Can anyone stop Armada?
By Daniel “Tafokints” Lee
Adam “Armada” Lindgren and winning go hand in hand.
The Smash Bros. Melee star finds a way to win everything, much to the envy of opposing players and their fan bases. Smash Summit is around the corner, and the fourth iteration has many people penciling him as the victor.
Most recently, he won Smash Summit 3 in November 2016 over Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma. A win this year would make it an impressive four Smash Summits in a row.
Even more impressive is his resume since Evo 2016. Armada has been on a tear, winning nine of 10 majors, only losing The Big House 6 to Joseph “Mango” Marquez in grand finals. Since Smash Summit 3, he’s swept through every event, including DreamHack Winter, UGC Smash Open, Genesis 4, and most recently, B.E.A.S.T. 7 over fellow Swede, William “Leffen” Hjelte.
The past four months have been particularly crazy. Since Smash Summit 3, Armada holds a 10-1 record against the other members of the big 6. In comparison, look at the other big 6 players’ head-to-head records against each other since Smash Summit 3:
Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman: 5-3
Joseph “Mang0” Marquez: 4-5
Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma: 3-9
William “Leffen” Hjelte: 3-7
Armada’s tournament streak is astonishing, but it isn’t without some close calls, and naysayers will point out that he may have some character matchup weaknesses. Johnny “s2j” Kim had him at a 0-2 deficit at Genesis 4 in the Falcon matchup. Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman had given Armada some trouble in the Marth matchup. Leffen’s Fox has historically given Armada’s Fox and Peach a tough time.
Yet, aside from one set loss against Mew2King at UGC Smash Open, Armada leaves with the win every time. His opponents start off strong, but his persistence and consistency always come through.
How many players with an 0-2 deficit in a five-game set can instill fear in their opponent? When Armada swung momentum in game three and took his first game against s2j, deep inside, every fan and player knew in their gut that Armada was going to win.
This kind of thing happens every so often in traditional sports, and in fact happened recently when the New England Patriots overcame a 25 point deficit in the most recent Super Bowl. No deficit seems to be too large for them to overcome. There are very few players and teams in any competition that command that level of respect, but that’s Armada in a nutshell. You can never bet against him until the last stock is taken or the timer hits zero.
He hasn’t had an easy road to victory, either. Mang0 had all the momentum going into grand finals at Genesis 4. His Fox and Falco went through Leffen, Hungrybox, and Mew2King. The last two sets of losers were no contest, and fans eagerly awaited a rematch between Mango’s unstoppable force and Armada’s immovable object…except it really wasn’t a rematch as much as it was a massacre. For Mang0 fans, it was like watching that first Batman and Bane fight in “The Dark Knight Rises.” Armada stunned the predominantly U.S. audience as he effortlessly defeated the American hero.
Going into Smash Summit Spring 2017, it’s not right to call the top players of Melee the “big 6” anymore, given how much Armada has separated himself from the pack. Will a blue-shell from out of nowhere surprise Armada anytime soon? That’s highly unlikely, when you consider that Armada has not lost a serious tournament set against anyone outside of the big 6 since Pound 4 in 2010. Sure, players like s2j and Mustafa “Ice” Akcakaya have made him bleed, but no one has been able to take him down in a complete set.
The story has shifted from, “Which god do you think will win?” to “What’s the likelihood that Armada won’t win?” in Melee for 2017. This upcoming Smash Summit is his tournament to lose.
Smash Summit Spring 2017 takes place on March 2-5 in Walnut, CA. Singles pools starts on Friday, March 3, and bracket play starts on Sunday, March 5.
Daniel Lee is on Twitter @tafokints
