 The day is going to be Dr. Stabs against Hayate, a Canada team kill, unfortunately. You hate to see it happen, but at this point it has been inevitable. Obviously both Stabs and Hayate fell in the winners bracket earlier on. Stabs, three to two against Summit Cards. Really, one of the most competitive matches I've seen, of course, Hayate. Somewhat on the one side of the show against Rewind, but again, you know, Hayate. But they're getting into it. They're wasting no time there, just going straight, of course. Three out of five territory, all tournament, so we're going to have a handful of games. At least look forward to Stabs on that arctic, anarchy, frost, looking really clean earlier today. The question is, is there still gas left in the tank, or was that super competitive first set enough to take it out Stabs already? You know what, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt. I think he's got plenty left in him to go, but that's the same thing that goes for Hayate. Now, especially with this matchup with arctic energy, being able to control that space in the sweep range, Hayate's going to have to be very careful getting his momentum going, but if we'll grab, I'll be trying to close out that life lead. But I don't know if that Stabs wants to make these kinds of trades. He needs to be up in Hayate's face. It's going to be an interesting matchup where Stabs isn't really going to get to play the full-screen game thanks to Skudshot, but when it comes to mid-screen, Frost has a range advantage of around, like, 100%. And they both do kind of similar-ish damage on block confirm, so it's going to be a battle of range, I find. And patience as well. I mean, you're looking at Hayate, and he's inching his way in, has a life lead, so he really doesn't need to take any risks and overextend. Decides not to use the crushing blow, but the 4 Gravels certainly be able to close it out. Now, AIG, I think that's really important. The fact that Hayate got, you know, two of those big boots back-to-back, the crushing blow was able to be used, but deciding not to use it is sending a message of confidence, I find, right? It's, I know, I could win the round, I'm going to save it, but also, even though it's loses bracket, I'm willing to make those decisions. Because that's important, that's a really important crushing blow to hold onto, if you can. Because the threat, when you hit one dropkick, and you just threaten the next one, it's a big deal. And especially because he felt so comfortable, he wanted to save that for when it's a little bit more of a crucial moment, which might even be coming up pretty soon. Dr. Stabs has Hayate's back towards the corner, and you're seeing a lot of this pressure. Stabs also knowing the master knowledge, just poking in between those gunshots, those are gimmicks. No, Stabs has been doing that all day. Stabs' knowledge on this character and specific matchups is huge. Stabs is a day one cross main, and qualified very early in the pro competition, with pretty much just cross, right? This is someone that truly understands this character, but Hayate's saying the exact same thing about her own black, which is why I'm so excited for this. Hayate's really just sitting here trying to get some of this. This is going to be a crushing blow. He has to use this here. Thirty-one percent switching position has been a blow in play. He needs to be careful. The patience from Hayate, respecting the frame advantage that Stabs gets off that standing punch, and drop kick again. Oh, a delayed grab! The acid, that was so smart from Hayate. Didn't quite get the win, but now a magic pixel is all Stabs has to survive. He couldn't even finish that string, and he just let it rip a punish from full screen. He couldn't even finish that string, because he would have walked straight into that acid puddle, and pretty much ended up killing himself. Nice lesson to mine. That was all or nothing right there for Stabs. This Fatal Blow is going to win me the round, or it's going to lose me the game. Unfortunately, it was the latter, but I can't imagine we'll see a character change from Stabs. Stabs is an overplaying variation too. Ice Machine as well as Art Decanic, but I was talking to Stabs earlier on. He says that it's very much an Art Decanic sort of before him. So I'd be surprised if we see him change. Probably the same for Hayate, right? These are two people that are thoroughly so big fans of the characters they play. They just can't seem to quit them. They're pretty much character loyalists. They've been playing both of their respective characters since the very beginning, through changes, through meta changes, and everything else in between. And a lot of success to be having both of them. Obviously, Stabs being here because of winning Northern Arena. Northern Arena Champion, Hayate, of course, Vianality Champion. These are two winners by the right big throw from Stabs. I'm going to give them that. Honestly, in this kind of matchup, this is a really good likely to have, right? It's not the biggest, but because it's played for distance so much, it's so much harder to bring that life back. And there's a big confirm from Stabs. Both these characters do a little bit of damage at a time. So it's when you get that life lead, all you have to do is just start playing a little bit more patient. We're seeing that a lot out of Stabs. Take this time, no reason to overextend. Nice block on the back, too. Hayate not ready to give