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The Doubles competition at Super Champ Combo saw the resurgence of one of last year's most dramatic teams, Azen and Chillin. In 2006 they had a meteoric rise, becoming the first team to ever defeat Ken and Isai in the finals of a Doubles tournament. During this year’s MLG Smash Series, though, Azen has been completely absent, as he retired from Melee once again after a disappointing finish in Vegas. Of course, “retired” in the Smash community really means “taking a break until the urge strikes to play again.” The favorites to win the event were Ken and Isai, who took first place in Las Vegas last year. Both players started out strongly, dominating their way through pools and much of the team bracket, but they ended up losing a close match against another team from California, Mango and Lucky, and then were sent home early in the Losers Bracket, not even making it to the Losers Finals. The team of Mango and Lucky made a run very similar to the one Kishprime and Kishsquared engineered during MLG’s Championship in 2005. The unique Fox-Jigglypuff team allowed for risky rest-maneuvers and spectacular KOs and saves, including a barrel-hog KO by Mango on DK 64 against a recovering opponent. Despite all this, Mango and Lucky were eventually outshined by two teams from the East Coast, as Azen and Chillin defeated them in the Winners Bracket, while Cort and PC Chris finished them off in the Losers Finals. The Finals were almost a rematch of Melee-FC Diamond, with Chillin teaming with Azen instead of ChuDat. The difference, though, was huge, as Azen and Chillin (Groom Blue) managed to win the first match by an impressive score of 3-1 over PC Chris and Cort (Big Red Apple). Game 1 started out close through the first stock, but midway through, Cort found himself down a stock to everyone else. For the most part, Chillin matched up against Cort and as a result he was under the constant risk of early deaths because of Fox’s up-smash and up-air KOs. To add to this problem, Azen kept an eye out for openings most of the game and came in at several moments with well-timed forward-Smashes. Toward the end of the match, though, Cort managed to keep pace with everyone else, while Chillin fell slowly behind, leading to a 2v1 against Azen before Big Red Apple nabbed the win. Game 2 featured all four players using the same characters on Final Destination, with Groom Blue jumping out to an early lead. With Final Destination being one of their favorite stages, Groom Blue used most of the game to team up against Cort, while only paying attention to PC Chris during moments when the battle degraded into two separate 1v1s, during which Azen usually matched up with PC Chris while Chillin dealt with Cort. The open space easily benefited Azen’s Marth over any other player, as he now had significantly more space to move around and land Marth’s forward Smash, which he attempted to do frequently and with high success. Toward the end it was PC Chris against Groom Blue by himself, with his single stock against his opponents' five. He managed to get a single kill against Azen before finally dying, giving Groom Blue a powerful four-stock victory. Big Red Apple counter picked Dreamland 64, which benefited both players. It would turn out that this plan would backfire, though, as Chillin remained Fox and Azen switched to Peach, meaning the game became a ditto match, with each team sporting the same characters. PC Chris started out by losing two stocks quickly to Chillin, with the second stock being particularly disastrous, as Cort attempted to save his partner, only to die himself. With each team staying close to each other, the game slowly evened out, though PC Chris still lagged behind. While everyone else still had two stocks, PC Chris was down to his last, an attribute Groom Blue used to take advantage of Cort, as PC Chris was limited in the risks he could take. The result down the stretch was a three-stock victory for Groom Blue, giving them a one-game lead. The final counter-pick of the Winners Finals was almost an act of desperation, as Big Red Apple decided to go to Brinstar. Azen changed his character once again, going back with Marth who had more killing power than Peach. Brinstar is a very tricky level to play, as acid moves up and down during the game, causing damage. This acid is especially difficult for characters that are deemed as fast fallers, as they get repeatedly thrown back into the acid for high amounts of damage. This problem existed for both PC Chris and Chillin, who both played Fox. The game did not start out as expected, though, as both Azen and Cort ended up dying beneath the stage before the acid flow could start. From that point, the game became