Welcome back to our monthly round-up for the month of May. This past month we saw action in countries like Brazil and Italy, plus a set of events back in the state of California, Texas and Washington. The third weekend of the month was an exciting one, two ranking events took place in two different regions. It’s interesting because some non-CPT events took place also the same weekend of the 22nd, one in PAX East and one in France sponsored by Red Bull. This made a brief leeway to some less fortunate or new talent to gain some points or perhaps grab a Regionals Final spot in any of those events. Here’s the complete event Round-Up.
Ranking Events
CAPCOM Arena Jam – Brasilia, Brazil – April 9th to 10
The first event in the Latin America Region took place in the capital of Brazil. Guys like Team Evil Geniuses Justin Wong and KBrad came to the fray. French native Kayane, considered the most successful female e-athlete in the FGC came also for the festivities, but didn’t got far into the Top 16. Brazil’s new sensation and CPT 2015 Finalist Keoma was expected to make it all the way, but finished 5th place. It all went down between both Team EG representations, in which Justin Wong took top prize. Justin Becomes the first american player to win a CPT event this year, and having not fall down lower than top 10 in the three events that he has entered, he’s one to be on the lookout everytime he comes to compete going forward. Here’s the results:
1. EG|Justin Wong (Karin)
2. EG|K-Brad (Cammy)
3. FCBR|RobKOF (Birdie)
4. SOA|Brolyinho (Necalli)
5. SOA|DeathGun (Ryu)
5. Innova|Keoma (Karin)
7. Arjarath (Necalli)
7. CDA|DidimoKOF (Dhalsim)
9. Alexis (F.A.N.G)
9. Rafalibe (R. Mika)
9. TLTR|Trema (Nash)
9. AAG|PR3DA (M. Bison)
13. Z4|WadnerDF (Nash)
13. SFT|Dark817 (Alex)
13. NGT|XinanR (M. Bison)
13. Zeon (M. Bison)
West Coast Warzone – Orange County, California, USA – April 15th to 17th
The tour makes a stop once again in the states, this time around inside Orange County, California. The talent competing this time around was mostly american players, specially from the SoCal region. Justin Wong, that has made a strong presence in every tournament so far in the CPT as of late, didn’t disappoint as he made a sixth place finish this time around, proving as of now he’s the strongest Karin player in the circuit. SoCal talent Chris Tatarian came out victorious in first place over Team Evil Geniuses and puerto rican PR Barlog, making him the First player to qualify for North America Finals and first Ken Player to win an event. Here’s the results:
- Chris Tatarian (Ken)
- EG|PR Balrog (Necalli, Laura)
- PG|Filipino Champ (Dhalsim)
- YP|Filipinoman (Chun-Li)
- EG|Ricki Ortiz (Chun-Li)
- EG|Justin Wong (Karin)
- NYChrisG (Nash, Cammy)
- YBK|Jayce the Ace (Nash)
- SD|Pnoy (M. Bison)
- Commander Jesse (Dhalsim)
- BJ Unchained (Necalli)
- Alex Myers (Cammy, Nash)
- Brenttiscool (Ken)
- ROM (Vega)
- Stupendous (Zangief)
- GS|Gllty (Dhalsim)
Texas Showdown 2016 – Huston, Texas, USA – April 22th to 24th
The second of three ranking events inside the USA for April made his stop in the big state of Texas. US pros Justin Wong and Snake Eyez were absent because of commitment to an non CPT event in France, so it was open season for points grabbing in the NA Region. For a second week in a row PR Balrog made his way to Grand Finals from the losers bracket, causing an bracket reset in comeback fashion. But in the end fell short once again, this time around against Julio and his dominant Ken play, becoming the second player to qualify for the North America Region Finals. Here’s the results:
- Julio (Ken)
- EG|PR Balrog (Necalli, Vega)
- PandaTV|Dark Jiewa (Ken)
- BOTB|Vagabond (Necalli)
- F3|Alucard (Necalli, Birdie)
- Hsien Chang (Necalli)
- Rylander (Dhalsim)
- PxG|Ice (M. Bison)
- LU|Alex Valle (Ryu)
- PxG|Arban (Ryu)
- Dot|Danke (Vega)
- DL|FourWude (Ryu)
- Wolfkrone (Laura)
- TFA|OMGItzAndre (R. Mika)
- GS|Gllty (Dhalsim)
- Brenttiscool (Ken)
FrogByte 2016 – Pordenone, Italy – April 23th to 24th
