Editing Tournament:Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 5

|attendance = 140

|ssbmwinner = {{Sm|Leffen|Sweden}}

'''Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 5''' was a ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'' invitational tournament held from July 7th-9th, 2023 by [[YouTube]] streamer {{Sm|Ludwig}}. It was the first tournament in the series to be held in-person, being held in Covina, California. 12 players were directly invited to the tournament, and 4 more players qualified from the [[Tournament:Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 5 Open Qualifier|Open Qualifier]] on July 7th. The prize pool was $50,001, which was the ninth [[Largest prize pools|largest prize pool]] for a ''Melee'' tournament.

The main singles event had a total of 16 players, with 12 directly invited players and 4 players qualifying through the [[Tournament:Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 5 Open Qualifier|Open Qualifier]]. There were [[Tournament#Swiss system|Swiss system]] pools and a final double-elimination bracket. Swiss pools worked the same way as {{Trn|Ludwig Smash Invitational}}, but with one pool of all 16 players instead of two pools with 16 players each. In the Swiss pools, each player played until they won 3 sets, where they qualified for the Top 8 final bracket, or until they lost 3 sets, where they were eliminated from the tournament. The 2 players that went 3-0 in sets in Swiss pools were able to draft pick their Winners' Quarters opponent out of the 3 players that went 3-2 in sets. The Top 8 played in the final bracket in a double-elimination format, with everyone starting Winners' side. All sets at the event were best of 5, in both Open Qualifier and main singles.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705215505/https://twitter.com/aidencalvin/status/1676703146461249536|title=everything is BO5}}</ref> Swiss pools Rounds 1-3 were played on July 8th, and Rounds 4-5 were played on July 9th. The Top 8 final bracket was played to completion on July 9th.

In the Open Qualifiers, {{Sm|Fiction}} was seen as a favorite to qualify in the Top 4 as the 2nd seed, but was upset by {{Sm|KJH}} and {{Sm|mvlvchi}} to finish 17th place. {{Sm|Zamu}} was upset in her second match by {{Sm|KoopaTroopa895}} 2-3, but managed to win seven sets in Losers' side to qualify, racking up wins on {{Sm|Chem}}, {{Sm|Soonsay}}, and {{Sm|KJH}} in her impressive Open Qualifier run.

 

{{Sm|Swift}} upset Soonsay and {{Sm|Magi}} in the Open Qualifiers to qualify for the main event on Winners' side. In Swiss pools, he beat Zamu, Magi, and {{Sm|Joshman}} to become the second {{SSBM|Pikachu}} player to make Top 8 at a ''Melee'' major, after {{Sm|Axe}} first did so at {{Trn|Apex 2010}} 13 years prior. Swift was the only qualified player to make Top 8 at Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 5, outplacing Axe as the highest-placing Pikachu player as well. His run to 7th place came as a surprise, given that he was not seeded to make it into Top 8 of either the Open Qualifier or the main event.

 

In Swiss pools, {{Sm|KoDoRiN}} faced Axe in Round 3, and became the first {{SSBM|Marth}} player to 3-0 Axe's {{SSBM|Pikachu}}. This was especially notable since it was a matchup that Axe had historically been dominant in, making KoDoRiN's 3-0 a very strong performance.

 

This tournament marked the debut of {{Sm|Zain}}'s {{SSBM|Ice Climbers}} in tournament as a {{SSBM|Sheik}} counterpick, pulling the character out against {{Sm|Leffen}} in Winner's Semifinals for two games (successfully on Final Destination, unsuccessfully on Pokémon Stadium). Seeing both top players switching off of their main character was seen as one of the most exciting moments of the tournament, and lead to discussions about the character counterpicking metagame. After {{Sm|Mang0}} was beaten by {{Sm|Cody Schwab}} in Winners' Semifinals, he [[Sandbagging|sandbagged]] as {{SSBM|Dr. Mario}} against {{Sm|Hungrybox}}, losing 1-3 and finishing 5th place. Leffen was able to beat both Zain and Cody Schwab 3-2 to reach Grand Finals on Winners' side. After Zain beat Hungrybox and Cody Schwab 3-2 in the Losers' bracket, Leffen won Grand Finals 3-2 with his Sheik.

{{*}}Jmook dropped out due to a health issue. KoDoRiN was moved from the Open Qualifier to the main singles event as the replacement player.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230706211322/https://twitter.com/aidencalvin/status/1677060301370568704|title=Jmook has dropped due to a health issue, replacing him in the main event will be KoDoRiN.}}</ref>

4 players qualified from the [[Tournament:Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 5 Open Qualifier|Open Qualifier]].

*{{Sm|Swift|USA|p=Maryland}}

*{{Sm|Spark|USA}}

*{{Sm|Magi|USA}}

*{{Sm|Zamu|USA}}

===''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'' singles===

(16 entrants)<br>