The groundwork is now in play for us to develop a S. American Solution to space habitation. Doing so will require 3 projects in order to fully achieve a "sprint" at temporary dominance in space before N. American systems come online that must be compensated for. Achieving this has brought 3 distinct designs to be rapidly put into play following opening operations by the HX launch center in Venezuela.

La Paz Station (LEO [500-800km])

La Paz is being considered as a logical first step to S. American space exploitation as Skylab was to the moon landing. La Paz station has been designed as a logistics base in order to facilitate several key goals seen as being necessary for inter-solar activities:

• spacecraft assembly
• orbital propellant depot
• asteroid ore refinery
• using asteroid ore to manufacture fuel and orbital construction materials to be sold in orbit
• refining platinum group metal bullion to be sold on Earth

To help facilitate these needs, the station's design is set to incorporate a number of features. These being a large pressurizable free-fall garage to act as a spacecraft servicing and assembly area (similar to a drydock in most regards) situated next to an anti-radiation storm cellar to help keep the onboard crew safe from solar flares, radiation storms, or potential degradation of radiation shielding all being housed within a stationary central "stator". Around the garage will sit many tanks designed for water-trimming, air and fuel storage, and emergency escape capsule containers. Extending from the "mouth" of the garage is planned a set of robotic manipulator arms to help with docking efforts, the capture of payload, or general maintenance.
Attached to the said stator is planned the habitation module of the station. Comprised of the centrifuge (designed to provide artificial gravity to the crew) it spans 100m with a spin of 3 RPMs used to simulate Earth-like gravity at 1 gee. This habitation module is counterweighted at the opposite end of the 100m length in order to provide stability to the station. To attach the centrifuge to the stator without causing unwanted friction a magnetic bearing is used. To help further provide stability to the station a long boom is planned (at the length of 350m) pointed directly down in order to tidally lock the station to Earth. To further alleviate stress on the station the centrifugal module is planned to stay in parallel to the station plane of orbit.
Transfer of crew from station to the centrifugal habitation module is planned to make use of an airlock "pod". Said pod, being a pressurized capsule with docking hatches on both ends and riding a rail, will start docked from the stator. Once crew moving from the stator (or calling from the hab) are safely inside, the capsule detaches from the stator (after locking hatches ofc) and moves towards the centrifuge along the rail whilst at the same time beginning a spin to match speed with the centrifuge. Once the pod has reached the centrifuge hub it will have matched the spin and can easily dock with the hub, opening its hatchway to allow the crew to enter or exit the pod.
On the lower end of the tidal boom, the entirety of which comprises most of the station's length is planned will sit the station's storage which will be used for both their intended purpose as well as acting as shielding for crew members against solar storms. Further up will sit a 4 solar panel arrays and a single array of radiators designed to provide the station with power and bleed off any unnecessary heat from the station. Being fully enclosed, this will allow for the crew to move around the stations lower length performing maintenance, scientific experiments at labs, component assembly, or utilizing onboard electric forges to process raw materials.
The upper end of the boom will mostly only consist of an open truss with enclosed sections of the stator only enclosing a portion of its length and a portion towards the end similarly enclosed. Movement between the two sections will be achieved via a rail system with an airlock present at both ends as well as the top of the boom. This will crew/payloads to be transferred up the length of the boom and deployed into higher orbits utilizing the station as a refueling/assembly point. Similarly, at the bottom of the boom is planned an airlock and a skyhook (of sorts). Whilst, not a true skyhook as to pluck craft from deep atmosphere and suffering from some of the same problems, it will allow craft/payloads arriving at the station to expend far lest propulsive mass in order to achieve orbit with the station. To compensate for the loss of momentum from such an act a series of ionic thrusters are planned at the bottom of the station to be used to help prevent the station from simply falling into the atmosphere (as well as such corrections not relating to a skyhook).
While the station's primary goal has it facilitating astroid mining, it runs into a rather paradoxical issue in that asteroid mining won't exist until such a facility is in place and a facility won't be in place unless there is asteroid mining in need of it. To help compensate for this, the station will primarily be used (in the first phase) to assemble, deploy, and maintain satellites and craft looking to leave earth orbit. Once asteroid mining as the industry comes into its own, then the station's functions will transfer over to material processing and shipping.
Altogether a total crew capacity of 20-30 is planned with options for later expansion of crew facilities.

Lima 1 (LEO[600 KM])

Lima Station is in of themself, designed to fully commercialize space the public and provide those willing and wanting to experience space as a luxury the chance to as well as provide ample room for scientific experimentation and development. Lima 1 is designed to incorporate four distinct elements into its construction the Gateway, the Central Port, The Inner Ring, and the Outer Ring. Each provides a certain function to Lima 1 and together form the next and first generation of S. American Space Habitation.
The Gateway is, in itself, to Lima 1 as a deck is to an aircraft carrier (but in a vacuum) and is designed to facilitate the transfer of shuttlecraft to and from the station. The Gateway holds an unpressurized volume greater than 270,000m3 with approximately 10 total airlock gates, 8 cargo airlocks, and 14 active bay pads (used to move shuttle craft around the Gateway). The bay will be the first constructed area of Lima 1 supporting and facilitating building the rest of the structure.
The next is the Central Port. The Central port is designed to be the business heart of Lima 1. It is here that Lima 1's administration, control room, storage, viewing areas, environmental processing, and Gateway will be located. Designed to house 50 crew with a width of 152m and depth of 76m the Central Port has a total pressurized volume greater than 1.1 million m3. Built second to the Gateway, this section will officially allow for economic/solar operations to begin on the station allowing our personnel to get a feel for the station and test the design before full operations and expansion go into effect.
The Inner Ring is designed to accommodate the first of those willing to take a vacation into space as well as allow our scientists access to microgravity experimentation. Producing 20% of earth gravity via centrifugal spin, the Inner ring the planned features will include such areas as a large open-air gymnasium, a Japanese style garden, a fabulous destination hotel, a food court with restaurants, a band stage for concerts, and a casino. However, this won't just be an exercise in luxury as part of the garden will be situated for vertical farming in order to allow our scientists to better understand and design solutions around farming in micro-gravity. The hotel itself will feature several sound-proof hotel rooms allowing the best sleep in microgravity that can be achieved. Under the guest rooms, a series of hangers housing escape vehicles are planned to give guests to the station the best sense of security possible while enjoying their stay. While guests to the station might have a lot of fun playing around in the inner ring, areas will be designated to the sciences allowing our scientists and engineers to experience, plan, and test in micro-gravity on a scale not normally afforded to other scientific teams around the globe. The width of this disk is slatted at 304m with a depth of 76m which narrows to 45 m at the rim. Gross volume in the Ring is upwards of 3 million + m3 and planned guest rooms set to 300 with solar panel energy generation (along the outside of the ring) expected to achieve total energy output of 10.4 Mw.
The final part of this station will be the Outer ring. Connected via one of four connecting tunnels the outer ring will produce 30% of earth gravity with spacious accommodations for upwards of 1000 residents for lease/rent. With a width of 488m, depth of 45 m, and height of 30 m the total gross volute of this outer ring is slatted at 2.23 million + m3 with similar solar power generation techniques pulling in approx. 45.7 Mw of energy.
Building Lima 1 will happen in stages with the first 3 stages happening closer together with a final "proving" stage occurring 1 year after construction to nail down any issues that might arise before finally building the outer ring. During this time, occupancy of the Inner Ring will be kept to around 30% total occupancy and expanding to 100% after the proving stages are complete. After which a similar proving period will occur with the Outer Ring keeping occupancy to 30% before expanding that to 100%. Each station in of themselves, making use of industries and technologies either currently in development or having been developed within the last century, should be relative "cost-efficient" with a price tag for both coming in at $10 billion USD utilizing the HX launch system, taking into account cost for materials, and labor.
Implementation times are as follows (with material stockpiling and manufacturing occurring within the 2 years period that the HX system comes online after the design phase):
La Paz:

