Round 2 pitched several highly rated players against each other, created some separation among those sitting at the top of the leaderboard, and gave the Tak community plenty of exciting and beautiful games to watch. If you missed the Round 1 Report, you can find it here. If you missed any of the live commentary, you can find a few recorded matches on Fwwib and Simmon's respective YouTube channels.
Here are the top three takeaways from the tournament’s second round:
Only (#1) Fwwwwibib remains undefeated
The opening round ended with only 4 players out of 45 still undefeated. Round 2 winnowed that group down to one: the current Tak Champion, Fwwib. With three more rounds to go, Fwwib holds on as the clear favorite to win it all.
However, (#5) Ally is close behind, technically undefeated but with one less win due to his draw against (#22) Nitzel.
Choas among the highest rated players
Round 2's biggest matches were (#9) Simmon vs. (#2) NohatCoder and (#6) PlutoTheBrave, and (#3) Abyss vs. (#6) PlutoTheBrave. Of the four, no one but Abyss came away unscathed. Simmon, who notably took 2nd place in the 2016 Tak Open (but is now known for his commentary and strategy videos) showed that he is still a force to be reckoned with, splitting 1-1 with both NohatCoder and PlutoTheBrave. Meanwhile, PlutoTheBrave fell 0-2 to Abyss, who sits in 3rd place on the leaderboard just behind Fwwib and Ally.
(#18) ManaT punched above his rating, splitting 1-1 against (#2) NohatCoder, and finished the round sitting in 5th place, just one point shy of tying for 4th.
Lastly, (#14) Reimen - who was noted in Round 1 to have swept both the #8 and #9 rated players - lost his David-versus-Goliath magic in his match against (#3) Abyss, which ended 0-2.
Fight is heating up for the potential golden ticket at 4th place
Under the U.S. Tak Association's reformed tournament cycle, the top 3 finishers of the 2021 Tak Open will gain entry into next year's Championship tournament, unless one of those top 3 finishers is the current champion - Fwwib. In that case, the third entry ticket into the championship goes to 4th place. With Fwwib presently cruising to a top 3 finish, it is likely that the cutoff will shift to 4th place. At the end of Round 2, (#19) UnSweet holds the position with 20 points, but four other players are within easy striking distance: ManaT with 19 points, and Simmon, Reimen, and NohatCoder all tied with 18 points.
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