Last night, 61 players entered Orlando, Florida JRGB Smash Night, and when the ashes from the battle for 1st place cleared, only one man remained. That man was IlluZion's own, XLR8.
Apart of IlluZion's stacked Deception Academy, XLR8 and his Young Link are an up incoming force in the Central Florida area. As a matter of fact, besides a 129th placing at InfinityCON Tally 2021, XLR8 hasn't dropped below 17th at any tournament he has entered since his return to offline Ultimate. He also placed within the top three at seven out of the last seventeen LAN tournaments he has entered.
XLR8 started his run splendidly by not dropping a single game in pools. He defeated both Jingzy and Goober (2-0) to make it into the winners side of bracket.
XLR8's steam didn't run out in bracket either; it only seemed to pick up. He beat Mischief (2-0) in winners quarters before squaring off against Jorhey.
The set started off with XLR8 losing the first stock because of Jorhey using Luigi's quick aerials and a well placed forward smash. XLR8 retaliated by using Young Link's wide array of projectiles and clever neutral airs to bait out Jorhey's jumps out of shield to even the stocks. XLR8 kept to this same game plan and effectively locked Jorhey out of his movement and keeping him in shield. It came down to one stock each, but XLR8 came out on top in the end.
Game two followed the same story as the first game, but this time Jorhey would shield within XLR8's attack range and attack with aerials out of shield. The set then evolved into an aerial war for supremacy, one in which XLR8 was on the winning side thanks to a combination of Young Link's quick neutral air and projectiles. It was a close game, but XLR8 ended the set with a crucial up air to defeat Jorhey (2-0) and put himself in the winner finals against Angel (Captain Falcon).
The first game of winner finals was very close with both players reaching 140%. It all came down to who could land the killing blow. Fortunately, XLR8's patience pulled through as he baited out a get up attack from Angel to finishing him off with a neutral air to go up 1-0 in the set.
Game two saw XLR8 living up to his name by accelerating the pace of the set and going on the offensive. He began to rush down Angel every chance he got, put him in the corner or off stage, and then he used Young Link's superior range to block Angel from moving.
This strategy paid off because during the third game, XLR8 began to not only keep Angel in the corner, he started to catch him offstage more and edge guard him. Angel put up a valiant fight; he brought the last game to last stock. He almost managed to snag victory away from XLR8, but after a solid tech of off the side of the stage, XLR8 clutched the win with an empathic up special, cementing his place in grand finals!
In the grand finals, XLR8 would meet his final opponent, RiotLettuce ( a Link/Wolf main).
Up until now, XLR8 had no issue with controlling space with Young Link's sword and projectiles. However, RiotLettuce proved to be a different breed of competitor as he skillfully used Wolf's fast movement to close the gap and keep XLR8 on the defensive. XLR8 wouldn't back down, though, and showed off his game sense by carefully picking and choosing his hits with either smart baits and stellar projectile usage.
The first set itself was action packed to say the least. It all came down to a game five in which XLR8 fought his way to after going down (2-0) in the set. IlluZion's Hero of Time played his hardest, but RiotLettuce won the first set and forced a bracket reset.
Bracket resets can be morally debilitating for the player who lost the first set. Having to play another set after losing a close last game can pretty much take the desire to win out of oneself.
For XLR8, however, losing the first set seemed to motivated him. His punishes seemed to improve as the second set went on. He also began to hunt down Riot Lettuce more instead of letting him dictate the pace. It came down to a close game four, but with one forward throw, XLR8 not only sealed RiotLettuce's fate, he also claimed 1st place!
This victory marks XLR8's first CFL tournament win, but by his own admission he has mentioned that because Goblin and Epic_Gabriel weren't there, he thought the win wouldn't seem as big.
Even if those two players weren't in attendance, XLR8 showed that he has the makings of a contender in the Florida Ultimate scene.
It's fitting that XLR8 is an aerospace engineer because it is only a matter of time before his career both literally and metaphorically takes off.
Written by Hank Strandberg
Follow XLR8 at
Twitter: @K3V1N_XLR8
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/K3V1N_XLR8
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