• Design Phase: 2 years
• Construction Phase: 2 years
• Full operations within 4 years

Lima 1:

• Design Phase 2 years
• Construction Phase 1: 2 years
• Proving Phase: 1 year
• Construction Phase 2: 1-1/2 years
• Proving Phase: 1 year
• Full operation in 7 1/2 years

This is part 2 out of 3 explaining Brazil's current political crisis. This section is the first portion of Bolsonaro's April 22nd cabinet meeting.
This meeting was one of the last meetings attended by Sérgio Moro. This was a full cabinet meeting, held April 22nd in the Presidential Palace. I will first highlight some key things said, and then make a small analysis of what this means. Translation is mine. I have abridged a few transcriptions. Bolsonaro is fully translated, but the ministers are not, as some of the topics held in the meeting are not directly related to the current investigation.
The first topic of the meeting was the creation of a recovery plan, the Pró-Brasil. First minister to talk is Paulo Guedes.
"The government is broke! In all levels. Cities, governors, and the federal government. What did we do? We signalled the opposite. We deleveraged public banks, reduced debts, lowered interest rates, and Brazil was about to recover. So if we launch a public investment process is the same talking point as always, "reduce regional inequality" Paulo Guedes follows the Chicago school of economic thought, and has supported reductions in Brazilian government spending as much as possible, being one of the forces behind Brazil's new pension plan. "It looks good on paper, but it's the same thing Lula and Dilma had been doing. If we want to end like them, we do this". This is followed by some more detailed breakdowns of government investments, and Guedes defending how the government can't spend to leave the Corona recession, but it also has to help the previous economy recover.
Jair Bolsonaro then criticizes the media, and how they twist his words to make his aides disagree and fight. Mainstream media criticism has been a key point of Bolsonaro's government.
Onyx Lorenzoni, Bolsonaro's chief of staff adds that they received 36 government projects that were mid construction and halted under Dilma's PAC, an infrastructure growth program under Dilma and Lula that supported additional government spending to trigger economic growth. This additional spending is considered to be one of the factors that resulted in the 2014 recession. Lorenzoni adds some more comments on how the government has been looking for foreign investment lately. "We are having to deal with something very serious, which is a disease, which has been brought to history because it serves the interest of many which I won't be mentioning here".
Ricardo Salles (Minister of the Environment) "We have the unique possibility right now that the media is focused almost exclusively on COVID [...] So for this there has to be a group effort while we have a tranquility in media coverage, as they only talk about Covid, and pass the entire cattle changing the rulings and simplifying regulations. Of the IPHAN (National Heritage), of the Agricultural Ministry, of the Environmental Ministry. Now is the time to unite efforts to get a quick move and simplify regulations in all aspects."
Bolsonaro soon after follows up (emphasis mine): "The disaster that's coming up, I think Guedes is being nice, huh Guedes? I'm no economist. It's going to be hit bigger than even you can only imagine. It's not only the informals. I think we already hit ten million jobs, all gone. And the state governments don't have how to pay salary for the guys. May, half of the states don't ha.. won't be able to pay salaries again. The disaster is there. They will try to push this shit onto us, these people right next to us will try to push it, and we will react because it's not an infinite bag. Ok? So this worry we will need to have. At the same time there's the BAR association, annoying the Supreme Court to open my impeachment because I didn't present my virus exam, all this bullshit, which everybody has to be paying attention.
It's not only taking care of your ministry in these questions we are talking about, it's talking about the political issues also. All right? So ... this is what we should be worried about, as the fight for power continues. At full steam. No neurosis by my side, ok? The field is fertile for a ... some pieces of shit to show up, huh? Raising the flag of ... of ... of the people by my side, it costs nothing. And the fertile terrain is this, unemployment, chaos, misery, social disorder and other things. This is the worry, all should have it, huh? None of this "all good?", the ministry earns money, "shit happened?", on the president's lap. It can't be like that. Today I saw Magno Malta defending me. Magno Malta, I'm sorry, was treated a long time ago to be the vice president. Later he decided not to be, all right. Later he got contact to be minister, all right.
Não politically he never attacked me, and always is defending with the problems he has. So he is not the minister to open his chest, challenge, enter the lions' lair, but he can't, huh? For example, when we talk about a possible impeachment, action in the Supreme Court, based on watermarks, I'll go in any part of national territory and that's it! The day it's prohibited to go ... anywhere of Brasil, by the Supreme Court, there goes the term. I hope they don't decide, or he, right? Monocratically, wanting to take certain measures because from there we will have a ... a true political crisis. And I won't keep my tail between my legs. That's it ... zero, zero, all right? Because if I'm wrong, they ever find a connection of mine with a construction company, Swiss bank account, I'll take the beating with no issue. It goes to impeachment, it leaves. Now with bullshit, no!
On top of what I said, in front of the Apache Fort. I am the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Full stop. The people were there, I went there. Army day. And said something I don't think is a big deal. The repercussion is huge. "Look, the AI-5" (the AI-5 was a decree by the military government that closed the Congress in 1968) Where's the AI-5? En ... nded (sic) with the ... the AI-5 doesn't exis (sic) ... there is no more institutional act in Brasil anymore. Some bullshit. Article one, four, two. It's people who can't interpret the Constitution. Now over that make a wave? "Let's listen to Congressmen, businessmen", whatever it is. Now when Congress does there a tribute to Che Guevara, Mao Zedong, and whatever, it's not a problem. When the Communist Party does a convention and praises Fidel, between others, it's no big issue. When a poor person raises an AI-5 sign, that I don't give a shit, because there isn't ... there isn't AI-5. There isn't. Article one, four, two: we want to follow articles one, four, two, everybody wants to follow articles one, four, two. (The article 142 of the Brazilian Constitution establishes the military for national defense)
And given necessity, all the powers, can, right? Ask the armed forces to intervene to reestablish order in Brazil, that place with no issues. Now all of them, huh? You need to worry with the political issue, and of who's right, take your head out of the whole, fuck! It's not just staying inside the whole all the time, no! "All right, I'm taking care of my image, the image is here, I am looking good, and fuck the rest" No! You have to do your part. So this is what I try, I hav ... ha ... have to talk to you, as after a certain momento, where it gets to th ... the ... the ... mind of these people, it's hard to go back, then they want a crisis, it's a crisis. I have no love for this ... for this ... for this term the ... for ... for ... the President's chair. Ne ne ... zero, zero! I'm not provoking nobody. This is how the defense makes a good defense note saying it will follow the constitution, liberty, and co ... ten! And it won't take an attack, ten! Won't take a defensive move from the guys, fuck!
You're going to have some crazy guys, they know who they are, they will be in the fervor of "Oh, oh the president is irresponsible, he is crazy, he commits genocide". It's not like that. Don't go ... what works for one side works for the other, what doesn't work for one side, doesn't work for the other. This is what we should be worried about. With what we have here, the Pró-Brasil, but also with the political question. If we start talking with confidence, and there's pe ... lots of people who speak better than me, and know more than me, have the talk, fuck! Discreetly, but they have to talk, not to let the temperature rise, as it's only punches all the time up on me. And continue going anywhere of Brasil and full stop, that's my problem. All right? If I don't have the right to come and go. Mayor from the end of the world, a jaguapoca (dog with no breed) of a mayor says to arrest. The Justice has to position ... to position itself about this, fuck! Has to position itself, openly! We don't admit arrests from mayor, it's the decree!
You have to talk, not stay in silence. And who is right here, all the ministers have to say this, not only Justice. All have to say. Not staying, leaving the BO (police report) ... sail on isn't it ... and we'll go ahead. Ok? This is all I ask you, fuck. This worry. Wake up to politics and expose yourselves, after all, the government is only one. And if I fall, everybody does. Now come on ... if I have to fall one day, we'll fall fighting, a fair fight. Not for some bullshit of ... of ... of exam of ... antivirus, fuck. For the love of God, fuck. Ok? Even I ... to leave this clear, from some eight years from now, when I asked for specialized pharmacies any medicine I asked the doctor "Use a fake name", because if my name goes there, as it was, always was a known guys, isn't it, there are three four that are going to make the medicine, they can poison me, fuck! It's the same thing with the virus question, among others. According to interest, the guy either tests negative or positive. After it gives a result, it goes to the countertest, but gives a problem.
And we know, all right? That we have a compromise with the truth. I'd never lie if I didn't really have a negative test. I'd never lie that my negative was positive or vice-versa. Never. The truth above all. So it's an appeal I make to all, to worry about politics, so you are not surprise. I'm not going to wait until the boat starts sinking to take away the water. I'm taking away the water, and will continue taking water from all ministries if it's required. The person has to understand. If you don't want to understand, ok then, fuck! I have the power, and will interfere in all ministries, no exceptions. With the bank I speak with Paulo Guedes, if I have to interfere. Never had a problem with him, zero problems with Paulo Guedes. Now the rest of you, I will! I can't be surprised by news. Fuck, I have the Federal Police that doesn't give me information.
I have the intelligence of the Armed Forces that I don't have the informations. ABIN has problems, I have some informations. I don't have more because it's missing, really, we have problems, fuck! Equipment, etc. But we can't live without information. Without info ... co ... who never stayed behind of ... of ... of ... of ... of ... of ... of ... of the door listening what your son or daughter is ... talking about. You need to check and ... later she's pregnant, no using talking to her anymore. Need to check before ... after the kid filled his brains with ... with drugs, there's no use talking with him, that's it. Information is like that. I was watching studying on the weekend here how is the Chinese service, secret, works in the US. What's our worry here? [Redacted] It's simple, "Ah, just don't talk publicly". Who should I speak about it? Everybody sees what's happening. [Redacted] All right, ok? [Redacted] You get from the [redacted] fuck, of [redacted] you don't get.
