himself go out at his lowest ever placing, losing to Arizona Zero Suit Samus player Luhtie 3-2. ZeRo’s Diddy was uncharacteristically aggressive, refusing to set up traps with the banana and running seemingly headfirst into Luhtie’s ladder combos. The final match saw Luhtie ripping victory from the jaws of defeat, with a Rage-boosted ladder combo sending ZeRo out at 49th place and catapulting Luhtie into the hall of ZeRo slayers.

This victory was a betrayal, since Luhtie had sided with Team ZeRo going into the tournament. This twist of the knife soon sowed the seeds of a rout, with other notable Team ZeRo players like ANTi, FOW and CLG|VoiD going out in quick succession. While Team ZeRo did look in tatters, Team Ally’s commander was not fairing too well either.

In top 96, C9|Ally was on the receiving end of yet another series of Dragon Punches by UBCEA|Locus. The iron forehead of Nintendo’s plumber could not beat the battle-hardened fist of Capcom’s world warrior, as Locus sent Ally flying into Losers’ 3-1. Much like Luhtie’s elimination of ZeRo, Locus had also sided with Ally, making him another unwitting turncoat in the Civil War. Ally would hold out longer than ZeRo, losing in the first round of Top 32 to PG|ESAM’s Samus. ESAM’s pop off was like something out of a sports movie, with him flinging his Pikachu plush into the crowd in triumph. Whether this is symbolic for his dropping of the electric mouse, who is to say.

Both Luhtie and ESAM would only last another round following their victories, the Saga Curse having outseen their usefulness. With this event, the curse continues to persist as neither Ally nor ZeRo were able to take the event for their chosen team. The Top 32 bracket began split perfectly between the two teams; 16 for Team Ally and 16 for Team ZeRo. However, outside of the two major teams, there was one group of players who had been slowly chipping away at both sides.

Go Team Japan!

14 Japanese players attended Civil War Saga, with representatives from Kansai, Kanto, Kyushu and Chubu acting as foreign detachments for both Team ZeRo and Team Ally. With players like Kirihara and Tsu getting quite the warm up at Frame Perfect Series 2 the week before Civil War, the Japanese contingent were prepared to perform well for their respective sides.

Of the 14 players, 12 of them made it to Top 32. 11 of them started off in Winners, while 9B tried to make the long fight through Losers to Top 8. Three of them made it through, leaving a trail of devastation behind them. Team Japan dispatched players like Larry Lurr, VoiD, ESAM, Trela, Zinoto and FOW on their way to Top 8, with a fair few teamkills peppered along the way. Surprisingly though, none of the usual Japanese titans made it to Top 8.

2GG|komorikiri, Ranai and LG|Abadango? Ranai was eliminated by 9B 3-2, komorikiri fell to Larry Lurr 3-2 while Abadango’s tournament life ended at the hands of DNL|Marss 3-1. It would be up to the newer crop of Japanese players to keep the flag flying and boy, was it an eclectic bunch of characters players in that Top 8.

The Next Generation Arises

Besides the eventual winner, seven of the eight players in top 8 were players who had come to the series with Smash 4. The Brawl gods had given up their seats on the pantheon and it was time for the new generation to strut their stuff on the main stage. The character spread was one hardly anyone expected, with a Captain Falcon and a Link in Winners’ while a Donkey Kong sat in Losers. For the first time in two years, a Sheik had missed Top 8, the nearest Diddy player had gone out at 17th and there wasn’t a Cloud in the sky. There was still top tier representation with a Bayonetta, two Rosalinas, a Zero Suit Samus and a Ryu in the mix but the lack of usual suspects like Diddy, Mario, Cloud, Sheik and Fox at the most stacked major of all time is worthy of note.

My personal favourite player of the tournament, Hikaru, had defied almost all expectation by making Top 8 with his DK. Defeating players like VoiD, Tsu, ESAM and Mr. R on the way, his DK flung the competition around like a ragdoll. Carefully using the power of Rage to guarantee kills off of a grab, Hikaru was able to conquer match ups that DK usually struggles with. Opponents were in a constant state of fear, as one grab would mean instant death past around 60% if DK had Rage. While eventually thwarted by Kirihara’s Rosalina—DK’s absolute worst match up—Hikaru proved that he is the leader of the bunch.

