Capcom Pro Tour 2023 (Street FIghter 6)

[Laurel Crown 115]

 

CPT France/Spain/Portugal (Top 8)

Timestamps

Spoiler

00:48:38 Winners semi-final 1
01:00:23 Winners semi-final 2
01:25:35 Losers R1 1
01:36:48 Losers R1 2
01:57:12 Losers quarter-final 1
02:12:25 Losers quarter-final 2
02:30:56 Winners final
02:41:53 Losers semi-final
02:57:38 Losers final
03:10:18 Grand final

Final thoughts

Spoiler

Having most of the players in this qualifier coming from France, with 7 Frenchies and 1 Spaniard in the Top 8, tells a lot about their dedicated FGC.
Quite a nice qualifier with a lot of "technicality" but not the most exciting tournament. Wait until Japan qualifier comes... Ohohoh, that's gonna be wild.

Speaking of qualifiers, the World Warriors are almost over. I'm gonna post the winners, the players who are coming to Capcom Cup X, next month.

 

[Laurel Crown 115]

CPT UK/Ireland (Top 16)

Timestamps

Spoiler

Winners quarter finals:
00:50:18 EndingWalker (Dee Jay) vs Rainpro (Guile)
00:59:38 MysticSmash (Kimberly) vs Shakz (Luke)
01:10:22 Musclenoob (Ken) vs Broski (Aki)
01:30:46 The4phillz (JP) vs Lexx (Guile)

Losers Round 1:
01:40:17 Pingutaro (JP) vs Vegachamp (Jamie)
01:46:48 Launch (JP) vs Suleymon (Kimberly)
02:08:11 Joker Jokez (Cammy) vs Arismania (Chun-Li)
02:21:52 Mopuulapo (Ken) vs Shivs (Juri)

Losers Round 2:
02:30:24 Match #1
02:48:54 Match #2
02:59:16 Match #3
03:06:06 Match #4

 

[Laurel Crown 115]

CPT UK/Ireland (Top 8)

Timestamps

Spoiler

00:47:19 Winners semi-final #1
00:57:08 Winners semi-finals #2
01:22:43 Losers R1 #1
01:34:17 Losers R1 #2
02:03:51 Losers quarter-final 1
02:20:45 Losers quarter-final 2
02:41:09 Winners final
03:04:37 Losers semi-final
03:25:17 Losers final
03:35:02 Grand final

Final thoughts

Spoiler

Man, I thought this would have been EndingWalker's Qualifier. His Ryu has been deemed the strongest in the game so the predictions looked obvious in foresight. Now begs the question "Why did he go for Dee Jay instead? Especially against Guile" and one possible answer would be the Match Up. Guile is THE zoner and Ryu doesn't have good options to overcome his projectiles like Dee Jay does. So EndingWalker went for him but still ended up against a very good Guile player who knows how to make him dangerous in the offensive options.
Still congratulations to the 17 y.o. RainPro. Hope to see you shine in the Capcom Cup X as a new generation player.

Special mention to Broski who showed the potential and skills in A.K.I. despite being universally seen as bottom tier. Yeah, LordVenom played her too but it was one set and not a full run.

 

[Laurel Crown 115]

CPT Japan (Top 16)

Timestamps

Spoiler

Winners quarter finals:
00:51:10 Narikun (Kimberly) vs Kazunoko (Cammy)
01:05:23 Otani (Luke) vs Itabashi Zangief (Marisa)
01:16:06 Tokido (Ken) vs Akira (Cammy)
01:36:40 Sasamo (Dee Jay) vs Kawano (Luke)

Losers Round 1:
01:45:16 Kei.B (JP) vs Key (E. Honda)
01:54:53 Daigo (Ken) vs Mizuha (Cammy)
02:20:48 Jaccy (Kimberly) vs Mago (Juri)
02:34:02 Nauman (Ken) vs Yamaguchi (Dee Jay)

Losers Round 2:
02:49:08 Match #1
03:10:12 Match #2
03:20:10 Match #3
03:27:20 Match #4

