Happenstance FGC completed Season 1 of its Street Fighter V league by holding a Top 8 tournament to crown its first champion. Kusanagi, an Ultimate Grand Master and currently ranked #299 in the world, won the Top 8 tournament to become the champion. Congratulations to Kusanagi! He went through the tournament undefeated and lost only 3 total games in his three matches. As the Season 1 champion Kusanagi earned the coveted Happenstance FGC “Boss” championship belt.
The Top 8 tournament, as well an archive of all of the exciting matches from every broadcast during league play can be seen on Happenstance FGC’s Facebook page by clicking here.
The tournament was very well-run by league director Luciano Chapa, who also played in the league and is an Ultra Diamond ranked player. Luciano will be directing other esports leagues in the near future for Happenstance FGC. If you are interested in joining a future league as a player, or having Luciano direct a new league that you are thinking about starting, please contact him at Happenstance FGC’s Facebook page.
Top 8 Tournament Recap
The Top 8 tournament featured 12 total matches and lasted over 3.5 hours.
Unfortunately Kaiser, the No. 8 seed, was unable to compete in the tournament, resulting in only 12 matches being played instead of the expected 14 (or 15 if a Finals Reset was necessary due to the double-elimination format). As a result of Kaiser’s unavailability, No. 1 seed Kusanagi received a bye into Round 2. Rob_Mty also benefited from Kaiser’s absence as he received a bye from Losers Bracket Round 1 into Losers Bracket Round 2.
Round 1 of the Winners Bracket saw all matches determined by a 3-0 score. SH-Rasec was the first player to bow out of the tournament with a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Aza_Belmont. In the next match, Kusanagi and LauraAsesina clashed in the Winners Bracket Semifinal, with Kusanagi earning the 3-1 victory to send LauraAsesina to the Losers Bracket. The next match was the other Winners Bracket Semifinal where Choco defeated Eightgrade by score of 3-2 to reach the Winners Final against Kusanagi.
The next match saw Eightgrade begin his path to the Grand Final of the tournament with a 3-0 victory over Rob_Mty in the Losers Bracket Round 2. The other match in Round 2 of the Losers Bracket saw Aza_Belmont prevail over LauraAsesina 3-2.
The Winners Bracket Final was played next. Kusanagi continued his march to the Grand Final with a 3-1 victory over Choco. To set up the Losers Bracket Final, the next match saw Eightgrade take Aza_Belmont out of the tournament with a 3-1 victory. Eightgrade then extended his run in the Top 8 tournament by eliminating Choco in the Losers Bracket Final by score of 3-2. That set up the Grand Final matchup between Kusanagi and Eightgrade.
Finals Recap
In the Grand Final, Kusanagi (playing Kage) continued his dominant form in the first round of Game 1 as he nearly earned a “Perfect K.O.” victory as he blitzed Eightgrade (playing Akuma) from the start and kept up a relentless attack. Kusanagi took only the slightest sliver of damage to prevent him from earning a perfect round. The round was over in a lighting quick 22 seconds. Kusanagi got off to a big lead in Round 2 and appeared to be close to sweeping the first game, but Eightgrade mounted a furious comeback to win the second round and even the score in Game 1 at one round apiece. Kudos to Eightgrade for taking the round via Akuma’s Critical Art finish via Sekia Kuretsuha. Kusanagi won the final round and took Game 1 without much difficulty as he started quick with an early lead and won in commanding fashion by mixing pressure striking in with several nice throwing attacks.
Eightgrade won Round 1 of Game 2 in dominant fashion using relentless attacks to stun Kusanagi’s Kage. Eightgrade employed a nice mix of jumping attacks with effective ground striking and took very little damage in the frame. Kusanagi got off to an early lead in Round 2 and was able to hold it as he evened the round score. Eightgrade once again used the stylish Sekia Kuretsuha critical art finish to win the Final Round and thus Game 2 in a tightly contested round.
Perhaps Kusanagi’s finest moment of the Top 8 tournament happened in Round 1 of Game 3 as he earned a “Perfect K.O.” victory. Kusanagi employed heavy pressure during the round, cornering Eightgrade’s Akuma and stunning him in the process. Kusanagi backed off on the pressure and finished off the round victory with a fireball attack from distance. In the second round, Eightgrade once more proved his resiliency as he was nearly defeated with very little health left and with Kage’s health gauge 2/3 full before mounting a furious comeback victory. However, Kusanagi earned the deciding final round of Game 3 with a dominating display, suffering little damage in the process, and finishing with Kage’s critical art Metsu Shoryuken finishing move!
Game 4 started off with a tight as both players were down to minimal health before Kusanagi finished the round. In a tactical and defense-minded Round 2 played by both players, Eighgrade earned another critical art finish employing an incredible 30 hit combination capped off by the Shun Goku Satsu finish. However, Kusanagi made sure there was no drama in the deciding round as he took an early lead in the round and never relinquished it to win the game and the Top 8 tournament. Congratulations once more to Kusanagi as he went undefeated in the tournament and is Happenstance FGC’s first esports league champion!
Here is a recap of the results of all the matches on the broadcast.
Match 1 – Round 1
LuaraAsesina (Laura) defeats Rob_Mty (Guile) 3 games to 0.
Match 2 – Round 1
Choco (Necalli) defeats RASEC (M. Bison) 3 games to 0.
Match 3 – Round 1
Eightgrade (Akuma) defeats Aza_Belmont (Ibuki) 3 games to 0.
Match 4 – Losers Bracket Round 1
Aza_Belmont (Ibuki) defeats RASEC (M. Bison) 3 games to 1.
Match 5 – Winners Bracket Round 2
Kusanagi (Kage) defeats LauraAsesina (Laura) 3 games to 1.
Match 6 – Winners Bracket Round 2
Choco (Necalli) defeats Eightgrade (Akuma/Zeku) 3 games to 2.
Match 7 – Losers Bracket Round 2
Eightgrade (Akuma) defeats Rob_Mty (Guile) 3 games to 0.
Match 8 – Losers Bracket Round 2
Aza_Belmont (Ibuki) defeats LauraAsesina (Laura) 3 games to 2.
Match 9 – Winners Bracket Final
Kusanagi (Kage) defeats Choco (Necalli) 3 games to 1.
Match 10 – Losers Bracket Round 3
Eightgrade (Akuma) defeats Aza_Belmont (Ibuki) 3 games to 1.
Match 11 – Losers Bracket Final
Eightgrade (Zeku/Akuma) defeats Choco (Necalli) 3 games to 2.
Match 12 – Grand Final
Kusanagi (Kage) defeats Eightgrade (Akuma) 3 games to 1.