It's a reality. No need to hide more, cover the sun with a sieve, right? There's, isn't it ... then go ... in some ministries there's their people, inside here, right? So we don't want to fight with [redacted], zero fights with [redacted] (note: the female article here strongly implies China). Do we need them to sell? Yes. They also need us. Because if they didn't they wouldn't be buying our soy. They need it. It's a business, fuck. And we need to ally with who has ... some affinity with us. So we can do ... make worth our will at the moment. No need to hide here, then after there's a problem, you call your uncle, "the Uncle". I'll say "Fuck man, you ignored me all the way to today!". You didn't only call me an imperialist, like the "esquerdalha" (a pejorative term for the left wing) and FHC (Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president) used to say in the past, the rest ... now there's nowhere to go. So this is the worry we need to have. The strategic question, which we aren't having. And I'm sorry, our information service, all, it's a ... they are a shame, a shame! I'm not informed!
You can't work like this, it gets hard. That's why, I'll interfere! Full stop, fuck! Not a threat, not a ... an extrapolation by my part. It's a truth. Like I said, right? Gave you sirs the ministries. The veto power. It all changed. It has to changed, fuck. And I want, it's really, it's govern Brazil. It's not the problem of all of the ones here, as Marinho said, right? It's the same boat, the same boat. If anybody digs the fu ... digs the basement here, we will, we will all go into the bag, we will all drown. So this ... this is what we need, think ahead of what to do internally here. When INMETRO (certification agency) I talked to Paulo Guedes. A, sorry for the language, a whorehouse! INMETRO is a whorehoue! Switching tachographs, taximeters, putting chips on the fuel pumps, a whorehouse! Just like the three pin plug. It's very good there now. The media beat the shit. "Ah, put in a colonel". Colonel is formed by IME (Military Institute of Technology). Wouldn't put in a colonel without a ... without a degree, ok?
[...] The question of the armament, right? The questions of ... but why? Wait there! Minister of Justi ... Mr. Minister of Justice, please. It was decided some time ago you couldn't handcuff almost nobody. Why are they handcuffing the working citizen, the woman in a park, and the Justice does nothing?
You have the speak, fuck! How long will you be quiet? Or do I have to continue exposing myself? You have to speak, get out, pressure them! Can't handcuff, decision of the Supreme Court. And we will stay quiet until when? Keep humiliating our people, why? This is growing. People kep pointing at me, "voted for you to do something!", "voted on you because you have to take decision, for you to fight!". And it's true. I don't give a shit about the reelection. What I want the most is some gets re ... someone is elected, if I'm coming as a candidate, ok? So I can bring ... I want to have peace in Brazil, nothing else. Because if its the left, me and a bunch of you will have to leave the country because you will be arrested. I am sure they will arrest me for homophobia, eight years for homophobia. Then they make up some racism, like they did for (Abraham) Weintraub. Sorry, sorry for the ... the rant: puta que o pariu (literally translates to the bitch that birthed you, basically the strongest swear words)! Weintraub could've said the biggest shit in the world, but racist? We'll have to react people, it's another fight.
We need to be a government with ... with activity. Expose yourselves, show that we have the people on our side. That we follow the people. What we really want, as it's said, if I'm not mistaken, Thatcher, right? Or Reagan, I'm not sure? So we ... it has to be conducted by the Brazilian public, and that's it. Where the people is, we'll be together. I didn't invite anybody to go to the front if the ... the ... the Apache Fort, nobody, zero! I was in my sons house, found out: "Go there!" The media is now talking that, I don't know, that two military ministers didn't accept my invitation. The day that ... either I invite the minister to a barbecue at my house or I'll pay a mission!
Bolsonaro is interrupted, but then resumes speaking
Ok? I don't know, ok? Or I'll pay a mission. If the mission is absurd, the minister says "hey, goodbye, I'm out," all right? Or he goes and gets pissed, but go, fuck! And I'll never pay a shit mission for whoever it is, not even in the military base I would do that to a recruit, not even in the military base, all right? Not even imagining our relationship here which is very good, it's ... going towards that line.
We're not panicking, we are fine. We are not accused of swindling money, of corruption, nothing. In th ... nothing, all clear! We have problems up ahead. We'll try to solve it, like I have talked to various ministers. And we'll solve it because the future of Brazil is at the hand of this privileged group here. And I would be nothing without you. You wouldn't be ministers without ... without me ... I doubt it! Hardly anybody would be minister if there was a Haddad here. I doubt it! Could accept for a few days, right? Later see the bullshit it would be, wouldn't be any different than the two previous year of PT, right? Would ask to leave. So an appeal to you, everybody worry about the future of Brazil, with the political question, criticise an act of a person or another isn't ... it's not to criticise the Supreme Court. It's ... it's a ... who doesn't stay ... who doesn't stay became revo .... saw Moro become revolted ... with the liberty these people have. Because of a ... a ... a virus, they let rapists go free.
Imagine if they were raping a daughter of our, a son of a bitch like this be set free. Now we have to put ourselves in those person's shows, of the father who had the daughter raped, and the ... the fucker was set free. With a decision, fuck whoever it is, have to go hard on top ... hard on top of that. It's not rant, folks. It's a reality. Our boat is leaving, but we don't know yet, at the moment given the last case, thi... virus, where our boat is going. Can be heading towards an iceberg. We'll go down. So let's pay attention, let's worry. Who can do it right, make yourself present, with good language, alright? But have a position! Because everything can't, everything, come for my ass, all right? You have to get beaten together with me, logically when there's a reason to get beaten or a reason to fight.
Braga Netto explains the following speakers, and Sérgio Moro speaks
Moro: No, it's ... well ... first the question of the plan that was there presented, make my compliments registered. Certainly it has details that have to be filled in, there are the economic questions to be resolved at the Ministry of Economics, to be worked together with other economic areas. And ... just would give a suggestion, minister, if you could put in since early in some part of the plan, some reference important also about ... the public safety and ... control of corruption. They were two central themes, right? In the last elections.
Yeah ... they are two themes that, although, obviously, the plan will be subjected there to ... the necessary detailing, but it's important ... to have a benchmark so it seems we aren't moving away from these specific aspects.
Braga Netto and Moro discuss a bit more on whether or not details are on the meetings scope
Moro: You have to point out that also ... what was a victory of the government, the president, last year was a noticeable fall in main crime indexes. Although this might be more tied into the question of life and safety of people, it's also a key factory for economic investment, to attract, improve, the economic environment. And the control of corruption is assumed, right? So I'd do, there ... exclusively this specific suggestion.
Gustavo Montezano (head of the State Development Bank is introduced and starts speaking)
Gustavo Montezano: He begins by saying there needs to be an emphasis on the importance to focus on the reconstruction, as advised by Paulo Guedes. "One of the ... the critical parts is this legislation, or operation of the public machine. It's a very opportune moment for us to make use of this, and this makes a big difference of the price of a project, the speed, it's a big difference. So here I subscribe to what Minister Salles said." He follows up by explaining the restructuring of BNDES from a focus in loans to investments.
Nélson Teich (Health Minister) is introduced, I will put it entirely as it explains Brazil's COVID policy
Teich: He begins by mentioning how controlling the disease is key, as if you're not able to control it, fear will impede economic recovery. "And controlling the disease doesn't mean we'll cure it in a week, but that we're not a lost boat and that we have a strategy to work with this disease, right? So there are three things that we will work. First the information, to understand what is the disease, what's the evolution, how's the infrastructure to treat it because o ... o ... o ... one of the great issues we have today, if you look at Brazil today, it's one of the best countries in relation to mortality (as of May 23rd, Brazil has a CFR of 13%, with around 130k recovered). What's scary is when you see that the hospital can't take in patients, it's the morgue workers, it's that we're opening graves anywhere to bury, and this brings fear. And the fear impedes any other activity from having success. Because as long as this isn't solved, the rest will have no chance of being bought into by society. The next thing is to structure the care operations. So we will invest in logistics, invest in the purchasing process, and try to improve it.
Why? Because I have hospitals working, I'll have patients treated, I don't have the feeling of a crisis, the fear improves and the rest can come in. And the third thing we need to keep clear is a process to leave the isolation, the distancing. Not that it will end tomorrow, but we need to have a plan. Then we can show that the ... situation is under control. It may take a little, but we are controlling this process, that we are not a lost boat. So basically what I wanted to s ... say to you is that this is the method that we will treat and will ... we are going to be interacting with all ministries that will be necessary for this to happen in the quickest way possible. Basically it's that and it's a pleasure being here with you.
Bolsonaro: Yesterday I called the head of the Brazilian Highway Patrol. I found out, a note, from him, about the passing of a patrolman. And he insisted that it was COVID-19, I called him
"Please, what else? He was obese, it was that, was it" well, had, how do you call it? (asks Braga Netto about)
Braga Netto: Comorbidities
Bolsonaro: Comorbidities. But in his statement it only put out COVID-19. So let's alert the responsible, of the respective ministry, you can put COVID-19, but then put that he had fibrosis ... lots of things, I don't understand that stuff. There was a bunch of stuff there exactly not to bring fear to the population. Because we look, died an Army sergeant, for exemplo. On first look it's a healthy guy, right? A federal policeman, right? Whatever it is, this can't happen. So we ask for this care with the coworkers, right? At whoever is responsible, to the respective ministry, there someone in charge of that, right? To take this care to not bring fear to the population.