 

[Laurel Crown 115]

CPT Japan (Top 8)

Timestamps

Spoiler

00:51:27 Winners semi-final #1
01:06:49 Winners semi-finals #2
01:32:08 Losers R1 #1
01:44:52 Losers R1 #2
02:13:08 Losers quarter-final 1
02:23:17 Losers quarter-final 2
02:49:13 Winners final
03:06:10 Losers semi-final
03:29:19 Losers final
03:47:28 Grand final

Final thoughts

Spoiler

As expected, the Japanese qualifier turned out to be the wildest one in the entire CPT (as I'm fairly confident the following American/Canadian ones won't be as mad as this one) with some of the craziest interactions in the game and zany 200IQ plays. The only flaw is the Top 8 being run by the top tier characters... alas, the matches were still fun and engaging.
Quite surprised to see Daigo "The Beast" Umehara being eliminated in the Top 16 for not committing to the anti-airs and Kakeru didn't even make it despite being considered one of the best SF6 players today. Given the more "world cup" flavor coming into Capcom Cup X, having two Japanese players will even the odds.

 

[Laurel Crown 115]

CPT US/Canada East (Top 16)

 

Timestamps

Spoiler

Winner Quarters
Game A - Ramos vs NuckleDu 51:13
Game B - Space Boy vs Banana Ken 1:05:47
Game C - Psycho vs Naji 1:15:03
Game D - Alex Smith vs Paladin 1:34:13

Loser Quarters
Game E - Fluxwavez vs AdrianNY 1:42:43              
Game F - Semiij vs Kami 1:51:53
Game G - Macs Sama vs Punk 2:15:39
Game H - Idom vs Nando_NY 2:24:13

Loser Top 12
Game I - D Loser vs E Winner - 2:30:18
Game J - C Loser vs F Winner - 2:48:05
Game K - B Loser vs G Winner - 3:01:06
Game L - A Loser vs H Winner - 3:13:42

 

[Laurel Crown 115]

CPT US/Canada East (Top 8)

Timestamps

Spoiler

50:18 Winners Semifinal #1
1:05:34 Winners Semifinal #2
1:37:32 Losers R1 #1
1:47:42 Losers R1 #2
2:15:26 Losers Quarterfinal #1
2:25:45 Losers Quarterfinal #2
2:45:06 Winners Final
3:02:31 Losers Semifinal
3:20:52 Losers Final
3:31:29 Grand Final

Final thoughts

Spoiler

Woo! What a stacked qualifier.

NuckleDu was one of the favorites in the tournie along BananaKen, Punk and Idom and the match against Banana was so intense it all came down to a scramble moment to win.

Speaking of Punk and Idom...
Idom getting eliminated in the Top 16 against Modern Chun-Li player Ramos. They theorize what went wrong when Idom tried to do the corner combo and the best explanation is that combo only works in regular Counter (Chun was in Punish) thus whiffing the command throw. Weird way to choke a game since Manon's command grab in level 4 could have killed her in one shot in that moment so it's likely a fault in trying to impress rather than close it out simple and clean.

Punk, one of the best SF players in the world, beaten by 16 y.o. Paladin... and it wasn't even a close one. A teenager beat him 3-0. His Ryu had incredibly solid fundamentals and managed to keep Punk in check and dishing massive damage (as per the character being strong without any strange gimmick). Too bad he didn't do the same with Du's Guile who kept him pressured under his own tempo and unable to react. He needs to work more against zoners, but meanwhile he already prove his worth and I hope to see more of him in the future.

And now onward to the last quali... ehm, penultimate qualifier.

