Glutonny bests MKLeo at Pound to become first European to win US Smash Ultimate major

Super Smash Bros pro William ‘Glutonny’ Belaid shocked the FGC on April 24 by becoming the first European to win an Ultimate Major held in the US at Pound 2022.

Glutonny went into Pound having placed second at Genesis 8 one week prior, losing out to Leonardo ‘MkLeo’ López in Grand Finals, and had something to prove.

The Wario main was able to get revenge on Leo in Winners’ Semi-finals before achieving victory against Paris ‘Light’ Ramirez in Winners’ Finals.

This set up a rematch against Leo in Grand Finals with the Frenchman losing to the T1 superstar to force a bracket reset in one of the most thrilling tournament conclusions since the return to offline play.

Glutonny stuns MKLeo to win Pound

True finals against MKLeo provided to be a daunting task as López was able to take a 2-1 set lead, forcing the Solary player to dig down deep to clutch out a win.

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The final game came down to a last-hit situation where Gluto already had taken 75% damage – a dangerous amount against Leo’s hard-hitting Byleth.

By the skin of his teeth, Belaid was able to hit Wario’s Waft to secure the comeback and take his first-ever US Smash Ultimate Major and become the only European player to do so.

His victory is even more impressive when you factor in non-Melee Smash Majors where he has become the first European to win one in 23 years.

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Neither MKLeo or Glutonny are scheduled to appear at the next Smash Major, Low Tide City, but with multiple events on the Smash World Tour schedule still to go, this likely isn’t the last time we see the two in a high-stakes match as 2022 keeps rolling on.