PREMIER TOURNAMENT: Stunfest 2016 Results – Japan’s EG|Momochi takes 1st Place and Qualifies for Capcom Cup 2016!

Stunfest 2016 Results

Stunfest 2016, held in Rennes, France from May 20th through 22nd, is now in the books and Japan’s EG|Momochi has taken 1st place! Japan rounds out the rest of the top 3 with RZR|Fuudo taking 2nd place and Tokido bringing in 3rd place.  With so many international top players converging on this Premier Tournament, all trying to earn the qualifying spot to Capcom Cup and/or massive Ranking Points, it’s no surprise that it was full of matches you must see. Check out the Stunfest 2016 Results.

EG|Momochi qualifies for Capcom Cup 2016!

It was only a matter of time before a player of EG|Momochi’s caliber made a big impact in the 2016 Capcom Pro Tour season, and it happened at Stunfest 2016! He was the winner of Capcom Cup 2014 and was a qualifier for Capcom Cup 2015 with his 1st place at Evolution 2015. Now he has earned himself a qualifying spot once again and will join RZR|Infiltration with a qualifying spot to Capcom Cup 2016!

If you missed any of the action, be sure to visit our videos page, where we have a playlist for matches from Stunfest 2016!

Thanks to Stephanie Lindgren for the photos!

Stunfest 2016 Results: Top 16

Stunfest 2016 Highlights!

Stunfest 2016, the third Premier Tournament of the 2016 Capcom Pro Tour 2016 season and the first to take place in Europe, lived up to its name! There were so many top players taking part from around the world and so many great moments during the event that it’s difficult to narrow them down to just a few. Singapore’s RZR|Xian shows us that F.A.N.G. may not be as low tier as believed, the first CPT appearance of Japan’s RB|Daigo Umehara, China’s Qanba Douyu|Xiao Hi and his incredibly precise Cammy, and Japan’s YOUDEAL MJS|Haitani’s beastly Necalli are just a few of so very many. You may have noticed that the names mentioned so far are players from Asia, and that’s because it was Asia that dominated most of the top 16. All of top 8 was from Asia, only 4 European players broke into top 16 and no players from North America placed. France’s MD|Mister Crimson and RB|Luffy, UK’s Perilous|Packz and ECV.RSD|CharmingRogue from the Netherlands were the only Europeans in top 16. That doesn’t take away from the great skill of Europe’s players. The competition was just that fierce.

If you haven’t had a chance to see Stunfest 2016 during the live stream, please visit our videos page to see many of the amazing matches from the event. Now, let’s take a look at some of the big highlights and key takeaways from Stunfest 2016.

Tokido Makes Top 3 in Third Premier Event with Rock Solid Ryu

The Capcom Pro Tour 2016 season is the first season to feature Street Fighter 5, and since the Street Fighter 4 series had such a long run we knew there were going to be a lot of players that would have trouble transitioning. On the flip side, there are players that have been so consistently good over the years that there was no doubt they would likely stay on top. Tokido is one of the latter. Adopting Ryu as his main character in Street Fighter 5, he has had a fantastic start in CPT 2016. He has taken 2nd place at Final Round 9 and 2nd again in NorCal Regionals 2016 and ended up taking 3rd place at Stunfest. He’s not doing it with crazy vortexes like he did with his Akuma. He’s doing it with rock solid precise footies and maximizing opportunities in matches with a rock-solid Ryu. Tokido has had 3 Top 3 finishes in 3 Premier Tournaments already, and it’s only a matter of time before he takes 1st.

The video highlight we’ve selected for Tokido below is his match against EG|Momochi in top 8 Losers Finals. Momochi brought his new, wild and unpredictable Ken against Tokido’s Ryu. The match came down to the last round of the last set, and Tokido and Momochi squared off at opposite sides of the screen with each around 1/3 health. Both knew that it would only take one solid hit confirm to take the other and take the win. They both advanced and retreated for what seemed like a long time in a tense faceoff, until Momochi landed a jump-in into a combo to take the win. Like his performance so far this season, he was just one proverbial hit away from being on top.

RZR|Fuudo Shows Us A Different R.Mika

RZR|Fuudo’s R.Mika is unlike almost any we have seen anywhere else on the Capcom Pro Tour this year. Most R.Mikas thrive on unpredictable mix-ups to land huge damage and play very fast and loose with the character. Fuudo’s R.Mika is completely different, relying on the character’s deceptively strong normals primarily. It was fascinating to watch Fuudo, using almost exclusively normals, chipping away at his opponents health, all the while slowly backing him toward the corner. Because his opponents became so conditioned to this approach, Fuudo was able to literally dash forward and command grab his unsuspecting opponents. His R.Mika is very patient and technical, which is the polar opposite of what we normally see. There’s still some crazy from time to time, but it’s not what we are used to seeing from the character.

EG|Momochi Re-Unites with Ken: Return of the King?

At the outset of the Capcom Pro Tour 2o16 season, EG|Momochi’s main character was Karin. It is unknown when or why he decided to return to Ken, his main character during the Street Fighter 4 era, but he did so and the result is both expected and not. It’s expected in that Momochi looked spectacular at Stunfest 2016 and seemed to make all the right reads, as you would expect from one of the world’s best players. What was unexpected is that this is not the same Ken we were used to seeing from Momochi. Momochi previously played Ken with uncanny precision and patience, while at the same time having an incredible ability to make the right split second decision to come out on top in a scramble. The Ken he played at Stunfest 2016 leaned away from the patience and heavily toward that ability to make those split second decisions. He played with wild flair (although not nearly to the same degree as Eita!), making moves that at a glance might look random or risky but almost certainly were anything but. He also knew how to maximize opportunities for maximum damage, landing big damage combos off of hit confirms again and again. As stated, it’s the same old Momochi but playing a completely different Ken and the result was thrilling to watch.

Grand Finals: EG|Momochi vs RZR|Fuudo

EG|Momochi was coming from Losers bracket against RZR|Fuudo in Winners. In order to win, Momochi would have to win 2 full sets (each a best of 5) to take it all. He made quick work of Fuudo in the first set, taking it 3-0, which pulled Fuudo down to Losers bracket with him and reset the bracket. The second set was a great one, ending with Momochi landing a final hit confirm into Hurricane Kick to win Stunfest 2016!

Top 5 Moments of Stunfest 2016

Here are some great moments from Stunfest 2016!

CPT Interview Series: EG|Momochi (Winner of Stunfest 2016)

In this interview, Capcom community manager, Matt Edwards, talks to Momochi at Stunfest 2016 in France.