 

[Laurel Crown 115]

CPT US/Canada Midwest (Top 16)

Timestamps

Spoiler

44:32 Dual Kevin (LUKE) vs ZachInABox (JP)
55:13 Hsien (DEE JAY) vs Sayff (KEN)
1:03:57 JOE UMEROGAN (LUKE) vs Jak (JURI)
1:23:55 Riddles (LUKE) vs Zhen (DEE JAY)
1:32:13 Hamad (HONDA) vs Brian F (JP)
1:44:05 Whea7s (LUKE) vs Dapvip (KIMBERLY)
2:01:33 Ehai (CHUN LI) vs Shine (KIMBERLY)
2:13:28 ElChakotay (LILY) vs Van N. (DEE JAY)
2:24:11 Match #1
2:45:04 Match #2
2:54:47 Match #3
3:04:56 Match #4

 

[Laurel Crown 115]

CPT US/Canada Midwest (Top 8)

Timestamps

Spoiler

47:44 Winners Semifinal #1
1:01:16 Winners Semifinal #2
1:28:30 Losers R1 #1
1:37:48 Losers R1 #2
1:56:51 Losers Quarterfinal #1
2:06:26 Losers Quarterfinal #2
2:26:09 Winners Final
2:41:57 Losers Semifinal
2:59:10 Losers Final
3:12:06 Grand Final

Final thoughts

Spoiler

Pretty solid qualifier (the matches were good both in T16 and T8) but man... the finals were anticlimatic.

Sayff got qualified because Joe Umerogan is already in the Cup by winning the local World Warrior, so him beating Jak in the Losers Final went like a bye. Capcom should either put the "World Warriors" way after the respective Qualifiers are done (like some mini LCQs) or forbid those who already qualified to take part of these tournaments and doing gatekeeping. This way the Qualifiers are much more engaging and they avoid match fixing.

 

[Laurel Crown 115]

Capcom Cup group stages are out

Spoiler

Group F confirmed to be the "death group" of the tournament and the most stacked one. Garnet will need to look out for UMA and Rainpro.

 

[Laurel Crown 115]

Last Chance Qualifier (Top 16)

Timestamps Top 16

Spoiler

Top 16: Winners Quarter-Final (⚠️Top 8 next comment)
28:00 Tokido (Ken) Vs. John Takeuchi (Rashid)
40:08 Punk (Cammy) Vs Yamaguchi (Dee Jay)
48:00 Kakeru (JP) Vs. JB (Rashid)
1:12:00 Problem X (Blanka) Vs. Julio Fuentes (JP)

Losers Round 1
1:24:00 NoahTheProdigy (Luke )Vs Zhen (Dee Jay)
1:30:21 Vxbao (JP) Vs. ACQUA (JP)
1:48:00 Hibiki (Lily) Vs. RUNDUMB (Manon)
1:58:25 Moke (Chun Li) Vs. Nemo (JP)

Losers Round 2
2:05:30 Match #1
2:21:50 Match #2
2:32:40 Match #3
2:39:25 Match #4

Timestamps Top 8

Spoiler

2:57:42 Winners Semifinal #1
3:13:17 Winners Semifinal #2
3:38:18 Losers R1 #1
3:48:55 Losers R1 #2
4:13:20 Losers Quarterfinal #1
4:28:00 Losers Quarterfinal #2
4:52:51 Winners Final
5:02:30 Losers Semifinal
5:25:34 Losers Final
5:37:47 Grand Final

Final thoughts

Spoiler

That. Was. Wild!
Some of the BEST players in the world fighting it out for the last shot at the Capcom Cup. The Top 8 probably had some of the craziest fights overall, particularly the first Quarterfinal, and saw a lot more character variety than most qualifiers in an already "Luke-inflated" tournament.
See you all for the final week of this thread.

