SoCal Regionals 2015, held October 9th through 11th in Ontario, California, has concluded and Japan’s RB|Bonchan has taken 1st place in an absolute slugfest of a Grand Finals against Kazunoko, also from Japan. There were a lot of thrilling matches during the event, so check out the SoCal Regionals 2015 Results.
If you missed the live stream, watch the video playlist for matches from the event on our videos page!
RB|Bonchan qualifies for Capcom Cup 2015
Because Kazunoko had already qualified for Capcom Cup earlier in the season by winning CEO 2015, RB|Bonchan automatically earned himself a qualifying spot regardless of the result of the Grand Finals. That fact didn’t matter though, as Bonchan took 1st place in a hard fought match in Grand Finals.
SoCal Regionals 2015 Results: Top 16
| Placing | Handle | Characters | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | RB|Bonchan | Sagat | 256 |
| 2nd | Kazunoko | Yun | 128 |
| 3rd | Qanba Douyu|Xiao Hai | Evil Ryu/Cammy/Sagat | 64 |
| 4th | Filipinoman | Rose | 32 |
| 5th | Reiketsu | Vega/Poison/Ibuki | 16 |
| 5th | RB|SnakeEyez | Zangief/Evil Ryu | 16 |
| 7th | F3|Alucard | Hugo/Sagat | 8 |
| 7th | SD|Pnoy | M.Bison/Adon | 8 |
| 9th | ISG|EightGrade | Akuma | 4 |
| 9th | pH|LPN | Rolento/Adon/Abel | 4 |
| 9th | YOMI|Dieminion | Guile | 4 |
| 9th | pH|Nando Tovar | El Fuerte | 4 |
| 13th | EG|Momochi | Evil Ryu/Guy | 2 |
| 13th | YBK|Jayce the Ace | C.Viper/Decapre | 2 |
| 13th | EG|PR Balrog | Balrog/Fei Long | 2 |
| 13th | Hsien Chang | Yun | 2 |
SoCal Regionals 2015 Highlights: Kazunoko will not die
SoCal Regionals 2015 was the last Premier Tournament for the Capcom Pro Tour in the US this season, and we could not have asked for a better event. SoCal Regionals always attracted a lot of top players, even before the Capcom Pro Tour, so its no surprise that this year’s event brought together so many top players from around the world. There were more highlights than we could possibly show in one article, so if you want to see more please visit our videos page and watch some of the top 8 action. In this article we just present but a few, as well as our usual Top 5 Moments video for the event, to give you just a taste of what you may have missed. The number of Capcom Pro Tour events, especially Premier Tournaments, is dwindling fast so you can almost feel the tension. In the case of Japanese player Reiketsu, you could see his emotions as he climbed all the way into the top 8. There were a lot of upsets as well.
When it was all settled, it was RB|Bonchan who took 1st place and earned himself a qualifying spot at Capcom Cup 2015 this December. Bonchan has played strong all year long, placing top 16 numerous times, taking 1st Place at Ranking Tournament FV Cup 2015 and placing 2nd at Premier Tournament Mad Catz Tokyo Game Show 2015. This is his first Premier Tournament 1st place finish. His spot was almost assured with the Ranking Points he has earned alone, but we’re sure it’s quite a relief to get the guaranteed qualification. Now, here are a few highlights from SoCal Regionals 2015.
Giants Fall
As you would expect from an event of this caliber, a lot of top players fell earlier than expected in upsets. EG|K-Brad didn’t make top 32 and RZR|Fuudo, WFX|801 Strider, Julio, MCZ|Mago, and Qanba Douyu|Dakou didn’t make top 16. EVO 2015 champ EG|Momochi was eliminated by Filipinoman’s Rose. Oddly enough, Momochi didn’t use Ken and instead opted for Evil Ryu for that match.
Top 5 Highlights for SoCal Regionals 2015
RB|Snake Eyez vs Qanba Douyu|Xiao Hai: “Holy Totino’s!”
This was a thrilling match, featuring USA’s RB|Snake Eyez vs China’s Qanba Douyu|Xiao Hai. The set started with some brinksmanship, as Snake Eyes and Xiao Hai switched between characters back and forth (Snake Eyes’s main character is Zangief but he can also use Evil Ryu and Xiao Hai’s main character this year is Evil Ryu but he knows other characters as well, including Saga) and the counter-picking continued through the entire set. Snake Eyez scooped Xiao Hai out of the sky several times with his Ultra 2, which stole a few rounds from the brink of defeat and delighted the stream viewers. Xiao Hai adapted, and in the final round of the final set he kept his cool, took away most of Snake Eyez’s options with Zangief, and took a hard fought win.
Qanba Douyu|Xiao Hai vs Filipinoman: The Last American Falls
Filipinoman put on a great performance at SoCal Regionals 2015. Prior to this event he was relatively quiet on the 2015 Capcom Cup Pro Tour, having earned 20 Ranking Points points total this season. At SoCal Regionals he ended up in 4th place, being eliminated by one of the best players in the world, China’s Qanba Douyu|Xiao Hai. In this matchup, Filipinoman took an early 2-0 lead in the set and had Xiao Hai on the ropes several times, but Xiao Hai went on the attack and you could almost feel the momentum drain from Filipinoman with each clutch play from Xiao Hai. Xiao Hai brought it back to 2-2 and at this time it seemed like the only thing that gave him any pause was Filipinoman’s use of Rose’s Ultra 2, which led to some simultaneously tense and almost comical stare-downs.
Grand Finals: RB|Bonchan vs Kazunoko – “Kazunoko will not die”
The Grand Finals featured two top players from Japan. RB|Bonchan got to Grand Finals in the winners bracket, having played very sharp all tournament as expected. Kazunoko represented from Losers Bracket, having been sent there in Winners Semi-Finals by Bonchan himself. As you would expect, this Grand Finals was both a chess match and a slugfest. Each player playing that mental chess game to get an opening and then going for maximum damage combos once one presented itself. Bonchan gained an early lead in the opening set and looked to have the momentum but Kazunoko didn’t quit. After fighting hard for every single round, Kazunoko ended up winning the first set 3-2 and reset the bracket. Bonchan took a long pause after the first set, seeming to simultaneously mentally prepare himself for another long set and to take mental note of where his victory slipped away. The second set was another slugging match. So much so, that commentator James Chen exclaimed “Kazunoko..will..not..die!” as the conclusion to the Grand Finals drew near. Kazunoko fought bitterly until the very end, and Bonchan earned the victory through force of will. Both should be congratulated for it led to a match that was worthy of such a great event.