SoCal Regionals 2016

SoCal Regionals 2016 (sometimes shortened as SCR 2016) was a fighting game event that took place in Santa Ana, California on October 14–16. Held by Level|Up, the event featured eight tournaments, among which one of the eleven Street Fighter V Premier Events of the 2016 Capcom Pro Tour.

SoCal Regionals 2016
2016
Tournament information
SportStreet Fighter V, various others
LocationSanta Ana, California
DatesOctober 14–16
Tournament
format(s)
Double elimination
Venue(s)Esports Arena
Final positions
ChampionZhuojun Zeng
Runner-upTatsuya Haitani

The Street Fighter V tournament at SCR 2016 was won by Zhuojun "Xiao Hai" Zeng, who had already qualified to compete at the Capcom Cup earlier in the season.

Background

SoCal Regionals was held in the eSports Arena in Santa Ana, California, moving away from the ballrooms and convention centers of previous years. The tournament was hosted by Level|Up, whose CEO Alex Valle stated that the company was "trying new things and stepping outside the norm." Eight different tournaments were held at SoCal Regionals: it was one of the last Street Fighter V Premier Events of the 2016 Capcom Pro Tour, the last tournament for the North American King of the Iron Fist Tournament for Tekken 7, and a qualifying tournament for the 2016 Killer Instinct World Cup.[1] SCR 2016 featured the first Mortal Kombat XL tournament since the game had a major balance patch earlier that month.[2]

The Street Fighter V tournament at SoCal Regionals 2016 had a prize pool of $350,000 USD. Steven Jurek of The Daily Dot said shortly before the event that "a strong performance this weekend could be the difference between being a part of the Capcom Cup field and being a part of the Capcom Cup audience."[3] Due to four repeat winnings at Premier Events in the Capcom Pro Tour, the top 12 players in the global leaderboards (that have not already qualified) can compete in the 2016 Capcom Cup. Local talents such as Filipino Champ and Chris Tatarian were likely candidates to qualify for the Cup depending on their results at SCR.[4]

A "live-bracketing" technology developed by Texas-based esports media group FloKO was utilized at SCR 2016 in order to streamline the online viewing experience.[5]

Participants

An online qualifying series was held on September 8–9, the champion of which won an all-paid expense ticket to attend SCR 2016.[6] The Street Fighter V tournament held at SCR 2016 included 360 competitors, most of which from the United States, though some international "powerhouses" such as Yusuke Momochi and Gamerbee were also present.[7] In an interview with ESPN, Alex Valle stated that Southern California has a powerful The King of Fighters community, and that the interest in Tekken had tripled compared to 2015.[1]

Tournament summary

The finals of the Street Fighter V tournament at SCR 2016 featured three competitors from the United States, two from Japan, one from China, and one from South Korea. Though American players NuckleDu, K-Brad, and PR Balrog played successful matches, none were able to reach the grand finals. Chinese player Zhuojun "Xiao Hai" Zeng won against Japanese player Tatsuya "Haitaini" Haitani in the grand finals, defeating him with the character Cammy despite Haitani's experience with the character. Haitani won the first match, forcing a bracket reset, but Xiao Hai turned the game around in the second match. After the tournament, Xiao Hai stated in an interview that "[Haitani] beat me a few times on my wakeup, but after I adjusted, he never got me again."[8]

The Mortal Kombat XL tournament, meanwhile, was won by Brad "Scar" Vaughn, defeating his long-time rival Dominique "SonicFox" McLean in the grand finals to win US$10,000. Playing with Sonya Blade, who was severely weakened in the recent patch, Scar stated in an interview that his play felt "boosted" by the patch, stating that many other players were abusing the unbalanced content of the game before.[2]

Results
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st Zhuojun Zeng Qanba|Xiao Hai Cammy
2nd Tatsuya Haitani YD.MJS|Haitani Necalli
3rd Kenneth Bradley EG|K-Brad Cammy
4th Kenryo Hayashi Mago Karin
5th Du Dang Liquid|NuckleDu Guile, R. Mika
5th Shinya Ohnuki CBZ|Onuki Chun-Li
7th Eduardo Pérez-Frangie EG|PR Balrog Balrog, Necalli
7th Han-byeol Lee /r/Kappa|Xyzzy Birdie
9th Yusuke Momochi EG|Momochi Ken
9th Justin Wong EG|Justin Wong Karin
9th Kristopher Gomez Addice|OliverQueen Ryu
9th Chris Tatarian EVB|Chris Tatarian Ken
13th Bruce Hsiang ZW|GamerBee Necalli
13th Ryo Nozaki HM|Dogura Necalli
13th Vu Tra GOL|Ranmasama Rashid
13th Peter Susini Flash Vega

References
  1. Lee, Timothy (2016-10-15). "Previewing SoCal Regionals: '[We're] stepping outside the norm'". ESPN.
  2. Alambeigi, Alena (2016-10-19). "This 'Mortal Kombat' champ cared more about beating his rival than winning $". Mashable.
  3. Jurek, Steven (2016-10-14). "Three big questions for SoCal Regionals". The Daily Dot.
  4. Alphonse, Craig (2016-10-14). "SoCal's Greatest Heroes Look to Defend SCR 2016". Red Bull.
  5. Bahn, Chris (2016-10-17). "How FloKO TV Plans to Revolutionize the Spectator Experience in the FGC". PVP Live.
  6. Bahn, Chris (2016-09-07). "Want to Get a Free Flight to SoCal Regionals?". PVP Live.
  7. Lee, Timothy (2016-10-15). "SoCal Regionals: Asian heavyweights challenge NA's best in SFV". ESPN.
  8. Lee, Timothy (2016-10-17). "Xiao Hai conquers the field at the SoCal Regionals". ESPN.
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