The inaugural SEE Tekken tournament closed out Semester 1, and helped us solidify our tournament structure in preparation for our first full semester of SEE tournaments. All the regulars were there, Rangers, Genome, Autofix and Lord Sparks, with the mystery man Jack (strangely not a Jack-6 user) coming to the meet especially for the tournament, such was the hype. The most notable up-and-comers were Mike and Yufei, who although only recently began learning the game, proved their mettle. The top 4 seeds going into the first round were the bitter rivals Genome and Rangers, the mystery newcomer Jack, and Lord Sparks who had been practicing like a mofo all week in preparation. With a double-elimination format, the scene was set for a great tournament.
The first round was very un-Australian with no underdogs managing to upset, and Rei and Katie being the first to lose 2 matches and bow out of the tournament. The second round was quite similar, with Tommy, Henry and Shinobigod leaving the arena.
Third round saw the tournament heat up a notch, with the seeds playing each other in the winners' bracket. In Lord Sparks v Rangers, Lord Sparks played with all odds against him, but in a cunning move had ditched his main Lee and opted for Alisa, not a character anyone in the tournament had much practice against, including Rangers. In a disappointing result for him, Rangers lost a life, and Lord Sparks' heavy training regime, probably involving raw eggs and grey hoodies, was bearing fruits. Meanwhile, in Genome v Jack, although Law wasn’t a rare sight in the SEE arena, Jack's solid playstyle got the better of Genome, who vowed revenge and shuffled over to the losers' side. Autofix continued giving people legal schooling in the losers' bracket, and Yufei couldn't quite handle the technicalities. In a battle of the names, Mike pushed out Michael with some solid timing.
Fourth round was the winners' bracket final, with Lord Sparks' Alisa against Jack's Law. Jack continued to smash the field, with Lord Sparks moving down to the losers' bracket final. The Losers' bracket had 2 thrilling contests with Autofix stepping up his game with Law to have a crack at Rangers' Lili. In the final round of the final match, Law was distracted looking at the pretty schoolgirl and got crunched. On the other side, fighting game all-rounder Mike was frustrating Tekken specialist Genome with the 5 or so moves he'd learnt for Panda and his fantastic timing. After losing the 2nd match bringing it to 1-1, Genome decided to change the stage in order to give himself some space, but stupidly pressed the random stage button at the wrong time to get the same tight stage yet again. The match went down to the wire, with Mike getting the 1st round, but failing to close out either of the next two, and Genome moved on.
The biggest rivalry in SEE was up next, with Ranger's Lili vs Genome's Paul fighting for a spot in the loser's bracket final. Eyes were on the projector, Rangers protected himself from any abuse hurled his way with his earphones in. Knowing each other's styles very well, the rounds were close, usually going the way of whoever got a big juggle in first. It went down to the last round of the last match. Rangers takes Genome to under 10% of total health, putting him in Rage Mode with the opportunity to do more damage. Genome takes his chance up against a wall, and puts out a huge hopkick combo to finish Rangers off completely. Both players agreed it was a satisfying finish to a hyped match.
Next up was the loser's bracket final, Genome's Paul v Lord Sparks' Alisa. For the first of the finals, the players now have to take out 3 matches to win the series. Genome has had a bit time to suss out the new character in the MUSCA office before the tournament, and wins the series comfortably. Lord Sparks gets a podium finish, and improves his Tekken standing in the community.
Finally the Grand Final match, Jack, who had cruised to the finals through the winner's bracket, was feeling quietly confident, having already taken Genome out in their 3rd round clash. Genome is bruised and bloody at this point, having had 3 tough opponents, and 2 come from behind victories, he didn't expect this to be easy. With Jack not having lost a series yet, Genome needed 2 series wins against Jack to win the tournament, while Jack only had to defeat Genome once. Forgetting this, a silly admin decision was made to make the finals Bo5 rounds and Bo5 matches, ensuring everyone was bored silly by the time it gets to completion. Genome, fired up by intense matches he's had to make the grand final, came out guns blazing and hit juggle after juggle, winning the first 2 matches, before Jack started to even things up and took the 3rd match. Genome eked out a 3rd victory, and claimed the first series, forcing a deciding series with Jack, who had lost control of the match and with it, the momentum. Jack started to get some juggles working in the second series, but not regularly enough, and Genome kept the pressure up until he came out victorious, chocolate block clutched proudly to his chest.
It was a great second tournament for the SEE club, and doubtless we'll see even more furious button-mashing and psychological warfare in the club's first semester of tournaments. There'll be games for every type of gamer and something on every week! Hope you enjoyed the write-up.
