There’ll be even more to see after the finals on Sunday.
Many of the world’s best Street Fighter V players are now gathering in Seattle for the Capcom Pro Tour North American Finals, at this weekend’s long-awaited Red Bull Battle Grounds! This is the last Street Fighter V CPT event in North America before the world finals in December.
A special post-game show will air on Red Bull TV on November 6th at 5:00pm (Pacific), recapping all of Battle Grounds’ action–with highlights and commentary from popular names in the FGC. From Red Bull eSports:
Following the crowning of the North America Champion of Street Fighter V, the Red Bull Battle Grounds 2-hour post game show will feature the most popular players and talent in the FGC along with expert commentary of the final matches and interviews with the best players in North America. The show will highlight some of the emerging storylines and players’ journeys to the finals, victories and defeats. Red Bull expects to set a new standard on how eSports post game shows are produced as the show will be unlike any other FGC show to date.
Industry luminaries confirmed to appear at the event include Mike Ross, UltraChenTV (“UltraDavid” Graham and James “jchensor” Chen), Tasty Steve, Sajam and Seth Killian. Additional talent confirmed for the event include Zhieep, IFC Yipes, Behrudy, Vicious, RIP, Dogysamich, Duggish, Doctor Stantz, Tuboware and more.
The Capcom Pro Tour North American Finals at Red Bull Battle Grounds will feature a 512-player open bracket on Saturday, with Sunday hosting a grand finale featuring the 14 players who have qualified via North American Ranking Events, and 2 qualifiers from Saturday’s “Last Chance” open bracket.
When all the glitches, tick throw traps, and hype had dissipated in Toronto, one player stood out on top. To no one’s surprise, Mattsun–arguably the best player in the world at Super Street Fighter II Turbo–emerged victorious over one of the most stacked fields the West has ever seen in Super Turbo. He fought a long battle, which featured running through America’s best player, Damdai, and his fellow countryman Kusumondo on his way to the title at Canada Cup 2016.
After the celebrations died down, I sat down with Mattsun to talk about his thoughts immediately after the tournament.
Missing Person: First off, congratulations, this is a huge win for you.
Mattsun: Thank you.
Missing Person: Let’s go back to the grand finals with Kusumondo. What was going through your mind when he reset the bracket?
Mattsun: I really had no change in my mindset when the reset happened. I had no time to think about it; I was more focused on winning the match than worrying about Kusumondo’s reset. So I felt completely the same between the first set in grand finals and after the reset.
Missing Person: How long have you been playing Super Turbo?
Mattsun: I picked up Super Turbo when it released in Japan in 1994, so I’ve been around from the beginning.
Missing Person: Have you been playing Ken from the start of the game?
Mattsun: I have played him since the game released.
Missing Person: What made you gravitate toward Ken in Super Turbo?
Mattsun: When I was playing World Warrior, it was a matter of trial and error. I didn’t like Honda, Zangief, or Dhalsim. I had narrowed it down to Chun-Li, Ryu, and Ken, but I didn’t like charge characters, and ultimately decided to stick with Ken over Ryu. That mainly happened due to rebellion, since Ryu was the playable in Street Fighter I, and Ken was only selectable in two player mode.
Mattsun playing against Kusumondo (not pictured) in the grand finals of Super Street Fighter II Turbo at Canada Cup 2016. Photo courtesy of Corey Lanier.
Missing Person: You recently started the biggest Super Turbo event in the world with X-EST. How did the formation of that event come about?
Mattsun: That, to me, was out of necessity for the Super Turbo community in Japan. Before, we had Super Battle Opera, and Super Turbo was always on the roster. After SBO became defunct, we had no large scale Japanese tournament to showcase Super Turbo. So I started X-EST to fill the hole in the scene that was left by the absence of SBO.
Missing Person: Not only did you form this tournament, but this year you actually won X-EST. Which do you feel is the bigger achievement for you, winning X-EST or winning Canada Cup?
Mattsun: Ultimately, it’s different formats, and a different group of players. Both were a challenge for me, and both were enjoyable experience, so I feel no difference between the two wins.
Missing Person: Which of the western players at Canada Cup impressed you the most?
Mattsun: I would definitely say that Damdai, as well as Riz0ne.
Missing Person: Do you feel that the foreign players are starting to catch up to Japan in this game?