 

[Laurel Crown 115]

Capcom Cup X (Day 1)

Timestamps

Spoiler

Group A:
00:24:15 Shadoken (JP) vs Kawano (Luke)
00:33:46 Joe Umerogan (Luke) vs Phenom (Ken)
00:42:28 GGhalibel (Ken) vs Crossover (Dee Jay)
00:55:58 Phenom (Ken) vs Shadoken (JP)
01:02:20 Crossover (Dee Jay) vs Joe Umerogan (Luke)

Group B:
01:24:25 DespairKing (Juri) vs Big Bird (Rashid)
01:34:31 Nephew (Juri) vs shaka22 (Dhalsim)
02:06:48 Destroy Godz (Luke) vs Chris Wong (JP)
01:47:38 shaka22 (Ken) vs DespairKing (Luke)
01:58:27 Chris Wong (Ken) vs Nephew (Luke)

Group C:
02:30:01 Mister Crimson (Dhalsim) vs Dookie (Rashid)
02:41:28 Fandroid (Dee Jay) vs DCQ (JP)
02:50:01 Bravery (Cammy) vs NuckleDu (Guile)
02:58:07 DCQ (JP) vs Mister Crimson (Dhalsim)
03:10:23 NuckleDu (Guile) vs Fandroid (Dee Jay)

Group D:
03:28:36 NL (Luke) vs Gachikun (Rashid)
03:40:15 Valmaster (Chun-Li) vs SolVNG (Luke)
03:51:43 Mikex (Luke) vs Takamura (Ken)
04:01:15 SolVNG (Luke) vs NL (Luke)
04:13:35 Takamura (Ken) vs Valmaster (Chun-Li)

Group E:
04:33:40 NamikazeExTM (Dee Jay) vs Samoel (Luke)
04:45:50 Myrken (Luke) vs Xian (Dee Jay)
04:55:03 Snake Eyez (Zangief) vs Fuudo (Dee Jay)
05:03:25 Xian (Dee Jay) vs NamikazeExTM (Dee Jay)
05:14:08 Fuudo (Dee Jay) vs Myrken (JP)

Group F:
05:34:10 Leshar (Chun-Li) vs NeroTheBoxer (Dee Jay)
05:42:59 Angry Bird (Ken) vs Caba (Guile)
05:51:44 EndingWalker (Ryu) vs MenaRD (Luke)
06:09:16 Caba (Guile) vs Leshar (Chun-Li)
06:18:23 MenaRD (Luke) vs Angry Bird (Ken)

Group G:
06:41:15 JUNINHO-RAS (Dhalsim) vs Sayff (Juri)
06:52:30 Garnet (Dhalsim) vs Rainpro (Guile)
07:03:06 UMA (Juri) vs ROF (JP)
07:10:46 Rainpro (Guile) vs JUNINHO-RAS (Luke)
07:21:56 ROF (JP) vs Garnet (Dhalsim)

Group H:
07:44:01 Problem-X (Blanka) vs Kusanagi (Ken)
07:52:26 JabhiM (Dee Jay) vs Dual Kevin (Luke)
08:01:01 Ren (Luke) vs Travis Styles (Chun-Li)
08:07:09 Dual Kevin (Rashid) vs Problem-X (Blanka)
08:19:26 Travis Styles (Dee Jay) vs JabhiM (Chun-Li)

 

[Laurel Crown 115]

Capcom Cup X (Day 2)

Timestamps

Spoiler

Pool A:
00:21:37 Phenom (Ken) vs Kawano (Luke)
00:33:59 JOE UMEROGAN (Luke) vs GGHalibel (Ken)
00:43:53 Shadoken (JP) vs Crossover (Ken)
00:55:24 Kawano (Luke) vs JOE UMEROGAN (Luke)
01:09:08 GGHalibel (Ken) vs Phenom (Ken)

Pool B:
01:30:30 shaka22 (Dhalsim) vs Big Bird (Rashid)
01:40:59 Nephew (Juri) vs DestroyGodz (Guile)
01:47:55 DespairKing (Juri) vs Chris Wong (Luke)
01:55:54 Big Bird (Marisa) vs Nephew (Juri)
02:04:36 DestroyGodz (Guile) vs shaka22 (Dhalsim)

Pool C:
02:24:30 DCQ (JP) vs Dookie (JP)
02:33:34 Fandroid (Dee Jay) vs Bravery (Cammy)
02:43:22 Mister Crimson (Dhalsim) vs NuckleDu (Cammy)
02:51:37 Dookie (Rashid) vs Fandroid (Dee Jay)
02:59:10 Bravery (Cammy) vs DCQ (JP)

