As the fall months press onwards, the 2019 Capcom Pro Tour approaches its final legs. Kicking off at Final Round in February and ending at Capcom Cup in December, the CPT is coming off of an explosive weekend at Singapore’s Southeast Asia Major – but that’s not the last of the season’s action, by far.
SEAM 2019 wasn’t just an Open Premier: the Major likewise marked the Asia Regional Finals, with the winner – or the next unqualified player – earning an automatic spot at Capcom Cup. With Fujimura Atsushi taking first place and already sitting in the Global Rankings’ Top 26 players, the next available spot opens up to the Global Leaderboard (determined at season’s end) but that’s not the only Regional Final coming up soon.
Readying up for the EU Regional Final
EGX throws down the weekend of October 18 – 20, marking the second of four Regional Finals in the Tour as the 2019 season steadily winds down. Standing as London’s biggest gaming event of the year, EGX promises to bring out a wave of the region’s best talent to compete for a chance to win the Cup – but who can fans expect to see in the fray?
Unlike Open Premiers, the CPT’s Regional Finals allow only a region’s Top 8 ranked players to duke it out for a potential qualifying spot in Capcom Cup. With this in mind, EVO 2018 champ Benjamin “Problem X” Simon, EVO 2019 runner-up Adel “Big Bird” Anouche, and breakout Zeku main DC “Infexious” Coleman are likely candidates to make a splash in the upcoming competition: but they’re not the only fighters capable of taking the crown, nor the qualifying spot for the Cup, should they win.
“I’ll totally make this look cool!”
Olivier “Luffy” Hays is a legend of competitive Street Fighter, known for using R. Mika in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition. Having earned top placements in multiple Ranking Events this season, Luffy stands at eighth place in the European Rankings – marking him as the final competitor for the EU Regional Finals.
Luffy’s competitive season began with The Mixup, taking place in his home country of France. The pro went on to take second place at Sweden’s Headstomper, later making fourth and fifth at the UK’s Reflect and Spain’s Sonic Boom. Despite these top placements, Luffy was overtaken as the CPT moved forward, coming to rest just outside the top 26 Capcom Cup qualifiers at 34th place.
However, considering his recent fifth place win at SEAM’s Open Premier, it doesn’t look like Luffy is letting the competition get the better of him: and with EGX’s Regional Final looming on the horizon, he’s likely as hungry as ever to solidify a spot in the Cup later this year as time quickly ticks down to December.
Mister Crimson heats up the competition
Although one of Europe’s better-known players, Luffy isn’t the only World Warrior to watch out for on EGX weekend. A surprising face – and a surprising character – has earned a spot in the runnings, with Dhalsim main Nathan “Mister Crimson” Massol coming in at seventh place in the region’s Rankings with 185 points.
Another French fighter, Mister Crimson is quite literally heating up the leaderboards with top placements at Ranking Events throughout the EU, making 3rd at Reflect, seventh at Sonic Boom, and even seventh place at Ireland’s Celtic Throwdown, with a second place victory at the European Online West Event.
With Dhalsim being an unusual face in the competition, Mister Crimson shows that Yoga Fire is nothing to sniff at: and with two Zekus also in the fray, thanks to Infexious and the UAE’s “AngryBird,” EGX is shaping up to be a veritable feast of character variety.
“You will feel my wrath!”
Belgium’s Houmaid “Takamura” Rabie stands as Europe’s sixth ranked player, and for good reason: the dual Akuma/Ken player has made waves throughout the Capcom Pro Tour, with one of his most notable performances in the 2019 season being at Chicago’s Combo Breaker. Taking seventh place in a magnificently stacked Top 8 bracket, Takamura made a name for himself at one of the world’s most celebrated fighting game tournaments of all time – but that wasn’t the end of his roll, by far.
Takamura went on to secure more top spots at forthcoming tournaments, scoring fourth at Germany’s Fight Club NRW and, more recently, second at France’s Ultimate Fighting Arena. With 1,480 points, Takamura is looking to be a dangerous face for Europe’s fellow finalists – and he isn’t alone.
Who will emerge the champion?
Also in the mix are notable Necalli-turned-Karin main Arman “Phenom” Hanjani, who stands at third place in the EU leaderboards, as well as Big Bird, who is coming off his intense second place victory at the CPT’s first-ever Super Premier Event. With Problem X, AngryBird, and Infexious likewise in the runnings, there’s no telling who will come out on top.
Will fans see a surprising upset from one of the region’s breakout fighters? Will Big Bird continue his competitive steamroll, following his stellar performance at EVO? Menat’s crystal ball predicts a nail-biting showdown filled with Europe’s finest talent as the Regional Final approaches this weekend!