Mattsun: All of the Japanese players at Canada Cup were very surprised with the level of play from the players from America and Canada this weekend. It’s definitely getting better.
Special thanks goes out to JakyoManor for her help in translating the interview.
Though Slippingbug will be the first Pokkén player to rock the SQ1 tag, this esports team has been quietly building results. SQ1 sponsors Mortal Kombat X players SQ1 Vibu (top 32 at Combo Breaker 2016) and SQ1 Izzzzymode (top 32 at EVO 2016). With the acquisition of Slippingbug, SQ1 hopes to add a Pokkén Tournament victory to their list. Considering Slippingbug’s consistent tournament results and dominance of the region, it’s a safe bet for the team to make.
After his brief free agent period following his departure from Dream Team, Jason “ANTi” Bates is back on form upon joining Immortals, collecting a silver medal at The Big House 6 and a gold medal at SoCal Regionals earlier this month. To celebrate these achievements, Immortals has compiled a short montage, showing some of ANTi’s best moments from both of those tournaments.
Rather than just a straight combo video, there are also very short interview answers from ANTi during the course of this montage, explaining the inspiration for his tag and his determination to take The Big House 7 from ZeRo next year.
A retrospective of the 2016 tournament that crossed the nation.
It’s not that easy being “green”
The energy drink creator and esports sponsor Red Bull hosted the Red Bull Proving Grounds, a tournament that spanned six cities over the summer of 2016. The event was designed to give players across North America the opportunity to compete against similarly-skilled players with less than 100 Capcom Pro Tour points.
The Proving Grounds gave players nationwide the chance to compete in tournaments like never before. The usual hot-spots for tournaments are New York in the east, California in the west, and once a year in Las Vegas with Evo. This proves difficult for players wishing to escape anonymity due to travel and financial constraints. Along came the odd-colored bull, with hopes of changing the scene and discovering unfound talent.
Many players were incredibly appreciative of the opportunity for greater representation. Devon Petties, known as MikeandIke12, only recently began competing in the fighting game scene, starting in 2014. Normally, the player competes online due to travel constraints, but thanks to the convenient location of the Proving Grounds, he was able to promote himself and his skills with Laura, all leading to a sponsorship with Gut Tough Gaming.
“The only reason I went was because it was close, it was only a 30-minutes away from my house,” said MikeandIke. “It was also really cheap, I thought to myself, 20 dollars, I can do that!”
Naasi Nixon, another player from the east coast, goes by the name Ice Effect in the fighting game community. The player flew all the way from Atlanta, GA to represent his home state and the players supporting him. In the end, Ice Effect just wants to be recognized among his peers.
“I’m a very competitive guy, but really I just want to be known,” said Ice Effect. “I want someone to look at me and say, ‘Hey, there’s that guy, he’s really good!”
For many players, the Proving Grounds was their first major event. Jonathan Ng, known by the letters JLMN, journeyed all the way from Southern California to Seattle to participate in the competition. This Bison player rose above the competition, claiming first place in the region. He wants to prove that Bison can be a competitively viable character and will go to any lengths to do so.
“Not a whole lot of players use Bison,” said JLMN. “Nothing is given to you with Bison, you have to work hard for your victories.”
Red Bull gave plenty of players the chance to prove they’ve got what it takes to rise above the competition, along with the grand prize of $2000 and an all-expense paid trip to the Red Bull Battle Grounds in Seatle, running from November 4–6.
The players aren’t too tense before the finals commence
SRK was invited to Red Bull’s headquarters in Santa Monica, California to attend the event to get to know the players in a setting that was nothing but personal. The players all practiced, discussed, and lounged about the Red Bull auditorium room. One day later, this room would be filled with incredible feats of sportsmanship from all sides.
Van Nguyen, the lone combatant from Canada, spent much of the day before the big event observing his competitors and their playstyles along with some helpful online tools.
“It’s really cool to experience this, it’s at a different level than I have ever experienced,” said Nguyen. “I think watching videos helps, seeing what all the other top players are doing, seeing how they deal with certain situations, seeing what their tactics consist of, strategies, and so on.”