Pool D:
03:15:46 SolVNG (Luke) vs Gachikun (Rashid)
03:23:18 Valmaster (JP) vs Mikex (Luke)
03:34:21 NL (Luke) vs Takamura (Ken)
03:42:32 Gachikun (Rashid) vs Valmaster (Kimberly)
03:51:38 Mikex (Luke) vs SolVNG (Luke)

Pool E:
04:08:45 Xian (Dee Jay) vs Samoel (Luke)
04:15:54 Myrken (Luke) vs Snake Eyez (Zangief)
04:25:03 NamikazeExTM (Dee Jay) vs Fuudo (Dee Jay)
04:36:57 Samoel (Luke) vs Myrken (Luke)
04:46:09 Snake Eyez (Zangief) vs Xian (Dee Jay)

Pool F:
05:09:58 Caba (Guile) vs NeroTheBoxer (Dee Jay)
05:19:28 Angry Bird (Ken) vs EndingWalker (Dee Jay)
05:31:33 Leshar (Chun-Li) vs MenaRD (Blanka)
05:41:50 NeroTheBoxer (Dee Jay) vs Angry Bird (Ken)
05:51:01 EndingWalker (Dee Jay) vs Caba (Guile)

Pool G:
06:10:02 Rainpro (Guile) vs Sayff (Ken)
06:16:30 Garnet (Dhalsim) vs UMA (Juri)
06:29:21 JUNINHO-RAS (Luke) vs ROF (JP)
06:42:02 Sayff (Ken) vs Garnet (Dhalsim)
06:49:30 UMA (Juri) vs Rainpro (Guile)

Pool H:
07:10:30 Dual Kevin (Luke) vs kusanagi (Ken)
07:17:55 JabhiM (Dee Jay) vs Ren (Luke)
07:30:32 Problem-X (Blanka) vs Travis Styles (Chun-Li)
07:38:42 Kusanagi (Ken) vs JabhiM (Dee Jay)
07:46:48 Ren (Luke) vs Dual Kevin (Rashid)

 

[Laurel Crown 115]

Capcom Cup X (Day 3)

Timestamps

Spoiler

Pool A:
00:18:13 Shadoken (JP) vs JOE UMEROGAN (Luke)
00:26:10 Kawano (Luke) vs GGHalibel (Ken)
00:38:38 Phenom (Luke) vs Crossover (Dee Jay)
00:48:14 GGHalibel (Ken) vs Shadoken (JP)
01:04:23 Crossover (Dee Jay) vs Kawano (Luke)

Pool B:
01:22:24 DespairKing (Juri) vs Nephew (Juri)
01:31:04 Big Bird (Marisa) vs DestroyGodz (Guile)
01:37:28 shaka22 (Dhalsim) vs Chris Wong (Luke)
01:49:04 Destroy Godz (Guile) vs DespairKing (Juri)
01:58:14 Chris Wong (Luke) vs Big Bird (Marisa)

Pool C:
02:18:37 Mister Crimson (Dhalsim) vs Fandroid (Dee Jay)
02:26:31 Dookie (JP) vs Bravery (Cammy)
02:38:39 DCQ (JP) vs NuckleDu (Guile)
02:49:26 Bravery (Cammy) vs Mister Crimson (Dhalsim)
03:00:22 NuckleDu (Cammy) vs Dookie (Rashid)

Pool D:
03:28:36 NL (Luke) vs Valmaster (Kimberly)
03:35:44 Gachikun (Rashid) vs Mikex (Luke)
03:45:32 SolVNG (Luke) vs Takamura (Ken)
03:53:26 Mikex (Luke) vs NL (Luke)
04:03:44 Takamura (Ken) vs Gachikun (Rashid)

