Many of you may have heard about a big tournament that took place at The Playstation Experience this past December called the Capcom Cup. This is an organized event that takes place at the end of the year by the video game developer Capcom, in which the top players gather to decide who’s the best in the world, not just for bragging rights, but for the chance to win $250,000 in prize money. That time around, the game was Ultra Street Fighter 4. A new year has come and a new Capcom Pro Tour will take place, this time with Street Fighter V as the main focus of this worldwide event. But with a new game comes a new set of rules, I’m here to explain to you how this year the finalist will be chosen to be part of this event.
First of all, in past years the winner of the previous CPT (Ryota Inoue aka Kazunoko in 2015) would be invited to next year’s finals, but that’s not the case this time around. All is fair game, even the previous champ has to earn a spot this year. Now that’s taken out of the way here’s the structure for the CPT 2016:
32 players in total get to compete in the CPT Finals:
- 11 get an automatic bid by winning a Global Premier Event
- 1 gets an invite by winning EVO 2016
- 8 qualified by Regional Leaderboards (top 2 per region)
- 4 qualified by winning their Regional Finals (One per region)
- 8 qualified by being the top 8 in the Global Leaderboards (If no Premier Event or Regional Finals is won by such player)
The CPT events are divided into 3 tiers of events, each one with a different point structure for that specific tier. Here’s the spread for each tier:
Take notice that EVO is the highest point giver of them all, making it the most important event of the whole CPT before the Finals. Also take in mind that the yet to be announced Online Tournaments for each of the regions are considered part of the tier two (Ranking) point system and so that point structure is also given. Premier and Ranking points are given in total to the Global Leaderboards, but Premier Event points are not added to the Regional Leaderboards, the reason for this is that Tier 1 events are not spread evenly throughout all regions.
Take in mind that if a player is high in the top of the Global Leaderboards and also in one or more of the 4 regions, the Global Leaderboards always supersedes the Regional one, giving way to the next in line in the Regionals a chance to qualify for the CPT Finals. This is a great way, in theory, to make leeway to local or region specific talent to have a shot to make it to the big dance in December.
A final note about Global Leaderboards, Regional Leaderboards and Premier Events spots: if by any chance a player that already won a Premier Event repeats a victory in another of these events, that spot is lost and then added to the Global Leaderboards. If a player already in the CPT Finals wins a Regionals Finals, the rules also apply here. This makes a possibility for more than 8 players on the Global Leaderboards eligible for the CPT Finals when all is said and done.
Now let me explain the Tiers for each type of event:
EVO or Evolution
Considered the granddaddy of all Tournaments, the Super Bowl of sorts of the Fighting Game Community. With already more than 3000 entrants (and growing) by the time I’m writing this, it makes sense that this the biggest point giver of them all, making it the most single important event of the year. This makes it even more interesting for the sole reason that Capcom adds to the money pot of this event $50,000 cash bonus over the established money pot.
Global Premier Events
This events are considered the biggest tournaments outside of EVO. This big, organized event attracts most of the best players across the globe. Win one of these events and you’re in for the CPT Finals, regardless of Global Leaderboards placement.
Ranking Events
These events are more region specific events, spread evenly into the four regions, 12 events per region to be exact. Winning one of these events gives you a spot for the Regional Finals and a chance to get high on that specific region’s leaderboard. If a player repeats a win in a Ranking Event, the next place for that event gets a spot for the Regional Finals. Become two of the top point leaders in a region from these events and win a spot in the CPT Finals.
Regional Finals
This is the last spot up for grabs, all 12 winners of the Ranking events, plus the two winners of the Regional Online Tournaments gather for a 16 player tournament. The day before the Regional Finals, an open bracket tournament take place for those that haven’t earned a spot in the CPT Finals. The top two join the other 14 to have a chance for the final spot on the tour. Like in Premier Events, if a qualified player wins the Regional Finals, then that spot is given to the Global Leaderboards. At the end of this event, no points of any sort are granted to the participants.
So there you have it, this is how the Capcom Pro Tour in 2016 will take place. It may be a complicated ordeal, but that’s why I’m here for you guys. Every month I’ll give you a roundup of how the CPT is going down, what happened, who won, how the leaderboards globally and regionally are shaping up, the full rundown. I hope this helps you understand the CPT, and that your interest peaks to try and watch some of that competition that will take place all year long.
