Another weekly invitational for Europe, another new player takes home the title of Weekly Invitational champion. SrMurkoFortesque beat previous champion dubasik twice in a dominant Open Series performance.

Europe Week 4 Bracket

Winners Quarterfinals: Damastir_1 (Jacqui) vs. PND_OmegaK (Terminator) 1-3

These two players face off regularly online. Damastir tends to win most of their matches, although Omega’s reaction heavy style terminated Damastir this time.

Jacqui versus Terminator is a mixup heavy matchup. Terminator’s hard reads and call outs with grabs and knees led to Krushing Blows and the win for Omega Game 1. Damastir came back game 2 with explosive combos to carry Omega across the screen, but not as far as Omega carried Damastir with a string of Back Breakers.

Jacqui stopped the sweep with patience and a life-ending combo in the corner after losing a one-sided game. However, it wasn't enough to shift momentum. Omega capitalized on empty grabs, chip damage, and command grabs after knockdown mixups to take the set in the next game, 3-1.

Winners Quarterfinals: Asodimazze (Cetrion) Vs. dubasik (Jade) 2-3

The week 1 champion for Europe fought week 2’s winner. Asodimazze said dubasik is his least favorite player to fight and its easy to see why given dubasik’s characters counter Asodimazze’s main.

Jade tried to stay close, but Cetrion anticipated the rushdown with blocks, grabs, and eruptions, winning game 1 with a Fatal Blow confirm. Asodimazze accidentally cornered himself via teleport, dropping a big combo and handing the second game to dubasik.

Dubasik pole-vaulting over Asodimazze’s projectiles looked like something out of an anime, according to Mustard. Jade fearlessly charged forward to land a raw Fatal Blow for another round. The final round was back and forth, largely dependent on when dubasik used the glow. His playstyle outshined Asodimazze because dubasik played around Cetrion's projectiles with proper spacing and smart approaches.

Winners Semifinals: dubasik (Sindel) Vs. PND_OmegaK (Terminator) 3-1

This battle of range started in the Royal Edenian’s favor, but crowd favorite Omega used his brute force to command grab dubasik and amplify shotgun shots for an extended advantage state that took round 1. Dubasik retaliated with more aerial approaches and banshees, although Terminator was ready with the airborne grab. However, dubasik tied things up with screams. Round 3 was in the scream queen’s favor, until Omega triggered the backbreaker Krushing Blow to comeback and win the first game.

Dubasik adapted game 2 to finish the confirms and combos he started last game. Banshees, screams, scream cancels, and corner combos wiped out Terminator in a swift two rounds to tie the set.

The prior Invitational champ continued to play outside of Terminator’s range to get ahead. Omega got on the board with his Fatal Blow, but his lack of patience made him fall apart in the face of dubasik’s composure game 3. The fourth was more of the same, except for Omega’s flubbed Fatal Blow to leave himself vulnerable to Dubasik’s. Dubasik advanced 3-1.

Winners Semifinals: SrMurkoFortesque (Scorpion) Vs. Raoxeezer (Kitana) 3-1

Murko won a convincing game one with teleport mixups and whiff punishes thanks to the signature, ‘Get over here.’ Raoxeezer’s razors trapped Murko in the corner game 2, chipping away Scorpion’s health with mixups and overheads to even the score.

Raozeezer carried the momentum into the third game, using jump-ins and razors for immense corner pressure. However, Murko stole the lead with multiple grabs and a Fatal Blow finish.

Murko’s jump kicks and chain combos made quick work of Raoxeezer game 4. A Krushing Blow kick and teleport combos from every direction weren’t enough to stop Raoxeezer from taking another round. Despite the control shift, Murko nailed the Krushing Blow kounter uppercut to continue on in the winners bracket.

Winners Finals: SrMurkoFortesque (Scorpion) Vs. dubasik (Jade) 3-1

Dubasik ate a Krushing Blow uppercut, only to return the favor with a pole uppercut Krushing Blow of his own to get ahead game 1. Murko took game 2 after an unfortunate disconnect.

The first round of the rubber game went to dubasik thanks to risky Nitro Kicks and a raw pole spin, while Murko triggered two Krushing Blows in the same chain combo to take a massive lead in the next. A few more chain grains and a kick led to another win for Murko.

Dubasik changed to Sindel, but fell prey to the same teleport chain strings to lose the following round. The second looked good for the scream queen, until Murko brought it back and mixed-up dubasik to the point where everything went the underdog’s way. Murko moved on to Grand Finals 3-1.

Losers Semifinals: asodimazze (Cetrion) Vs. PND_OmegaK (Terminator) 3-1

Asodimazze was determined to keep Terminator out of range, leading to a lot of keepaway. Omega’s shotgun broke the boulder and punished Cetrion, but running under boulders and the overhead read was what really gave him the first round. The second was a flawless victory for Cetrion, zoning Omega to perfection. The match capped off with a more patient Omega anticipating when to shot, block, and run in to win.

Dashes, cancels, and tackles were Omega’s most consistent way in. However, if he misread the situation, then Omega ate boulders and lasers. Cetrion narrowly took game 2 with a Fatal Blow in a last hit scenario.

Omega charged into game 3 with another tackle, although Cetrion recovered to zone out Terminator again and again in a dominant 2-0 performance.

Things looked grim for the fan-favorite Terminator player. His shotgun no longer landed and asodimazze anticipated almost every move. Omega nearly turned things around on the brink of death, but diving under the beam a few frames late knocked him out.

Tournament life on the line meant little to Omega because he managed to win another round. A few command grabs gave fans hope that Omega might land the Krushing Blow to take the match, although asodimazze teleported away to beam him out of the bracket, 3-1.

Losers Finals: asodimazze (Cetrion, Baraka) Vs. dubasik (Jade) 3-0

The runback between champions was very similar to their quarterfinals set. Dubasik took the first game 2-0 with a Wiggle stick Fatal Blow. The second also went to the Jade main, but Asodimazze improved, taking one round despite struggling against dubasik’s pole vaults and Nitro Kick pressure.

Asodimazze’s switch to Baraka was surprising, although necessary with another loss on the horizon. Unfortunately, the character change didn’t improve asodimazze’s performance. Dubasik got the sweep to progress to the grand finals.

Grand Finals: MurkoFortesque (Scorpion) Vs. dubasik (Sindel) 3-1

Their rematch was very similar to their last set in winners finals.  The Sindel main unleashed the devastating screen cancel corner combo in a strong 2-0 start. If this continued, the reset was likely, but Murko adapted game 2 with Searing Rage chip damage to deliver his own 2-0.

Game 3 saw more Murko combos featuring grabs and teleports to slice off almost all of dubasik’s life in one string. The raw teleport and stage interaction allowed Murko to corner dubasik, but after a side swap the signature Sindel corner combo brought the game back to a final round. Massive combos continued on both sides and the teleport punish from Murko took the third game.

Murko got in game 4 with teleports to maintain his dominant tactics and take home the title of Open Series Weekly Invitational champion for Europe.