| 12 February 2010
Family Fun Arcade was the scene for their first Street Fighter IV ranbats tournament season last weekend. It probably wasn't a surprise that Justin Wong took home the title, busting past through a field of about 30 players undefeated.
So now that the first tournament is done, we should probably start the countdown to find out whether Justin can run the table. I don't remember any player in Southern California to run the table of a ranbats season -- most champs have lost, others have skipped an early tournament or a late tournament after clinching the title.
The second tournament in the ranbats season is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. Here's three things to look for going into the competition.
More after the jump ...
The quickness of the finals
I had a Stats Series commentary written on how fast the championship match was at the 1.1 tournament. I’m going to save it for next Friday, because I want to see what happens this week. Whatever Justin Wong’s final match is during Saturday’s tournament (it's probably going to be the finals, but you never know), I want to know how fast his rounds go.
The average time for a round in the finals last week was 31.5 seconds. Twice he broke sub-25 seconds! Justin was on point in the title match. In the three games, the longer round played was the second.
If the title match will be him against James Chen again, then there will be a lot to compare, especially the time factor. If it’s someone else, then we’ll see how Justin adjusts (or probably vice versa).
How will OnlineTony213 bounce back?
I have to admit that I thought OnlineTony213 was going to be the finalist to meet Justin Wong in the title match last week. But there was something about playing James Chen’s Cammy that got to him -- easy health depletion is one I can think of, openings late in matches is another.
OnlineTony213's run in the tournament is going to be one thing to look for. I’m sure that if he competes in this weekend’s tournament, he’ll prevent the mistakes he made the first time.
Warmup for Monday's LA Riots III qualifier
I was going to mention this about OnlineTony213, but I think this affects everyone. The first of two LA Riots III tournament qualifiers is Monday. The Ranbat tournament to take place Saturday is a great momentum builder going into the qualifier, considering that the qualifier is not a traditional double elimination bracket.
When there’s a big tournament coming up, I’ve noticed that the event before that, players are more aggressive. Seems like they’re trying new moves and such. I don’t know whether that will happen here, but it would be nice to track.
Picture by Kelly Bracha.