Teich and Braga Netto discuss on how long it would take to create the exit plan to the isolation
Teich: So we can speed up this process. Because in reality we are ... running against the clock. While we can't control the perception we have today that we can take care of the people, it will be hard, right? The problem of the disease is that you get a system that if you talk about efficiency, the hospitals have to be efficient. So when you talk about efficiency, you ... you go almost in the limit of care. You don't have ... you don't have spares, you don't have fat. When you get a disease that arrives, that has many people at the same time, you can't have the agility to prepare the system to take care of it. And we have an additional problem that we have to be careful, that's the following, as you have the hospitals with few ... you have many people talking about COVID, but hospitals are reducing intakes. Which means they will have financial problems. If this continues, they will have even more challenges, you will have a hospital that is in a worse state or a hospital closed.
What's happening today? Let's put it in numbers today, that we have four million people with COVID. Brazil today has two hundred and twelve million inhabitants. There are two hundred and eight million that are, that aren't, that aren't having adequate care. For you ... it's cancer, it's cardiovascular. This all is dammed, it's restringed demand. When you control COVID, the not COVID will come in strong, and you can risk a damaged structure.
Then you will only transfer the fear. What will be the fear of COVID to the fear of the not COVID. Then we have to be prepared for all that. So it's not only working the ... the short span. We have to prepare for this second stint in which this will all come together. We are doing all of this, just so you know what we are thinking of all this. Just so you can know this is all planned.
Braga Netto introduces Tarcísio Gomes, Minister of Infrastructure. He mentions using the Pró-Brasil recovery plan to invest in infrastructure, and how the money is drying up. The Central Bank has been injecting liquidity to help finish some construction projects.
Braga Netto then introduces Pedro Guimarães, head of Caixa (one of Brazil's government banks). This will be abridged
Guimarães: [...] I mean, all of those thieves, PT, PMDB, PSDB, all that thievery, twenty five percent (interest) per month. And nobody cares. [...] This morning, the people from Band (Bandeirantes, a TV channel) wanted money. The point is is this, will you or won't you give money to Band? Ah, won't give money to Band? Spent half and hour getting beaten up, but replied. And said "Look, are you at home? I have thirty thousand employees on the street. There's not deal, this bullshit of home office. I visited fifteen agencies, and you're at home?" Then they calmed down. [...] know how many people Caixa pays today? Seven million people, and everybody in home office. What bullshit is this?
Note: Band has demanded an explanation, and has said that it has not asked for no official payments. If there was a secret request of money, tell who it was and he will be fired, or else they threatened to take legal action
Guimarães: [...] Luis Lima, who swam with my father, was an Olympic athlete, had his wife and daughter of fourteen years of age arrested yesterday, in the police wagon. What the fuck is this? Sorry ... What the fuck is this? The guys goes in the wagon with his daughter. If it was me, I'd get my fifteen weapons and ... I'd give a ... I would go ... I would die. Because if my daughter went in the police wagon, I would kill or be killed. What is this? Was swimming in the ... the ... she's an Olympic athlete. You take the person, the person is swimming at fourteen years. I have a daughter that's fourteen. If my daughter goes into the police wagon either I'll kill or be killed
M (not sure who this is): Yeah, and Luiz Lima's wife didn't say she's the wife of a Federal Congressman
[...]
Guimarães: And that governor stealing
Guimarães then mentions that out of the 120 high ranking positions he purged 105. He then continues defending about how Caixa is having issues providing credit.
Guimarães: There's people from the TCU (Federal Accountability) of the emergency funds? Know what's happening? There's people there saying we give to much and people saying we give too little. We're fucked!
G continues explaining how Caixa is the one of the largest banks, and is suffering with works coming down with COVID. He continues "I told my wife: if anything happens I'll go there myself ... take a liter of hydroxychloroquine all that crap. So this way, I think we are, just the last thing, in, in a question of collective hysteria. I mean, I can have thirty thousand employees at Caixa, paying seven million today, two million on fri ... yeah, monday. Yesterday we opened 800 agencies, will open saturday, will open sunday, two hours earlier. And what does the media want? That you pay and fuck the employees. But if two die, 9 o'clock news". He goes back to the Luiz Lima case, "And then you set a rapist free?" He then thanks Moro for allowing Caixa security guards (technically federal employees) to work outside the agencies, so that they can help coordinate the lines outside.
Braga Netto introduces Ernesto Araújo, minister of foreign relations
Ernesto Araújo: [...] I'd like to mention the following, I think it's fundamental that this international dimension not be simply an adaptation of us to the international scenario, but that it takes into account the capacity Brazil has today to influence the design of a new international scenario. I am more convinced that Brazil today has the condition, the opportunity to sit in the table of the four, five, six countries that will define the new world order. [...] And this scenario is, ... I think he has to take into account the following ... we are there reviewing the last thirty years of globalization. There will be a new globalization.
What happened in these thirty years? It was a globalization blind for the theme of values, for the theme of democracy, of liberty. It was a globalization that, we are seeing now, creating a model in which the center of the international economy is in a country that isn't democratic, that doesn't respect human rights, etc, right? [...] That brings the project of, of the, the president, that's not only efficiency, economic growth, but there's liberty, the fight against corruption, the reinvention of Brazil, it's free, it's a Brazil free of these issues that we know. Thank you.
Braga Netto introduces Roberto Campos (President of the Central Bank)
Campos: I'll go back a bit here, and remind that at the end of the Dilma government the interest rate was 14.5%, short term. But the long one was 20%. And then we look at what happened and caused the interest rate that fell. [...] The rates fell up to the level of 6.5%, stabilized, had the uncertainty of the elections with the uncertainty of PT coming back, got worse, and when the market understood the pension reform was coming, was when there was space to cut rates again. [...] We have done meetings between ... meetings between the central bankers of various countries in the world, it's ... almost every week. I think there are three key points. First, there is a consensus, today, it's ... that the private world is afraid of taking risk. So, it won't ... there won't be a quick exist without the government coming in, in some way, taking risk. Because the private world is afraid to task risks due to the fear factor. [...] If you allow everybody to watch a football game tomorrow, will everybody leave their house and go?
Campos then goes explaining the fear factors, and how it has a multiplier effect to a degree.
Braga Netto then introduces Damares Alves, Minister of Human Rights, Family and Women
Damares: [...] This government has the pillar of values. [...] We received a government that didn't have data, and the data we had was false, lied. A Brazil of guesswork, a Brazil of maybe, "I think it is", "maybe yes maybe no". [...] When we went looking for traditional groups to building the fight against the coronavirus, we discovered, ministers, that we have 1.300.000 Ukrainians in Brasil and nobody every said anything about them to us. [...] We have 1.5 million gipsies and I spoke of 1.3 million. [...]
She follows up with some extra data disparities, such as rubber tappers, descendants of escaped slaves, children and elderly in care homes.
Damares: In this moment of the pandemic we see the joke of the Supreme Court bringing back abortion, and there was the question of ... are the women victim of zika will abort, and now of the coronavirus? Will they allow all that had coronavirus an abortion in Brazil? Will they allow everybody? Minister, it's filled with feminists that have a single issue that is allowing abortion. I want to remind you minister, that's arriving now, this is a pro-life government, pro-family. [...]
Follows up explaining how they are dealing with native populations and Covid
Damares: Do you know why we went there president? Because we received the news that there would be deliberate contamination in Roraima and Amazonas in natives, to kill them and blame them on Bolsonaro. I had to go there with the head of the Funai and met with generals of the region and the head the PF, so we could do a covert operation, because they had to kill more natives to say that our policy wasn't working.
Damares: So president, just to wrap up. Yeah, I'd like to say that your nervousness has a reason. There has never been so many violations of human rights in Brazil such as during this period. Fundamental rights have been violated. In our hotline there are over five thousand registries of human rights violations. But you sir have a very brave staff and minister of Human Rights. There are over five thousand proceedings and actions being made. Governors and mayors will respond to legal action.
The elderly are being arrested and thrown inside police vans in Brazil. Women thrown to the floor and being handcuffed for doing nothing ... doing nothing. We are seeing priests being fined 90 thousand reais because they were inside church with two worshippers. The greatest violation of human rights of the history of Brazil in the last thirty years of Brazil is happening right now, but we are taking action. The pandemic will pass, but governors and mayors will respond and we will ask for the arrest of governors and mayors. [...] the governor Wellington (Piauí) today, yesterday, determined that the police will be able to enter houses.
Bolsonaro asks if he signed the decree
Damares: Signed! The police will be able to enter houses without warrants. So, this way, the biggest violations are happening now. So, we are preparing, over five proceedings our ministry has taken initiative and we are asking for the arrest of a few governors.
Braga Netto introduces Marcelo Antônio, Minister of Tourism. Not much happens, with the exception of him defending the legalization of casinos, to Damares' anger. He believes it to be possible to do so with proper police work guaranteeing that it is done properly and legally.
In Damares' words "Deal with the devil"
General Mourão, vice president, invites Damares to play the roulette
Marcelo follows up with a proposal to rent hotels to isolate medical professionals and reduce exposure.