The third stop in the Europe Region ranking event made his way to Italy. With the Red Bull Kumite Invitational, and non CPT event happening in the neighbor country of France at the same time, favorites contenders Luffy and Alioune where gonna be absent in this event. You could bet some would capitalize on the absence of this top tier competitors, and sure they did. Problem X, winner of Hypespotting V last month tried to take one more in the bag, but came short in third place. Phenom, one or Norway’s best players in the circuit took top honors with the combination of Necalli and M. Bison play, securing himself a spot for the Europe Regional Finals. Here’s the results:
- BX3TPL|Phenom (Necalli, M. Bison)
- Melty|Cuongster (Cammy)
- PxP|Problem X (M. Bison)
- Perilous|Packz (Karin)
- BX3TPL|Duppsko (Birdie)
- Perilous|Afii (Laura)
- FA|Ryan Hart (Ken)
- MD|MisterCrimson (Laura)
- BX3TPL|Veggey (Birdie)
- Padsi (M. Bison)
- Murg (Nash)
- VF_Watson (Cammy)
- Kingstonn (F.A.N.G)
- R1KO|Taaj (R. Mika)
- Sephyroth89 (R. Mika)
- Daniel-ita (Ryu)
Northwest Majors VIII – Washington, USA – April 29th to May 1st
The final stop for the month of April took place in Washington, where most of the talent that had success in California and Texas gather for more Regional action. The winners of the last two events in the US, Julio and Chris T, both Ken players came to the event. But for a second time in a Ranking event, Justin Wong came to win it all with his impressive Karin play, making him as of now the best Karin player in the planet, also securing a spot in the North American Regional Finals, the second of a possible four Finals. Here’s the results:
1. EG|Justin Wong (Karin)
2. FOX|Julio (Ken)
3. PG|Filipino Champ (Dhalsim)
4. pH|LPN (Birdie, Alex)
5. Alex Myers (Cammy)
5. Chris Tatarian (Ken)
7. ROM (Vega)
7. PandaTV|Dark Jiewa (Ken)
9. XSK Samurai (Ryu)
9. RB|Snake Eyez (Alex)
9. Brenttiscool (Ken)
9. Arlieth (Vega)
13. EG|Ricki Ortiz (Chun-Li)
13. Air (Ryu)
13. Nacer (Ryu)
13. Romance (Karin)
Leaderboards
This month we see the debut of both Latin America and North America Ranking Leaderboards, in which Justin Wong is leader in both thanks to his wins in Brazil and Washington respectively. In the Europe Region we see Phenom taking the lead thanks to his win at Frogbyte in Italy, with Problem X and Mister Crimson not that far behind. In the Global side of things, Infiltration still remains the leader of the pack in points although he didn’t participate in all of April. Justin Wong took second place, pushing back Tokido to third place overall in the process. But the biggest bump in rank goes to Julio, who came into the month in 14th place and with his victory in Texas and runner-up in Washington takes him to fourth place overall. Here are the results for all Leaderboards as of May 1st:
Global Leaderboards
Regional Leaderboards
North America
South America
Europe
Upcoming Events
May will get to see the first stops in the Asia region, with Ranking Tournaments taking place in Australia and Thailand. Europe will be a region to watch since the third event in the Global Premier Event calendar makes a stop in the city of Rennes, France. You can bet big names in the Europe scene will gather to fight for that automatic spot for the CPT finals. North America will also see more action, with Texas having another stop in the tour, Illinois hosting one of the best events in the Midwest and Canada having their first CPT event of the year. Peru will also see some action, a good time to see if new talent arise from this unusual place for the FGC scene. The events goes as follows:
Premier Events
Stuntfest – Rennes, France – May 20th to 22nd
Ranking Events
Dreamhack Austin – Austin, Texas, USA – May 6th to 8th
Thaiger Uppercut – May 5th to 8th – Bangkok, Thailand
Battle Arena Melbourne 8 – Melbourne, Australia – May 13th to 15th
Lima Salty 3 – Lima, Peru – May 20th to 22th
Toryuken 5 – Toronto, Canada – May 20th to 22nd
Combo Breaker – Illinois, USA – May 27th to 29th
Japonawa – Tijuana, Mexico – May 28th to 29th
FFM Rumble #9 – Frankfurt, Germany – May 27th to 29th
So there you have it, this past month was an exciting one, we saw that one of the greats ones in the US is coming to prove that his Karin is the best and good Ken players are having a lot of success in the Tour. May will be a great one in terms that the Asian side of things finally will get to see their stars rise, also it yet to see if Infiltration will have some action this month and fight to keep the top spot in the Tour. See you all next month for our next CPT round up.