Month: June 2016

In what seems to be an amicable split from his sponsor, the Netherlands-based team LowLandLions, Ramin “Mr-R” Delshad has now become a free agent in the Smash world, joining the likes of other unsponsored top players like Samuel “Dabuz” Buzby. As a European player, a lack of a current sponsor may present possible problems for Mr-R attending tournaments in the future, but with his position as one of the world’s best Sheiks and his recent placings, gaining 5th at Pound 2016, 1st at Melbourne Battle Arena and 7th at Get On My Level 2016, a new sponsor will hopefully jump into the fray soon.

This may be the opportunity for some European-based eSports teams to finally get in on Smash 4. Could we see Fnatic making their debut in the Smash world by sponsoring Mr-R? Will Alliance branch out into Smash 4 by picking up Mr-R as their first player? With the summer of Smash almost upon us and there being plenty of chances for Mr-R to both show off to sponsors and for sponsors to promote their own brand, we could see something in the very near future.

Source: Mr-R

Earlier today, Capcom released an official statement surrounding the unacceptable events that transpired over the weekend at Illinois-based tournament, Combo Breaker. Regarding Noel Brown’s inappropriate actions, those behind the Capcom Pro Tour had this to say:

Over the past weekend, we were notified that an unfortunate case of sexual harassment occurred at Combo Breaker 2016, a Capcom Pro Tour Ranking Event, where a female attendee received unwarranted and unwanted contact from a male attendee, who is confirmed to be Noel Brown. This incident was also captured on camera during the live stream before the Street Fighter V Losers Finals match.

We have worked closely with the tournament organizer of Combo Breaker to gather all details surrounding the incident. We have found that the victim, who wishes not to be named, has gone on record and confirmed this was an inappropriate act from Noel Brown and was not consensual.

As a result, we are banning Noel Brown from competing in the duration of the 2016 season of the Capcom Pro Tour as a first offense. A second offense will result in a lifetime ban from participating in all future Capcom Pro Tour events. We will use this as a baseline penalty if similar incidents occur in the future.

We do not condone any acts of harassment and we want all of our players and fans to know we will continue our work to ensure that all Capcom Pro Tour events provide safe, inviting environments where the focus is on healthy competition and exciting rivalries.

We support Combo Breaker’s decision to ban Noel Brown and support any tournament organizer who decides to ban anyone from their event who they feel is creating a hostile environment for other attendees.

When we contacted Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar regarding the incident, he had the following to say: “Evo stands behind Capcom’s decision to ban any player responsible for acts of harassment. We have a zero tolerance policy for behavior that creates an unsafe environment for our attendees. He will not be allowed to attend Evo 2016.”

Source: Capcom

Red Bull has always been known to think outside the box to find their market, so their partnership with the Capcom Pro Tour for the Red Bull Kumite came as no shock; it’s also not surprising to learn of their upcoming Red Bull Proving Grounds series.  Given gamer proclivities for drinking energy drinks, and a glowing endorsement of the drink by Team Secret’s Poongko at Evolution 2011, Red Bull and Street Fighter seem to be a perfect fit for each other.

For Red Bull, they see deeper into the relationship than most would have expected, and have joined forces with Street Fighter V producer Tomoaki Ayano to create a collaboration between Street Fighter V and Red Bull BC One, their annual international B-Boy competition which will be held in Nagoya, Japan on December 3rd.

When speaking of the collaboration, Ayano was quoted as saying, “We saw a lot of similar aspects between breakdancing and competitive fighting games. One of course being the one-on-one battle format but also the fact that there are 16 B-Boys performing and 16 characters in the game.”

While the extent of the collaboration remains to be seen, it is still exciting to see Street Fighter being fluidly integrated into other sub-cultures.

Source: Red Bull BC One, with a tip from Josh C.