Play It Forward 2 RECAP | Sentry Esports

Last month we saw the return of Play It Forward, Pittsburgh’s now annual charity tournament. With an incredible cause, a meaty $1,000 pot bonus, passionate sponsors, and complimentary catering, this event shaped up to be one for the books.

Play It Forward 2 was a fundraiser for Camp Kesem, a charity for children who have either lost a parent(s) or have a parent(s) that has cancer. All venue proceeds went towards the charity, totaling over $800 raised! The impact this event will have is heartwarming and will undoubtedly change lives for the better
As for competition, this event totaled to a whopping 291 LumiRank points, reaching the D tier level. This competition was comprised of Pittsburgh’s best, along with invaders from Central Pennsylvania, New York City, Upstate New York, Maryland, and Ohio, along with dual-reppers of PGH from regions such as New Jersey and Westchester, New York.

Let’s take a look at some of the storylines from the event!

LEON
The undeniable best Bowser in North America, LeoN, took the crown of both Squad Strike and Singles of Play It Forward 2. Since he returned to Pittsburgh from his home of New Jersey in early January, he has yet to lose a tournament, winning locals over the likes of Icymist and Sammm, and now the prestigious regional. He saw little struggle in taking the Singles title, excluding some close sets like from a player in our next story:

INFIKNIGHT
Infiknight, Pittsburgh’s resident Ike main and sword connoisseur, was seeded 10th going into Play It Forward 2. However, benefiting from an upset that will be mentioned later, he was able to avoid Thass, a Fox player he was seeded to lose to, and instead fought (an albeit still AWFUL match-up) a player he had a perfect 4-0 record on. He would then give the winner of the bracket his hardest match to that point, taking LeoN to game 5, only to be denied a reverse 3-0. He did not let this stop him, though, as he swiftly defeated Ohio invader “xane” to make Top 8, out-placing his seed with a 7th place finish and making Pittsburgh proud.

SASSYFLYGON
Upstate New York’s strongest invader SassyFlygon made a statement at Play It Forward 2. After losing to Char in Round 1 of Top 32 Winners, SassyFlygon would go on a monstrous losers run, defeating the likes of Swan, 4th seed Peanut, 3rd seed Doorstop, and continuing into Top 8 with wins on Infiknight and TimeGear to finish at 4th, falling to “GOCK IN MY RARI” (aka Fawn). After a heart-wrenching close victory over Immortal in pools, SassyFlygon rode the momentum to an impressive run.

ICYMIST
Icymist has a bit of a curse at Pittsburgh regionals, and this event was no exception. This was the fourth straight Pittsburgh regional in which she placed 2nd, losing to a different out-of-region invader each time. Coming off of a clean sweep at Smash Valley: Revival, finishing the event with 0 games dropped, she had lots of momentum going into the event. However, the curse would persist. It’s only a matter of time before Icymist takes one of these large Pittsburgh regionals with strong invaders, and it will be legendary.

NATHANIEL
The biggest upset of the bracket came from Winners Round 2 of Pool B4. Nathaniel was set to face Central PA/Ohio invader Thass, the 7th seed, as the 26th seed in Sheik vs Fox (WRITERS NOTE: BAD MATCH-UP). Coming off of momentum of some strong local wins and placements, Nathaniel went in with confidence and took the first game. Despite the pressure and the excited crowd, he kept the momentum going through game 2, securing a 3-to-1 stock lead. This is where the nerves kicked in and the fire from Thass roared, as Thass was able to even up the stocks, but it was too late. A down-tilt up-air and the set was over, providing an Upset Factor of 5. Nathaniel would go on to lose his next two sets for a placement of 17th, but this was undoubtedly an integral point in his Smash career.

With as large of an event as this was, there are countless interesting runs, such as Peanut’s demon bracket of awful match-ups, and dish soap’s five-set Losers run to 13th. Play It Forward 2 was a wonderful experience, whether you were competing, spectating from the event or from home, or commentating. Receiving praise for how well the event ran, we can look forward to Pittsburgh’s next big event, The Gamble 5!

Posted on March 15, 2024