DETROIT -- Gavin "Tweek" Dempsey defeated Leonardo "MKLeo" Lopez Perez to win Frostbite 2019 Sunday night, the second Super Smash Bros. Ultimate major of the Panda Global Rankings season.
Tweek and MKLeo were both considered the primary contenders for Smash Ultimate's No. 1 rank due to their previous strong finishes. Until their winner's final set at Frostbite, however, these two titans of Ultimate had not played each other in a high-stakes tournament set.
Tweek began the winner's final by unsuccessfully picking Donkey Kong against MKLeo's Ike, a gambit exacerbated by another loss -- this time with Wario, his main --in game two. But that was Tweek's last defeat of the night. He bounced back with a vengeance, delivering a reverse 3-0 comeback that saw MkLeo desperately switch to Lucina for the set's final game.
Though MKLeo swiftly defeated Robert "Myran" Herrin in Frostbite's loser's final to earn himself another shot at Tweek in grand finals, he was unable to find a solution to his rival's slippery neutral and devastating punish game and suffered a clean sweep at Tweek's hands to close out the tournament.
Tweek's 3-0 grand final victory was one of the shortest sets of Frostbite's top eight, which was a grueling series of tense five-game contests marked by an in-house audience howling with excitement. Myran's run was the underdog story of the night. To earn his third place finish, the Floridian Olimar main clutched out four game-five situations, including upset victories over Larry "Larry Lurr" Holland, Paris "Light" Ramirez and Shuto "Shuton" Moriya.
Shuton, who used Olimar to defeat Nairoby "Nairo" Quezada and Brian "Cosmos" Kalu on his way to his fourth place finish, switched to Richter in his loser's semifinal against Myran.
"Screw tier lists, learn match ups, play any character you want to play," exclaimed commentator D'Ron "D1" Maingrette during the back-and-forth set.
In the end, Shuton was unable to pull out the win, but his unorthodox character pick earned him the appreciation and cheers of Frostbite's rabid crowd. It also contributed to the diversity of the tournament finals -- eleven different characters at Smash Ultimate's highest level.
Tying at seventh place, Nairo and Jestise "MVD" Negron showcased the wide range of styles at play, the former with his combo-heavy edgeguard game and the latter via his precise and explosive zoning techniques.
Even in its bracket's earlier stages, Frostbite delivered on its reputation for spotlighting underutilized characters. Tthe tournament was littered with upsets, most notably Japanese Pac-Man player Takuma "Tea" Hirooka's 3-0 victory over Samuel "Dabuz" Buzby and James "Shoyo James" Wade's ten-set loser's run to ninth place after a loss in round one pools.
The event's doubles bracket was topped by Tweek and Tyler "Marss" Martins, who won two sets over MVD and Eric "ESAM" Lew in grand finals.
With Frostbite 2019 in the books, both Tweek and MKLeo stand atop the Smash Ultimate metagame, each with a major victory in hand. But for the moment, Tweek's head-to-head advantage over his Mexican foe gives him the edge in the ongoing battle to be the best Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player in the world.