With the Capcom Cup coming soon, a slew of ranking events are happening all over the world for all the world warriors to gain those points by performing well in the tournaments. But there’s a Premier Event happened this weekend: The South East Asia Majors. Held alongside GameStart Asia in Singapore, the premier event attracted many world warriors all over the world, mostly from Japan, as well as local talents in South East Asia including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and the host country Singapore.
Being the most prominent pro player hailing from SEA, RZR| Xian is the most fancied to take this home, and gain an automatic qualification to Capcom Cup in the process. But there were many upsets, and new talents emerged throughout the tournament, including from our Malaysian boys.
The rising emergence of new Korean players reaching top 32 is an interesting sign. These new bloods are all under RZR|Infiltration’s tutelage, and training under a world-class, EVO-winning player like him work wonders to the rising stars. Infiltration only managed to reach top 16, but he was seen coaching many players, from fellow teammates to fellow countrymen.
Many other Singapore and Philippines players managed to emerge out of the pools as well, reaching top 32. Malaysia, however, only has one player able to reach the top 32. Many familiar names of the Malaysian FGC, including the folks at ViewSonic Flash Vision, failed to pass the pools. VS FV|Kofmaster was unfortunate to be taken down by YOUDEAL|Yukadon, the person he bested on his great run to through the ABUGET Cup.
But VS FV|IamChuan passed through the pools, on the winning side to boot. He was also the only one to be rocking Guile, a rare character to be played at tournaments, and clearly many players were not as prepared for the match-up. His display of dominance was most prevalent on his quick match against AW|Nemo, who he bodied in under 4 minutes! Chuan reached one step closer to the winners’ finals by winning against Korea’s Xyzzy, the highest ranking online player (until Momochi took the lead recently), one of the best Birdie player and runner-up in the Asia Amateur Tournament for Street Fighter also held at GameStart Asia.
https://youtu.be/HlE5y3-TiK4
Tokido eventually faced Chuan and took him down, denying a place in the Winners’ Finals. He later was defeated by Hori|Sako’s magnificent Chun Li and his strong combos, ending a dream run for a solid 5th-6th finish. Plus, he take the honour of the highest placing SEA player (Xian unfortunately only reached 7th-8th).
The winners’ finals saw the classic Ryu-Ken matchup against the top Ryu and Ken player right now: Tokido and EG|Momochi. Both known to be patient players that strikes hard, the battles were long and intense, with slow moments leading to quick, well-executed combos. The match went 2-0 in favour of Tokido only for Momochi to tie it back up to 2-2. The last game went to the full three rounds with Tokido emerging the winner.
The losers’ finals see a rematch of HM|Eita, the ABUGET Cup champion, against Momochi. Momochi defeated Eita to reach the winners’ finals in the Ken mirror match, with Eita being the flashy, aggressive red Ken whereas Momochi plays the cool, patient but deadly blue Ken. Eita’s blazing fast playstyle was his downfall against the calculated Momochi, which Eita made adjustments for the losers’ finals. But it was not enough to stop the strong punishes being dished out by Momochi, taking the win and facing Tokido again in the Grand Finals.
The Grand Finals would have been a similar scenario, playing very patiently and baiting out whiffs. The match again went to the full 5 games and into the final round. But Tokido carefully baited out a Critical Art to stop a bracket reset from happening, and takes the win. The Murderface triumphs again in another premier event this year, with the first being CEO 2016.
#Gamestart2016 CONGRATULATIONS to @tokidoki77 on being #SEAM2016 CHAMPION. @momochi212 takes second place! #SFV #CPT pic.twitter.com/craGoQbZfc
— Capcom Fighters (@CapcomFighters) October 9, 2016
A deserved win for Tokido, and as such, denies any other player an automatic qualifier to the Capcom Cup since he already qualified. But congratulations to IAmChuan, who managed to put Malaysia and Guile on the global spotlight.
The top 32 of the South East Asia Majors for Street Fighter V (courtesy of Eventhubs) are as follows:
1. Tokido (Ryu)
2. EG|Momochi (Ken)
3. HM|Eita (Ken)
4. HORI|Sako (Chun-Li)
5. VS FV|IAmChuan (Guile)
5. NL (Ryu)
7. RZR|Xian (F.A.N.G)
7. HuomaoTV|HumanBomb (Chun-Li)
9. AW|Nemo (Vega)
9. RZR|Infiltration (Nash)
9. Xyzzy (Birdie)
9. Mago (Karin)
13. Qanba|Xiao Hai (Cammy)
13. GGP|Kazunoko (Cammy)
13. RB|Bonchan (Nash)
13. Saunic (Laura)
17. IPT|Dru (Chun-Li)
17. RZR|Gackt (Nash)
17. PBE|Don (Ryu)
17. DNG|Itabashi Zangief (Zangief)
17. CBZ|Nuki (Chun-Li)
17. HM|Go1 (Chun-Li)
17. Tse4444 (Chun-Li)
17. YouDeal|Yukadon (Nash)
25. Somniac (M. Bison)
25. Saulabis (Rashid)
25. MF|Tonpy (Chun-Li)
25. Chris Wong (Nash)
25. G.Y.R.O
25. Seed^SKZ (Cammy)
25. SBM|Johnny (Karin)
25. Save (Dhalsim)