Pool E:
04:24:56 NamikazeExTM (Dee Jay) vs Myrken (Luke)
04:34:06 Samoel (Luke) vs Snake Eyez (Zangief)
04:40:40 Xian (Dee Jay) vs Fuudo (Dee Jay)
04:48:04 Snake Eyez (Zangief) vs NamikazeExTM (Dee Jay)
04:57:27 Fuudo (Dee Jay) vs Samoel (Luke)

Pool F:
05:13:15 Leshar (Chun-Li) vs Angry Bird (Ken)
05:24:46 NeroTheBoxer (Dee Jay) vs EndingWalker (Ryu)
05:35:22 Caba (Guile) vs MenaRD (JP)
05:42:45 EndingWalker (Dee Jay) vs Leshar (Chun-Li)
05:52:09 MenaRD (Luke) vs NeroTheBoxer (Dee Jay)

Pool G:
06:16:13 JUNINHO-RAS (Luke) vs Garnet (Dhalsim)
06:22:14 Sayff (Ken) vs UMA (Juri)
06:33:48 Rainpro (Guile) vs ROF (JP)
06:43:20 UMA (Juri) vs JUNINHO-RAS (Luke)
06:50:20 ROF (JP) vs Sayff (Ken)

Pool H:
07:10:13 Problem-X (Blanka) vs JabhiM (Chun-Li)
07:16:16 Kusanagi (Ken) vs Ren (Luke)
07:28:46 Dual Kevin (Luke) vs Travis Styles (Chun-Li)
07:43:31 Ren (Luke) vs Problem-X (Lilly)
07:51:00 Travis Styles (Chun-Li) vs Kusanagi (Ken)

 

[Laurel Crown 115]

Capcom Cup X (Final Day; Top 16 to Grand Final)

Timestamps

Spoiler

Winners Quarter-Final
21:56 Phenom (Ken) Vs. Chris Wong (Luke)
34:10 DCQ (JP) Vs. Gachikun (Rashid)
51:13 Xian (Dee Jay) Vs. Leshar (Chun Li) 
1:18:43 UMA (Juri) Vs. Kusanagi (Ken) 

Losers Round 1
1:28:47 Kawano (Luke) Vs. Nephew (Juri) 
1:45:37 NuckleDu (Guile) Vs. NL (Luke) 
2:09:30 Fuudo (Dee Jay) Vs. MenaRD (Blanka/Luke)
2:25:25 Sayff (Ken) Vs. Dual Kevin (Luke)
 
Losers Round 2
2:39:58 Match #1
3:07:22 Match #2
3:24:11 Match #3
3:36:45 Match #4

Winners Semi-Final
3:59:46 Match #1
4:16:44 Match #1

Losers Round 3
4:37:44 Match #1
4:51:25 Match #2

Losers Quarter-Final
5:09:50 Match #1
5:28:55 Match #2

Winners Final
5:50:12

Losers Semi-Final
6:10:19

Losers Final
6:31:40

Grand Final
6:50:55

(Final) final thoughts

Spoiler

What a wild Top 16 to close out the Pro Tour with the biggest prize money in FGC history. Complete with the most upsetting results in recent years.
While we were a lot of top-tiers, mostly Luke being the standard of pro playing, we had a fair share of characters including a Chun-Li and even a Rashid, carried by possibly his best player in the world.

About the CPT itself, there's been a divide between those who liked the format and those who disliked it. Yeah, it managed to give a lot of players around the world the chance to play for the big leagues without worrying much about travel expenses but I can understand it wasn't the best in terms of "gatekeeping" as many pros failed to qualify by choking (Idom) or because they met their match against an unexpected prodigy (Punk or EndingWalker, even though he qualified with the regional World Warrior tournament) so a lot of these qualifiers ranged from "Fantastic" to "Boring" or "Meh". We'll see if Capcom will return to the point-ranking system for this Pro Tour.

And that's it for CPT. This thread didn't garner a lot of attention so I won't make another thread for 2024... but that's okay. It was more of a test run before going to the more well-known sports.

If you ever read this, you have my thanks