Twenty-two-year-old, Julian Jones, also known as Squall, ranked 3rd in the Chicago branch of the Proving Grounds by playing Necalli. Squall has been playing competitively since he was 18. Over the course of his competitive career, the player has been balancing school, athletics, and Street Fighter.
“The atmosphere is incredible,” said Squall. “Being one of the top 16 players, this is where dreams come true.”
Christopher Gonzalez, more commonly known as NYChrisG, has been around the competitive fighting game scene since 2010, but was in the arcade scene. He spent most of his time relaxing the day before the competition alongside MikeandIke12.
“I’m feeling pretty good, chilling, talking a bunch of crap,” said ChrisG. “I think that’s the best part of going to tournaments!”
By the end of the day, each player got to know their competitors very well in that auditorium through practicing, spectating, and comradery.
The tournament with an audience both big and small
The Red Bull Proving Grounds was streamed online via Twitch, and witnessed by thousands at a time. The true audience consisted of the players, the casters, and staff all in Red Bull’s corporate screening room.
Marcus Redmond, aka The Cool Kid 93, had the most vocal support in the room. This Rashid player had his partner-in-crime, Joy Goodwin accompany him for the final competition and she made sure the crowd knew he meant business.
The Twitch chat was live with fans of every competitor. The digital commentary went by so quickly it was hard to keep up. The one thing that they may not have known is that there was a 20-second delay between what occurred and what was seen on the screen.
That being said, the Red Bull showroom was also on a timer set to turn itself off after so many minutes of activity. This led to common instances of the players gathering around a certain journalist’s laptop screen to catch every moment of the tournament.
Michael Mendoza, known by his commentator name, IFCYipeS, also discussed the tournament outside of his stream among the competitive audience. Sometimes the rowdiest of the bunch, YipeS always had something profound to say.
“First and foremost, guys of this caliber, like Red Bull, for them, just being involved it’s just a beautiful thing,” said YipeS. “It gives us more of an opportunity to get into the grassroots of things of the FGC.”
James Chen, alternatively known as JChensor, was one of the commentators of the Proving Grounds. He appreciated the lengths Red Bull went through to promote unknown talent.
“It’s cool to see these guys treated the same as everyone else,” said Chen. “I am sure these guys are just as good as the pro players out there, but they don’t get to travel.”
After each game, players congratulated the victor and consoled those who didn’t make it. There may have only been one winner, but every player in the audience acted as one. They cheered together, laughed together, and shouted together. It was obvious that every player wanted to win, but they were cordial with one another from beginning to end.
Propositions for the future of competition
While Red Bull certainly deserves to be commended for undergoing such a large scale event, there are a number of things to be learned from the expedition.
The Proving Grounds did a good job of reaching out to players on the outskirts of the U.S., but Canada only received one spot and the entire middle of the U.S. was left out. In order to establish a complete assessment of a continent’s skills, every major region needs to be accounted for.
Understandably this is a very large undertaking. Hopefully, the Proving Grounds found the success it needed to grant more players their chance at the spotlight. There were online matches to accommodate players who could not attend, but they were not given the same kind of treatment as their physical counterparts.
The event would also benefit from a more cohesive website. The information surrounding the event was spread across multiple pages of the Proving Grounds website. Some information was only shared in video format. It would be much more beneficial for both players and spectators to have all of the details regarding the event to be held in one place.
More frequent updates would also be appreciated. Additional information on the top 16 players was not officially released until the day of the tournament. The official rankings remain to be updated on the official site days after the event.
The company should also be more proactive when it comes to adjusting its production. Red Bull officials asked the players what needed to change about the production in order to make it more comfortable after the first day of the finals.
This led to the players being required to wear provided headsets. Some players found the headwear uncomfortable and unstable. NYChrisG’s headset muted the sound a number of times during his final bout with Di3mini0n, causing the player to lose focus. All things considered, the changes should have been made after the dress-rehearsal, not mid-way into the tournament.
In the end, the Red Bull Proving Grounds certainly proved one thing: The need for local competition has never been higher. After the showcase of talent from across North America, more players will see the event as their opportunity to play among the greatest talents in the community.
All they needed was the opportunity. Hopefully, it won’t all be on Red Bull’s shoulders. Other companies need to see the benefit in supporting local scenes. There are players out there with the talent, all they need is that one chance to make their mark in history.
