HTC Throwdown Player Previews

Overview

HTC and Showdown Entertainment are partnering to host the HTC Throwdown at the Folsom Street Foundry in San Francisco on September 19, 2015. Featuring at $10,000 singles pot bonus and $2,000 doubles pot bonus courtesy of HTC, the tournament has attracted 386 singles entrants and 99 teams.

The pot bonus naturally attracted a lot of talent, especially since HTC offered to fly out a number of top players to attend the event for free. The result is what will be the largest single-day Melee national ever held. Four of the top 6 "gods" and about a third of the 2014 MIOM Top 100 will be in attendance at the Foundry, the site of the popular NorCal weekly Get Smashed at the Foundry. The event is being streamed on HTC's Twitch channel by regular Foundry streamer ShowdownSmash, which in under two years has established itself as one of the premier Smash streams in America. Though the logistics of holding such an enormous tournament in one day may prove challenging, viewers at home can expect a great show.

The Contenders

A full sixteen of MIOM's recent top 25 ranking will be at HTC Throwdown. Here's what to look out for from these top players.

TSM Leffen (2): While he didn't win EVO, Leffen put on what was undeniably a dominant performance this summer. His results since then, however, have been underwhelming; his Fox hasn't looked quite as clean and efficient as it did a few months ago, possibly due to lack of practice. While he's promised to practice more for HTC Throwdown and The Big House 5, he seems to have recently gotten sick, so we may not see him in peak form. The Swedish powerhouse could still take the tournament, but since he relies a lot on perfect execution for his wins, it'll be an uphill battle.

C9 Mango (3): After his disappointing EVO performance, Mango's clearly been on the practice grind, and his play---which incorporates quite a few new tricks like ledgedashing and shield-dropping---reflects it. In-form and armed with new tricks, he was able to take out Mew2king twice on his way to the Paragon LA title. Throwdown could give The Kid his chance to prove himself (again) against Hungrybox or Leffen. If he does, maybe he'll reclaim his #1 spot this fall.

Liquid`Hungrybox (5): Despite being favored over every non-top-Fox player in the world and consistently placing top 5 at every major, Hungrybox hasn't been able to win a tournament over another member of the Top 6 since his hometown Paragon Orlando in January... perhaps because four of them (Armada, Leffen, Mango, Mew2king) play Fox against him. Hungrybox is able to pull off some remarkable, even brilliant, performances against these formidable foes in a very difficult matchup---but beating them all in one tournament is a tall order.

COG MVG Mew2king (6): Smash 4 took over his life for a while, but now Mew2king is back and his lethal punish game has returned. He demolished Leffen at PAX and Paragon LA. While his strategy of counterpicking spacies with his Marth on FD no longer seems quite as guaranteed, it's still extremely strong---and Mew2king's Sheik and even his Fox look as strong as ever. The Big House 3 in October 2013 was the original Return of the King; will he be able to reprise the role this fall despite his hand problems?

PG Plup (7): Plup is a covered pot that's been at a boil for a bit too long. Since last year, he's broken into the top 10, and he's climbing steadily. Though he boasts wins against both Mango and Leffen this summer, he's struggled against his hometown rival Hungrybox and Sheik-ditto master Mew2king. Still, Plup is one of the few players that poses a true challenge to the Top 6, and it's not unlikely we'll see more upsets-that-aren't-really-upsets at Throwdown.

Tempo Axe (8): Axe stands at the cusp of greatness, proving for over a year that he deserves his spot just outside the Top 6. He consistently clutches it out against would-be challengers for his spot, but when he is the challenger, the "clutch factor" often seems to end up working the other way. Time and again, one or two slip-ups result in a close loss that otherwise look like a victory. Will the premier Pikachu finally overcome this last hindrance and rise up against the gods, or will his arch-rival Mew2king dispatch him yet again as he has in their slew of 2015 meetings?

CLG PewPewU (10): Though he's currently the highest-ranked of the NorCal trio, PewPewU hasn't been satisfied with his recent results: he placed 9th at CEO and EVO, but just 17th at Paragon after disappointing losses to Fiction and Shroomed. He's hoping to turn his bad luck around at HTC Throwdown, and home-court advantage has historically proven beneficial to his performances. PewPewU's slick, technical Marth is a favorite for top 8 here, but he's hungry for more.

WFX Shroomed (11): If any one player on this list represents the heart of the Foundry, it's Shroomed, easily the most regular Foundry patron among NorCal's Big 3. In the first half of 2015, his play looked great; he earned a minimum 12th-place finish at every major tournament he attended. Shroomed wasn't able to continue the trend at EVO and Paragon LA, though---but none of that is relevant, for what really matters is whether or not he will finally beat SFAT at The Foundry. Analysts looking at recent historical patterns say... no.

Lucky (T12): Lucky's crisp, technical Fox is finally leaving Mango's shadow. His freestyling, hyper-aggressive style makes it quite clear that he's a Norwalk player, but he's cleaned up his play and learned to be more prudent in his offense. Lucky's graduated from a top-32 threat at nationals to a regular in the top 16, and as he improves and refines his style, there's no telling how high he could place. While his SoCal rival Westballz is at Dreamhack, Throwdown could be Lucky's chance to prove he can beat the elite.

