WePlay Dragon Temple Day 1: Someone Nerf Foxy Grampa!

When the lineups for the WePlay Dragon Temple were announced, most NRS and FGC members already knew that Denom 'A Foxy Grampa' Jones would be a contender for the top prize and if the first day of proceedings of events is anything to go by, he could well win the entire thing. 

The first day of action saw the 'Mortal' group play out their matches. It was a best of 3 format with the winners entitled to a point once the set is done. The group roster was as follows:

• A Foxy Grampa
• Avirk13
• Hayatei
• Konqueror
• Forever King
• Hadoken
• Asodimazze

The results went something like this:

This means that A Foxy Grampa finished the day on top of the group with 6 straight wins, dropping only one round in the process in what was a dominant performance. Following him was Konqueror, while Avirk took third place, and Hayatei barely squeaked into top 8 with a fourth place finish. 

This means that the trio of Asodimazze, Forever King, and Hadoken is now out of the tournament after putting up impressive showings but not doing enough to dislodge the top 4.  

With that said, let's now take a quick look at how each individual did. 

Foxy Grampa

The Mortal Kombat veteran came into the tournament as one of the favorites, and he did not disappoint. While his performance in the pocket team klash was decent, it felt like he was holding back. This could, of course, be because everyone was forced to use a secondary character. However, due to his skill with several characters, it was impossible to really predict who Foxy Grampa would go with. He ended up with the queen— Sheeva, and by the end of the night, I don't think anyone was in any doubt that Sheeva is a top-tier character. 

He easily dispatched Hayatei, making his Fujin look remarkably ordinary in the process. He even entertained the crowd with some classic teabagging and a fatality. Foxy Grampa looked comfortable in just about every match, and it was quickly evident why he is considered one of the best players in the world. 

Konqueror

Konqueror isn't the flashiest player, but he is so well regarded because he does the basics so well, and it showed in his various matches of the day. After such an impressive showing with Johnny Cage yesterday, Konqueror was free to use his Sub-Zero. This new-found freedom had Konqueror playing at his best with his only defeat coming at the hands of Foxy Grampa. His Sub-Zero was neat, crisp, and methodical as he found a way to deal with just about any opponent. His match against Avirk was of particular interest as it afforded us a chance to see the classic Sub-Zero vs Scorpion match up. Not only that, but it lived up to its billing as a classic and a must-watch. 

Avirk

Most people will tell you that if you are a good player online, you are likely a great player offline. However, this could not stop a few people wondering if Avirk, considered by many as the best Scorpion in existence, could do it in offline mode the way he had in the online arena. His victory over Tekken Master and Grr perhaps got some people to believe, but it was also necessary to see how well he fared on his own, and boy, did he fare well!

Bringing out the Scorpion that everyone was looking forward to watching, Avirk really took on all comers with a measured style of play that seamlessly switched between aggressive and passive. His match against Konqueror stood out as it not only gave us a nostalgic match-up but also exhibited Avirk's uncanny ability to come through in clutch moments. It was also fun to see how relaxed he was out there, no sign of nerves at all!

Hayatei

The Fujin God came into the tournament as a firm favorite, but he will definitely look back at some of the games he played with some regret. The Canadian native got his first win against Hadoken taking that game rather easily, and by the end of that set, everyone fully expected the flamboyant Hayatei to steamroller his opponents. 

Then he faced Foxy Grampa.

The match was close, but Foxy Grampa took it in rather disrespectful fashion, teabagging and performing a fatality on Hayatei. I could be wrong, but this seemed to affect the Fujin user quite a lot. His next match against Konqueror went horribly wrong as he lost 2-0 in record time. Barely able to put up a fight against the Brazilian, it really made people question his ability to make it into top 8. He also lost to Avirk, and only close wins against Asodimazze and Forever King got him into the top 4. 

He acknowledged how poor he had been in a later tweet, and here's hoping on Sunday we see the Hayatei we all know and love.

Asodimazze

This was my first time experiencing Asodimazze and he was fun to watch. However, I imagine he was really annoying for opponents to face. Yesterday in his match against Infinitii, he kept the Mileena stan away with his Shang Tsung using ground eruptions and dropping bodies. Now, allowed to use his main, Cetrion, he showed what an incredible zoner he is. Using air lasers and rocks, he typically kept his opponents at bay. This didn't work with the top-rated players, but he got wins against Hadoken and Forever King, while his matches Avirk and Konqueror were pretty close. If he had been able to get just one more win, he might have made top 8. 

Forever King

The MK veteran was another character that we expected to shine, and while he showed some flashes, he was ultimately unable to break his opponents. Dropped combos and whiffs dominated a lot of his play and this was duly punished by cannier opponents. That said, he was fun to watch and we hope to see him in other tournaments. 

Hadoken

Some might say Hadoken had a dismal tournament and I can see their point. The Ukrainian finished the day win 0 wins and 6 defeats. However, between his Noob Saibot and Sub-Zero, he showed some brilliant flashes. While he lost all his games, it never felt like he was steamrolled and he made it difficult for just about every opponent. 

While he might be disappointed in some of his results, he can take heart from the fact that he is now more well-known in the NRS community and I wouldn't be surprised to see him in a couple of more tournaments. 

The action resumes today and we can be sure of a slew of incredible games which we can't wait to watch. 

If you missed all the action, you can always catch the rerun here.