Online Play

• There are 24 players split into three blocks for the online portion. The matches proceed according to players in each block.
• #1 from each block moves directly to the finals, numbers 2 through 5 go on to the offline league.
• #6, #7, and #8 after the end of the online league play are done and advance no further.
• Matches are 1 round at 99 count, first to two rounds wins the match. The set is first to three.
• Rank is determined by the number of wins, the match differential, and finally head to head record in the event of ties.

Misc rules for online matches:

• What happens if there is a disconnect? If one of the players has left their room, the remaining player wins the match. If they both remain in their room, then the match is ignored and re-started. If this occurs during a CA or other move that takes some time, and the player’s vitality would reach zero, then the match may be judged to have completed, and will not be restarted. If only the viewing stream cuts out, then the match will play out as normal, and we will restore the stream after the match ends.
• The stage is restricted to only the training mode stage.
• Tie games will not count.
• There will be no re-starts in the case of button misconfiguration.

Offline Play

The offline play has 12 players separated into three blocks, and each block will have a round robin tournament. The player in first place of each offline block will advance to the Finals.

Each Match is a 99 count first to two round (the usual). In each round robin set the players will play a first to seven. If the score goes to 6-6, then the winner will need to either win by two matches (the Deuce) or the winner will be the first player to reach ten total wins.

The ranking will be determined first by total number of victories, head to head record, and finally points (win differential).

Finals

Prize Money

There is a prize for the winner. Payouts are, in approximate USD (the Japanese numbers are nice and round, not the USD):

• 1st ： 150万円 (~ $13,175 USD)
• 2nd ： 60万円 (~ $5,270 USD)
• 3rd ： 30万円 (~ $2,635 USD)
• 4th ： 15万円 (~ $1,317 USD)
• 5th ： 10万円 (~ $878 USD)
• 6th ： 5万円 (~ $439 USD)

These are all streamed on OpenRec.tv, and I think also Abema.tv. OpenRec is currently running a summer special where a premium account (lets you access the archives) is free for the first 30 days. It is something like $5 a month, and OpenRec.tv does a lot in the FGC scene in Japan, so I’m happily a member. I’ll list the streaming links / archive links on the schedule below as I find them.

I was able to watch most of the matches live from Itabashi Zangief vs. Mizuha. You might not know Mizuha and Gafuro, since they don’t travel too much, but they come to a lot of domestic events. Mizuha had a really good showing at the 2017 RedBull Tower of Pride and if I remember correctly made it to Top 8 there. Gafuro is a regular at FCA (Fighter’s Crossover Akihabara, the SFV event usually on Wednesdays at Akihabara eSports Square) and does well there – at least, I think that is him. Without player cams it is a bit hard to be sure, but Gafuro has been putting in Boxer work for a while at any rate.

Mizuha is part of the Scarz Youth Project (JA), which is a team that is cultivating younger talent. I thought he used to play Chun-Li, but I guess he is playing Kolin now. He really shut down Itabashi Zangief, and had some great movement.

Powell is the Cammy player from EVO Japan 2018 that sent Tokido to the loser’s bracket in pools. I was really cheering for him because on Sunday he came by FCA and hung out with everyone there. He’s a really friendly guy, and I just enjoyed drinking and chatting with him. He’s based out of Nagoya and was trying to get in as many games as he could, running sets with absolutely everybody. I think he had a pretty long set with Verloren, which was fun to watch. Mostly though I just remember how much fun the guy was having, and how much he was laughing. Great guy to grab a beer or ten with.

Mishie is a Laura that has been consistently coming out to various things in Tokyo. I don’t know anything about Uryo though. I need to go back and watch Nemo vs. Ryusei – the break-out Urien who made Top 8 at EVO 2018. Nemo used G against him.

Standings after the first days’ matches:

A Block

B Block

C Block

I put in the character for some of the lesser known players. I didn’t get to watch all of the matches, so I might not have it right.

If you only watch one match from this day, I thought the Itabashi Zangief vs. Uryo match was great. ItaZan actually used Zangief for this match-up against Uryo’s Sakura, and the footsies ground game was amazing. It is a rare chance to see two characters you don’t usually see in Season 3. Both characters have limited movement options (well, safe ones anyway) so watching the ranges they played at, and which buttons they were using as the match evolved was super interesting. Whenever someone won a round, it was usually in a blowout.

There were plenty of good matches though, and I was happy to see Nemo stick with G, and do well with him.

Here are the standings after today’s matches.

A Block

B Block

C Block

Here are the standings after today’s matches.

A Block

B Block

C Block

The set between Nemo and trashbox was a lot of fun, but I really enjoyed the Bon-chan Sagat vs. Ryusei Urien set. It was really fun seeing those two play the projectile game, see who was going to try to do their V-Skill. Ryusei got a few jump-ins that were critical to his win, but I can see how Bon-chan can get a bit better at throwing off his projectile timing, and then getting damage on those jump-ins instead. I think that will be a fun matchup to watch. Minutes after the match, Nemo even gave props to Ryusei’s Urien (Great job! Ryusei’s play has gotten really good, and I can use it for reference).