After throwing their hat into the Super Smash Bros. ring by signing James “Duck” Ma and Tyler “Marss” Martins, Denial eSports have entered the world of Street Fighter V, by adding Chris Tatarian to the Wolfpack. A member of the Ken Trinity, Chris is currently ranked 27th on the Global Leaderboard for the Capcom Pro Tour, with a seventh place ranking on the American CPT Leaderboard with a grand total of 190 points.
With a ninth place finish at SoCal Regionals, a second place finish at VSFighting 2016 and a victory at Japonawa, Chris is on track to be in the final 32 man bracket at this year’s Capcom Cup in December. With fellow member of the Ken Trinity, Echo Fox’s Julio Fuentes set to enter Capcom Cup finals, alongside fellow Ken players EG|Momochi and HM|Eita, Chris has quite the Ken gauntlet to conquer if he wishes to prove himself the best Ken. Hopefully, the backing of Denial shall act as the boost which sees him do well in December.
After throwing their hat into the Super Smash Bros. ring by signing James “Duck” Ma and Tyler “Marss” Martins, Denial eSports have entered the world of Street Fighter V, by adding Chris Tatarian to the Wolfpack. A member of the Ken Trinity, Chris is currently ranked 27th on the Global Leaderboard for the Capcom Pro Tour, with a seventh place ranking on the American CPT Leaderboard with a grand total of 190 points.
With a ninth place finish at SoCal Regionals, a second place finish at VSFighting 2016 and a victory at Japonawa, Chris is on track to be in the final 32 man bracket at this year’s Capcom Cup in December. With fellow member of the Ken Trinity, Echo Fox’s Julio Fuentes set to enter Capcom Cup finals, alongside fellow Ken players EG|Momochi and HM|Eita, Chris has quite the Ken gauntlet to conquer if he wishes to prove himself the best Ken. Hopefully, the backing of Denial shall act as the boost which sees him do well in December.
Every time we turn around, a new fighting game challenger appears that threatens to kill off older titles. To most players in the mainstream FGC, Super Street Fighter II Turbo is considered a dead game. With no official support from Evo, and the main efforts to keep the game alive coming from individuals rather than developers and events, the game does not appear in the public eye as often as the likes of Street Fighter V.
To borrow a Mark Twain quote, “The reports of Super Turbo’s death are greatly exaggerated.”
By now, there are no surprises from Super Street Fighter II Turbo. The game is 22 years old, and the work of spaghetti code from previous iterations of the Street Fighter II series. There are many glitches and imbalances that can frustrate even seasoned players of the game. Yes, SSF2T has inescapable situations that, when executed perfectly, assuredly end in you feeding the cabinet more quarters.
Yet, there are still legions of fans and players. And though it is older than most players entering the fighting game scene with Street Fighter V as their gateway, it is still attracting new players. The game attracts as diverse an audience as any other fighting game title, and the Super Street Fighter II Turbo event at Canada Cup was no exception.
In a city where weekly Super Turbo tournaments range from eight to fourteen entrants, Canada Cup went from around 40 players last year to a whopping 73 players in 2016. Fighters converged into Toronto for the biggest Super Turbo tournament in quite some time, hailing from Southern California, New York, Illinois, Ohio, Alberta, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and even as far as France and Japan. Three absolute legends of the game in Japan–Mattsun, Shougatsu, and Kusumondo–made their presence felt immediately in the hall.
It was a tournament as big as anyone could have predicted for the aging title. “I am used to going to an ST event and knowing every single person who entered. So this tournament was a big flip where I barely knew anyone,” said Enzo “Man0” Ibarra, a Toronto Super Turbo mainstay.
How did a city like Toronto come to host such a large-scale event for an archaic game such as this? Part of this could be attributed to how central it is for travel compared to the west coast and east coast of the United States, with direct flights from many places. However, a large part of this success could be attributed to David “Atari” Bibona, who has been running the weekly events in Toronto for several months, as well as rallying Toronto players to make it out to various Super Turbo events in the United States.
Bibona put a lot of muscle behind his hustle with the organization of Canada Cup, which led to the RSVP of Mattsun and the Japanese contingent. The attraction of Japanese gods of the game led to the entire house of cards being built up, confirming players from many more regions to test their mettle against the best of the best.