Hey folks. Time for the post tournament review of how players placed relative to their seeds. This is Ultimate only (I don't follow Melee and couldn't do an insightful write up) and a tiny bit late. Long finals does that to you. I only did 64 seeds this time because I hit my limit. But, thank you to Pound for actually putting out a document with all the players organized by seed outside of the Smash GG site. Made my life a lot easier. Previous write-ups at the bottom.
​
Disclaimer 1: Not all runs are created equal. Some players needed to take on monsters to get their placement. Some less so. This is not meant to be an objective comparative quality match-up of players.
Disclaimer 2: If a player had a bad tournament that doesn't make them a bad player. It is easier to perform below your standard then above. Thus, one tournament can make a career, but it can't break it. There are many reasons players lose.
As fans we have a responsibility to be good to players. They cry and sweat for us. The goal isn't to make players stress out about individual placements more, but to catch interesting story lines and data. Don't be a dick to players.
Disclaimer 3: It is easier for a low seed to overperform and for a high seed to underperform. Seeds are a stand-in for expectations. The shit part of high expectations is that beating them is hard. One should consider equal levels of over-performance to favor higher seed players in terms of level of impressiveness.
Disclaimer 4: An issue with seeding is just as good an explanation for some of these cases as bad play is. It is not always possible to tell the difference.
How to Read This: Number indicates placement relative to expected placement. The number reflects losers round expected to lose in, vs actual loss. At the request of numerous people from the previous two threads, we're experimenting with single number placement this time. What that means is that if a player was seeded between 13 and 16, that means they were expected to go out at 13th place. Thus, if they got a +1 it means they got 9th place. If they got a -1 then it means they got 17th.

