Three hundred contestants in Super Smash Bros. Wii U whittled down to eight finalists on Saturday at DreamHack Austin in Austin, Texas. Gonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios ended up comfortably in the winners bracket, but how did the rest of the field of competition pan out?
Following a win at CEO Dreamland 2017, ZeRo once again is sitting comfortably in the winners bracket moving into Sunday. ZeRo's day began with a smooth march through pool play and then a commanding victory over Michael "Weegee" Basaldua's Mario. But the cruise control was halted momentarily in the quarterfinal match against Calib "Konga" Byers and his Donkey Kong. ZeRo's Diddy was trampled by Konga, however, the momentum quickly reversed back in ZeRo's favor. Relying on expert control, ZeRo eventually overcame the early snafu and went on to sweep the series 3-0.
Eric "ESAM" Lew and his Pikachu fought bravely as he qualified for the winners bracket, easily taking care of the competition before his match against James "VoiD" Makekau-Tyson in the winners quarterfinals. VoiD, facing an early deficit going into Game 2, made the decision to switch to Fox, which ultimately allowed him to secure the win and tie up the series. ESAM responded by taking Game 3, putting him a match win away from a semifinal placing going into Sunday. VoiD's decision to switch back to Sheik, however, worked like a stroke of genius, as he earned the next two wins to steal the series away from ESAM.
Marth Player MkLeo was in excellent form as he breezed through pools and the winners bracket, sweeping both of his upper bracket matches against Luis "Whispy" Bermudez and Mason "Locus" Charlton. MkLeo will have his work cut out for him Sunday as he squares off against VoiD's Sheik.
Elliot "Ally" Carroza-Oyarce has an opportunity in his first series Sunday to defeat ZeRo in semifinals. No stranger to upsetting ZeRo in tournaments before, such as his win at Get On My Level 2016, Ally will have his shot at taking out the king thanks to two upper bracket trouncings against Karthik "Karna" Manoharand and Zach "CaptainZach" Lauth.