| 20 February 2012
Part of what makes Justin Wong who he is, as an observer from a distance, is his ability to move the needle both ways. He's been on both ends of spectacular moments in fighting game history. He can do crazy shit that gets a crowd going, or do crazy shit that bores a crowd.
I'm not sure where his 6-0 in the Super Street Fighter IV finals at Winter Brawl 6 against Eric "Juicebox" Albino ranks in terms of boredom or hype, but it is likely to be considered the greatest 6-0 of the Street Fighter IV series.
Statistically, Justin's numbers against Juicebox are right up there with what he did against "AndyOCR" Huynh at NorCal Regionals 7 two years ago. Three numbers stand out that will make this be remembered as the greatest 6-0 ever.
The first was his margin of victory. Out of his 12 round victories — by the way, he was 12-for-13 against AndyOCR and Juicebox — Justin had eight wins with more than 50 percent health against Juicebox. Against AndyOCR, he only had three.
When I watched the match yesterday, that was the first stat that I knew I had to check out; Justin started the second finals winning three rounds in a row with more than 50 percent health. It's one of those stats that even the sports-talk radio folk could point and say "Hey, look! Justin is doing something even though I don't have the numbers on it!"
The second was the average round time. Justin vs. Juicebox averaged 33.6 seconds per round. Justin vs. AndyOCR averaged 59.6 seconds. The average round lasts about 48 seconds. Not only was Justin taking care of business, but he wasted no time doing it.
Finally, and perhaps the most telling, Justin had one comeback (down to 25 percent health and trailing) in his 12 wins. There's been several 6-0s that never felt like it — most notably, Sanford Kelly vs. Arturo Sanchez two years ago at Battlefield Arcadia — because every round was close. Justin had two comebacks against AndyOCR.
In addition, Justin NEVER trailed at the 50 percent health mark against Juicebox; he did three times against AndyOCR.
Those three numbers, at least for me, give me reason to believe this was the greatest 6-0 of all time. The rest of the numbers are debatable. Justin had four first-hit wins against Juicebox compared to nine against AndyOCR.
Go ahead and go berserk because it is or isn't the greatest 6-0. You can add that the situation doesn't mean it is; it was at a major championship but not the main event. Or perhaps your mind is set that the matchup was bad to begin with.
Probably in December or a couple of years from now, when we're looking back at Justin's run through this tournament, we'll look at this match differently. Maybe it'll stay in our minds as just another 6-0. We'll remember this match much like we did at NorCal Regionals 7.
If you don't think this is the greatest 6-0, let me know what you think is and why.
Here's the full numbers breakdown:
| Justin Wong | vs. Juicebox (Winter Brawl 6) |
vs. AndyOCR (NorCal Regionals 7) |
| Rounds won | 12/13 (.923) | 12/13 (.923) |
| First-hit wins | 4/4 (1.000) | 9/10 (.900) |
| First-combo wins | 9/9 (1.000) | 10/11 (.909) |
| Wins >50% health | 8 | 3 |
| Comebacks | 1 | 2 |
| EX hits | 13/17 (.765) | 13/34 (.382) |
| Average time | 33.62 seconds | 59.62 seconds |
