MFSlayer's $1K Mortal Kombat 1 Open Tournament Top 8 Results

Last week, American NRS player MFSlayer announced he would be hosting a $1000 USD tournament just a day after the Early Access release for Mortal Kombat 1. A number of known MK players took the opportunity to jump on board and test their might. The event was only available for PlayStation players, as Cross-play is not available yet. Even considering the lack of crossplay and not a full production, MFSlayer pulled through with a peak of 3000 viewers coming to watch the first wave of competition in Mortal Kombat 1.

Top 16 Highlights

Prior to the final 8, there were a handful of interesting results, including an excellent Forever king versus Rewind match that saw Forever King moving forward in the bracket. At the same time, Tigerzz was able to push aside an Evo 2023 community Mortal Kombat 11 top 6 player TheMightyUnjust. The other major upset was GetReked moving ahead of CEO, Frosty Fausting, and Combo Breaker Top 8 MK 11 player 2ez.

On a broader note, there was an incredible level of variety in the character and Kameo selection, as everything from Reiko, Sindel, Reptile, Kano, Serrena, Cyrax, and many more had an opportunity to showcase their kits. Most interesting, and as hinted earlier by SonicFox, Kameos were a major component in the variations, even among mirror main fighter matches. 

Quarter-Finals

Dragon vs Mufasa

Dragon had been playing a great bracket on the back of his team made up of Tanya and Goro, with the four-armed Kameo being particularly popular among many main fighters. On the other side, Mufasa was sporting Nitara and Sareena. 

All eyes were on Mufasa, and even though game one went the way of Dragon, Mufasa was able to adapt for game two and pull a back-to-back round win to bring the series to 1-1. One of Mufasa's strengths was his corner combo, which scored 43% damage and gave him his first win but it was not enough to secure a second one. Thankfully, a well-timed Sareena assist helped send the series to a game five. In a clenth game, that included Dragon surviving a 0.09 Hit points round, it would be the Dragon and his Tanya advancing in the bracket.

Uzireek vs Tigerzz

Uzireek was fielding Smoke with Sareena, while Tigerzz sported a team of Kenshi and Sektor. Game one would be taken by Tiggerzz, who took the game on the back of a 51% combo ending in a Fatal Blow. Coming into game two it looked as if Urizeek was going to to score a round of his own, but the Kenshi main with the corner mix-up seemed Unstoppable.

Heading into game three, Uzireek swapped into Sub-zero & Sonya. Even as the change seemed to give Uzireek a bit more adaptability, it was all for naught with Tigerzz picking up a clean 3-0 on his way to the top 4.

Heurism vs Getreked

Continuing the theme of Sareena being a remarkably good Kameo, Heurism featured her alongside Mileena in the Main slot. On the other side, Getreked was playing the Johnny Cage and Kano team composition.

Heurism was able to secure the first game with a clean two-round record, though it did seem like it could have gone either way. Unfortunately for Getreked, game two proved much more onesided with another 2-0 affair. By game three, it was clear that Heurism's Mileena cleared, allowing him to move to the top 4 with a clean 6-0 record for his top 8 match.

Forever King vs SplashMan

Forever King brought in his Geras and Sektor team for the fight, while SplashMan pulled into the match with Kung Lao and Goro. SplashMan looked incredibly strong in game one, as they won both rounds swiftly on the back of some incredible Kung Lao combos from mid-screen and corners. Although in game two there would be a lot of brilliance from Forever King to keep up the pressure, SplashMan only needed a handful of combos to put him in danger.

Yet, time has a way of changing things, and coming out of game three, Forever King was able to score a point of his own, although it was not as clean as he would have hoped. As game four developed, Forever King was in a solid position all the way up until SplashMan found an opening to exploit and move into the top 4.

Semi-Finals

Dragon vs Tigerzz

Both players opted to stick to their teams from the prior round. Dragon with Tanya/Goro and Tigerzz with Kenshi/Sektor. Kicking off the series was very close game one, with both players earning a round each and ending with Dragogn converting the win on the back of a well-timed Goro intervention. During games two and three, Tigerzz would wind up missing three Fatal Blows in a row before finally landing it. Dragon simply looked a whole level above with his Tanya.

Heurism vs SplashMan

Once again, both players stuck to their main teams, resulting in a Mileena/Sareena for Heurism versus Kung Lao/Goro for SplashMan. Although Heurism was able to pick up the first game of the series, coming into game two, it was SpashMan who pushed the princess to the corner and eventually picked up a round without too many issues and completed the conversion with a 38% mid-screen combo into a 31% corner finisher.

Game three would come down to a mistimed low block leading to an overhead connecting and ultimately giving Heurism the lead at 2-1, a lead he would take to game four and secure a final 3-1 score by winning the final game of the series with 2 clean rounds.

Grand Finals

Dragon vs Heurism

No changes to the roster led to Dragon pushing on with his Tanya/Goro mix, while Heurism built upon his momentum with Mileena/Sareena. Starting out the series was a win by Heurism, pulling ahead with a 1-0. Once again, coming into game two there were plenty of moments where Dragon seemed capable of bringing Heurism down, but the Mileena main regularly put up 30%+ combos that forced Dragon to adapt to the high-tempo play on the fly.

for game three, things were starting to look tough for Dragon, while Heurism was feeling in the flow, even closing out the game and putting himself into match point with a brutality to bring game four, which would not last even as long, with a clean 2-0 set where Heurism did not even look close to reach his Fatal Blow health trigger. Knocking out a former Evo champ, claiming $500, and earning the bragging rights of winning arguably the first 100+ player tournament in Mortal Kombat 1 history.