+5 or More (Star Turn)

Ally. 12th Seed. 1st Place. (+6): If you were following the early days of Ultimate, but had never tracked Brawl or Smash 4, this would be surprising. Ally has been on a win streak lately, but he hasn’t felt like a top contender. But, Ally was one of the best in the world in the previous games, and in some ways even the label "Star Turn" is absurd for him. More like a comeback. Now granted, we need to recognize the huge role that the Day 2 upsets had in this. He had been projected to face off against Light and VoiD but was spared those matches. But, one doesn’t simple beat Myran and Dabuz, two top level players, without coming out looking impressive. Ally is back. Now we just need ZeRo and we can have Civil War II.
JW/LimaSlayer. 63rd Seed. 9th Place. (+5): Back in Smash 4 he was known as LimaSlayer after an important win over Lima. Well after this tournament he should call himself LeffenSlayer. Or maybe LeoSlayer. Really anything besides JW. The point is that in this tournament, he was the man. He almost made Top 8. Pure Star Turn.
Phantom. 84th Seed. 13th Place. (+5): He started his run with an upset over Mekos, and then followed it up with wins over an increasingly absurd series of players. Laid and Ryuga. A close 3/2 set vs Pelca. Then the crown jewel of the run, a win over Number 9 Seed Mr R. Someone call New England and tell them to collect their boy. He’s going wild out here.

+2 to +4 (Strong Tournament)