up just yet. Oh, the interruption, the Knowledge Stabs. Not letting Hayate take that. Spinning around, going to take that chip damage win. First round goes to Stabs. Stabs is not letting Hayate get away with any of these gimmicks with the guns. He's poking through absolutely every hole imaginable. That's just it, right? He's poking. You can, in theory, get bigger punishes, but it's more about just showing Hayate, I am not going to let you do this, right? You try and go, please, like, to lead somewhat gimmicky stuff with the Studge Shot Councils. And Stabs is like, no, you do not. Down one, get my turn back. And show you that I know you can't do it. And again, it's like you said, it's just a little bit of damage that are coming out. Just trying to keep the hits here. What was that? Okay. That was a strange interaction. That low kick is completely making the Studge a whiff. Oh, speaking of whiffs, we are acrobatic in this game right now. What again? And Stabs is so good at just switching positions like that. He's just starting to be a little bit more mobile. He's picked up there. Yeah, these chunks, 12% right there. But Stabs is content. He's content with getting a little bit of a life lead and just sitting back. Even though Arte Ganarky does well in that sweep range, he doesn't want to be up close to Hayate there. Again, threatening that low. A lot of these Stabs. Oh, no. Hang on a minute. Big punish coming up from Hayate. No breakaway Stabs. Just accepting the damage. Now that fatal blows in play for Stabs. Arte has to be careful. He's not going to die in this health. Oh, and it still catches him. Yeah, Hayate, you can tell. As soon as he got the gun out, he went straight crouching down. Presumably to make the fatal blow whiff, but as soon as the gunshot had finished, he kind of stood back up into it a little bit. It's not dead just yet. Nice block on the overhead there. And Stabs with the jump kick being able to answer back. And we are at a 1-1 tie here in the loser's side. This is starting to look stressful. Now, this is going to be dangerous, because especially when you get down to, like, the lower health the characters have, the more stressful this matchup's going to be, because they're both characters that have full screen fatal blow options. Each character has to respect the others, right? If you mess yours up and you know, it's almost a game of chicken, right? It's that kind of standoff, right? If you fight the bullet and go for it early and it gets blocked, you die for it. But then if you don't do it, you waste it, and they think the same thing, like... And then you end up just staring at each other for six seconds straight. Exactly. Stabs, beautiful down-free anti-air, forcing high-out there off the breakway. That's always so important early on in the match to get rid of that defensive option. That's a good situation for higher-takes being though. He's got that corner pressure, Stabs, respecting the strings, trying to build some of that space with the mid for a big scotch up. I love how they're both approaching this matchup. They're not overextending. They're going for a little bit of damage, quick little staggers, but then they're trying to back off because they know that each other character is dangerous, especially when there's no defensive breakway to be had. So much respect for higher-takes. Yeah, there's that throw. No escape attempt, your tool. He was weak to accept that. It almost looked like he's just willing to take a couple grabs. It's the least dangerous option. Well, a combo will kill you, but a grab won't. So it's just that risk assessment. Higher-takes, so good at that. However, this round is beginning to slip away. One hit at a time. He tries to roll through, but oh, from behind. That was so smart by steps. Unfortunately, it did switch him back into the corner, but you know what? He wasn't even looking at him. He didn't even catch. He was like, yeah, I know, I know. She knew he was dead, but now quickly back to Mixed Dream. Big Boot putting us right in the middle of the stage. I feel like we were in the corner like three seconds ago. What happened? They both have such good corner camp, but you know what, the big Boot, you get hit once you get slid right across the screen. Speaking of sliding, that dive bomb, we haven't seen as much of it. It's mainly been used as a mobility tool, as opposed to like an attack in this round so far. Big Stabs just wanted to make sure that he is never in the wrong area. And there's a bit confirmed there again, one of the benefits of Arch-Taganaki, being able to use that standing Q2 as a combo tool, as opposed to just on block for those plus break. And again, we're seeing that time and time again. Hayate's really respecting that back one mid that Frost has the offer. So he's taking the grab every chance that he can, much less dangerous than the back one. She's also one of those characters that doesn't get pressure off the grabs, right? It's too far away to know, but if it can come again and see the break way, we do, Stabs. Left without that defensive guard. So nice. Honestly, that was a smart move. He was probably going to end up spending every bullet that he had. No defensive bar to work with. He's going to at least try to chip out Stabs. Only two bullets left in that rifle. If you can somehow find the space to get rid of the last one, there's that big crushing blow ready. But I mean, knowing this matchup, Hayate might actually want to save