Gafuro (Boxer) beat Itabashi Zangief’s Zangief 3-0, which surprised me. Gafuro was saying on Twitter afterwards that he got a lot of practice in with Kichi pa-mu while in Taiwan, and that helped a lot.

Here are the standings after today’s matches.

A Block

B Block

C Block

Here are the standings after the fifth day’s matches:

A Block

B Block

C Block

This is the final day of the online qualifiers. The number one placement from each block will move on to the finals. Numbers six, seven, and eight are out of the tournament. Numbers two through five move on to the offline qualifier tournament.

That match between Itabashi Zanfief and NISHIKIN was really something. I didn’t see that 0-3 coming at all.
I don’t think anyone would have predicted someone to go perfect in their block, but if they did, certainly nobody predicted that it would be Gafuro with his Boxer.

A Block

B Block

C Block

That sets up three new blocks for the upcoming online qualifier tournament.

Fuudo, Gafuro, and sako have already advanced to the finals by securing first place in their respective blocks.

See the schedule above, but the offline events will happen on the 28th, 29th, and 30th of September.

For the offline matches, they have set things up so that each player has a short introduction, and a chance to say something about the upcoming match.

Bon-chan says it’s been a long time since he’s been in a Topanga league, and it has been a while he’s run the FT7 rules. He’s been practicing for CPT, so wants to show what all his practice has resulted in. He also says this is the first time he’s played Mizuha, so he’s looking forward to that. Mizuha is much more interesting. He says that Bon-chan is really good in long sets, is a really good fighting game player, and has a really good face for television, but he’s going to try his best and show what all his practice has come to. The way he said that stuff about Bon-chan was really funny. The title card for Bon-chan is “The Return of the Moving Fortress” – referring to his old Sagat play. Mizuha’s card title is “The Herbivore-man fighter” – I don’t know enough about Mizuha to know what that is about. Knowing how OpenRec.tv works, they probably asked him for something, and he came up with that, so draw your own conclusions. That first set between Bon-chan and Mizuha was really good. Bon-chan got to the first to 7 first, but they kept playing until Bon-chan got the win by going up two matches first.

The self-introductions really aren’t too interesting yet; MOV was very gracious, talking about how Haitani is a big name, and he wants to play well. Haitani says that MOV always plays beautifully (clean) he wants to play well also, and will do his best. MOV’s card title was “The Flying Artist”, and Haitani was “The Maddest Captor”. MOV’s references his Chun-Li play and air movement (there is the aspect of divine in 天翔る), and I don’t know about Haitani, and I guess how he puts the pressure on and keeps you captive in the corner. MOV vs. Haitani was 7-3, so they didn’t have to continue further to get to a two match win.

Gachi-kun vs. Nemo. Gachi-kun says that he’s lost to Nemo on large stages before, and really wants to get his revenge here. Nemo said that he last fought Gachi-kun in a long set at Topanga Ultra Street Figther 4 B-League before, which he overwhelmingly won, but he’s looking forward to this time. He says is all nicely, but the guy is a heel. Hameko and Nanai joked a bit about his Rolento. On the player cards before each match, they give some stats for the players, like win rate, throw tech rate, whatever. I just noticed this, but they also have a “title” for each player (I’ll go back and check the others.) Gachi-kun is the “Hiroshima Style Anaconda”. Nemo is the “Violence President”.

Fujimura vs. Trashbox. Trashbox said that two years ago he faced Daikoku’s Birdie and got a lot of practice with him, and would like to show his growth since then. Trashbox says that Fujimura is a top level player, and is happy to have the chance to defeat him. Fujimura’s title card calls him the “Lethal Weapon”, while Trashbox is “The Lonely Warlord”, since he’s the only one (? or one of few) on CFN with that title right now.

Machabo vs. Daigo. Machabo says that a few years ago he was in the Topanga B League, and while he didn’t get out of the Offline portion, he was happy to have been able to fight Daigo then. Daigo says that he has known Machabo for a long time – there was a teacher/student relationship – but hasn’t fought him directly and is looking forward to it. Machabo’s card title is “Mr. Optimization”, while Daigo’s is “Legend Beast”. This was another very long set – going to 10-9, triggering the first to ten rule.

Itabashi Zanfief vs. Tokido. Itabashi Zangief is one of my favorite players, but I can barely understand what he says. He rambled a bit about the first to seven, and said he’s looking forward to it. Tokido said he’s going to win the whole thing, and busted out a cool move with a big “Don!” for punctuation, while Itabashi Zangief just kind of stood there looking perplexed, like he’s getting involved in more FGC meme moments. Itabashi Zangief’s title on his player card is the “Runaway Death Car”, while Tokido is the “Pro Gamer who graduated from Tokyo University”. Tokyo University is the best university in Japan, so people here generally are surprised that someone who does well there wouldn’t be a lawyer, politician, or CEO.

Results: