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Snake Eyez Takes the Championship Belt at CEO 2017
His momentum continuing to build throughout 2017, Darryl "Snake Eyez" Lewis took on one of the toughest crowds this past weekend. Here's how it went.
"Nobody would have believed you had you said Snake Eyez would be in Grand Finals vs. Punk, on winner's side," said CEO 2017 commentator TastySteve (as Darryl "Snake Eyez" Lewis entered Grand Finals vs. Victor "Punk" Woodley, on winner's side).
While it's been a long journey for Darryl "Snake Eyez" Lewis in SFV, he has been pushing hard in 2017. And with Evo just around the corner, there couldn't have been a better time for everyone's favorite Zangief to hit his stride than right now.
The CEO is in
Coming into CEO 2017, Snake Eyez had been slowly but steadily climbing the ranks of the CPT ladder. The year started a bit wobbly with a 33rd-place finish at Final Round 20, but since then had been on a steady upward trajectory. A Top 8 finish at DreamHack Austin, fourth at West Coast Warzone, and second-place finishes at both Combo Breaker and Texas Showdown helped him quietly move into the Top 10 of the CPT Global Leaderboard.
Snake Eyez went Zangief all the way through CEO
© Capcom
It wasn't just CPT stops that were showing his improvement, either. While he wasn't able to clinch a spot in the final playoffs at either event, his efforts at LEAGUE and SXSW's invitational events impressed, beating all-stars like Eita, Gamerbee and Justin Wong with Zangief and Akuma, bringing some versatility to his character roster.
So while a first-place victory had evaded him thus far in 2017, Snake Eyez was ripe for a breakout tournament. And at CEO 2017, he found just the right opportunity.
Cammys, Akumas and Karins ... oh my
Starting his CEO pools on Saturday, Snake Eyez quickly dispatched his early competition on his way into Top 24 — but from there on out, it would not be an easy road. Snake would take a set 2-0 over CJ Truth's Cammy before facing off with another one in Xiaohai.
Unquestionably one of the best Cammy players in the world, Xaohai wasn't expecting much competition — the commentators of their match had noted Xiaohai was not particularly concerned with Snake Eyez — but as their set showed, he would have done well to approach their match with more caution.
Dispatching Xiaohai in a close 3-2 set, Snake Eyez moved onto Winner's Finals, where he would face another California resident, XsK_Samurai. Samurai brought out his Akuma, showing his patience in the very first round as he tangled with Zangief for a full 70 seconds.
But Snake Eyez wasn't to be outdone. Holding on with a pixel of health to Samurai's half of a life bar, Snake managed to clutch out the win. It would set the tone for the rest of their fights; XsK_Samurai was never far from victory, but Snake Eyez continued to snatch it away from him. The final round of the set illustrated this perfectly as well. Down practically a full life bar to a healthy Akuma, Snake Eyez set up a comeback to remember, ending the set 3-1 in his favor.
Then came the final match: Snake Eyez vs. Punk. Over the past year, Punk has proven his worth as a competitor, taking the self-proclaimed title of "The Alpha" and winning tournaments left and right. To date, Punk had won every CPT event he attended save Final Round 20, placing himself squarely at the top of the standings.
When the two stepped on stage, they started upon a five game back-and-forth set for the ages. But don't take our word for it: Watch the whole set below.
Ready for the big one
Coming out of CEO with a signature championship belt is always an accomplishment, and one that comes with more than a few valuable CPT points. By winning this weekend, Snake Eyez took home 400 Global points, putting him in third place on the Global leaderboard behind NuckleDu and Punk. But the FGC's eyes — Snake Eyez included — are already firmly planted on the next major event: Evo 2017. Practically a shoe-in for biggest tournament of the year, Evo will bring competition from all over the world, and is annually one of the biggest tests of a player's stamina.
Taking the vaunted CEO belt is something to be proud of, for certain. But now it's time to take on the globe. Congratulations to Snake Eyez on an amazing CEO 2017 run.
Now? It's on to the next.
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