For the past two Summit Champions League seasons, the question on viewers’ minds going into each week has largely been the same: Who’s going to win today: Zain “Zain” Naghmi or Joseph “Mang0” Marquez?
But, history was made at the Summit Champions League Season 2 Week 3. For the first time, the answer was “neither.”
Justin “Wizzrobe” Hallett upset both Zain and Mang0 en route to his historic Division 1 victory. Here are the details about Wizzrobe’s big win, plus other major takeaways from the penultimate week of the SCL.
Nobody beats Wizzrobe 22 times in a row
Melee fans often joke about Zain’s persistent dominance over Zachary “SFAT” Cordoni, as SFAT has lost nearly 20 consecutive sets to Zain. However, many fans have overlooked an even more dominant set count among top players: Mang0 versus Wizzrobe.
Before their Summit Champions League Season 2 Week 3 set, Mang0 was 21-0 against Wizzrobe. This included their faceoff at the last week of the SCL, where Wizzrobe only took three stocks across the entire set.
In addition, Wizzrobe plays Captain Falcon, a character Mang0 is nearly undefeated against. Over the past decade, Mang0 had only dropped two sets to Captain Falcon, both times against Edgard “n0ne” Sheleby.
Despite all that, Wizzrobe made history at the SCL. After trailing for the entirety of Game 1, Wizzrobe found some of his signature tech chases on the last stock to make a comeback and win the game. From there, the players traded games, leading to an intense Game 5 on Fountain of Dreams.
In a close last-stock situation, Mang0 knocked down Wizzrobe, theoretically giving him the edge. However, Wizzrobe knocked Mang0 offstage with a get-up attack, allowing him to get an edgeguard and an early kill to win the set. Wizzrobe’s win prompted a response from Mang0 similar to when he first lost to n0ne.
Ain't that some shit
— 🐐 🐐 🐐 🐐 🐐 🐐 🐐 (@C9Mang0) May 3, 2021
Wizzrobe still faced an uphill battle going into the finals of the Summit Champions League Season 2 Week 3. Predictably, he had to fight Zain, whom he had not beaten since 2019. But, once again, Wizzrobe was full of surprises.
Zain struggled to edgeguard Wizzrobe throughout the set, even though Captain Falcon’s recovery is generally considered to be one of his major weaknesses. The players went back and forth until a sloppy Game 5, where both seemed incapable of taking the other’s final stock. However, Wizzrobe eventually found a clutch edgeguard to take the set, giving him his first major tournament victory since Smash’N’Splash 5.
I WON AN ONLINE MAJOR FINALLY!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT I'M SO HAPPY!!!! @Envy
— Wizzrobe (@Wizzrobe) May 3, 2021
Plup goes from declining an SCL invitation to climbing into Division 1
Though he had been a Division 1 mainstay throughout the first season of the SCL, Justin “Plup” McGrath declined his initial invitation for Season 2. And yet, when the first qualifier of the season rolled around, Plup signed up and claimed first place.
Since then, he has slowly been climbing up the ranks. After losing to John “KoDoRiN” Ko during Week 1, Plup had to qualify again through the next open bracket. The next week, he beat Edgard “n0ne” Sheleby, securing himself a spot in Division 2.
This all culminated with a return to Division 1 at the end of the Summit Champions League Week 3. After dropping Game 1 in his set against Kyle “Kalamazhu” Zhu, Plup won the next three to win the set. Then, in Division 1 Relegation, Plup defeated Avery “Ginger” Wilson 3-0. As a result, he will start in the winners bracket at next week’s double-elimination tournament.
For those wondering about the last spot in SCL Season 2, Plup was invited but unfortunately it does not seem like he's interested in competing currently.
We've confirmed the final player today and will reveal soon, along with events beyond SCL2.
— Aiden (@aidencalvin) March 26, 2021
After a Week 3 loss, n0ne won’t compete in Summit Champions League Week 4
Last year, n0ne was widely considered to be a top five player in North America due to his consistently high-level performances. In comparison, he has suffered from mediocre results throughout 2021.
While he has had few outright egregious losses, he has frequently dropped sets to slightly lower ranked players; like Joey “Lucky” Aldama, Matt “Polish” Warshaw, Jason “Gahtzu” Diehl, Dawud “Aklo” Rahman, Colin “Colbol” Green and Jake “Jmook” Arvonio. Meanwhile, he has failed to make up for these losses with many wins over high-level opponents.
The Summit Champions League Season 2 Week 3 has been a microcosm of n0ne’s struggles throughout the year. He lost his Division 2 Relegation match against Miles “Soonsay” Foster. As a result, he won’t compete in next week’s double-elimination bracket, since there will be no more open qualifiers.
As his dad has been sick with COVID-19, it’s not hard to understand why n0ne’s performances have taken a hit recently. Even so, he has continued to frequently enter even small weekly events, showing his commitment to Melee. Only time will tell if 2021 n0ne can catch up to where he had left off in 2020.
Dads gf called and said he got worse
What can u even do— n0ne (@n0ned) April 11, 2021
