It will be a raucous tournament in St. Charles, Illinois with the large registration numbers for Street Fighter V (640 players) and the announcement of a cash bar during the finals on Sunday.
Final Pre-Reg Numbers:
SFV-640
T7-238
Bhalla-186
Smash Wii-U-185
MKX-179
Xrd-159
SG-148
KI:S3-146
Melee-118
USFIV-78— Combo Breaker (@ComboBreakerFGC) May 11, 2016
While past tournament numbers were impressive, the potential 640+ participants for Street Fighter V could be the beginning of larger player pools in future events. If anything, this might be the combo starter.
The Evil Genius hurdle
The Evil Geniuses will be the easy favorites to place highly in this North American contest. Led by points' leader, Justin Wong, the group of Ricki Ortiz and Kenneth "KBrad" Bradley should be your trio to beat. Wong, especially, will enter Combo Breaker in spectacular form. He's the only player in the top 10 on the overall standings with four first-place finishes in Ranking Events. If there was a word to describe his recent run, it's dominant. He's the horse to bet on and should easily showcase why his Karin is head-and-shoulders above the rest.
Both Ortiz and KBrad come into this tournament as tour veterans. Both are in the top 25 in the overall standings and should be popular picks to make an appearance during the final day of the tournament.
The best of the rest
Combo Breaker will serve as a reminder for viewers to many forgotten names: Critical Reaction's Dominique "SonicFox" McLean, Joe "LI Joe" Ciaramelli, Arturo "TS Sabin" Sanchez, Gustavo "801 Strider" Romero, and Team YP's Anton "FilipinoMan" Herrera. SonicFox and LI Joe were amongst the first names mentioned when the Capcom Pro Tour began -- they blew up the community with high placements and plenty of potential, but flew under the radar since.
For SonicFox, it wasn't a question of skill, it was a question of priority. With Mortal Kombat as the main focus, SonicFox could come into Combo Breaker with too much expectation. As for players like 801 Strider and TS Sabin, this is a 'prove it' tournament. It's not enough to scrape by on name value alone; it's time to make it to winner's circle. And lastly, FilipinoMan is the perfect example of a name you need to know. He's been successful (37th in overall standings) in the past, but that's only if he shows up to events.
As for the rest of the notable names: Circa eSports' Long "LPN" Nguyen, Team Liquid's Du "NuckleDu" Dang, Panda Global's Ryan "FilipinoChamp" Ramirez, and Jun "UA|Saionide" Han make up the rest of the names that stand a great chance to finish highly in the tournament standings. FilipinoChamp and NuckleDu, especially, could be considered virtual locks for the top 8.
The dark horses
This section is reserved for the names that may be omitted from the popular opinions, or it could be the paragraph that details the players that feast on momentum, but the point is -- dark horses could run the tables. The names that could make an impact include: Flipsid3 Tactics' Antwan "Alucard" Ortiz, Daniel "LuckyD" Min Lehmann, Ryan "fubarduck" Harvey, and Hsien Chang.
The trio of Alucard, Hsien Chang, and fubarduck flashed their upside during DreamHack Austin when all three placed in the top 10 of the tournament. The same result could happen again in Combo Breaker, but it is unlikely to repeat. All these players need is a great pool or just a little good luck, but the possibility exist for new names to show up in the top 8.
This weekend, North America will flex its muscles again and the hierarchy for the elite players could be shaken once again. However, the only sure thing is the guarantee of a great time and presentation from Combo Breaker: It will be a war.