SFAT (T12): When it comes to defending home turf, Shroomed is the heart of the Foundry, but SFAT is The Foundry Champion. While his national placements are consistently high, he's often a step behind his friends PewPewU and Shroomed. At the local venue itself, though, he's the man to beat. SFAT has shown strong play in the last two months, and at Press Start we saw how far he can go. Will he and the NorCal trio be enough to repel the Foundry's invaders?

GC Silent Wolf (14): Contrary to his impressive 2014 showings, Silent Wolf's 2015 game has been a mixed bag. His placements at major 2015 tournaments have been woefully inconsistent, with relatively weaker Fox-ditto performance and repeated tourney-ending losses to Ice Climbers. When he's on his game, though, he's terrifying---the archetypal example of 20XX: precision mechanics, smooth and devious movement, and unrelenting aggression. It's hard to say if we'll see a Silent Wolf at 100%, but let's hope so.

Fe MacD (16): If you want to talk break-out year, MacD is your player. Granted, he'd been ridiculously underrated considering his history of top 16 placements at nationals over the last few years, but since then, he's kept on rolling through bracket after bracket. With consistently high placements throughout 2015, no one can call MacD "just a down-smash spammer" anymore. While he can't yet be deemed the better Peach player over Armada, he definitely has the chance to prove himself as the character's herald at Throwdown.

S2J (18): A fan favorite and fresh off a Super Smash Sundays win over many of SoCal's elite, S2J is the antithesis of 20GX; his aggro SoCal-style Falcon eschews guaranteed regrabs in favor of more creative combos. Whipping all around the stage with a flurry of mixed aerials, S2J focuses on strong neutral and the uncanny ability to convert stray hits into big punishes. Even his edgeguarding is improving! Despite his local success, however, S2J has had far less success on the national level. Will he be able to make it big this time?

HugS (19): HugS has had a momentous year. Despite his status as one of the old guard, he's worked his way back up to a top-20 ranking, boasting a plethora of top-16 tournament placings under his belt. He's proven he can take the win against his peers in the top 25, but HugS doesn't have the consistency of Plup and Axe against them---and the Throwdown bracket will be packed with formidable opponents from the start. He definitely has the mentality and drive to achieve his goal of becoming a top-10 player, but he's not quite yet knocking at that door. It's hard to say he'll be able to open it at The Foundry.

COG Wizzrobe (23): Keyboard warriors are quick to throw around the statistic that Wizzrobe "hasn't beaten a top-20 player" this year, but there's a reason you'll constantly hear top players say how good the kid is. His new-school 20GX-style Falcon is all about precise movement, impeccable neutral, and optimized punishes, and he's put up hard fights against some of the best, including Mango, Mew2King, Leffen, Hungrybox, Plup, and SFAT. Throwdown, with its talent-packed bracket, might not be Wizzrobe's time to shine, but he has the potential to make quite a dent in the bracket. And, for the record, Wizzrobe's beaten Colbol multiple times this year.

TGL DruggedFox (24): Who the %&*# is DruggedFox? While he's stayed largely under the radar, especially for documentary-inspired newcomers to the Smash scene, DruggedFox made a resurgence in the community after a health-related character switch from Fox to Sheik. He exploded into the national picture at EVO with wins over Lucky, S2J, and Duck and close losses to Leffen and Mango. His run at Paragon wasn't nearly as impressive, but one tournament is no reason to write the talented player off.

The Veterans

A handful of other experienced players aren't currently ranked in the top 25, but can definitely score some upsets.

Liquid`Ken: The King of Smash has defeated a number of top players recently, placing top 16 at EVO.

SP | Zhu: Veteran Falco, selfie-stick wielder, once got Wombo Combo'd in NorCal.

SP | Cactuar: Cerebral old-school Fox and Marth player; runs Smash Practice along with Zhu.

SS | Colbol: Previously ranked #10; recently picked up a Marth for spacies matchups.

Alex19: Practices with Mango, Lucky, and S2J, and it shows. Strong placings in SoCal recently.

Liquid`Chillindude: Despite his recent poor performances, Chillin's veteran wiles will come in handy.

HomeMadeWaffles: More famous for his commentary, but a very skilled player in his own right.

The Hungry

These guys are trying to prove that they're top level.

Rudolph: Top Marth and top 10 overall in Japan, he's been on the American tournament grind for a few weeks now. Plays in a very interesting sphinx position.

JJ's | Mike Haze: Ranked 9th in SoCal, Mike's extremely technical Fox has been on the rise.

Laudandus: Decried as "boring," but isn't. Top 32 at EVO and currently 4th in NorCal.

Azusa: Strong up-and-coming Peach main ranked 7th in NorCal.

Frootloop: Formerly #1 in Wisconsin, he now lives in NorCal for work. Very solid playstyle.

FatGoku: Newly minted #1 player in Oregon. Wears Goku shirts to every tournament.

The Brackets

Pools are up on smash.gg; brackets for the pools will be posted on smash.gg and Liquipedia. Look out for more TL coverage of the event later!

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Graphics: KnivesCiao
CSS: Swampflare, FO-nTTaX
Writers: ]343[, Cedstick, Peanuts
Editors: ]343[, Cedstick