The wait is finally over as offline Melee makes its way back to Florida at the Plup Showdown. Hosted by Plup and Red Bull, the event took place on June 20 in Orlando and featured four exhibitions including Plup, Mew2King, Wizzrobe, Lad, Oaty and Gahtzu.
LAD vs. OATY
Kicking off the event was a best-of-7 set between Lad and Oaty. While Oaty took game one, Lad shifted the momentum with three quick wins of his own. Lad’s Fox pressure was slowed down in the fifth game as Oaty managed to collect another win, staying alive in the set. However, Lad regained control and finished the set with a 4-2 victory over Oaty’s Peach at the Plup Showdown.
PLUP vs. GAHTZU
After the first match of the day, Plup began his best-of-9 gauntlet matches. His first opponent was Gahtzu, the Captain Falcon player from Orlando. Composure was key as each of the first few games remained close in stocks, though a 5-0 set count gave Plup confidence to start his day at the event. Gahtzu’s Captain Falcon kept each game close and exciting, but Plup managed to pull away with a lead quickly in the match.
“It was a pretty chill, pretty straightforward matchup it felt like. He missed a few tech chases, so it is what it is,” said Plup in a post-match interview with commentators Toph and Lovage.
PLUP vs. MEW2KING
Competition ramped up for Plup in the following match, facing off against Mew2King in another best-of-9. As both players started the set on Sheik, the two traded stocks which led to an early 1-0 lead for Plup. Mew2King promptly switched to Marth for the next game, managing to even the score to 1-1. Changing characters again, Plup pulled out Fox against Mew2King’s Sheik, fighting his way to a 5-2 victory for Plup.
“If Mew2King would force chain grabs, we’d go into this counterpick war where I’d go Sheik versus his Marth, then I’d go Fox and he’d go Fox,” Plup mentioned. The display of character choices and matchup knowledge between the two provided an interesting look at how Plup prepared for this event.
PLUP vs. WIZZROBE
In the final set of the day, Plup faced fellow Florida Melee player Wizzrobe. Continuing a day of impressive performances, Plup took the first three games of the match and put himself in a comfortable lead. Preventing another sweep, Wizzrobe took a game of his own before Plup secured a 5-1 victory over the Captain Falcon player.
“I thought I played pretty well, but this is kind of a very different event so I’m sure everyone was a little off,” Plup said. “This is one of the few areas where we could actually pull an event off like this where there’s so many good players all close together.”
Finishing the day 3-0 in exhibition matches and with a 15-3 game count, the Plup Showdown proved to be an excellent showcase of Plup’s talent alongside some of the region’s strongest Melee players. Thanks to Red Bull’s support with the event and TurnDownForWalt providing video content, offline Melee was once again able to thrive with exciting gameplay and hype sets.
As offline events return in 2021, look forward to seeing more from Plup in the near future.
-Alex Beaven