Yesterday MVG Salem won Dreamhack 2017, and while many top players were quick to congratulate Salem on securing a win in back to back S-Tier tournaments (last weekend's EVO), quite a few in the Smash community rushed to the boards to complain about his main Bayonetta and discredit two phenomenal back to back victories.
Things got so bad in fact, that CLG Void, who ended up losing the title to Salem after a bracket reset and rough second set was the one to take to Twitter to chastise the community:
Coming from the guy that just lost grands to Bayo, can the community please shut up? It's annoying and you guys arent moving forward at all.
— CLG Void 🛫 DH ATL (@gsmVoiD) July 23, 2017
Still, conversations like "Would Salem be in this position if he wasn't a Bayo main," and "Bayo bans," are popping up higher than ever, and it's a bit ridiculous and insulting to a guy who busted his ass to elevate his game to this level.
Put simply, anyone who thinks MVG Salem got lucky during his wins in the top 8 this weekend wasn't watching or appreciating the level of focus and skill this guy puts into his games.
Perfect example, his two game series to Tweek in the top 8. ANYONE who questions the skill of Salem as opposed to the versatility of Bayonetta needs to watch this.
First here's Salem getting bodied quite handily by Tweek and getting sent to the Losers bracket:
Tweek drops him pretty quick in a 3-1 take and the two meet 5 matches later only for Salem to have changed his game and return the favor with a 3-1 elimination:
You can't watch those matches back to back and not see the ability Salem has in changing his game. He literally had no answer for Tweek in that first match and somehow had everything he needed going into the second match to wrap things up like he needed to.
Same thing goes with his grand finals match with Void where the two played an insane first set. Literally, anyone could've taken that series, but ultimately it came down to Salem's trademark level head and commitment to his gameplan that put him into the reset to finish of Void when it mattered:
Those wins aren't the result of some incredibly lucky Bat Withins or Witch Times, and saying they are is an insult to all the top guys who fell to Salem. I mean, I get that it's kind of disheartening to see your favorite pros lose to a dude rocking the same hairstyle as his main, but c'mon:
Bayo-esque hairstyle- pic.twitter.com/7gcIhWeNpO
— MVG | Salem (@MVG_Salem) July 22, 2017
Is Salem making a case for the best player in SSB4 in 2017? Hell yes he is. Does that mean Bayo is the new meta? She's been out for a year and a half guys and Salem's been the one consistent player of late doing great things with her...that's not meta that's a dude turning people on to a new playstyle because he's winning, don't confuse the two.
Even better don't look at Salem's wins and see just Bayonetta, because you aren't picking up Bayo anytime soon and winning S-Tier tournaments. Give some credit where it's due.
