Capcom Cup Today!! Starts at 10am PST
In just an hour, Capcom Cup is slated to start what looks to be one of the marquee tournaments of this year!! Capcom Cup has brought together some elite talent selected from those in the fighting game community, an online tournament, and regional tournaments. Get ready to see some amazing skillful play from some of your favorite fighting game titles littered with unfathomable come backs and down to the wire final rounds!! Here is the schedule released by Capcom’s community manager Combofiend last week.
Capcom Cup Schedule (All times are PST)
9:00AM Doors Open
10:00AM Street Fighter X Tekken Tournament
12:00PM Announcements & Ultra Street Fighter IV Exhibition
1:00PM Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Tournament
3:00PM Clash of the Champions Exhibition
4:00PM Super Street Fighter IV AE: 2012 Tournament
6:00PM Awards and closing ceremony
If you are new to the tournament scene, no worries, FGO wants to point out a few notable players among the very stacked competition that will be taking place in just a few.
Justin Wong
Country: USA
Competing in: Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3, Street Fighter X Tekken
There is only one word to sum up Justin Wong’s place in the fighting game community, legendary.
A champion of several fighting game tournaments, Justin Wong’s reign of terror has been witnessed several times over as he’s taken championship titles in multiple fighting games at major tournaments throughout the United States.
His most notable accomplishments come from the Evolution Championships, an international fighting game competition that takes place every year in Las Vegas, where he managed to take several titles ranging from 2002 to 2010 in the popular Marvel Vs Capcom 2 fighting game.
This year Justin Wong gave us some incredible come back play at Evolution 2013 as he made his way back from the losers bracket against a barrage of highly skilled players ending in a final round winner takes all match that is sure to go down as one the best EVO moments in history.
Recently, Justin won the national tournament for the Xbox One Next-Gen fighter Killer Instinct which just goes to show his understanding of fighting games in general is leagues above the rest.
Chris G
Country: USA
Competing in: Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3, Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition
Chris G’s dominance in UMVSC3 has rarely been contested this year leaving players stuck in a rut on how to defeat his ultimate team of morrigan, doom, vergil. Though his amazing play in UMVSC3 is greatly publicized, Chris G is no stranger to other fighting games.
Just this past September, Chris took UMVSC3 and also defeated the 2013 Evo SSF4:AE champion Xian at The Fall Classic in losers before defeating Justin Wong in grand finals with his stellar Sakura play. While his chances in UMVSC are definitely promising, it would be foolish to underestimate Chris G taking both as his skills in SSF4:AE have continued to improve each time he has competed.
Infiltration
Competing In: Street Fighter X Tekken
Country: Korea
Last year was almost a fairy tale story for infiltration. After taking EVO 2K12 SSF4: AE championship by a large margin, Infiltration went on to dominate both SSF4:AE and SFXT at the 25th Anniversary Street Fighter Finals resulting in one of the highest payouts for a fighting game competitor in recent history…Did I mention it included a brand new car!
Though Infiltration’s dominance may have not been as massive as last years showing, he still attained the title of SFXT champion at EVO 2K13 and created one of the best moments during the SSF4:AE EVO top 4 when he decided to use his back up character the oil wrestling brawler Hakan in a final elimination match that left the crowd going nuts.
Tokido
Competing In: Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition
Country: Japan
Known sentimentally among the fighting game community as Murder Face, Tokido’s ability to play multiple fighting games competitively is second to none as he continues to find himself in the Top 8 in at least two of the several fighting games he plays consistently. This year Tokido has had a very strong showing as he became the runner up in EVO2k13 SSF4:AE championship besting last years(getting revenge from the defeat at 25th SF anniversary) champion infiltration as well as defeating the legendary Daigo “The Beast” Umehara.
When asked why he picked the character he picked for his fighting games of choice, Tokido will usually reply “They are very cheap!”
