AADL-GT Round 1 results: Us in Front

Fri, 08/31/2007 - 11:48am by eli

The 2007 AADL-GT Super Smash Double Dash Championship Season is off to an awesome start after last weekend's season opener, and it's clear that the Clan landscape is shaping up to be tougher than ever with the emergence of Superclans Us and the Brothers of Maplewood. While the BOM dominated the first Clan Battle of the season, Us is still in first place after dominating many of the days events and still taking 2nd place in the Clan Battle. Read on for full Round 1 details.

After getting 7 new clans registered, we started off as always with Super Smash Bros. Melee Singles, with 65 players competing and our first real test of the pool system. Both Clan Pool Matchup and Elite Player avoidance worked great... except for the presence of the new SSB ringer clan 5CC, consisting of newcomers [gtplayer:980], [gtplayer:975], [gtplayer:976] and [gtplayer:976], who each had ratings of 0 at pool assignment time, despite their clearly dominant skills. Sure enough, all 4 moved on to elimination, although [gtplayer:975] was knocked out by emerging titan and Us member [gtplayer:382] and [gtplayer:976] was eliminated by seasoned veteran [gtplayer:425], one of the founders of the new Captain Falcons.

The quarterfinals were hard on the Brothers of Maplewood, as [gtplayer:166] was defeated by [gtplayer:978], [gtplayer:143] fell to [gtplayer:483], and [gtplayer:197] got the [gtplayer:788] treatment. [gtplayer:614] was able to knock out [gtplayer:980], setting the stage for an intense and Us-laden finals. [gtplayer:483] took first place, defeating [gtplayer:978], while the Roysters were left to duke it out for third, with [gtplayer:606] ultimately beating [gtplayer:614].

On to team smash, where 30 teams faced off in an abbreviated single-elimination tournament. Again, Clan Us dominated, with Team Mewdorf (the unstoppable combo of [gtplayer:788] and [gtplayer:483]) taking first, Team Silence ([gtplayer:606] and [gtplayer:614]) taking second, and PowerBeans ([gtplayer:382] and [gtplayer:504]) taking third due to [gtplayer:980] being overage and ineligible for prizes. Despite that technicality, this marked the first-ever Clan Sweep of an event, setting a new high water mark for clan dominance.

Moving on to Mario Kart Singles, with 43 players registered, the first surprise came from the return of Kart Master [gtplayer:175], who was then knocked out in a particularly brutal elimination round which also saw the fall of BOM's [gtplayer:197] and [gtplayer:146]. In the semis, both [gtplayer:166] and [gtplayer:198] were eliminated, ruining BOM's chance at an answering Kart sweep.... but when the dust cleared after the final match, BOM icons [gtplayer:736] and [gtplayer:143] had seized first and second place, while the Williams brothers, [gtplayer:457] and [gtplayer:458] took third and fourth. Also of note was [gtplayer:614], who finished 6th in the finals, showing that Us isn't necessarily the one-smash-pony they are said to be...

Kart Teams got rolling with 23 teams signed up, with each team getting just one shot to place 1st or 2nd in a 6-team race to make it to the finals. The infamous team BEATUSANDDIE ([gtplayer:737] and [gtplayer:738]) of new clan We Only Come For Books got an easy draw and moved on to the finals, as did the Durskis and the Williams, and the Hibbs brothers, but the Roysters took 4th in their match, and [gtplayer:143] and [gtplayer:146] also failed to advance from a race that featured the return of that old Trouble Monkey Magic as [gtplayer:175] and [gtplayer:455] stormed to first and a seat in the final race. However, this time, the cross-clan team of the Williams brothers [gtplayer:457] and [gtplayer:458] raced to final victory, while the Durskis Brothers of Maplewood took second and Team TNA ([gtplayer:983] and [gtplayer:984] took third.

Then, with the room clearing out, it was on to our first Clan Battle and Surprise Game of the season. Foregoing the customary Kart and Smash clan rounds, we went right to the Surprise game, which was one of my all-time favorites, Monkey Target 2. Each of the day's top 4 Clans -- Us, BOM, WOCFB, and the uninspiringly-named Clan Super Smash Bros. -- sent two monkey champions into a 6-round match in pursuit of the highest score. The star of this round was unquestionably the mighty [gtplayer:197], who scored 12460 points, snatching the magnet and bonuses almost every round, which combined with his clanmate's equally impressive 9030 points to lead BOM to victory and a 4000 point Clan Battle bonus. Us still scored an impressive 5242 points for second, while Clan SSB took third and left WOCFB to fourth.

So, with Round 1 behind us and an epic struggle shaping up between Us and the Brothers of Maplewood, it may well come down to the clan that can build the most depth in their weaker game taking it all as the season wears on. Also of note is the force we all know as [gtplayer:483], now sitting at the top of the leaderboard after taking first in both Smash events, with an eager [gtplayer:736] nipping at his heels.

Next up for AADL-GT is a Super Smash Bros. Regulation Throwdown for Ages 13+, Friday, 9/28 from 6:00 - 8:45 PM, and then Round 2, Saturday 9/29 from Noon - 5 PM, followed by a Kids' Kart tourney on Sunday 9/30 from 1-4. Just a reminder, it's not too late to form or change your clan, but please let us know before noon on the next tournament day to avoid things falling behind.