YP_lilbopeep is the third Mortal Kombat 11 Open Series Weekly Invitational Champion for Europe. Lilbopeep lost early in the bracket due to connection issues, but everything connected on the losers side.

He was anything but lost against pros like MK_AZERBAIJAN and Nivek_Gentleman, sweeping every single set from losers semis through the grand finals reset against shaz_da_best. Lilbopeep’s victory exemplified Ketchup’s claim that this week would be unpredictable, making it a true Open Series experience.

Let’s recap lilbopeep’s journey from unknown to unstoppable. Plus the other star of the tournament, Shaz_da_best. Shaz 3-0’ed everyone prior to the title match in his breakout performance.

Europe Open Series Invitational Bracket

Quarterfinal: shaz_da_best (Jade) Vs. YP_lilbopeep (Jacqui)

Last week’s grand finals character matchup returned with an unfortunate outcome. While Jade won again, shaz_da_best didn’t really do anything because the Internet wouldn’t let lilbopeep play. Shaz moved on despite losing their one and only round, however, the soon to be champion would get his runback later in the bracket.

Offscreen, but on Your Mind: lilbopeep Beats MerceR_R 3-0

MerceR’s unorthodox Scorpion nearly toppled Asodimazze, Europe’s week one champion in a game 5 set. His risky playstyle excels at getting into the opponent’s head with unpredictable options most Scorpion’s tend to avoid. We may have not seen lilbopeep win on stream, but the decisive 3-0 was a sign that the failed connection was a fluke. This player deserved to be on the Open Series stage and had to work even harder to prove it.

Winners Semis: shaz_da_best (Jade) Vs. Asodimazze (Cetrion) 3-0

Meanwhile, shaz met Asodimazze in the upper bracket. Shaz continued to glow both literally and figuratively, using Jade’s special move to nullify Cetrion's zoning. Unfortunately for the Esports Empire pro, Shaz did some spring cleaning of his own, slipping past Aso in a tense last hit scenario with a 3-0 sweep to advance to winners finals.

Sneaky Survivor YP_lilbopeep Defeats MK_AZERBAIJAN 3-2

Dubbed the dark horse of the MK European scene, MK_AZERBAIJAN is one of the only players using Sonya’s mixup heavy No Hold’s Barred variation. Unfortunately, this match wasn’t shown due to time constraints, but based on the score we can imagine it was a back and forth bout between Jade and Sonya.

Winners Finals: Nivek_Gentleman (Jacqui, Kotal Kahn) Vs. shaz_da_best (Jade) 0-3

On the other hand, the spotlight was all over shaz. Jade versus Jacqui might soon be the MK11 Open Series equivalent of France vs. PSG, albeit on a smaller scale. Although it's worth noting that shaz is a lot more aggressive than Dubasik.

Mustard and Ketchup noted shaz’s constant respect throughout the match, playing super safe. He never overcommitted to any option and instead stuck to the same pole vaults and pressure that Dubasik used to topple Nivek in last week’s broadcast. The shaky switch to Kotal Kahn did little for Nivek but led to one of the best Open Series highlights yet.

Nivek will likely lab this matchup to death before the next bracket because he lost 3 straight sets to Jade 9-0.

Losers Semis: YP_lilbopeep (Jacqui) Vs. Rankz420 (Raiden, Baraka) 3-0

Bopeep finally stepped back onto the stream to throw down with the Raiden that knocked Asodimazze out of the tournament. Rankz’s teleport heavy playstyle couldn’t escape bopeep’s line of sight. Bopeep mixed up Raiden with a double ground pound into the corner to make quick work of Rankz. His relentless rushdown gave Rankz no room to get anything started with his usual lightning attacks and grabs.

Rankz showed off his character specialization, using multiple Raiden variations throughout the bracket. However, it wasn’t enough to stop Bopeep. It may have looked like Jacqui was merely pressing buttons from an outsider’s perspective, but in reality, nearly everything was working for bopeep thanks to clever crossups, constant mixups and hard reads.

Baraka subbed in for Raiden game 3. Despite beating Gaiden with Baraka earlier in the bracket, Nopeep kept pressing forward and dominated the entire set.

Ketchup said Bopeep is possibly the most aggressive Upgraded Jacqui he has ever seen.

Losers Finals: Nivek_Gentleman (Jacqui) Vs. YP_lilbopeep (Jacqui) 0-3

The Jacqui mirror match didn’t disappoint. Lilbopeep turned on the jets to take a swift first game 2-0 with a Fatal Blow. Bopeep’s character knowledge worked to his benefit because he was more aware of Jacqui’s strengths and limitations than Nivek, anticipating approaches and optimal distances.

Nivek squeezed out the following round, only for Bopeep to flawlessly finish the next. Blink a few times and you’d miss the match at their fast pace. Someone was always taking damage. Bopeep took game 2 with a crossover kick. Nivek didn’t play poorly, Bopeep just played better to clutch rounds. His excessive use of ground pound could have meant disaster, but it kept working.

With Nivek out 0-3, fresh faces triumphed over Open Series Weekly Invitational veterans.

Grand Finals: shaz_da_best (Jade) Vs. YP_lilbopeep (Jacqui) 0-6

These players were finally able to fight in what felt like a scripted event. Both trampled through bracket sweeping almost every opponent.

Their aggressive playstyles sped through the set. Mustard called the first game the fastest Open Series match yet after Bopeep continued to capitalize on ground pounds. No one blocked it throughout the invitational. Combine that with short hop mixups and Bopeep was always in advantage.

Bopeep’s turns were far longer and more frequent than shaz’s. Whenever Bopeep was on the offensive he dealt extra damage and improved his position. Shaz was posed to take game 2, but Bopeep whiff punished Jade with an uppercut Krushing Blow to start a string that stole the win. The reset was inevitable. Bopeep held shaz in block for most of the match and whiff punished the Fatal Blow to force the final set.

Bopeep had no reason to swap strategies. He stuck to his overwhelming pressure and constant crossups to attack shaz from every direction. Control was almost always in Bopeep’s hands. Shaz didn’t optimize punishes, like a flubbed whiff punish on Bopeep's Fatal Blow, and fell prey to Jacqui’s tricky mixups. Conditioning played a big part in Bopeep’s victory.

Shaz never faltered and maintained a level-headed approach. However, his opponent always found a way to finish him first. The final game ended with a Krushing Blow punish off of a whiffed grab.

Bopeep completed Europe’s second 6-0 comeback to become a Weekly Invitational champion. Bonus points to the Jacqui main for showing off a variety of Brutalities.

Mortal Kombat 11 Open Series Stream Schedule

Sign up to compete or tune in live for more Mortal Kombat 11 Fatal Blows, flubs, and finesse.