Final Round 18 Results
It was an amazing weekend for Ultra Street Fighter 4 fans, as many of the best players from around the world competed in Final Round 18, the first Premier Tournament for Capcom Pro Tour 2015. It was a tournament full of epic matches, upsets, and surprises. The Top 8 was evenly divided between US and international players, with Snake Eyez, EMP|Hiro, TSC|Dieminion and TS|Sabin representing the Stars and Stripes. However, hopes of a US player winning it all were dashed with the elimination of TSC|Dieminion.
RZR|Xian Qualifies for Capcom Cup 2015
In the end, it was RZR|Xian vs EG|Momochi in the Grand Finals, with RZR|Xian taking 1st place. With this win, RZR|Xian will become the second player to qualify to take part in Capcom Cup 2015. Interestingly, since EG|Momochi already earned a qualifying spot due to winning Capcom Cup 2014, RZR|Xian would have earned a spot regardless of who won this Grand Finals. It was good that RZR|Xian did it with a win, though, as he proved convincingly at Final Round 18 that he can beat EG|Momochi.
Top 16
| Placing | Handle | Characters | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | RZR|Xian | Gen/Elena | 256 |
| 2nd | EG|Momochi | Ken/Elena | 128 |
| 3rd | RZR|Fuudo | Fei Long | 64 |
| 4th | /r/Kappa|Kazunoko | Yun | 32 |
| 5th | TSC|Dieminion | Guile | 16 |
| 5th | TS|Sabin | Dhalsim | 16 |
| 7th | Snake Eyez | Zangief/Evil Ryu | 8 |
| 7th | EMP|Hiro | M.Bison | 8 |
| 9th | EG|Ricky Ortiz | Rufus/Rolento | 4 |
| 9th | Bonchan | Sagat | 4 |
| 9th | eSportsMax|Tampa Bison | M.Bison | 4 |
| 9th | Filipinoman | Rose | 4 |
| 13th | CCG|Chris Tatarian | Ken | 2 |
| 13th | Liquid|NuckleDu | Guile | 2 |
| 13th | MCZ|Mago | Yang | 2 |
| 13th | MCZ|Daigo | Evil Ryu | 2 |
Many of The World’s Best Gather in Atlanta, But Only One Could Win
Final Round always draws some of the biggest players, but Final Round 18 was on a whole new level. As the first Premier Tournament for the Capcom Pro Tour in 2015, there was a lot up for grabs. The winner automatically earns a qualifying spot at Capcom Cup 2015. Because it’s a Premier event, there was double the amount of Ranking Points to earn. Also, the increased prize pool was a consideration as well.
Top Players Gather From Around the World in Atlanta, GA
So it was no surprise that Final Round 18 attracted so many top players from around the world. The list of players who attended included top US players such as Snake Eyez, EG|Justin Wong, EG|PR Balrog, EG|Ricky Ortiz, TSC|Dieminion, eSportsMax|Tampa Bison, PIE|Smug, MOM|Veloc1raptor and many more. International players included Capcom Cup 2014 winner EG|Momochi, RZR|Xian, /r/Kappa|Infiltration, AVM|Gamerbee, MCZ|Tokido, MCZ|Diago, MCZ|Mago, /r/Kappa|Kazunoko, and RZR|Fuudo. Again this is nowhere near a complete list, and it just shows the number of top players that arrived to compete.
Brief Summary of Just a Few Highlights
With an event like this there are just too many big moments to convey without writing a book, so we will give a few highlights from the event. We will try to have a stand-alone article or two over the next week or so to expand on some of these or showcase other standouts.
- With so many top players competing, not everyone could win. EG|Justin Wong, EG|PR Balrog,/r/Kappa| Infiltration, PIE|Smug, RZR|Itabashi Zangief, K-Brad, AVM|Gamerbee, Veloc1raptor, and MCZ|Tokido are just some of the big names that did not make it into to 16.
- The Top 8 featured 4 players from the US and 4 international players. The US players were TSC|Dieminion, Snake Eyez, EMP|Hiro, and TS|Sabin. International players were RZR|Fuudo, /r/Kappa|Kazunoko, RZR|Xian and EG|Momochi.
- The 4 US players in Top 8 were all from the East Coast, from the New York area.
Snake Eyez Pulls Out Surprise to Eliminate Bonchan
Snake Eyez is known as one of the world’s best Zangief players, but could not get anything going against Bonchan’s strong zoning game with Sagat. He surprises almost everyone by picking Evil Ryu, which completely reverses his fortunes and gets him the win!
TS|Sabin’s Amazing Run
Arturo Sanchez (TS|Sabin), had an absolutely amazing run with his Dhalsim and was one of the most exciting players to watch in the tournament. You could hear and feel the crowd pulling for Arturo with each clutch play and victory. The hype he created is why he managed to be featured in 2 of the Top 5 Moments of Final Round highlight video we embedded below. He was eliminated by EG|Momochi in a tough match.
Top 5 Moments of Final Round 18
RZR|Xian Defeats All-comers to Win Final Round 18, and Qualifies for Capcom Cup 2015
RZR|Xian really put on a dominant performance at Final Round 18. Xian made it all the way through the winner’s bracket, beating the likes of MCZ|Tokido, Quanba|Dakou, Filipinoman, and RZR|Fuudo along the way. What’s even more impressive is his performance against EG|Momochi.
We all know Xian’s a top player, but after last year many considered EG|Momochi to be arguably the best player in the world and Xian would surely confront him at least once if he wanted to win it all. As it turns out, Xian defeated Momochi not once but twice. He knocked Momochi into the loser’s bracket at the Winner’s semi-finals 3-0 and then defeated him again in the Grand Finals. Momochi is known for his ability to adapt, but he just could not find a solution for Xian’s Gen. Momochi also did not try to find a counter-pick character either. He used Ken all the way.
With this win RZR|Xian becomes the second player to qualify for Capcom Cup 2015. Interestingly, since EG|Momochi already qualified due to his win at Capcom Cup 2014, Xian would have qualified regardless of who won the Grand Finals. In the end this technicality didn’t matter, as Xian took 1st.