The Best Special Events, Ranked
Match after match of the same format would get pretty stale, so the fine people of Multiplex Entertainment often put together special events. Unique twists on tournaments, special one-day events and so much more to shake up the game and elevate players to new levels. This list is every Multiplex Special Event ranked by my personal favorites. But first, caveats:
It’s very likely the ranking is influenced by how the event actually turned out, not just the concept of it (though that certainly factors in).
Simply adding more people to a match does not necessarily make it a special event. So, things like the Melee 4-way or Fandom triple-threat are not included.
This list does not include events that have ZERO bearing on the Multiplex season. Nor does it include special, multi-match weekends. Therefore, behold a brief and incomplete list of events you may be hoping to see on this list, but won’t:
The Final Act
Mayhem
Awards
Manager Bowls
Multiverse
Game of Factions
Single Category Exhibition Matches
etc…
So without further ado, let’s get into it.
6. Fandom Teams Ladder
The Fandom’s Team Ladder occurred in the 2022 season of Fandom Fights in Act 3: Climb to the Top. It was won by DUM-Es who went on to secure their second championship. That part was awesome, the event itself left a lot to be desired. After reflecting, I realized that the ladder could be great, but only if you have a miracle run. The fact is, Galac-Deez Nuts was the only team that made it up more than one “rung”. Every other team won one match, then lost the next one. DUM-Es as former champs was able to skip to the end with one match, and then only needed one win to go on. It’s not to say that Ladders are out of the question in the future, but it would require a crop of pretty evenly matched players/teams.
5. Tournament Play-Ins
So, I may have said that just adding people to matches (triple threats, 4-ways, etc) doesn’t necessarily make them special events. But! The tournament play-ins have never felt like just normal matches with more people in them. Instead they are a higher stakes match with a prize. In Fandom, the winner (and in many scenarios, the second and even third runner up) punches their ticket to the tournament. Often these are just dashed dreams. In fact, since only the winner gets a win (though no one else gets a loss), it has previously set up decent players who could make a rise for failure, as the second or third place in the Play-In plays the 1 or 2 seed in the tournament and ultimately loses. Now, that’s not always the case. See Brittani Tapley or Kaiser Huang in Fandom. Regardless the Tournament Play Ins are exciting no matter how flawed, as they give the glimmer of hope to those who win to make some magic happen.
4. Fandom Gauntlets
A smaller and more intense Last1Standing, the Fandom Gauntlet ultimately determined the next Fandom Champion Dominic Rizzi in the 2020 season, Act 1: Hulk Smash. The Fandom Gauntlet will make it’s return in a different format but ultimately the idea is the same. Around 10 people who deserve a shot at the belt put in one event to see who comes out on top. Ultimately me and Scully cleared the field for Rizzi to win, but in the upcoming and possibly more improved Fandom Gauntlet, the winners will have to outlast everyone. It’s a great fast tracked way to make sure everyone who deserves a shot at a vacant belt gets it.
3. Triples Crown Tournament
Tournaments aren’t special events. Multi-person matches on their own aren’t special events. But put them together?? The Triples Crown Tournament of 2023 pit 27 people in triple threat matches to make it to the title at Mayhem. First place in each match saw the winner advance, but the second place person avoided a loss on their record. I’ll be straight up. The Triples Crown Tournament could have been a total dud. The worry was that the third ranked person in each match would be so much lower in skill level that they were basically just a spectator watching the two higher ranked people play a normal match. For a little in round one it looked like that. But, Antonio upset Javi (and Javi nearly lost to drunk Payson), and Igor became the only lowest ranked person to win the match. Once round two kicked off it was banger after banger. Three people being so close together changed the betting round altogether. You now wanted to chase the person in front of you, but you also didn’t want to let the person behind you catch up, something that was perfectly exemplified in two of the semi-final matches, ultimately leading to a final where Abel de Leeuw won and went on to win his Singles Title.
2. Last1Standing
The classic. Melee has done five L1S’s and Fandom has done four. All of them mark the kick-off start of the season, and give literally EVERYONE the chance to punch their ticket to the title of their choosing. Even if you don’t win the event, you could last the most rounds and win an MVP contender match. It’s as epic in scale as an event can get. It’s seen incredible runs from Champions, insane rounds where everyone is eliminated by one person, and made champions out of people who may not have had the chance otherwise. The best part is it’s anyone’s game. Sure some people who have been expected to win have, but it’s a five question shot. Anyone has a chance to know more questions out of five than anyone else, and that’s what makes every moment of the Last1Standing so exciting.
1. Fandom Teams Frenzy
As a huge survivor fan, my absolute favorite Multiplex Event is the Fandom Teams Frenzy. Is it exactly survivor? No. BUT the general idea of people using each other to advance only to have to defeat each other later is very exciting to me. Plus it makes naming the Acts super easy (Frenzies and Enemies, Feeding Frenzy, etc.). The Fandom Teams Frenzy began in 2022 and has occurred every year since. It sees one representative player from 16 teams set in a one day mix-up style tournament, only the mix-up reoccurs in each round. You could be someone’s teammate in round one, and then eliminate them in round two. Ultimately, the two players that make up the winning team then have to play each other in a real full contender match with their actual Fandom Team. It’s so poetic. Jack and Alex used each other to win, then had to turn on each other. Same thing with Mark and Albert. The Frenzy also uses the “half-match” format. This leaves such little room for error, which has seen some of the best Fandom Players never get the chance to win. The reason is very clear. The Frenzy doesn’t just test how good of a player you are, but how good of a TEAM player you are. Can you work with anyone? Can you elevate players who may be below your skill level…and then you know, slice their throat when you have to? I just love it, and spoiler alert: this year’s Frenzy may be the best one yet.
Also, let’s see where the heck WOAT ranks. Literally could be first or last. Can’t wait.
