This article is part of our Madden Recap series.
It all comes down to this. The fourth and final major in the Madden Championship Series circuit, the Madden Championship saw just 16 players enter with a shot at first place and a chunk of the $500,000 prize pool. Only eight players would advance to the second day of competition in Burbank, California. Here's how the action unfolded Friday.
In the first match of the knockout stages of the Madden Championship Series finals, the Madden Challenge Champion, Matt "BeastModeMac" Clark was absolutely obliterated by Michael "VoLTeRaX" Clark's high octane offense. Despite entering the contest as one of the more highly-ranked defenses of the 16 competitors remaining, BeastModeMac could do nothing to stop the combination of Volterax's expert swerve-passing attack, and brutal ground game.
While the game stayed close entering the second half, with BeastModeMac trailing just 14-13, three straight touchdowns -- including two long runs by VoLTeRaX's Chris Johnson -- sealed the deal for the 35-20 win. A feared swerve user, VoLTeRaX's rushing game was the true surprise with over 230 yards on the ground.
Yet another Madden Championship Series champion fell in the second game of the knockout stages, as Carlos "Los" Yancy knocked off Madden Bowl winner, Chris "Dubby" McFarland, in a tightly-contested match.
The tone was certainly set early, as Los jumped ahead after creating a hit-stick fumble, translating the turnover into seven points. Dubby would rally, however, relying on a nifty swerve pass to Randy Moss, eventually setting up back-to-back scoring drives.
Down 13-10 at the half, Los would respond in turn, methodically driving down in his first possession of the second half to take the 17-13 lead. From there both competitors would trade field goals. Los would end the game with a spectacular pitch and catch to Chad Johnson, locking up the 20-16 win.
Reggie "iG Boogz" Brown would win the next match against Rick "SilentSoldier" Cisneros, shutting down his vaunted running game just enough to score the game-winning touchdown pass with just seconds remaining in the game in what otherwise was a subdued affair.
The next battle between Raidel "Noble Joke" Brito and Juan "FMB Monsta" Velazquez couldn't have been any different from the previous match, as both competitors didn't hold any punches when it came to offense or their disdain for one another.
Joke scooted out to a lead early on, capitalizing on multiple misplays by Monsta, including a dreadful check-down-turned interception, and raced out to a 13-3 lead. Just before half though, Monsta vaulted right back into the game, connecting for an unreal touchdown pass to Randy Moss, in which he jumped over two defenders for the snag. That prompted some chirping from Monsta's side, but the taunting was premature as Joke would only extend his lead in the second half.
While the 23-13 Joke win wasn't as close as the score would indicate, the verbal fireworks certainly brought a different level of energy to the Championship Finals.
Michael "Skimbo" Skimbo made good on his No. 1 seeding, knocking off Justin "Lil Man" Barone, 26-18. Despite trailing 10-6 entering halftime, Skimbo remained poised, scoring a critical touchdown on his opening possession of the second half. The lead snowballed from there as expert defense forced Lil Man into multiple interceptions, including a backbreaking user lurk near the end of the game that all but sealed it.
The action only seemed to pick up from there, as Taylor "SpotMePlzzz" Robertson and Ryan "I be strafin" Danczak took to the stage next. Given that the two were friends who had been practicing together for six years, many figured it would be a back-and-forth affair. Neither player led by more than one score throughout the game.
After both players traded field goals with under two minutes remaining, the game went into overtime. From there, SpotMe would score first, using a variety of different plays to get within field goal range. Much like he had all game, Strafin would respond, driving into the red zone in the next position, only to throw a game-ending interception in the end zone.
Arguably one of the best games the entire afternoon, Eric "Problem" Wright managed to defeat the 2016 Madden Challenge Champion winner Zach "Serious Moe" Lane, 31-28, in a high-scoring, back-and-forth affair.
Despite Serious Moe rushing for well over 150 yards through three quarters, Problem still had the lead just a little over four minutes left in the game, thanks to an uncharacteristic dynamic passing attack. Moe would respond in turn, bleeding the clock, eventually scoring the go-ahead touchdown with Marcus Allen with just under a minute left in the game. But there is a reason Problem is considered the GOAT of Madden, as he managed to drive the length of the field without any timeouts to score the game-winning touchdown.
Ending the day, Shay "Young Kiv" Kivlan knocked off Lavar "Hollywood" Gayle 24-18 in a game that struggled to follow up the same intensity as the previous match. Methodically controlling the ball and making the correct reads nearly every time, Young Kiv would get the lead at halftime and eventually push the game to 24-10 in the fourth quarter. Hollywood would score a touchdown, but Kiv would recover the onside kick to pick up the win, 24-18.
