The Rundown (9/29/21)
Last Sunday, the UNC Esports Club hosted its second Spare Change biweekly, which was its fifth overall paid Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament that counted for the end-of-semester Chapel Hill power rankings. This time, Spandex was crowned champion of the Singles bracket for the first time.
Going into the event, Sugarland was the player to watch; he had won every previous PR-eligible tournament he had entered, including Show Your Moves, Empty Pockets 1 and the first Spare Change biweekly. However, head tournament organizer Grubbin stopped Sugarland in his tracks, beating him 2-1 in winners semis and 3-0 in losers finals, ending his run in third place.
Sugarland’s relatively early elimination paved the way for Spandex to get his first victory at a UNC tournament. He secured a spot in top eight by defeating Basket, Punx and Mr. Wes. Then, Spandex earned his first-ever victory over ForFor, who had won their first two sets of the semester.
Spandex narrowly defeated Grubbin 3-2 in grand finals. He did lose 3-0 in a grand finals set that saw him cycle through Falco, Wolf and Terry. But, Spandex brought back the tried-and-true R.O.B. in order to win the second grand finals set 3-1.
Despite falling short of the gold, Grubbin’s second-place finish was a statement from the lone top-level veteran among a field of talented newcomers to UNC’s Smash scene. In addition to double-eliminating Sugarland, Grubbin also defeated Lollicat, Brad and Arctinox. As a result, Grubbin now boasts a commanding 4-0 record over Arctinox.
In Doubles, Sugarland & Spandex teamed up to dominate the rest of the competition, dropping only two games in the process. They swept Skowboard & Wasp and Grubbin & Wild Cappuccino to secure a spot in winners finals. There, they came out on top of a five-game set against NC Sam & ForFor.
However, Sugarland & Spandex performed even better in grand finals. They went up 2-0 to start the set, leading to a game three where every single player swapped to a secondary character. Sugarland & Spandex won yet again, allowing them to 3-0 NC Sam & ForFor and win the tournament.
Outside of Spare Change, some of UNC’s best players traveled to Raleigh for Smash @ State 32, where they took NC State by storm last Friday. The top four of that tournament consisted almost entirely of UNC’s players, with Sugarland, Spandex and ForFor placing first, second and fourth, respectively.