Myran. 8th Seed. 2nd Place. (+4): Myran continues his climb, but misses his coveted first major title. Since his Genesis and Frostbite runs, Myran’s chances of taking a major have seemed very high. This time he almost did it. Almost. Like Ally, Myran lucked out from the crazy bracket volatility in that he never had to face Leo. But, he still had to beat Zinoto, JW, Mew2King, Samsora, and Marss to get this placement. If he keeps playing this well, his major is almost assured.
Sinji. 34th Seed. Out at 9th Seed. (+4): Sinji (and PacMan mains in general) continue to impress. After an early loss to Pelca, he went through a marathon losers bracket run that went all the way to the edge of top 8. Along the way he even finished off VoiD, Daybreak, and Phantom. So tantalizingly close to a top 8 appearance, but at the very least he gave everyone another reason to remember there are PacMans out there besides Tea. If Sinji isn’t globally ranked this season, it’s a travesty.
MJ. 79th Seed. Out at 25th Place. (+4): Got lucky he didn’t have to face Dingus Joe in losers, but any assertion of luck alone is instantly dispelled by a win over Ryuga, one of the world’s top Ikes.
Shyguy. 182nd Seed. 33rd Place. (+4): He got an upset over Salem apparently, which is just nuts. Also one over Rags too boot. Hoo boy, what a run.
Buzz. Unseed. 49th Place. (+4): He got to top 64 with a numbers of wins. The obvious standout was over Logic. Good job, dude. Welcome to the pros.
Salem. 13th Seed. 5th Place. (+3): The curse is broken. Finally… After 3 A/S tier tournaments in a row of underperformance, Salem managed to beat his seed and win a sting of strong wins over Zinoto, ANTi, MuteAce, Mr E, and finally MVG teamage MKLeo himself. The end result was Salem’s first A tier top 8 finish and a nice reminder that he shouldn’t be left out of the top 10 discussions.
Pelca. 26th Seed. Out at 9th Place. (+3): He got a solid win over Sinji and even gave Salem a serious run in the Snake ditto. But, the biggest factor in his strong performance was a strangely favorable bracket. For some reason he kept on facing all of the Pound upset kings. Both bobby Wasabi and Phantom. Remember folks, a single upset can wreak radical havok on a single bracket.
Mr E. 36th Seed. Out at 13th Place. (+3): Mr E is on a comeback tour. After a 13th placement at Prime, he does just as well at Pound. He was lucky he didn’t run into any killers in losers, but he scored up a series of solid wins. Clearly this was a case of underseeding. 36th? Really?
Atomsk. 67th Seed. 25th Place. (+3): Beat Panthoran, Raptor and Gen with a freaking DeDeDe. What a nut. Apparently an old hand from the Brawl days. Welcome back Atomsk!
Mystearica. 65th Seed. 25th Place. (+3): Call Mystearica the wolf slayer. One win over Seagull Joe and one over 6WX.
Burntsocks. 61st Seed. Out at 25th. (+3)
Pipp. 183rd Seed. 49th Place. (+3): He got his key upset over Nuggetz. Sometimes you end up against MKLeo in Pools 2. Rip.
Mav. 166th Seed. 49th Place. (+3): He beat Gimr and Dingus Joe. He ain't affraid of no G&W.
SoulArts. 132nd Seed. 49th Place. (+3)
Tension. 110th Seed. 49th Place. (+3): The reason Plup is not on this list. Still, he got some damn fine upsets this tournament.
MattyG. 43rd Seed. Out at 17th. (+2): Beat Larry Lurr and ended Shyguy’s Winner’s side upset run to get this placement. Good placement for a consistently solid placement.
Danbi. 50th Seed. Out at 25th Place. (+2): Frankly, it’s weird he was seeded this low anyway. Danbi has been emerging as one his region’s biggest threats. He showed it here with a double elimination on Pink Fresh.
Ice. 74th Seed. Out at 33rd. (+2): Run is the result of a cool upset against Pacman Kiwi, followed by an even more impressive upset over Frostbite’s Japan Slayer, Goblin.
BobbyWasabi. 70th Seed. Out at 33rd. (+2): He beat VoiD. I honestly still have no idea how that happened. Good job dude. That’s a win to hang on to.

-1 to +1 (Normal Tournament)

Marss. 4th Seed. 3rd Place. (+1): Marss is a fantastic players who is amazing to watch. Just watch his pop off after his narrow win over Samsora. He some solid wins here too. Sinji, MVD, Dabuz, Samsora. It would have been a slightly more dramatic showcase though had it not been for getting upset by Myran for the second time in a week.
Samsora. 5th Seed. 4th Place. (+1): Samsora is one of the few Top 10 contenders without a win at a major. Leo, Nairo, and Void all dropped early. This was his moment...until it wasn’t. He got upset by Myran in Winners and then lost his runback vs Marss in an edge of your seat set in Loser’s Semis that was probably the highlight of the tournament. Everyone knows Samsora can win a major. He definitely proved it this time. The question is when?
MVD. 10th Seed. 7th Place. (+1): A string of strong wins over Goblin, Dark Wizzy, and upset king JW got him here. He probably was a beneficiary of the bracket chaos, but that’s not to diss the blood and sweat he put into his games. Especially his close set with Dark Wizzy.
Leffen. 24th Seed. Out at 13th. (+1): This is looking like the end of Leffen’s Ultimate career, based on what he’s talking about on Twitter and his increasing state of disinitrest. It’s fitting he went out on a good run. He got another win over ZD and gave MKLeo a run for his money. Maybe Joker will draw him back in. He has been a divisive figure in the Ultimate community, but also an engaged and dramatic one. Early Ultimate would not have been the same without him. If this really is the end of his Ultimate career, then it was a pleasure while it lasted.
Dark Wizzy. 18th Seed. 13th Place. (+1): Dark Wizzy is an absolute savage. He had to beat Light and Mr R just to make it to 13th. His set vs MVD was last game, last stock, last hit. This was a +1 that felt like a +4. Dark Wizzy is out here looking like the best Mario in the world every time he plays.
Ling Ling. 27th Seed. 17th Place. (+1): Ignore the +1 here. This run was impressive. He did okay in winners side, where he got an expected but still well earned win over ANTI. But, in losers he had to run the gauntlet of top players who got upset early. He did marvelously. A win over Captain Zack in the ditto. A win over ESAM. A close set with Leffen. Ling Ling has a lot of claim to the title of Number 2 Peach in the world.
Goblin. 25th Seed. 17th Place. (+1): The hero of Frostbite is on the warpath and he beat...okay opponents. Puppeh. Danbi. Those are not wins in a bad tournament by a long shot. But, we just didn’t get that Frostbite magic again. Still, his roy always a lot of fun.
Daybreak. 38th Seed. Out at 25th. (+1): Like with most +1 wins, you can normally track the match they weren’t supposed to win but did. In that case, it was his upset over Light. No small feat.
ANTi. 37th Seed. 25th Place. (+1): Did okay running mostly Mario. Got a win over ZD, which is less impressive than had he done it at Genesis. A shame he’s going to drop Lucario, since Lucario is hype, but who can blame him? He still has potential to be one of the best and we got flashes of that here.
PKChris. 64th Seed. 33rd Place. (+1)
Dexter. 49th Seed. 33rd Place. (+1): Earned his +1 with a surprise upset over Captain Zack. This was generally not a great tournament for Virginia/Maryland players despite the location, so it’s good to see one of their major pros on this side of the doc.
Ksev. 96th Seed. 49th Place. (+1)
Mew2King. 66th Seed. 49th Place. (+1): The old champ emerges from the shadows, taking a quick upset over DarkMATTer. Lost to Myran and Ned. Both highly respectable losses.
Dabuz. 6th Seed. 5th Place. (+0): Dabuz remains stuck in place. He essentially always gets to top 8, but he just can’t further. Dabuz needs to figure a way out of his committed relationship with 5th place. Still, you gotta admit it’s better to be stuck at 5th then at 65th.
Utopian Ray. 23rd Seed. 17th Place. (+0)
MuteAce. 17th Seed. 17th Place. (+0): Seemed a shoe in for a strong run after a dramatic upset over ESAM. But then...he got knifed by the crazy losers bracket where he ended up facing Salem. Made all the worse by the fact that it’s the same snake that beat him at Ultimate Gamer Miami. The upset givith and the upset taketh away.
Puppeh. 47th Seed. 33rd Place. (+0)
Geist. 44th Seed. Out at 33rd. (+0): The world’s last Bayonetta solo main of note did...okay. He did okay. Might need a secondary.
Ned. 35th Seed. 33rd Place. (+0)
Xerom. 60th Seed. 49th Place. (+0)
Ralphie. 53rd Seed. 49th Place. (+0)
Squerk. 52nd Seed. 49th Place. (+0)
Suarez. 20th Seed. Out at 25th. (-1): Got upset by Virginia hidden boss PT Puppeh. I still love watching Suarez play though. His set with Light is still a favorite of mine.
Riddles. 32nd Seed. 33rd Place. (-1): He didn’t do fantastic in singles, but man oh man did he kick some ass in Squad Strike. He has that going for him, which is nice.
Seagull Joe. 31st Seed. 33rd Place. (-1)
Gen. 30th Seed. 33rd Place. (-1)
Zinoto. 28th Seed. 33rd Place. (-1): Unfortunate bracket victim. Lost his expected match vs Myran, and then had to place Salem in losers.
Pathoran. 48th Seed. 49th Place. (-1)
Juuuuul. 46th Seed. 49th Place. (-1)
Jakal. 42nd Seed. 49th Place. (-1): An indirect upset victim. He lost the matches he was projected to win and won what he was projected to win. But, sometimes the number 15 Seed ends up in loser’s early and you’re shit out of luck.
6WX. 40th Seed. 49th Place. (-1): The Mystearica upset was not his finest hour. But, honestly he probably would have reached +0 if it wasn’t for that bracket shattering MKLeo upset. That’s what happens when the the Number 1 seed has to start a losers run in Pools 2.

-4 to -2 (Weak Tournament)

Mr R. 9th Seed. Out at 17th. (-2): Had an okay losers run, but suffered a pair of upsets to Dark Wizzy, who was having a moment, and Phantom who is actually a crazy badass. On the upside, he apparently made $700 dollars at a Casino over the weekend according to twitter. So, ironically, he actually made more money then he’d have made at 4th place. Yay?
Frozen. 22nd Seed. 33rd Place. (-2): The question coming into this one was whether he could repeat his star turn at Collision. He even had the opportunity to do it in a match vs Light. But, alas this was not the next act in Frozen’s ascension.
ESAM. 11th Seed. 25th Place. (-3): Technically speaking, this was a stronger performance (25th vs 33rd) then at Prime Saga, but it sure feels worse. As a recap, he ended up losing to Peach 4 times this weekend. Once to Samsora in squadstrike, once to MuteAce in winners, and once to LingLing in losers. But, most degrading of all was his 10-1 loss in a $500 money match vs Samsora. Being an ESAM fan is suffering. Wanna go to Dennys?
Ryuga. 16th Seed. Out at 33rd. (-3)
Captain Zack. 15th Seed. 33rd Place. (-3): The LingLing upset had to hurt. He has his reputation as one of the top peaches to protect.
ZD. 14th Seed. 33rd Place. (-3): ZD’s first tournament since Summit was...underwhelming. In the period leading up to Genesis, ZD was a top 20 contender. He just hasn’t been able to keep up.
Larry Lurr. 21st Seed. 49th Place. (-3): The early upset from MattyG sealed his fate. Maybe in a different bracket it wouldn’t have been so bad, but his losers run was cut short by the insane misfortune of a match in losers with Salem for 49th place. This is what happens when the bracket is an upset riddled mess.
Nairo. 3rd Seed. 9th Place. (-4): Ignore the numbers. He suffered the slightest of upsets vs Dabuz in their near weakly tournament matches. Then, he had to face MKLeo for 9th. Having to face MKLeo for 9th is stupid bad luck. Just unfortunate. What can you do about it?
Laid. 19th Seed. 65th Place. (-4)
Fatality. 29th Seed. 97th Place. (-4): Brutal. Just brutal. But, hey. Captain Falcon is a bit buffed in 3.0.0. Hopefully that has an effect.

-5 and Below (Wash Out)

MKLeo. 1st Seed. 7th Place. (-5): His second 7th performance in a row. It was looking pretty dicey. He was even considering DQ-ing in losers because he was feeling sick. But, he stuck it out. Even sick MKLeo is one of the best in the world, so he still ended up in Top 8, even if he couldn’t manage to figure out a way past MVG teammate Salem.
VoiD. 7th Seed. 49th Place. (-6): I don’t even know how to react to this. I love watching VoiD. I’m a fan. But, this is starting to become common enough to be concerning. Still, this is happening at the same time that Pichu is falling in the meta. He seems to want to pick up Joker though. As a Shiek-Main-In-Exile, maybe that will help?
Light. 2nd Seed. Out at 17th. (-7): Perhaps Light’s worst ever Ultimate placement at a B-tier or above, which is an accomplishment in of itself. Still, this one hurt. First an upset at the hands of Michigan Wolf, Daybreak, followed by a second upset against Mario extraordinaire Dark Wizzy. This isn’t the first time Wizzy has beat him either. Time to practice the Mario matchup. Oh well, at least he didn’t lose $500 on a Money Match.

Final Analysis:

Pound was a weird one. Boring and mostly predictable Day 1 (made more fun by a good Doubles bracket and schadenfreude from ESAM's self-inflicted wound). But, then Day 2 came along and suddenly it was upsets the tournament. Going into Day 3, an insane number of the top players were in losers or even eliminated.
Things, calmed down a lot in Day 3 though. There were still upsets to be sure, Dark Wizzy made sure of that. But, as the field narrowed, players expected to win generally did. By the time we reached Top 8 we ended up with a bracket no one would have been that surprised by. That's why the numbers on here ended up pretty close to a more normal tournament as opposed to a more wild data spread.
A lot of the momentum of the tournament was spent by that point though. The Olimar and Snake players seemed to be less inclined to being upset this time around, leading to a very zonecamper heavy Top 8 that a lot of viewers complained about. Granted, despite the number of close games it was mostly not exactly riveting, but a lot of the hate for that was misdirected at the players or the game.
Guys. Guys. It's not that Ultimate is broken because it's dominated by boring characters. It's that all the top players with interesting characters shit the bed (except Samsora and Marss).
Anyway, that'll be all from me this time. I'm probably not doing one of these for Papa 3 or Regen. I'll wait and see about Get On My Level and Momocon. If someone wants to try doing this format for Papa though, shoot me a DM.
Tracking Top 8 Placements and Majors: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RlBaAfummqebG4gEVEE8nNbwlTV7unbzXbouCtSgbwo/edit?usp=sharing
Write-Up for Frostbite: Here
Write-Up for Ultimate Nimbus: Here
Write-Up for Collision: Here
Write-Up for Prime Saga: Here