Westballz drops out of HTC Throwdown to attend DreamHack London

When the dates of two big tournaments clash, it’s only natural to follow the money.

Tempo Storm Super Smash Bros. Melee player Weston “Westballz” Dennis has canceled his plans to attend the HTC Throwdown event in San Francisco, California, the player tells the Daily Dot. Instead, he will compete in the recently announced Melee event at DreamHack London. The European event organizer’s first expansion into the Smash series is the most lucrative event in the game’s history.

The London event was announced by the organizer last week after a report by the Daily Dot. Unfortunately for several pro players, who are sponsored by HTC, the tournament clashes with the Throwdown event on September 19-20. Others, like Dennis, are free to choose, and DreamHack London has a huge enticement: the biggest prize pool in Melee history at $20,000, nearly double the $12,000 pool at the Throwdown.

DreamHack also confirmed that EVO 2015 champion Adam “Armada” Lindgren and fellow European pro Aaron “Professor Pro” Thomas will attend the event. The event organizer has plans to host Melee as a regular game on its circuit this year with London as its debut tournament.

Dennis’s teammate Jeffrey “Axe” Williamson will compete at HTC Throwdown as planned.  

While Dennis may be one of the first pros to jump ship for DreamHack London, he may not be the last. But many of the game’s biggest names will likely attend the Throwdown. Due to contractual obligations between their organization’s sponsors and HTC, Cloud9 Joseph “Mang0” Marquez, Team SoloMid’s William “Leffen” Hjelte, and Juan Manuel “Hungrybox” Debiedma are unable to attend the DreamHack event.