Colin Kenitz (2/22/16)

Over this past weekend, Low Land Lion’s (LLL) Ramin “Mr. R” Delshad took first place at BEAST 6 in Smash 4 singles. The European held down his home turf in Gothenburg, Sweden, along side fellow Dutch player iStudying against the American Panda Global duo of PG Eric “ESAM” Lew and PG Jestise “MVD” Negron.

While MVD took locked in a solid 4th , and ESAM, his brother in arms took 3rd, both were upset by a losers bracket run by the dark horse Greninja player iStudying. In an incredibly impressive run, iStudying began his singles top eight domination by eliminating Atrox Sodrek, ED wilksy, PG MVD, and finally PG Esam in losers finals. Looking at an all Dutch finals in Europe, the crowd was popping off, crowding iStudying on stage with hugs immediately after his win in game five over ESAM in an incredibly close game. ESAM, always a champion of positive vibes in the community, joined in the chanting before hugging it out with the victor once he broke free of his supporters. MVD and ESAM had already won Smash 4’s doubles tournament the previous day, so taking home a bronze and silver in singles wasn’t a total loss for the guys in panda hats.

Getting to Grand Finals was already a feat that amazed everyone watching, but his opponent would be tough. Winner’s Semis looked easy enough for Mr. R, comfortably taking down PG MVD’s Diddykong in an all too familiar matchup. Game one was a convincing two stock, and Delshad closed out the set 2 – 0 with a clean second game, sending MVD down to face iStudying.

Winner’s Finals was a different story, however, with PG ESAM taking on Mr. R, it was a match up that was familiar to viewers in a different way. Both these players have been considered at the top level of play of Smash 4 since it’s inception, both considered the top player’s in their region, and both placing top eight in numerous tournaments, and we have seen them go head to head many times. Needless to say, the set delivered, taking us all the way to game five. ESAM clutched out a close game one with Mr. R answering with a nail biting game two and three. With only one more game to secure his spot in Grand Finals however, ESAM counters with a very convincing win in game four, ending with only 18 percent on his last stock. The momentum couldn’t carry ESAM far enough though, as the devastation of Ramin’s Sheik with perfect pivot – up tilts and deftly timed needles secured him the set, 3-2, along with the cheers of his countrymen in the crowd.

It would be a grim Grand Finals for our Greninja champion, however. While to some it may have looked like iStudying had run out of steam after blazing his path through the losers side of the bracket, this was most certainly not the case. Mr. R’s Sheik in black garb was simply too quick and too nimble for iStudying to land the impressive combos he had been getting in his previous matches. The down-air combos from Greninja were nigh on impossible to hit, and with Sheik holding up to six jumps between abilities and regular jumps, the hydro pump gimp that had devastated previous opponents wasn’t very affective. Even after taking Mr. R. to Palutena’s Temple on Omega for games two and three, a comfort pick for iStudying that had won him favor in previous matches, the effort was to no avail. Game two offered a much closer game with sneak peaks of the Greninja flare we had seen earlier in top eight. Game three, though, was back to form of game one of the set, with Mr. R taking the tournament stock with 13 percent to iStudying’s 146 percent. With a convincing and clean 3 – 0, Mr. R upheld his reputation of being a world wide top contender in Smash 4. It was enjoyable to see our Dutch Sheik have such a strong performance and offer up a few new techniques, and I hope to see him show up big to many major tournaments in the United States later on this year.

For many the hero of the tournament was iStudying. He gave us a refreshing reminder that Smash 4 is still young, and that there are a lot of characters yet to be explored, and a meta that we will all get to see evolve. His Greninja showing sent waves through the scene, and there is a lot of of positive things we can take away from BEAST 6. Next, I will take a much closer look at his run though top eight, the three stock format of the tournament, and his use of Palutena’s Temple in this unconventional tournament rule set. In the meantime, congratulations to Ramin “Mr. R” Delshad, the European Sheik in wolf’s clothing.