Blunders, Pizza, And Drama: Sambucha, Ebere, Inoxtag Make It To Championship Bracket

The wait is finally over. PogChamps 6 started with a bang after a one-year hiatus left fans longing for more hilarious moments and unbelievable blunders. And today's Group A round-robin stage certainly delivered both.

The three highest-rated players, Ebere, Inoxtag, and Sambucha, all made it to the Championship Bracket, though their rides there were not as smooth as their ratings would make you think. Mongraal, LydiaViolet, and Linzor finished the day in the bottom three and will face more balanced opposition in the Consolation Bracket.

PogChamps 6 continues April 30 with the round-robin stage of Group B, starting at 12 p.m. ET / 18:00 CEST / 9:30 p.m. IST.

• Round 1: The Favorites Prevail
• Round 2: Sambucha Takes The Lead, Pizza Steals The Show
• Round 3: Ebere Takes Down The Leader
• Round 4: Two Tiebreaks, Two Leaders
• Round 5: Top 3 Show No Mercy

Group A Standings

Round 1: The Favorites Prevail

The first round of the day saw no unexpected results. The two highest-rated players of the group, Ebere and Inoxtag, quickly defeated the two lowest-rated, LydiaViolet and Linzor. 

Lydia was the first to lose, but that was because (and only because) of an unfortunate misclick:

Linzor, who also had a tough first game, did her best to remain cool, calm, and collected for the rest of the day:

Things were not as clear in the Sambucha vs. Mongraal match, though, as a roller-coaster first game ended in a draw. Sambucha eventually prevailed after taking all of Mongraal's pieces and checkmating him in game two.

Round 2: Sambucha Takes The Lead, Pizza Steals The Show

LydiaViolet and Linzor would continue to have a tough time during the second round. Lydia found a beautiful fork in her first game against Mongraal, but sadly, that was not really the case. 

It didn't take Linzor too long to learn that, despite the smaller rating gap this time around, her opponent, Sambucha, was still too strong. After one of his many sneaky moves, even Linzor could not help but congratulate him:

Linzor quickly saw a glimpse of glory during their second game when she was ahead a piece, but Sambucha eventually struck back with a Puzzle Rush-esque tactic to end the game and win the match.

It was not all bad news for Linzor, though. While the defeat certainly left a bitter taste in her mouth, the crusty delight of freshly-baked pizza helped her wash it off. The golden circle of crust and cheese would continue to amaze fans and commentators alike, especially a hungry WFM Alexandra Botez, who seemed very eager to eat some pizza herself.

The toughest matchup of this round was between the two strongest players in the group. Ebere won the first game without much trouble after Inoxtag dropped a piece out of the opening. Inoxtag then won the second game and tied the match after winning two pawns and converting his advantage cleanly.

However, Inoxtag caved under the pressure of the tiebreak blitz. After dropping a piece in the middle game, he couldn't defend against Ebere's vicious attack. A big-boy pawn move by Ebz sealed the deal:

With two swipes, Sambucha was now leading the standings.

Round 3: Ebere Takes Down The Leader

The big match of the round was between first-place Sambucha and the highest-rated player Ebere. Despite the rating gap, Sambucha drew first blood after an impressive first game.

It seemed all but over when Ebere went for a Botez Gambit in the second game. However, this is PogChamps. After an amazing recovery and some classy tactics, Ebere won the second game to tie the match and take it to tiebreaks.

Fans of queen blunders followed by even bigger blunders had nothing to complain about in the tiebreak blitz game. Eze blundered his queen again, but this time, Sambucha tried a clever in-between move before cashing in. His cleverness backfired, with Ebere not only escaping but eventually turning the tables and winning the game.

"Ha! That's what you get for being clever. HA!" were Ebere's profound words.

On the other boards, Linzor was having her best time so far. She had a much better position against Mongraal, but unfortunately, pog players will be pog players. After that initial disaster, depicted below, Linzor could not recover and lost her match.

Fans will be relieved to know, however, that while Linzor's situation over the board was not ideal, she did make a lot of progress with her pizza.

On the other board, Inoxtag had no trouble defeating LydiaViolet. This created a three-way tie for first between Ebere, Inoxtag, and Sambucha. Another particularly interesting tie took place in the third round, as Alex finally got her hands on her own slice of pizza as well.

Round 4: Two Tiebreaks, Two Leaders

A series of unexpected plot twists marked the fourth round. Mongraal scored the event's first upset by beating none other than Ebere. Mongraal's match lead didn't last long, though, as Ebere went beast mode to win the second game and tie the match. This would not be the only match to go to tiebreaks.

Another surprising turn of events happened in the Sambucha vs. Inoxtag match. The French creator played well and won the first game, but Sambucha had his revenge, winning the second game and tying another match.

In the tiebreaks, we saw one upset and one expected result: The higher-rated Ebere defeated Mongraal, but the underdog Sambucha came out on top in the other game.

On the other board, tensions were high as the two lowest-rated players in the group found themselves in, as Linzor put it, a life-or-death situation.

But as it turns out, LydiaViolet was not the only person Linzor could beat. Despite being worse for much of the first game, Lydia won the match with a clean sweep, scoring her first match win.

By the end of round four, Ebere and Sambucha had the lead, with Inoxtag and Mongraal still within striking distance. So it all came down to the last round.

Round 5: Top 3 Show No Mercy

Anything could happen in the last round of the day, as none of the players had guaranteed their spot in the Championship Bracket yet. But as it turns out, what did happen was somewhat expected.

The top three players, Ebere, Sambucha, and Inoxtag, all won their matches with a 2-0 score. Inoxtag showed he meant business with his Jobava opening prep.

Ebere showed a tired Linzor that his tactics were on point, quickly winning both games, and Sambucha bamboozled LydiaViolet, who was so confused she thought her opponent had misclicked.

With these results, Ebere and Sambucha finished the day on nine points and a shared lead, followed closely by Inoxtag on eight points. They all make it to the Championship Bracket.

Mongraal, LydiaViolet, and Linzor remained in the bottom three. Despite their tough losses, they all fought bravely against their more experienced opponents and put up a great show. As Violet herself put it, they are O.K. We are all O.K. After all, this is PogChamps, and this is what we're here for.