This weekend's Combo Breaker in St. Charles, Illinois, promises to be one of the most stacked fighting game tournaments of the year. With over 1,000 registered players in four major games (Dragon Ball FighterZ, Street Fighter V, Tekken 7 and Guilty Gear Xrd: Rev 2), the numbers rival the largest fighting-game tournaments in competitive history.
The two headlining games will be Dragon Ball FighterZ and Street Fighter V. Dragon Ball FighterZ leads the pack with 739 registered players, which makes this weekend's tournament the biggest in the game's short history. For Street Fighter V, Combo Breaker is one of the hardest tournaments to win on the schedule, due in part to its large participation (676 players) and the number of quality competitors, both domestic and international.
Here's what to watch for in the Dragon Ball FighterZ and Street Fighter V tournaments at Combo Breaker.
Dragon Ball FighterZ
Dragon Ball FighterZ will be the title that garners the most intrigue. The best DBZ player in the world, Cyclops Osaka's Goichi "Go1" Kishida, will be in attendance and is the tournament favorite, and his signature Go1's defense will be on full display. In addition to Go1, the short list for tournament contenders includes Cyclops Osaka's Ryo "Dogura" Nozaki, Ponos' Naoki "moke" Nakayama and Ryota "Kazunoko" Inoue. Dogura might just be the second-best player in the world after he reset and nearly won StunFest 2018 against Go1 earlier this month. His combination of sublime rushdown and movement makes him a menace. Japan will also boast a couple players who can make deep runs in Echo Fox's Yusuke "Momochi" Momochi and Tachikawa Toru, with Toru as a dark horse to really make some noise. It will not be surprising to see more than four players from Japan make it into the top eight.
Right behind Japan is the U.S. and its champion, Echo Fox's Dominique "SonicFox" McLean. The prodigy will have new tricks, and a new team, to contend with and represents the best chance for a North American title. Other contenders from North America include NRG's Eduardo "HookGangGod" Hook, Echo Fox's Jon "dekillsage" Coello, Juan "Beyond Toxin" Contreras, Evil Geniuses' Christopher "ChrisG" Gonzalez (arguably the second-best from the United States), Panda Global's Derek "Nakkiel" Bruscas, NRG's Steve "Supernoon" Carbajal and Reynald Tacsuan. With such a large tournament, dark horses such as Team SoloMid's William "Leffen" Hjelte need to be noticed, but everyone not named Go1, SonicFox or Dogura will have a long road to the top.
Street Fighter V
With 676 Street Fighter V players in attendance, this will be the toughest SVFV tournament since EVO Japan in January. It is easy to identify the favorites from recent results -- Panda Global's Lee "Infiltration" Seon-woo, Fudoh's Atsushi Fujimura, Echo Fox's Hajime "Tokido" Taniguchi and Du "NuckleDu" Dang -- so instead let's take a look at who else can do well in this loaded tournament.
Cy Games' Keita "Fuudo" Ai
It's odd to list Fuudo among the players to watch, because he's a contender no matter how large the field. Fuudo is a technician at navigating through a huge tournament, and this weekend will be no different. The magician Rainbow Mika player's neutral game-reaction timings on defense should easily carry him to a top-24 berth. From there, it should be typical clutch Fuudo moment after moment until we see him playing on the final day.
Team Liquid's Ryota "John Takeuchi" Takeuchi
It might be a shock to see John Takeuchi here instead of his more successful teammate, Naoki "Nemo" Nemoto, but this Rashid player is the real deal. Unlike other offensive or fearless Rashid players who might make deep runs as well, John Takeuchi's all-in attitude sets him apart. He will not be the most impressive Rashid player in terms of offensive innovation or in defensive pace, but he should be the best at delivering the biggest moments.
Rise Nation's Saul "MenaRD" Segundo
The current Capcom Cup champion will not cruise to the finals -- that is never the case with MenaRD. His character is weaker, the players are better, and his consistency is a question mark, but MenaRD is on this list due to his ability to come through against any top player. If the path to the top eight is relatively clean of counterpicks, this can be another notch on the post for hit fans in the Dominican Republic.
Team Ares' Olivier "Luffy" Hay
No list is complete without a top European star. Luffy usually does his best work in stacked tournaments. His Rainbow Mika play is set on fear and harder reads (not great for deep runs), but Luffy's own stubborn attitude helps things work. He might be a long shot on paper, but this is the kind of playing field and competition for the Frenchman to excel.