a test of who could control the middle platform and the location under it, with Groom Blue succeeding by having Azen using his Marth to keep control underneath while Chillin moved around the edges. In the end the extra ability of having two characters with powerful KO moves (Marth and Fox) made the difference as Groom Blue won again when Chillin up-Smashed PC Chris’ last stock. Big Red Apple found themselves down 3-1 against Groom Blue after dispatching Lucky and Mango in the Losers Finals. From this point the match expanded to best of 11, with Groom Blue holding a clear advantage. The fifth game returned PC Chris and Cort to one of their favorite counter stages, Dreamland 64. Big Red Apple managed to keep it close through the entire game, including virtual ties at three stocks and two stocks. The only real break came toward the end when Big Red Apple jumped out to a little over a half-stock lead, which they used to push through for a slim victory. Groom Blue went with Final Destination for Game 6, the stage on which they won during the Winners Finals by four stocks. This time Big Red Apple came prepared, as they managed to keep the game even by focusing most of their effort on killing Chillin. The combination of Cort holding stock and racking up damage while PC Chris looked for kills proved to finally be a success, though just barely, as they squeaked out a two-stock victory after all four players were over 100% on their last stocks. Groom Blue decided to give the stage yet another go after the loss, but this time the game was not even close as Azen played sloppily, losing stock much faster than any of his previous games. In the end Big Red Apple three-stocked Groom Blue, tying the match at three games apiece. Once again, though, Groom Blue decided they would counter-pick Final Destination. In Smash, no player or team can choose a stage on which they previously won when counter-picking (unless the team that lost agrees to it). This rule resets for a best of 11, so Groom Blue were allowed to keep choosing Final Destination as long as they kept losing there. The eighth game would be the breaking point for Cort and PC Chris, as Groom Blue finally hit their stride. For the first time since the Winners Finals, the East Coast team from Virginia seemed in sync, as Chillin racked up KOs while Azen held stock and landed long combos. The game was sealed when Chillin landed a shine spike to finish PC Chris. Groom Blue put on a show for the final two games, completely dominating Big Red Apple on Pokemon Stadium and winning a close Game 10 on Dreamland 64 (by agreement) for the final victory. During both games Chillin went long periods where he seemingly could not miss a KO, while Azen held stock and played more conservatively. Chillin ended up landing the final KO in both games, which included a shine spike and an up-air over-the-top kill. Winning the doubles tournament of SCC stands as one of Azen and Chillin’s most spectacular performances. In both singles and doubles, the East Coast shined over the West, with the best placement of a West Coast player being third in both singles and doubles. Ken and Isai had their worst tournament performances ever — for the first time they left with no money in hand from either singles or doubles, as SCC was their lowest doubles placement ever and Ken’s seventh-place finish his second-lowest singles finish. Winner’s Finals PC Chris (Fox) and Cort (Peach): 1 stock 110% and 0 stock |Pokemon Stadium| Chillin (Fox) and Azen (Marth) PC Chris (Fox) and Cort (Peach): 0 stock |Final Destination| Chillin (Fox) and Azen (Marth): 2 stock 130% and 2 stock 16% PC Chris (Fox) and Cort (Peach): 0 stock |Dreamland 64| Chillin (Fox) and Azen (Peach): 1 stock 14% and 2 stock 90% PC Chris (Fox) and Cort (Peach): 0 stock |Brinstar| Chillin (Fox) and Azen (Marth): 1 stock 110% and 1 stock 50% Finals (expanded best of 11) PC Chris (Fox) and Cort (Peach): 1 stock 130% and 1 stock 81% |Dreamland 64| Chillin (Fox) and Azen (Peach) PC Chris (Fox) and Cort (Peach): 1 stock 137% and 1 stock 150% |Final Destination| Chillin (Fox) and Azen (Marth): 0 stock PC Chris (Fox) and Cort (Peach): 2 stock 103% and 1 stock 37% |Final Destination| Chillin (Fox) and Azen (Marth): 0 stock PC Chris (Fox) and Cort (Peach): 0 stock |Final Destination| Chillin (Fox) and Azen (Marth): 1 stock 63% and 1 stock 61% PC Chris (Fox) and Cort (Peach): 0 stock |Pokemon Stadium| Chillin (Fox) and Azen (Marth): 2 stock 140% and 2 stock 100% PC Chris (Fox) and Cort (Peach): 0 stock |Dreamland 64| Chillin (Fox) and Azen (Peach): 1 stock 41% and 1 stock 46% Doubles Standings 1. Azen and Chillin (Groom Blue) 2. PC Chris and Cort (Big Red Apple 13) 3. Lucky and Mango (Super Duper) 4. Hugs and Mew2King (Censored) |
