NorCal Regionals 2017 Results
NorCal Regionals 2017, held in Sacramento, CA, USA from April 14th through 16th, has concluded and USA’s PG|Punk has taken 1st place! PG|Punk took 1st place at West Coast Warzone 2017 two weeks ago, giving him an incredibly strong points placement on the road to Capcom Cup at a very early point in the season! USA’s Liquid|NuckleDu, last year’s Capcom Cup Champion, took 2nd place. Japan’s GRPT|Fuudo, who took 2nd place at Final Round 20 in March, took 3rd place. Now lets take a look at the full NorCal Regionals 2017 results for top 64!
If you missed any of the action, be sure to visit our videos page, where we will have a playlist for matches from NorCal Regionals 2017!
NorCal Regionals 2017 Results: Top 64
| Placing | Handle | Characters | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | PG|Punk | Karin | 400 |
| 2nd | Liquid|NuckleDu | Guile/Cammy | 250 |
| 3rd | GRPT|Fuudo | R.Mika | 200 |
| 4th | RB|Bonchan | Nash | 160 |
| 5th | EG|NYChrisG | Guile/Urien | 130 |
| 5th | Circa|LPN | M.Bison | 130 |
| 7th | Mago | Karin | 100 |
| 7th | ZOWIE|GamerBee | Necalli | 100 |
| 9th | ECHO FOX|Momochi | Ibuki/Ken | 70 |
| 9th | YOUDEAL|Yukadon | Ibuki | 70 |
| 9th | ECHO FOX|Tokido | Akuma | 70 |
| 9th | NOBLE|Vagabond | Necalli | 70 |
| 13th | Poongko | Kolin | 40 |
| 13th | Romance | Karin | 40 |
| 13th | WFX|Samurai | Akuma | 40 |
| 17th | HX| CYG BST|Daigo Umehara | Guile | 20 |
| 17th | ECHO FOX|Justin Wong | Karin/Chun-Li | 20 |
| 17th | GRPT|Haitani | Necalli | 20 |
| 17th | Commander Jesse | Dhalsim | 20 |
| 17th | CO|Go1 | Ibuki | 20 |
| 17th | EG|Ricki Ortiz | Chun-Li | 20 |
| 25th | ROM | Vega | 10 |
| 25th | EG|K-Brad | Cammy | 10 |
| 25th | OG|Shine | Ibuki | 10 |
| 25th | CO|Dogura | Urien | 10 |
| 25th | XYZZY | Birdie | 10 |
| 25th | Kelvin Jeon | Urien | 10 |
| 33rd | Flash | Urien | 5 |
| 33rd | SPLYCE|Filipino Champ (FChamp) | Dhalsim | 5 |
| 33rd | L.E.S. | 5 | |
| 33rd | fLoE | Karin | 5 |
| 33rd | NOBLE|Nightmare2450 | Necalli | 5 |
| 33rd | BurnoutFighter | Dhalsim | 5 |
| 33rd | PandaTV|Dark Jiewa | Ken | 5 |
| 33rd | Pro7otype | Alex | 5 |
| 33rd | Ghodere | Zangief | 5 |
| 33rd | SD|Tempest | Vega | 5 |
| 33rd | pH|Nando Tovar | Juri | 5 |
| 33rd | iPeru | Laura | 5 |
| 33rd | KyleP | Laura | 5 |
| 33rd | BJ Unchained | Necalli | 5 |
| 49th | Brass | Guile | 1 |
| 49th | Sgt Slap a *** | Ibuki | 1 |
| 49th | HB|YLT Cole | Ibuki | 1 |
| 49th | The Dtran | Birdie | 1 |
| 49th | IFD|AegisNeglector | Urien | 1 |
| 49th | Rambro | Kolin | 1 |
| 49th | Ultima | Rashid | 1 |
| 49th | General Azad | M.Bison | 1 |
| 49th | Stupendous | Zangief | 1 |
| 49th | Lamerboi | Rashid | 1 |
| 49th | Brolyballzs | Akuma | 1 |
| 49th | Brenttiscool | Balrog/Ken | 1 |
| 49th | SRK|El Cubano Loco | Vega | 1 |
| 49th | ENT|DrDannyPham | Zangief | 1 |
| 49th | LU|GenesisFrenzy | 1 |
NorCal Regionals 2017 Highlights
NorCal Regionals 2017, the 3rd Premier Event of the 2017 Capcom Pro Tour season, was full of amazing highlights and a few surprises. The top story of this event is USA’s PG|Punk, who continues to assert his position as one of the best (arguably the best) players in North America. The other player in that conversation, USA’s Liquid|NuckleDu, only lost to Punk at this event.
