Last week, we wrote that Get On My Level 2019 was gearing up to be a historic tournament for the Canadian Smash scene. Over the weekend, GOML delivered on that promise—and then some. The event featured returns to the top of the podium for two experienced champions.
In the Melee bracket, Joseph “Mang0” Marquez scored his first major victory in almost two years, defeating a resurgent Jeffrey “Axe” Williamson in the grand final. Though he fell short of a major victory, Axe was awarded for his efforts with cheers of adulation from the crowd, who watched him cut a path through a loser’s bracket chock-full of formidable players such as Zain “Zain” Naghmi and William “Leffen” Hjelte.
Leffen was unable to recreate his stunning victory at GOML 2016, but the event still represented a successful return to Melee for the star, who has dabbled in Smash Ultimate over the last six months. In his winner’s semifinal against Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma, he scored a 3-0 victory over the world No. 1, who went on to finish in an uncharacteristically low fifth place after a loss to Justin “Wizzrobe” Hallett.
The event’s Canadian crowd was buoyed by the success of Kurtis “moky” Pratt, who defeated Justin “Plup” McGrath in a high-octane Fox ditto before finishing in seventh place.
GOML’s Ultimate bracket was topped by Gavin “Tweek” Dempsey, who returned to the winner’s circle after placing outside of the top four at his last few majors. Following Axe’s heroics in Melee, a Pikachu player managed to make waves in Ultimate as well: Eric “ESAM” Lew, who vanquished Leonardo “MkLeo” Lopez Perez before losing to Tyler “Marss” Martins in the loser’s final. Though Marss managed to claw his way back into grands after experiencing a reverse 3-0 at the hands of Tweek in the winner’s final, he was unable to quell the TSM member’s momentum as he hurtled towards victory.
Tweek electrified the crowd with his surprise Roy pick against Marss, but his winner’s semifinal set against Ezra “Samsora” Morris showed that Wario was still his true main. Quickly 3-0ing the Peach main, Tweek finished every single game with a waft.
With Get On My Level 2019 in the books, the metagame is looking more exciting than ever going into the next Smash major, Smash ‘N’ Splash 5. But viewers in Canada and around the world are unlikely to forget last weekend’s Toronto action any time soon.
