The North American standard made his triumphant return to the top spot this past weekend at Northwest Majors 2016. Justin "EG JWong" Wong was a name synonymous with elite and it absolutely showed when he plowed through his opponents in the top eight of Street Fighter 5.
His weapon of choice? Karin. He treated the audience to impeccable spacing and neutral game, bait-and-switches, and disgustingly good hit-confirms. Wong never dropped a set throughout the tournament and hardly made a wrong step.
In short, he was unstoppable.
The rest of the top eight field was impressive and varied. There were the consistent top-placers: Julio "Fox|Julio" Fuentes, Ryan "PandaGlobal FilipinoChamp" Ramirez, Xijie "PandaTV Dark Jiewa" Zeng, and Chris Tatarian. Fuentes especially had a great weekend -- another deep run, a second-place finish, to add to his already impressive Street Fighter 5 accomplishments. And he's the newest signing to team Echo Fox.
And then the newer faces: Alex Myers, Rommel "ROM" Macatangay, and Long "LPN" Nguyen continued the trend of different names making it to the final day of a major tournament.
But the day was Wong's. He was in impressive form and climbed to second place in the Capcom Pro Tour standings after his victory. Wong saved his best playing for the last day. Despite the fact that he looked like a champion early in the tournament, his whiff-punishes, resource management, and immense pressure was done to perfection on Sunday. He seemed to always have critical art to finish off opponents, v-trigger to extend combination attacks or suffocate his opponent, or the perfect button in any neutral situation. If this is just the start for Wong's ascension into the elite of Street Fighter 5, he's already ahead of the masses not named Seon-woo "Infiltration" Lee.
Grapplers are back!
There were three grapplers within the top 25 of the tournament. It was a welcomed sight to see the character variety finally extended to those that made a living off of command grabs. While only one player, LPN, made the top eight, this is an encouraging development. It is this writer's dream to see many more grapplers on the big stage. There's Birdie and his strong neutral and space-control game, Alex and his momentum from one touch, and Rainbow Mika's guessing game and frightening close quarter tools.
For many observers, grapplers are looked upon as lower-tiered characters on the overall rankings. But the Northwest Majors showcased the sheer hype of a grappler when the ball rolls their direction. This is great news for two reasons -- it could promote more players to pick up these command-throwers and debunk the idea that grapplers cannot win. The hope for more wrestling should be on the horizon and the community is better for it.
Even Gods bleed
The list of bodies that did not make the top eight of the Northwest Majors were a who's who in Street Fighter: Darryl "Redbull SnakeEyez" Lewis, Ricki "EG Ricki" Ortiz, Eduardo "EG Balrog" Perez, Du "Liquid NuckleDu" Dang, and Kenny "Air" Lam to name a few. These are players that used to be fixtures for the finals of any major tournament, but were reduced to spectators this past Sunday.
The parity that exists in Street Fighter 5 is truly a new age and a sight to really behold. It's the wild west in the new Street Fighter 5 competitive community and it's exciting. No longer are players near-locks for the top spots in a tournament; it's truly anyone's fight. This kind of wide open action prevents the stale results that potentially plague a sport or a game. It's what makes Street Fighter a game for everyone that just puts in the work and wants to see results. It's what makes fighting games so special--the accessibility and possibility to be a top player or placer.
With Northwest Majors in the books, the North American standings are still as muddled as ever. Aside from Wong, Tatarian, Perez, and Fuentes, every other player looks on from the outside of the top ten Capcom Pro Tour standings. But, anyone could realistically win or place highly in a major tournament as the results state. This is a race that is open to all.