Xian
Competing In: Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition
Country: Singapore
Xian became the people’s champ when he convincingly took the EVO SSF4AE 2K13 championship with the Kung-Fu assassin GEN. Xian’s conscious decision to make a character switch ultimately paid off and made Xian a fan favorite for winning with a character that you wouldn’t normally see in the finals.
Sethlolol
Competing In: Street Fighter X Tekken
Country: USA
Though Sethlolol was an online qualifier, he is no stranger to playing competitively offline at several major tournaments. Last year, Sethlolol placed 3rd at the 25th SF Anniversary Finals tournament in the SFXT competition. Earlier this year, he got his revenge at Final Round against Infiltration defeating him in Grand Finals. Seth’s unorthodox use of Kuma/Law is his claim to fame as its a real treat to watch him skillfully use this deadly combination of characters to create big damage.
Now that you’ve gotten your self acquainted with some of the favorites at this momentous tournament, get ready to see some of the best fighting game mastery your eyes have every seen!! If this is your first time watching a stream or a fighting game tournament, prepared to be amazed, encouraged, and hyped at what these players are about to showcase! I’ve embedded the stream from Capcom’s Fighters Twitch TV channel below. I’ve also added the Tournament format underneath the stream for those that want to understand the rules. Just clicking the window will take you to the actual webpage where you can chat with other viewers enjoy!!
Watch live video from CapcomFighters on www.twitch.tv
*Check out the brackets at the official competition website.*
Tournament Format
This format is usually what is used at most of the tournaments throughout the United States and abroad.
Best 2 out of 3
Like Street Fighter, competitors will usually compete in a best 2 out of 3. This means they can play up to 3 sets or what you would call a 1st to 2.
Best 3 out of 5
Usually used in the Grand Finals, Winners Finals, and Losers Finals, certain games like UMVSC3 use this format through out the tournament due to the fast paced nature of the matches.
Double Elimination
Every competitor will have the chance to lose once within the competition. If they lose again then they are eliminated from the tournament.
Loser’s Bracket
When a competitor loses a match they get sent into loser’s bracket. A competitor who is in loser’s bracket will continue to face other losers in the bracket with the possibility of going to the Grands finals,Loser’s Finals,winning the tournament, or being eliminated from the tournament.
Winner’s Bracket
When a competitor wins they get sent into winner’s bracket. A competitor in the winner’s bracket will continue to face other winners in the bracket with the possibility of going to Winner’s Finals, Loser’s Bracket, Loser’s Finals, Grand Finals, winning the tournament, or being eliminated from the tournament.
Winner’s Finals
Winner Finals will usually be a best 3 out of 5 set. The winner of the match will go onto Grand Finals and the loser of the match will go to Loser’s Finals.
Loser’s Finals
Loser’s Finals will usually be a best 3 out of 5 set. The winner of this match will go onto Grand Finals and the loser of the match will be eliminated claiming 3rd place in the tournament.
Grand Finals
Grand finals ultimately decides the winner of the tournament. Grand Finals will usually be the best 3 out of 5 but this format can change depending on the out come. The winner of the winner’s finals can become Grand Champion if they defeat their opponent from loser’s finals in a 3 out of 5 set. If the winner of the winner’s final loses to the winner of the loser’s final, this will result in a reset of the brackets which means there will be another best 3 out of 5 set. The winner of this final 3 out of 5 set will become Grand champion while the loser will be 2nd place(runner up).
Blind Pick
Before the start of a match, a competitor can request a blind pick. This is done to make sure that the opponent cannot make a character choice based off of what the competitors character of choice is going to be.
Winning Character Stays
After a competitor wins a set, they are not allowed to change their character. Only the loser can change their character. This rule set originates from the way fighting games in the Arcade operated. The only case where this does not apply is during a reset in Grand Finals.
About the Author
thec0re3 Founder of Fighting Games Online and self proclaimed "entertainment techie", thec0re3 takes immense enjoyment out of merging his love for video games and technology to educate, create, and participate in something he has enjoyed for more years than he would ever admit to.
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