ReveLAtions Finals: Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition

The tournament was getting closer and closer to the end with Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition being the second to last game to complete its finals. The first match was against AGE Snake Eyez and AGE Vangief. This match turns out to be a mirror match with both players using Zangief. Mirror matches are only fascinating when you are curious to see who is better at controlling their character. But at the same time, they are boring because the characters tend to dance with each other until an opening comes up. Both players were evenly matched when each claimed a round in victory, but it was Snake Eyez that was the superior Zangief player.

At this point in the tournament, only the big names were mostly pitted against each other. Sometimes, there were underdogs, but for the most part, it was the popular people who were fighting. With that said, EG PR Balrog and CC.COL FChamp were against each other in the second match. Both knew each other’s play styles quite well, so it felt like a friendly game rather than something was on the line. Balrog’s… Balrog vs. FChamp’s Dhalsim was a match that was more like a game played in the living room with a bunch of friends, or at least that’s what it felt like with the atmosphere of the tournament. The victories were back and forth; FChamp would win one, then Balrog. A teleport from Dhalsim left Balrog doing his super in a corner. FChamp took the opportunity and finished him off with his own super, claiming victory for the round and knocking Balrog in the loser’s bracket.

The first match of the loser’s bracket was between Justin Wong and Ricky Ortiz and it was yet another mirror match, only it was Rufus vs. Rufus. These two players were known for having similar play styles and even constructing similar teams. This match would determine who the better Rufus was and at the end of round one, it was leaning towards Justin Wong. But the second round begged to differ, as Ricky Ortiz came back and took that one. It was match point that determined who was the better Rufus player and the Street Fighter gods dubbed JWong to be the one. The typically salty Ricky Ortiz did not seem so salty at his loss, possibly because JWong was more friend than foe.
On a side note, how could someone so fat move so gracefully and fast? Just saying.

Combofiend takes the stage once again, only this time in SSF4:AE against Happy Medicine. His Cammy was pitted against the popular character M. Bison, two characters that had one hell of a history together. M.Bison is a heavy hitter in Street Fighter and he was not afraid to show it. But this did not matter when Combofiend took the victory for the match, knocking Happy Medicine out of the running.

The friendly matches continued and next on the list was PR Balrog vs Justin Wong. Balrog used Rufus’ stomach for a punching bag and took round one. But JWong wasn’t out yet. He bested Ricky Ortiz in his fight for who was the better Rufus and that title was not one to take lightly. He took round two, making the match go to match point. The patience of JWong was not enough and Balrog took the match.

In the next match-up in the loser’s bracket, Combofiend changed it up and went with Oni against AGE Vangief’s Zangief. Combofiend is patient like JWong, waiting for the opportunity to strike rather than just rushing and hoping for the best. Sometimes this ended up running the clock to the end, which got him the victory for round one. But though he was patient, at times he liked to finish a battle in style. Ending a set with Oni’s hyper was a common theme in the match between Vangief. He won the match with a 2-0 victory.

Friends once again as Combofiend got no time to rest as he fought PR Balrog in the final loser’s bracket match. He went with Oni again, feeling it was the best character to defeat Balrog’s iconic Balrog. However, perhaps he made a wrong choice in selection because Balrog bested him in both matches, knocking Combofiend out of the running.

Now that the loser’s bracket was set and done, the matches now went into three victories instead of two. First up were the victors of the winner’s bracket, FChamp and Snake Eyez. Teammates sat with Snake on stage and supported him in his battle against FChamp with Zangief. Snake knew of FChamp’s intense zoning and did his best to get in and attack Dhalsim. This was difficult at first, for when Dhalsim used his Yoga Flame super, he would teleport away and make distance. But he couldn’t run away forever, and Snake’s Zangief took round one and two. Now FChamp was cornered. He was one victory away from being knocked down a peg and his change in strategies really showed. In one round, it was “Teleport? Nope! …Teleport again…? NO!” But FChamp claimed victory in the following two rounds, taking it to match point. It was down to a single set and sometimes, you just gotta get in there and beat up a zoner. The final round and the match went to Snake Eyez and his Zangief.

But FChamp still had a chance to win, but first he needed to get through PR Balrog and his not-afraid-to-get-in-there attitude. Balrog had the opportunity to study his opponent and knew that the only way to defeat FChamp’s Dhalsim was to not be afraid to get in. This time, FChamp wasn’t playing around and took round one from Balrog. But the aggressiveness of Balrog came out and he laid waste to Dhalsim in the second round. It was déjà-vu all over again when Balrog lost the match against FChamp in the same way that he lost the match in the winner’s bracket: super in the corner and Yoga Flame to the back.

AGE Snake Eyez and CC.COL FChamp met on the battlefield once again to determine who would be champion of Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition. But if FChamp won, then he would reset the bracket and take it to match point. Only now Snake knows that he just needs to get in to hit Dhalsim, because he knows that he can. The rounds began and it was like watching a very delicate dance along with a battle of wits. FChamp took the first close round through chip damage. It is dangerous trying to get in on a Dhalsim with a full Super bar, so Snake had to play it very carefully in letting Zangief in. His patience paid off as he took the second and third round. Snake Eyez just needed one more victory and he would be crowned champion. But FChamp took his zoning strategy to the max and took the fourth round, causing the match to go to a final fifth round. If Snake won, he would be crowned. But if FChamp won, the brackets would reset due to Snake’s previous win. It was a battle of patience and wits to see who was going to fall prey to it first. FChamp took the victory and reset the bracket. Now the battle could really begin.

The first and second round went to FChamp for his patience and zoning techniques. But Snake was patient too and took his chance to hit Dhalsim for the third round win. However, the final win of SSF4:AE was very anti-climactic, for FChamp was crowned victorious due to a time out.

With the Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition finals over, the best was yet to come. Stay tuned on Velocity Gamer for the finals of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 at ReveLAtions 2012.