Last weekend's Full Bloom 4 gave Super Smash Bros. Melee's top players a welcome opportunity to show off their skills after a relatively quiet beginning of the year. The two-day major in Indiana drew almost half of SSBMRank 2017's top 100 players, resulting in a stacked bracket marked both by upsets at the lower level and a dynamic return to form for the "gods" of the game.
As the tournament came to a close, Team Liquid's Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma redeemed himself for his loss at January's GENESIS 5, racing to first place while dropping only two games on his way -- one loss each to rivals William "Leffen" Hjelte and Joseph "Mang0" Marquez. While Hungrybox has dominated smaller tournaments over the last few months, Full Bloom 4 represents the Floridian's first major victory since he clinched his 2017 year-end No. 1 ranking at November's Smash Summit 5.
While Hungrybox's dominant performance justified his No. 1 seed and proved that he is still deserving of top-dog status, the outcomes of Full Bloom's other matches proved to be far more uncertain.
In winner's semifinals, Leffen overwhelmed Mang0 with his precise Fox play, losing only four stocks in his 3-0 victory. For a moment, "Mang0 Nation" fell silent as Cloud 9's champion lost his fifth consecutive set to the TSM-affiliated Swede.
In the loser's bracket, Mang0 -- who had been pushed to the limit by fan-favorite Japanese player Masaya "aMSa" Chikamoto before even entering Top 8 -- found his stride, vanquishing Zachary "SFAT" Cordoni and Justin "Wizzrobe" Hallett before clapping back with a 3-0 victory over Leffen in the loser's finals.
In the end, even "Loser's Mang0" was unable to overcome Hungrybox's insurmountable onslaught of back aerials and rests. Mang0 was able to eke out the first game of grand finals before his momentum petered out, leaving him at a disappointing, but unsurprising, second place.
Full Bloom 4 also featured an exciting doubles bracket. After a fourth-place finish at GENESIS 5, CLG's SFAT and Kevin "PewPewU" Toy returned to form, vanquishing Team Liquid's Hungrybox and Daniel "ChuDat" Rodriguez in a tense 1--game grand finals. Although Team Liquid fell just short of victory, their run -- which included a 3-2 bracket reset over "PewFat" -- highlighted its rising stature as one of Melee's most powerful doubles teams.
Full Bloom's coveted Smash Summit 6 wildcard spots -- awarded to the event's top two non-invited finishers -- went to two Summit alumni, SFAT and Edgard "n0ne" Sheleby. SFAT scrapped his way to into the Summit by defeating Johnny "S2J" Kim to ensure himself fifth place, while n0ne clinched his wildcard spot through an impressive run to the winner's semis, which featured a reverse 3-0 over SSBMRank No. 8 Wizzrobe. Now that these wildcard spots have been assigned, other Summit contenders such as aMSa, S2J, Jack "Crush" Hoyt, and Zain "Zain" Naghmi will look to Beyond the Summit's voting process for a chance to participate in the sixth edition of the prestigious invitational event.
There won't be another Melee major for a few months, but Full Bloom 4's action was a lively glimpse into a summer season that will surely be full of surprises.