We will delve into some of the highlight matches and players below, but we can’t not mention that the whispers heard at Final Round 20 were true! Japan’s Hx CYG BST|Daigo Umehara, who is known as the living embodiment of Ryu, strayed from his longtime mainstay character to play Guile! He ended up in 17th place at this event, but it isn’t known how long Daigo has been practicing with the character. We do not known if this was a short-term fling or if Daigo will stick with Guile, but if his Guile gets anywhere near the level of his Ryu things will get very, very interesting. Now, let’s take a look at some of the highlight players and matches from NorCal Regionals 2017.
Circa|LPN
USA’s Circa|LPN cracked the top 8 three times last year and none of those were at Premier Events. The 5th place finish here at NorCal Regionals gives him more points than he earned all of last year by a wide margin, positioning him in a good starting position this early in the season to make a run for Capcom Cup 2017. LPN is a player with a high level of skill at several characters (M.Bison, Urien, Birdie and Alex to name just a few), which makes him a dangerous opponent because of his ability to counter-pick. He will be one to watch, especially if he travels to a lot of events this year.
EG|NYChrisG
After having a very quiet 2016 season, EG|NYChrisG has come out of the gate hot, taking 9th at Final Round 20, 2nd at West Coast Warzone 2017 and 5th here at NorCal Regionals 2017. He was picked up by team Evil Geniuses this year, and the way he has represented himself this year surely is making his sponsor proud! NYChrisG has taken his Guile play to a new level, while also adding Ibuki and Urien to his repertoire.
EG|NYChrisG vs Mago: This was a close match, with NYChrisG coming out on top over one of Japan’s best Karin players.
RB|Bonchan
Last season there were many Nash players, but for one reason or another most of them have either changed characters or are no longer placing high enough points this season. Indeed, Japan’s RB|Bonchan seems to be one of the few top players who is still dedicated to the character. His 4th place finish at NorCal Regionals was impressive, having beaten the likes of CYG BST|PR Balrog, NOBLE|Vagabond, ZOWIE|GamerBee and Circa|LPN.
RB|Bonchan vs ZOWIE|GamerBee: This thrilling match not only came down to the last round, but it came down to whomever got the last hit was going to win!
GRPT|Fuudo
Japan’s GRPT|Fuudo has only participated in two Capcom Pro Tour events this year so far, taking 2nd place at Final Round 20 and 3rd place here at NorCal Regionals. R.Mika players were always something of a rarity at top levels, but Fuudo continues to dominate opponents with the character. At 450 points he is likely already qualified for Capcom Cup 2017 after these two events alone.
GRPT|Fuudo vs RB|Bonchan
Liquid|NuckleDu
While he has not claimed a 1st place finish at a Premier Event (yet), Liquid|NuckleDu seems to be right where he left off last season; at the top of his game. He took 3rd place at Final Round 20 and took 2nd place here at NorCal Regionals. NuckleDu’s major obstacle blocking him from 1st place at this event was undoubtedly PG|Punk. NuckleDu narrowly defeated Punk in Winners Finals in a thrilling 3-2 match but was himself beaten by Punk in both Grand Finals sets.
Liquid|NuckleDu vs PG|Punk in Winners Finals: This was an incredible match showcasing the skills of two of North America’s best players.
PG|Punk
PG|Punk made a big impression last year with his 3rd place finish at NA Regional Finals: Red Bull Battle Grounds. This year he is now part of any conversation discussing who the best player in North America is. He started this year taking 25th at Final Round 20 but since then he has been on fire, taking 1st place at the West Coast Warzone 2017 Ranking Event and now taking 1st at NorCal Regionals 2017. He has likely earned enough points to get into Capcom Cup 2017, and it’s only April!
What makes him such a fun player to watch isn’t just his Karin play. He’s arguably the best Karin player in the world right now, and that’s saying a lot considering the company he keeps. It’s also his demeanor when he plays. Sometimes he looks bored, sometimes slightly amused as if toying with his food. It’s rare to see him fazed by anything. He just keeps a likable carefree attitude while he ruthlessly imposes his will on his opponents, backing them into corners and punishing mistakes.
Grand Finals
The Grand Finals was an all-American affair with PG|Punk squaring off against Liquid|NuckleDu, who narrowly defeated Punk earlier in Winners Finals (see above). With Punk coming out of the Losers Bracket he would have to win 2 sets to claim first place, and that’s exactly what he did. Between the two sets, Punk defeated NuckleDu by a combined 6-1 (3-1 first set, 3-0 second set). By looking at that score you would think that it was a blowout, but it was anything but. As with their earlier encounter in Winners Finals it was a game of adapt and counter-adapt, and it was a game that Punk seemed one step ahead almost the whole Finals.
Liquid|NuckleDu vs PG|Punk in Grand Finals.
On to Austin!
Next weekend, on April 28th through 30th, will be the next Premier Event in the 2017 season, Dreamhack Austin. Liquid|NuckleDu and PG|Punk are both expected to be there, so we shall see if these two amazing players face off once again.