Article by Dom Sacco with additional reporting by Wade ‘AggresiveDuck’ White
Spectators at UK Smash Bros Melee tournament Fête 3: By the Sea witnessed an odd grand final as Moist Moguls won under unusual circumstances.
The singles final saw American players Zain (of Moist Moguls) and Jmook (of Flyquest) go head-to-head in mid-July 2023.
Unfortunately for Jmook, his controller broke during the final, leaving Moist Moguls player Zain to win a few rounds in an unsatisfying manner. Jmook did ask the crowd for a spare, but it wasn’t enough to turn things around.
Moist Moguls are of course the Smash Bros and Valorant esports sub-brand of Moist Esports. The latter were set up in 2021 by popular content creator Cr1TiKaL, while the former were established when another popular streamer, Ludwig, joined as a co-owner earlier this year.
Zain said he ‘didn’t feel much’ about winning, while Jmook apologised for his controller issues, saying it was ‘not fair for such a great tournament to end that way’.
Fete 3: By the Sea (or Fête 3) took place at Pontins Camber Sands Holiday Park, right beside the Camber Sands beach.
It also featured a doubles tournament, with US player Polish and Swedish player Pipsqueak winning.
The US were dominant at the event, with Hungrybox also finishing third in singles.
The UK’s Professor Pro and Max finished fourth in the doubles, while French players Fecfec and i4 finished third, and Germans Rikzz and Kins0 became runners-up.
But it was Moist Moguls Zain and Flyquest Jmook’s singles final that was the main talking point of the tournament.
Zain also recently won Get On My Level 2023 in Canada later in July.
In the Fete 3 Smash Ultimate tournament, Danish player +HOPE+ won.
‘You couldn’t pick a worse time for this to happen’ – UK casters on controller incident that saw Moist Moguls win
UK Smash Melee casters Gainz and UnHaven were taken aback when the controller incident occured in the singles final at Fete 3.
Gainz said: “This is literally the worst time that could happen. That’s super fucking unfortunate.”
You can watch the incident back in this clip below:
Controller specialist Rienne later said on Twitter that the phob issue was ‘heartbreaking’ (a phob is an open-source GameCube controller motherboard, designed for competitive Smash Bros Melee).
“In high tension scenarios some 1.2s can sometimes be damaged by a lil extra grip pressure that can cause hall sensors to bridge and throw full right values,” Rienne said.
Related article: Smash Ultimate invitational Northern Summit 6 announced, will raise money for Mind
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
