FGC Weekly Roundup - May 20th, 2016

Published: May 21, 2016 10:36 AM /

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Salt Ahead

The FGC Weekly Roundup returns with a look ahead to a triple Capcom Pro Tour event weekend, GetOnMyLevel 2016 and the biggest news of the past seven days and more. Let's get started with a glimpse at Toryuken, World Warriors.

FGC Weekly Roundup - Toryuken

The fifth edition of Toronto's annual fighting game major, Toryuken, returns this weekend. What makes this worth paying attention to? The Evil Geniuses crew (including PR Balrog) this time around will be heading back to the Great White North to stake their claim on those sweet CPT points. Clear frontrunners can be seen among the four EG fights with Justin Wong's phenomenal Karin being a top contender for sure. He's currently second on the global leaderboards for Capcom Pro Tour points, and a win would place him squarely in the lead over Razer's resident deity, Infiltration. 

Those points, whether they end up in Justin Wong's pocket again this week or another North American pro, are worth fighting for, and numerous players will likely be itching to secure their place on the regional leaderboard and get that much closer to a Capcom Cup spot. Chief among those has to be EG|Ricki Ortiz. Pretty Ricki is one of the best Chun-Li players in the Western hemisphere yet has only 21 points so far this season. A runner-up finish would net 85 points and secure a stronger foothold as the first portion of the Capcom Pro Tour season comes to a close. But what about kBrad? He won Canada Cup Vancouver Series last week and is likely hungry for more and in desperate need of more points. Balrog sits at 130 currently but has to be eyeing a Top 3 finish as well. This could be another EG sweep in the making.

EchoFox's Julio Fuentes will be in attendance as well and look to build off his recent victory at Texas Showdown and Top 8 finishes elsewhere. The full force of the Trinity won't be present, but there should be plenty of rushdown happening at Toryuken this weekend. Panda Global's fChamp will also bring his Dhalsim skills to Toronto after consecutive Top 8 finishes all this year though a potential Dhalsim showdown might be in the works. Sabin from Team Spooky will also be making the journey to Toronto and has been dominating in the online sphere (currently in Diamond league). The two play Dhalsim so differently and could provide must-see matches this weekend as well. 

All the action from Toronto can be seen live over at TorontoTopTiers and TopTiers2. The full schedule can be found here, and brackets are also up at Challonge as per usual.

The Gods of Smash Converge Upon Toronto

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJzMTOpV4_8

Get On My Level 2016, Canada's biggest national tournament for all things Super Smash Bros. returns at Good Game Con in Toronto and the Gods of Smash will be in attendance. GOML (started back in 2014) has quickly become a major destination for both Melee and Smash4 play that will feature every major name imaginable making the trip out to Toronto.

FGC Weekly Roundup - Armada

Armada returns to keep the train rolling into EVO despite his glaring absence from EGLX three weeks ago. His domination at Smash Summit 2  before that over Mango, Hungrybox and Mew2King showed that the EVO 2015 champion isn't resting on his laurels. His play is as strong as ever, but the road to victory at GOML will be full of potential landmines including the second North American tournament for Leffen this year. His US visa issues are sorted now, and Leffen will continue to claw his way back to the mountaintop this weekend. He will have to bring the thunder, this time around, as his 7th place finish at EGLX was a stark contrast to his late 2015 dominance. His play was, for lack of a better term, sloppy and his punish game was weak. He showed glimpses of last year's brilliance in the Teams competition but fell apart when going up against the likes of Duck and others.

Hungrybox, one of the Gods of Melee, will be at GOML this weekend as well. The path to gold for him will have to go through a gauntlet of Fox players and with Mango having finally figured out a way to best him at Dreamhack Austin not long ago the weekend ahead is a bit murky for Team Liquid's star Smash player. Mango, on the other end, is coming off the high of beating his demon in Hungrybox at DHAustin and looking better than ever. This will be a far tougher field than even what Austin had to offer and nothing will come easy for Mang0 at GOML 2016.

The biggest potential question mark has to be with the recently sponsored Mew2King (EchoFox just signed him this week). He has looked nigh unstoppable at times this year and then deflated once he's experienced true adversity. Will he continue to shrink away from what might be the toughest field yet this year? This weekend's Melee action should be fantastic. The Gods will be gracing Toronto with their presence but there are other names to be on the lookout for. Shroomed, hot off a fifth place finish at Smash Summit 2, will be right alongside hungry upstarts such as Lucky (who still needs a sponsor), SFAT and the flashy yet inconsistent Westballz. HugS, Duck, Wizzrobe and others all on an upward trajectory this season will all be vying for that top spot and as we get closer to the biggest major of them all, Evolution 2016, the stakes are only getting higher. Can someone new take the crown and, perhaps, swing the momentum moving forward? So many questions going into this weekend and, hopefully, so much more hype to be seen. 

Zer0, due to the withdrawal of fellow competitor Zinoto, will be in attendance for GOML 2016 and everyone looking to take the gold for Smash Bros. for Wii U is on notice. Nairo, MKLeo and Canadian hero Ally will number among the many looking to take down the best Smash4 player in the world. Good luck, folks.

All this week's Melee/Smash4 hype can be found over at Even Matchup Gaming, EGE Official, Affinity Play, Even Matchup Gaming 2,613Smash and Logic Gate Studios.