the bullets to actually use it as a projectile. It seems to be potentially one of those matchups. And it's very strange too, because Frost really has a great full-screen presence. But Aaron Black with that scud shot. And those bullets, then the drop kick. 28% finally has a chance to use that crushing blow. That gives him a really comfortable life lead. But then finally gets flipped by the back one for Frost to break away immediately. They're there from Stabs. Really trying to make the most of every button he can. Again, just the range of this matchup, this kind of life lead doesn't look as dangerous, but this kind of matchup absolutely is. There you go. And all bullets are gone. Dr. Sam, he's going. I love how he's doing the two twos now. He's starting to keep Hayate more grounded. He's taking this time. He's saving a slight lead. Just a chunk at a time that's going to help. But Fatal Blow already gone. He got hit right out of the starting frame. The second he got Fatal Blow, he went for it and Hayate immediately stuffed it. And now it's back. Has to be careful. Fatal Blow hits here. He's going to lose the life lead. Oh, the delay. That's a full-out punish. That is a huge punish. Very smart by Hayate. That was a risky read unfortunately for Stabs that clearly did not pay off. I mean, the word is patience. Hayate, he has the lead. He knows he is in control. And Stabs, in those situations, is kind of forced into those make or break decisions. In game one, it was a Fatal Blow that didn't pay out. In the second game, Hayate won. It was a dive from an inconvenient time. But I mean, in those kind of situations, I felt like you kind of have to make a big decision like that. Especially the clock was ticking as well. He didn't have a lot of time left to really make something happen. So it was a valiant effort. Unfortunately, just didn't pay off. Now, Hayate on the verge of winning this set up 2-1 right now. And obviously, they are going to stick with their respective characters, which is obviously no surprise to us. No, not at all. Like, Stabs really has been rocking Frost since day one. Even placed well at Combo Graser, which was day one Frost, right? Top 24 with Frost before every other change that she had. Before she had a great mid, right? Before, I mean, the most important changes are made. Before variation three. Now, it looks like Stabs wants to be a little bit more aggressive going into game number four. I feel like it's hurting him, though. I feel like in this game, Stabs is... I don't want to say impatient, but definitely taking things a bit faster than before and kind of forcing himself into situations that Hayate is just taking his punishes at least might just get out of the corner. Stabs just does not want to put himself back there. That is not where you want to be against Hayate right now. And really, Stabs took most of his damage just from going for these Frost sides here, but he might be able to get a little something going. We can't count him out just yet. I mean, not an optimal punish on the upper gut, but a throw. It's better than nothing. It's still 140 damage. And at this point, he's pretty much just reaching chip-out territory. The best thing he could do for himself right now is just keep his back in open space. He's making it work. Hayate gets into the breakaway. Wait a minute. Knocked down again. Another grab. Okay, Stabs, he's not out of it. He has the fatal blow. Hayate has no breakaway either. One touch would certainly do it. It's not over yet. Two seconds on the clock. Time's ticking. Oh, no! Missed! Time's it! Stabs goes for the post-free, meaty, but just too early. Yeah, Hayate to see it. That one, that is heartbreaking to see. You heard the music playing in the background. There you go. Opsma put note. Doesn't believe in the Hickam from either. Back to just getting left on check. There you go. We see Stabs now getting a lot more aggressive up close. They're like, I mean, he is against the wall right now. One of the verge of elimination by the hands of Hayate. He cannot make something work in this game. Can he escape? Failed. Next grab will definitely do a lot of damage. Oh, okay. A pre-emptive drill. We've really seen Stabs occupy that space a little bit more. Is he going to be able to use this grab personally? Opsma to use it? I mean, he does have a decent lead. I mean, if he could save it for round three, where it's really going to make a difference, but you have to get to that point first. The delay. Stabs trying to get that kick through. Again, opted not to use it. I think he's holding on to it. He wants to save it for that third round. He feels confident here in round number two, but let's hope that doesn't come back to haunt him. They'll grab the throw escape, so now that crushing blow is gone. More plus frames. And once more, Hayate doesn't press, has no interest in picking himself up, and there's the throw again, but like you just said, not going to have the crushing blow anymore. Can still win the round? Absolutely. Oh. Just needs to get one little bit. That's definitely death. And the biggest nightmare that Stabs could have had happened to him. It all boiled down to just one mid confirmed. Hayate, he got that magic button and was ready to immediately react to that fatal blow. He smiles all round, Stabs. You know, he's not going to be happy with that, but I mean, he can't say he didn't lose to two of the greatest players in the world. And he fought for it. Absolutely.