On Sunday, Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma and Larry “Larry Lurr” Holland captured the Smash singles titles Canadian national DreamHack Montreal 2018. In Melee, Hungrybox reigned supreme, while Larry took his third DreamHack title in Smash 4.
As with many events at which Hungrybox is the only Melee “god” in attendance, much of DreamHack Montreal’s Melee bracket was a battle for second place. In his best tournament run in recent memory, Ryan “La Luna” Coker-Welch achieved that impressive placement thanks to wins over William “Trulliam” Truong, Hugo “HugS” Gonzalez, Kurtis “moky” Pratt, and last year’s champion Edgard “n0ne” Sheleby.
Though n0ne failed to match last year’s first-place finish, his run this year was still deserving of plaudits. After defeating HugS (with flashy Ganondorf play in their set’s final game) in winner’s semis, n0ne fell to Hungrybox in winner’s finals, finishing his tournament in third place. The Captain Falcon main was the event’s highest-placing Canadian, but he was joined in the event’s Top 4 by moky, who turned heads with a fourth-place finish and victory over Ryan “Ryan Ford” Ford. Ryan Ford was joined in fifth place by HugS, while Trullliam, another Canadian, tied with New Yorker Toussaint “2saint” Turnier in seventh.
On the Smash 4 side, Larry Lurr sealed his victory with a 3-0 over Elliot “Ally” Carroza-Oyarce. Though Ally was unable to defeat Larry Lurr, also losing to him in a close 3-2 winner’s finals set, DreamHack Montreal was a return to form for the top Canadian, who achieved his best major placing in months thanks to wins over Jestise “MVD” Negron in winner’s semis and loser’s final. MVD achieved his third-place finish by defeating teammate Eric “ESAM” Lew and Zack “CaptainZack” Lauth.
ESAM, who finished fourth, lost a surprise upset to Kelsy “SuperGirlKels” Medeiros in winner’s bracket but was able to avenge himself using Samus in loser’s quarterfinals. SuperGirlKels tied with CaptainZack in fifth place, and the event’s Smash 4 Top 8 was rounded out by Jason “ANTi" Bates and Tamim “Mistake” Omary, who tied for seventh.
The tournament, while successful, was not without controversy. Notably, disgraced Ontario smasher Vikram “Nightmare” Singh was allowed to compete at the event despite his outstanding and well-known allegations of sexual misconduct. Seemingly in acknowledgment of Nightmare’s controversial position, the event’s tournament organizers allowed the Canadian Marth to compete but made sure that none of his matches were streamed. In the end, he finished in 13th place.
DreamHack Montreal is the last event of national-level significance until next month’s The Big House 8. The next month will act as a de facto off-season, and many top players in both Melee and Smash 4 will take this opportunity to rest as they prepare for the final supermajor of the year.
