This weekend Final Round 19 takes place in Atlanta, Georgia, and it will be the first extended look at Street Fighter competition on an international level. As one of the longest-running fighting game tournaments in the competitive scene, this year's Final Round will be record-breaking. Street Fighter V alone will have over 860 players from all over the world, with hopes of winning the tournament and joining the elite at the main event of the Capcom Pro Tour.
What was once a predominantly Tekken-centric tournament, Final Round will provide the best in-depth look at how many of the strong regions in the fighting game community have progressed with the game. The most remarkable catch for this weekend's tournament? Many of the players vying for the top spot will not have too much game film to review -- most of the international players had either only played on casual streams or small tournaments with little footage. This proposes a unique situation in previewing Final Round; which player or region truly is at an advantage?
There are 64 brackets in the pool play stage of the tournament and each one will contain one or two, and sometimes three, killer players. Name-value should provide a good idea of the player's skill level and style and therefore help with predictions on who will emerge from their groups unscathed.
The Asian region dominated throughout the life of Street Fighter IV and there will be many of its best players entering Final Round for Street Fighter V.
From China, Qanba "Dakou" and Qanba "Xiaohai" and PandaTV "Jiewa" will be in attendance. Dakou was an overall strong player with many characters and a specialty in the neutral game. His teammate Xiaohai was a setup-heavy player with impeccable reactions, and Jiewa was a character-specialist that started to gain traction last year from his consistent placing in several Capcom Pro Tour events.
From Korea, Razor "Infiltration" and "Poongko" make up the biggest names from the region with a third player, SAINT, rounding out the trio. Much is known about the two players, Infiltration and Poongko, but the information on SAINT is tougher to find. As for Infiltration, he was arguably the second-best Street Fighter IV player in its lifetime. His strengths include: versatility, neutral and footsies game, and a penchant to surprise opponents. The other big name, Poongko is an aggressive player that plays off the momentum of the match and his own incredible reads.
And Japan, the region that absolutely dominated many of the competitive fighting game titles in history, will have many players traveling. The best players from the group include: "Tokido," "Magi," Redbull "Bonchan," "Fuudo," "Haitani," "Kazunoko," "Evil Geniuses Momochi," and "Reiketsu." Some of these names were featured on numerous Japanese streams (namely Tokido and Fuudo), but many remain unknowns in Street Fighter V.
There will be two mainly "anime" fighting gamers (Kazunoko a special mention as one of the best 'Guilty Gear' players) in the Japanese group for Street Fighter V in "Dogura" and "Go1-3151." While Dogura did experience a lot of success in Street Fighter IV, it was through fighting game series like 'BlazBlue' and Guilty Gear that really made his name popular. As for Go1-3151, he cut his teeth with game series like 'Melty Blood' and 'Uniel'.
Many of the top names that could potentially play into the top-eight spots of Final Round will arguably be from North America. Because of the large weekly tournaments such as 'Wednesday Night Fights' in Santa Ana, California, 'Battle Circuit' in New York, or 'Churning the Butter' in San Francisco, California, there is plenty of stream time and game tape showcasing the top North American players.
It could be safe to assume that the top contenders from the region include: "LI Joe," Redbull "Snake Eyez," PG "FilipinoChamp," Julio Fuentes, "TA Moons," "LPN," and Chris Tatarian simply from the level of exposure and consistency in their play for competitions. The notable name-value players could be put in another list with Evil Geniuses' "PR Rog", Ricki Ortiz, and Justin Wong, Winterfox "801 Strider," and Team Liquid's "Nuckledu" highlighting it.
Final Round may be the first tournament that international competition will not dominate the results. Street Fighter V was released with everyone in mind without too large of a head start from any region and it will truly come down to skill and a little bit of good luck. The top-placers could easily be a surprise to everyone, but the safe assumption that many of the top names in both name-value and Street Fighter 5 tournament experience will succeed is an easier one to make.