Having the Japanese players there did so much more to fire up the North American scene than we have seen in recent times. Even on Friday, before the actual tournament started on Saturday, the hype was palpable throughout the corner of the room that was delegated to ST. Watching Kenny “Unessential” Ng, a Toronto Chun-Li main and arguably the #1 player in the city, beat Mattsun and Shougatsu in his first matches against them showed that the tournament was not going to be a runaway. Watching the high level of matches in an impromptu 4 team 5 vs. 5 tournament that same night said that we were in for a treat.
Kenny “Unessential” Ng facing off against Brett “Psychochronic” Navarro (not pictured) at Canada Cup 2016. Photo by Corey Lanier.
The players and spectators that paid attention on Saturday were not at all disappointed. Says Ng, who narrowly missed out on top 8 at the event, “It was like no tournament I’ve ever experienced before! The top 8 definitely was worth all the work.”
There was immediately drama and excitement with every match. From start to finish, everyone came to play and win, and no one went home without a massive fight. My experience ended with a 3-2 record, losing a solid match to Shougatsu on stream, then losing by a narrow margin to RPGv2 in a match where we both could agree that it was one of the best either of us had ever played.
There were many stories like this, with players having their dreams crushed by legends, or losing by the slimmest of margins. Such is the life of a Super Turbo player.
The top 8 featured three Americans, two Canadians, and all three Japanese legends in a heated battle that even pulled James Chen away from his Street Fighter V commentary post to do commentary for the tournament.
“I knew if I was on break from Street Fighter V,” said Chen of his decision to switch games, “I’d be happy to do it. When I walked up, Tania [“Killer” Miller] was on commentary and she basically jumped right off so I could get on. I was super happy to do it because I was hype for Kusumondo, Shougatsu, and Mattsun.”
Winners Side: damdai (United States – O.Ryu), Shougatsu (Japan – O.Honda), Kusumondo (Japan – E. Honda), Mattsun (Japan – Ken)
Losers Side: LordJimmyBones (Canada – Boxer), EG Justin Wong (United States – O.Sagat), Thelo (Canada – E. Honda), eltrouble (United States – Dhalsim)
While most of these players were unknown prior to this event, they proved the skill gap was narrow. Says Eugene “eltrouble” Lin, who ultimately lost to Quebec player Thelo in a stunning upset, “This was basically an Evo-level event for the ST scene. We had 3 special Japanese players, several from New York, three from Southern California, Indiana, Cleveland, Chicago, etc.. as well as local Canadians from Toronto and Montréal all representing here.”
Lin was not exaggerating in his statement. Of the twelve sets played in the top 8, six of them went down to the final game and final round. Many of these went down to mere pixels of health bar. It was a spectator’s dream. Andrew “drewface” Nguyen, a Toronto native who was unable to play due to work obligations at the event, said of spectating, “The Super Turbo Event at Canada Cup was nothing short of magnificent. To see the root of fighting games endure and still provide the timeless moments and hype 20-some odd years later was heartwarming. It’s still drawing numbers in a sparse competitive area like Canada. I don’t think Super Turbo can ever die after Canada Cup.”
Kusumondo playing against Mattsun in the grand finals of Super Street Fighter II Turbo at Canada Cup 2016. Photo by Corey Lanier.
There were many things to be had in watching the event. At one point, it had appeared that the two-decade old game still had tech to be revealed; in grand finals, Kusumondo had seemingly used E. Honda’s sweep to go under a Ken fireball from Mattsun. It was later discovered to be a long-known glitch regarding Ken’s super which caused the last special he had used to come out without a hitbox. Regardless, the entire room was found screaming, and even the competitors knew that something huge had just happened.
In the end, after a long and arduous battle, which ended shortly after Street Fighter V sealed its own top 8, Super Turbo ended with Mattsun winning in one of the biggest nail-biters anyone spectating had ever seen.
“Kusumondo is ridiculous,” waxed Chen regarding the grand finals. “There’s no way he should have been able to be that close against a world-class Ken like Mattsun, but towards the end, it almost looked like Ken vs. Honda wasn’t that bad! Kusumondo is the best, and I loved his energy and excitement as well.”
After the trophy was hoisted, the community took a grand picture. 70 players all huddled around, united in their love for one of the games that paved the way to what the FGC has become. Hugs and handshakes were exchanged, new friendships were formed, and new rivalries were kindled. Says Michael “Triforce Legend” Streat, a newcomer to Super Turbo who recently starting learning the game after first playing Street Fighter IV and V, “It was cool seeing all these really good players in one spot. I learned a lot of stuff there that I’m definitely going to try and implement.”
And the old man’s game still finds a way to be relevant. And to concur with Nguyen, may Super Turbo never die.
The full top 8 may be viewed below.
[Feature image: the Canada Cup ST community in attendance]
Every time we turn around, a new fighting game challenger appears that threatens to kill off older titles. To most players in the mainstream FGC, Super Street Fighter II Turbo is considered a dead game. With no official support from Evo, and the main efforts to keep the game alive coming from individuals rather than developers and events, the game does not appear in the public eye as often as the likes of Street Fighter V.
To borrow a Mark Twain quote, “The reports of Super Turbo’s death are greatly exaggerated.”
By now, there are no surprises from Super Street Fighter II Turbo. The game is 22 years old, and the work of spaghetti code from previous iterations of the Street Fighter II series. There are many glitches and imbalances that can frustrate even seasoned players of the game. Yes, SSF2T has inescapable situations that, when executed perfectly, assuredly end in you feeding the cabinet more quarters.
Yet, there are still legions of fans and players. And though it is older than most players entering the fighting game scene with Street Fighter V as their gateway, it is still attracting new players. The game attracts as diverse an audience as any other fighting game title, and the Super Street Fighter II Turbo event at Canada Cup was no exception.
In a city where weekly Super Turbo tournaments range from eight to fourteen entrants, Canada Cup went from around 40 players last year to a whopping 73 players in 2016. Fighters converged into Toronto for the biggest Super Turbo tournament in quite some time, hailing from Southern California, New York, Illinois, Ohio, Alberta, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and even as far as France and Japan. Three absolute legends of the game in Japan–Mattsun, Shougatsu, and Kusumondo–made their presence felt immediately in the hall.
It was a tournament as big as anyone could have predicted for the aging title. “I am used to going to an ST event and knowing every single person who entered. So this tournament was a big flip where I barely knew anyone,” said Enzo “Man0” Ibarra, a Toronto Super Turbo mainstay.
How did a city like Toronto come to host such a large-scale event for an archaic game such as this? Part of this could be attributed to how central it is for travel compared to the west coast and east coast of the United States, with direct flights from many places. However, a large part of this success could be attributed to David “Atari” Bibona, who has been running the weekly events in Toronto for several months, as well as rallying Toronto players to make it out to various Super Turbo events in the United States.
Bibona put a lot of muscle behind his hustle with the organization of Canada Cup, which led to the RSVP of Mattsun and the Japanese contingent. The attraction of Japanese gods of the game led to the entire house of cards being built up, confirming players from many more regions to test their mettle against the best of the best.
Having the Japanese players there did so much more to fire up the North American scene than we have seen in recent times. Even on Friday, before the actual tournament started on Saturday, the hype was palpable throughout the corner of the room that was delegated to ST. Watching Kenny “Unessential” Ng, a Toronto Chun-Li main and arguably the #1 player in the city, beat Mattsun and Shougatsu in his first matches against them showed that the tournament was not going to be a runaway. Watching the high level of matches in an impromptu 4 team 5 vs. 5 tournament that same night said that we were in for a treat.
Kenny “Unessential” Ng facing off against Brett “Psychochronic” Navarro (not pictured) at Canada Cup 2016. Photo by Corey Lanier.
The players and spectators that paid attention on Saturday were not at all disappointed. Says Ng, who narrowly missed out on top 8 at the event, “It was like no tournament I’ve ever experienced before! The top 8 definitely was worth all the work.”
There was immediately drama and excitement with every match. From start to finish, everyone came to play and win, and no one went home without a massive fight. My experience ended with a 3-2 record, losing a solid match to Shougatsu on stream, then losing by a narrow margin to RPGv2 in a match where we both could agree that it was one of the best either of us had ever played.
There were many stories like this, with players having their dreams crushed by legends, or losing by the slimmest of margins. Such is the life of a Super Turbo player.
The top 8 featured three Americans, two Canadians, and all three Japanese legends in a heated battle that even pulled James Chen away from his Street Fighter V commentary post to do commentary for the tournament.
“I knew if I was on break from Street Fighter V,” said Chen of his decision to switch games, “I’d be happy to do it. When I walked up, Tania [“Killer” Miller] was on commentary and she basically jumped right off so I could get on. I was super happy to do it because I was hype for Kusumondo, Shougatsu, and Mattsun.”
Winners Side: damdai (United States – O.Ryu), Shougatsu (Japan – O.Honda), Kusumondo (Japan – E. Honda), Mattsun (Japan – Ken)
Losers Side: LordJimmyBones (Canada – Boxer), EG Justin Wong (United States – O.Sagat), Thelo (Canada – E. Honda), eltrouble (United States – Dhalsim)
While most of these players were unknown prior to this event, they proved the skill gap was narrow. Says Eugene “eltrouble” Lin, who ultimately lost to Quebec player Thelo in a stunning upset, “This was basically an Evo-level event for the ST scene. We had 3 special Japanese players, several from New York, three from Southern California, Indiana, Cleveland, Chicago, etc.. as well as local Canadians from Toronto and Montréal all representing here.”
Lin was not exaggerating in his statement. Of the twelve sets played in the top 8, six of them went down to the final game and final round. Many of these went down to mere pixels of health bar. It was a spectator’s dream. Andrew “drewface” Nguyen, a Toronto native who was unable to play due to work obligations at the event, said of spectating, “The Super Turbo Event at Canada Cup was nothing short of magnificent. To see the root of fighting games endure and still provide the timeless moments and hype 20-some odd years later was heartwarming. It’s still drawing numbers in a sparse competitive area like Canada. I don’t think Super Turbo can ever die after Canada Cup.”
Kusumondo playing against Mattsun in the grand finals of Super Street Fighter II Turbo at Canada Cup 2016. Photo by Corey Lanier.
There were many things to be had in watching the event. At one point, it had appeared that the two-decade old game still had tech to be revealed; in grand finals, Kusumondo had seemingly used E. Honda’s sweep to go under a Ken fireball from Mattsun. It was later discovered to be a long-known glitch regarding Ken’s super which caused the last special he had used to come out without a hitbox. Regardless, the entire room was found screaming, and even the competitors knew that something huge had just happened.
In the end, after a long and arduous battle, which ended shortly after Street Fighter V sealed its own top 8, Super Turbo ended with Mattsun winning in one of the biggest nail-biters anyone spectating had ever seen.
“Kusumondo is ridiculous,” waxed Chen regarding the grand finals. “There’s no way he should have been able to be that close against a world-class Ken like Mattsun, but towards the end, it almost looked like Ken vs. Honda wasn’t that bad! Kusumondo is the best, and I loved his energy and excitement as well.”
After the trophy was hoisted, the community took a grand picture. 70 players all huddled around, united in their love for one of the games that paved the way to what the FGC has become. Hugs and handshakes were exchanged, new friendships were formed, and new rivalries were kindled. Says Michael “Triforce Legend” Streat, a newcomer to Super Turbo who recently starting learning the game after first playing Street Fighter IV and V, “It was cool seeing all these really good players in one spot. I learned a lot of stuff there that I’m definitely going to try and implement.”
And the old man’s game still finds a way to be relevant. And to concur with Nguyen, may Super Turbo never die.
The full top 8 may be viewed below.
[Feature image: the Canada Cup ST community in attendance]
After spending awhile covering the cast of Street Fighter EX, the CFN Portal site has returned to regular characters, showcasing more background characters and relatives to some of the most popular World Warriors, courtesy of the Shadaloo Activity Report.
First up, we have Sakura’s best friend, Kei Chitose!
Private Nakagawa: This time it’s a normal schoolgirl. A beautiful girl with long hair. She doesn’t fight. Ah, she’s the best friend of Sakura.
Basic Info:
Name: Kei Chitose
Height: 155 cm
Weight: 41 kg
Blood Type: 0
Birthday: November 14th
Country of Origin: Japan
Likes: Handsome Guys
Dislikes: Rollercoasters
Private Nakagawa: She watches patiently over her friend, so into Street Fighting. Her school records aren’t particularly good nor bad. She possesses a wonderful memory, though, and never forgets the face and name of a person she met, even only once. She collects any sort of merchandise that’s cephalopods-alien related. [as popularized by H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. Apparently, Japanese have a particular fetish for them, as their presence as Mars People in Metal Slug can attest…]
Next up, we have another member of the Glade of Ninjas, who appeared in Ibuki’s Street Fighter III: Third Strike intro, holding a punching bag, Yūta Homura! You can see an in-game image of him below.
Private Nakagawa: His name is read as “Yūta Homura.” He’s affiliated with the same shinobi village as Ibuki.
Basic Info:
Name: Yūta Homura
Height: 167cm
Weight: 63kg
Blood type: A
Birthday: June 16th
Home Country: Japan
Likes: Training, Mantou [A type of cloud-like steamed bread or bun popular in Northern China. The name mantou is said to have originated from a tale about Zhuge Liang.]
Dislikes: Centipedes
Private Nakagawa: A ninja who is affiliated with the shinobi village. He’s a passionate young man who aspires to open his own store. He trains alongside Ibuki and Sarai Kurosawa. His taijutsu is great, but his ninjutsu is horribly weak. He’s talented at playing beat ’em up games. Apparently, it’s a piece of cake for him to clear a whole game with Jennety using one coin. [Jennety: aka Mack the Knife, aka Mummy Commando from the Captain Commando series.]
Now, we present Sakura’s little brother, Tsukishi Kasugano!
Private Nakagawa: Kasugano….? Apparently, this is the brother of that Sakura girl. He too can probably shoot Hadokens and stuff just by watching and imitating them. Huh, he’s just an ordinary boy? Great that’s good to know.
Basic Info:
Name: Tsukushi Kasugano
Height: 159cm
Weight: 49kg
Blood type: O
Birthday: March 29th
Home Country: Japan
Favorite things: Video games, plastic models
Dislikes: Umeboshi [often translated to English as, “Japanese Salt Plums,” a type of pickled ume fruits common in Japan that are extremely salty and sour.]
Here he is at home playing the Fighting RPG “Ryuken Tsuyoshiki” [“Dragon Punch Adamant Tale”]
Private Nakagawa: He’s a noble and honest kid who loves games. However, he doesn’t like to move his body around too much. During SF Alpha 3 he was doing a speedrun of “Ryuken Tsuyoshiki 2” and barely went outside. With the current launch of the CPSP2 he’s obsessed with the super-fighting RPG “Ryuken Tsuyoshiki Gaiden Chapter Roar.” By the way, he’s also very talented at drawing pictures, which he’s even been awarded for at school.
Now we head back to SFIII to take a look at the hot-blooded tsundere tomboy, girlfriend of Yun, Hoimei!
Private Nakagawa: She’s the girlfriend of Yang’s brother Yun since they were kids. She works at her father’s grocery shop. She also has a sister named Shaomei.
Basic Info:
Name: Hoimei
Height: 155cm
Weight: 46kg
Blood type: B
Birthday: November 13th
Home Country: Hong Kong
Likes: Youthful People
Dislikes: Scoundrels
Private Nakagawa: She lives near the restaurant Yun and Yang work at that’s run by their grandfather. She’s just an ordinary girl who works at a grocery store. She dislikes people who have a wonky character. Because of the brother’s troublesome nature, she keeps a keen eye on them. Apparently, she has favored Yun ever since they were childhood friends.
Finally, we have her sister, and Yang’s girlfriend, Shaomei!
Private Nakagawa: A girl who knew Yun and Yang since childhood. Younger sister of Hoimei. She is a quiet but reliable girl.
Basic Info:
Name: Shaomei
Height: 152 cm
Weight: 42 kg
Blood type: AB
Birthday: July 1st
Home Country: Hong Kong
Likes: Chihuahuas
Dislikes: Tomatoes
Private Nakagawa: She appears docile and quiet, unlike her active and lively sister. But she is actually someone who really battles on when needed. She firmly supports her sister, who worries about the brothers, set off on a journey. It seems she has a kindlier feeling towards Yang.
For a closer look at Shaomei and Hoimei, they appear in Yang’s Third Strike ending and Yun’s AE ending, as seen below.
And so ends another round of CFN Portal profiles; you can check out the final round of Street Fighter EX character profiles, covering the Cycloids and Ace, here.