Speaking of characters defying expectation, T’s Link tore through bracket on its way to Top 8. His impressive bomb play and control of neutral saw him defeat players like K9, Tsu, Abadango and Fatality on his way to Winners’ Finals. Some of his recoveries using Link’s bomb were unbelievable, coming back from the bottom of the blastzone and weaving through edgeguard attempts on his way up. I’m sure Nintendo will be selling a few extra copies of Breath of the Wild after T’s performance. Expect plenty more Links trying to do that bomb recovery on For Glory for the next week or so.

While not the winner, the true breakout player from this tournament has to be FS|Fatality. Defeating players like Trela, komorikiri and NRG|Nairo is impressive enough, but doing it with Falcon is astounding. Falcon is already dangerous when a player is scared so combine it with the pressure of a grand stage like Civil War, and Fatality’s Falcon was untouchable in some situations. His use of Falcon’s dair footstool combos would rack up damage in an instant, meaning that he’d only need to land a single back air or knee to finish off a stock. Every match seemed to only give him more momentum, with his intense 3-2 with Kirihara turning into back to back 3-0s against CaptainZack and T to make it to Grand Finals against RNG|Dabuz. Having triumphed against arguably the second best Rosalina in the world and a previous win on Dabuz at Super Smash Con 2016, it could have finally been Falcon’s time to win a super major in any Smash game. Unfortunately, the stars had aligned for his opponent.

A King of Consistency

A presence in the Top 8 of almost every major he has attended, Dabuz has remained one of Smash 4’s most consistent players. However, he has never pushed through that barrier and took home the gold at a super major. With a second at Genesis 3, second at Super Smash Con, third at CEO 2016, seventh at Genesis 4 and third at Frostbite, Dabuz has always been the bridesmaid, but never the bride.

However, with the majority of the pressure on both Ally and ZeRo, Civil War gave Dabuz the chance to reach his full potential. He only dropped one game in his run to Top 8, defeating the world’s best Olimar in Shuton and second best Rosalina, Kirihara, on his way there. He even bested Kirihara in the Rosalina mirror, proving he is the world’s top space princess–at least for now. A close 3-2 victory over CaptainZack gave way to a 3-0 over T, placing Dabuz in the Winners side of a supermajor Grand Finals for the very first time.

Despite a previous loss to Fatality at Super Smash Con, Dabuz was able to put down the Falcon with a 3-1 victory, making him the winner of the most stacked tournament in Smash 4 history. Without his usual demon ZeRo blocking his path to Grand Finals, Dabuz finally notched up that first super major win.

Team Ally Reigns Supreme

Following the conclusion of the singles bracket, it was time for the final showdown between Team Ally and Team ZeRo. This grand 10 versus 10 crew battle saw Team ZeRo take the day, winning with three stocks to spare. The man of the hour was most definitely komorikiri, bringing Team ZeRo back from its two stock deficit by dispatching Mr. E, Mr. R and leaving final Team Ally member DNG|Kameme with one stock to fight against MKLeo.

However, this victory was not enough to win the whole war. With one of his compatriots winning the entire tournament, a point victory in the singles bracket and a point victory via the online ladder, Team Ally were crowned the ultimate victors of the Civil War. It will be up to Team ZeRo to regain their honor at 2GGC: Infinity Saga, which was announced as a future event in this Marvel-themed arc of the 2GGC.

Civil War is only the first season finale for the entire 2GGC Series, with there being nine other events left to go. With Ranai’s Greninja winning the April Saga round robin decider, next month’s event will be dedicated to the ninja frog. 2GGaming also announced that summer’s season finale will be 2GGC: Nairo Saga, giving another top player a chance to finally conquer the Saga Curse.

Civil War represented a new benchmark for Smash events, in terms of excitement, quality of play and production values. 2GGaming and Esports Arena have set a high bar both for themselves and other Smash TOs out there, and I hope they can repeat their success with future events. With ZeRo’s streak of winning 2GGC Sagas finally over, the new age of heroes can finally begin.

RESULTS:

1. RNG|Dabuz (Rosalina and Luma, Olimar/USA)

2. FS|Fatality (Captain Falcon/USA)

3. T (Link/Japan)

4. CaptainZack (Bayonetta/USA)

5. Kirihara (Rosalina and Luma/Japan)

5. DNL|Marss (Zero Suit Samus/USA)

7. HIKARU (Donkey Kong, Little Mac/Japan)

7. UCBEA|Locus (Ryu/Canada)

Sources: smash.gg; 2GGaming