Community Effort Orlando Dreamland, which took place at the Wyndham Resort in Orlando, Florida, wrapped up Sunday with the remaining Super Smash 4 singles competition. The three-day tournament concluded with a thrilling top 8 player clash. Gonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios would add another first place finish to his resume, finishing the tournament without losing a single set. Here's how the rest of Day 3 played out.
Eric "ESAM" Lew's audacious run through Smash 4 singles gridlocked when he faced "ZeRo" in the winners semifinals; ESAM, the mighty Pikachu main, was confounded by ZeRo's Diddy Kong. He lost the set 3-1 and was sent into the lower bracket. Things didn't get much easier for ESAM as he confronted Samuel "Dabuz" Buzby, the respected Rosalina & Luma main in the losers quarterfinals. The set looked to be unexpectedly in favor of ESAM as his Pikachu mauled Dabuz in Game 1. ESAM advertised a masterful sequence in the first game, employing constant pressure upon Dabuz. Dabuz would turn things around, however, winning three consecutive rounds to secure the win. His run would end there, though, as he would eventually be eliminated by Nairoby "Nairo" Quezada in losers semifinals.
Dabuz's winners bracket run was trumped by Ramin "Mr R" Delshad, who managed to make it all the way to the Grand Finals before ultimately falling to ZeRo. Squaring off against Nairo in the winners bracket semifinal, Mr R would get in the first word, claiming a 3-1 victory. However, the two would meet again promptly in the losers finals following a heartbreaking winners bracket loss to ZeRo. This time, the set was much closer, going into a Game 5. Still, Mr R's expert Sheik play was too much for Nairo to overcome, and he eventually claimed the series win.
In a rematch of the winners bracket finals, ZeRo would immediately zip out to a commanding lead in the Grand Finals, taking the first two games of the series against Mr R's Sheik. A clever tactical move would get Mr R back into the game, as he opted to use Cloud, eventually pushing the series to Game 5. For the first time in this tournament, ZeRo was experiencing visible trouble adapting to Mr R's Cloud; Cloud's range and limit ability made ZeRo's common approach tricky. Although many were hoping to see Mr R institute a bracket reset, ZeRo would take Game 5 and the CEO Dreamland title, vanquishing Mr R 3-2 in Grand Finals.