The CPT Returns to Latin America

FGC Weekly Roundup - Lima Salty 3

Europe might have a Premier event this weekend, Toronto has Toryuken and GOML 2016 but the second leg of the Latin American portion of the Capcom Pro Tour commences over the next few days as well with Lima Salty 3. Justin Wong already qualified for the Latin America regional finals with a win at JAM Festival early in the season. So many events this weekend leaves the door wide open for so much needed Capcom Pro Tour points for some lesser known names in the scene. Chief among them to watch for at Lima Salty 3 are folks like Abel Maestro, Brook | AnV Misterio and Willy Falcon. Abel Maestro is a former Tekken pro turned World Warrior who's quite good with F.A.N.G. He will be looking to make his mark and score a spot in the regional finals along with Misterio who the King of Fighters faithful out there will likely recognize. Whoever takes the crown will have to face off against Justin Wong one way or another. Lima Salty 3 can be found over on Twitch via TheBackyardPeru.

The Beast Comes to France

FGC Weekly Roundup - Stunfest

The recently signed Red Bull athlete, Daigo "The Beast" Umehara has decided it was high time he stepped into the spotlight of the Capcom Pro Tour. He'll be joined by literally every other Japanese elite player and some of the world's best this coming weekend at Stunfest in Rennes, France. This, one of 11 Premier Events in the loaded yearly calendar of the Capcom Pro Tour means higher stakes and an immediate spot in the Capcom Cup Finals for the winner. Razer's Infiltration has already secured his spot with his early season dominance, but he will be conspicuously absent this time around due to "local obligations".  It's probably best to take a look at who to watch for by region this time around. 

Europe's very best will all be present with ProblemX, MisterCrimson, Luffy, Afii and Packz all posing real threats to finish in the Top 8 or better. The real darkhorse candidates for Top 4 of the entire shebang have to be Benjamin "ProblemX" Simon (currently 7th on CPT standings) and Meltdown's Nathan "MisterCrimson" Massol (holding down the 9th place spot). Both have had strong finishes throughout the year along with the first place at Cannes Winter Clash for MisterCrimson at the very beginning of the CPT season. Luffy might be the true dark horse candidate as his latest performance at Kakutop League 4 showed his Mika is dangerous.

Japan's killers will all be in attendance, and one has to think that players like Tokido, Fuudo, Momochi, Mago, Eita, GO1 and recent BAM8 winner Haitani all have a chance to win the title and secure their place in the Finals later this year. Running down the list shows just how much of a minefield any major competitor will have to navigate to just to Top 16 let alone win it all. Eita's measured Ken play, Momochi's cerebral shoto, Fuudo's stellar Mika play and Tokido's phenomenal Ryu are just some of the potential bombs awaiting any competitor to defuse. Kazunoko, seemingly a bit shaky so far in Street Fighter V, is still one of the best to ever play in the professional scene and he can never be counted out either.

Other international players such as Razer's Xian, Xiao Hai, GamerBee and even Saunic. His showing at Thaiger Uppercut was most impressive and another top showing isn't beyond him even with such a stacked field. This is, without a doubt,the most stacked roster imaginable at this point in the Capcom Pro Tour season. It should be one hell of a show from France over the coming days. All the action can be seen over at the official CPT Twitch feed, CapcomFighters. Every other game ranging from Guilty Gear XRD: Revelator to Breakers can be found over at Stunfest's stream listing. Brackets are available via Challonge as always.

Will Daigo emerge as a top contender yet again? Can Tokido finally claim victory with the absence of Infiltration? Will a relatively unknown name surprise us all? The Capcom Pro Tour rolls on with more hype and, most assuredly, salt to come. Stay tuned, World Warriors.

EchoFox Expands Again

https://twitter.com/echofoxgg/status/732614859360206848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Team Echo Fox, founded by Rick Fox, has added yet another FGC superstar to their roster in Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman. Echo Fox CEO Jace Hall mentioned to the Daily Dot that "Adding a player of Jason's talent is an important milestone in Echo Fox's history," he said. "When we said we were getting into FGC, we were serious, and Jason is the gold standard when it comes to Smash play." He joins the list of fighting game notables including recent Texas Showdown winner and one-third of the NA Trinity of Ken players, Julio Fuentes. 

Mew2King has had strong finishes all this year yet never taken home the gold in any tournament he's entered for almost a year. He is considered one of the Five Gods of Smash and his optimal combos and execution have always made him a threat. He seems to be gaining momentum as of late as he's defeated EVO Champion Armada 3-0 and wins against Mang0 and HungryBox in consecutive tournaments. Perhaps this week's Get On My Level 2016 event in Toronto can be the one that Mr. Zimmerman reclaims his spot in the top Melee players globally. 

Capcom Pro Tour Rules Updated

FGC Weekly Roundup - Capcom Pro Tour

Capcom released a revised ruleset for the Capcom Pro Tour moving forward on Friday that has some very specific changes in mind. The biggest among them is a rule barring sponsorship of players by "pornographic websites". The two players possibly affected this weekend by the news? Team YP (YouPorn) Valmaster and FillipinoMan. Team YP has been warned in the past against showcasing iconography of their logo and what it represents on team jerseys last year but now it sounds like an outright ban is in effect. Players sponsored by alcoholic beverages, cigarettes or vaping (e-cigarettes) are still allowed to compete. I think AceOffKingSuit said it best in regards to this rule change.

https://twitter.com/acekingoffsuit/status/733905846308982784

Team YP's Valmaster is currently in attendance at Stunfest this weekend while his comrade, Fillipinoman, is already asked if he needs to look for other options or disregard attending the upcoming ComboBreaker later this month in Chicago. Once further details break on the story we'll update this story accordingly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koCbAfRsyqM

That will do it for this edition of the FGC Weekly Roundup. We'll be back next week with more tournament previews and the most important news affecting the FGC. Until then I leave you with MaiNeenja's latest Halls of Hype for Street Fighter V (And a BONUS Street Fighter Alpha video that was, clearly, a labor of love). Stay free, Internet.

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


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| Staff Writer

Defender of waifus. Fighting game aficionado. Nearly 100% anime nonsense at this point. IT Specialist for the US Government by day but by night? JRPG/MMORPG… More about Jeff