Kristian “Rocky” Cruz won Super Smash Bros. Melee Singles at Rona Rumble: West Coast VI on April 24. The event was part of a continuing series of online Melee tournaments hosted for players on the West Coast. Brandon “homemadewaffles” Collier recently announced that this tournament series would soon branch out to include East Coast tournaments.
Rocky cruised into top 8 on winners side without dropping any games. In the process, he beat Joseph “ledgefiend” Coon, Anthony “Zealot” J., and Justin “Syrox” Burroughs. However, Rocky suffered an 0-3 loss to Luis “Smashdaddy” Rangel in Winners Semis.
Despite this loss to Smashdaddy, Rocky looked as solid as ever in the losers bracket. He started his losers run with an impressive 3-0 victory over DaJuan “Shroomed” McDaniel. After that, Rocky eliminated Steven “FatGoku” Callopy and Zaid “Spark” Ali. Finally, Rocky rematched Smashdaddy in Grand Finals. He beat Smashdaddy dominantly, winning set one 3-1 and set two 3-0 to become Rona Rumble: West Coast VI’s victor.
Rocky has proven to be a formidable competitor in Super Smash Bros. Melee netplay events. Previously, he has won online sets over the likes of Armand “ARMY” Del Duca and Jonathan “Bimbo” Rocha. However, Rona Rumble: West Coast VI undoubtedly marked Rocky’s best netplay performance since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
Other results from Rona Rumble: West Coast VI
Smashdaddy scored many upsets on his run to 2nd place at Rona Rumble: West Coast VI. His run through the winners bracket included victories over FatGoku, Rocky, and Spark. Notably, Smashdaddy was one of only two non-top 100 players to reach top 8 at this event. The other was Syrox, a former top 50 player.
Out of four top 50 players in attendance, Spark was the only to get into top 8 on winners side. This is a testament to Spark’s consistency when it comes to online Super Smash Bros. Melee tournaments. At this tournament, Spark defeated Shroomed and Oliver “Zeo” Pei.
Zachary “SFAT” Cordoni has had amazing netplay performances recently, most notably at ModGod Championship, where he took first place. However, he finished in a rather disappointing 7th place at Rona Rumble: West Coast VI. Along the way, SFAT suffered losses to Zeo and Shroomed.
