Battle Arena Melbourne 2011 Results
Oh, and apparently while everyone was getting their hands on UMvC3, SFxT and Soul Calibur V, some people were also running tournaments.
The AE Singles finals were markedly hype, as border-hopping invader Shang Tsung came agonisingly close to stealing the title, coming out of losers’ bracket to level the tie before AkiraHat triumphed 2-0 in the rematch. AkiraHat was earlier let off the hook by human combo video Sol, whose premature celebration cost him the match, the resulting whiffed Ultra on match point letting AkiraHat back into the match to ultimately send Sol to losers’ bracket. While finishing fourth in the premier event, hometown favourite ToXY nonetheless had a good weekend, coming second in AE Teams, first in Marvel and second in Third Strike.
Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition – Singles
1. AkiraHat [Sagat]
2. Shang Tsung (NSW) [Dictator]
3. TEC|Sol T [Sakura, Rose, Cody]
4. ToXY [Akuma]
5. Heavy Weapons [Sagat, Ryu]
5. Somniac [Dictator]
7. Carnage [Cammy]
7. Naruga [Chun Li, Cammy]
Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition – Teams
1. Rigged Bracket (Afterdeath [Zangief], Shang Tsung [Dictator], Phero [Guile])
2. iSuck (ToXY [Akuma], Somniac [Dictator], AkiraHat [Sakura])
3. Shadowloo (Pyro [Boxer], TEC|vX [Akuma], TEC|SUBJ3CT [Dictator])
3. He Already Had Burgers Today (Heavy Weapons [Sagat], Sol [Sakura], Exis [Blanka])
Marvel vs Capcom 3
1. ToXY
2. Antman
3. PPV|Burnout
4. Low Blow
5. Shadowfox
5. Somniac
7. Batasan
7. MikeSG
Street Fighter III: Third Strike
1. AkiraHat [Urien]
2. ToXY [Chun Li]
3. OhSheetSon [Ibuki]
4. Carnage [Gouki]
5. Alex C [Oro]
5. Naruga [Chun Li]
7. Batasan [Hugo]
7. Pyro [Ken]
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift 2
1. Isoroppia (NSW)
2. Marco
3. Akai Hikari
4. Lucia
5. Daichi
5. Song (SA)
7. Feri
7. Runis (NSW)
Tekken 6
1. KO
2. Woody
3. Jin
4. Dion
5. gHost
5. Gab
7. Oblong
7. Zero
Virtua Fighter 5
1. AlexMD
2. Kenny
3. Berzerk
4. Tian
5. Gab
5. Wickdood (SA)
7. Mooseking (SA)
7. Damo
In addition to all the fighting games tournaments being run over the weekend, the entire back area was dedicated to tournaments for other kinds of video games, namely Smash Bros. Brawl and Melee. It should be noted that in these tournaments, the use of Metaknight was not banned, possibly making the tournaments entirely fraudulent.
Super Smash Bros. Melee – Singles
1. Mango
2. Zxv
3. Dekar
4. Redx
Super Smash Bros. Melee – Teams
1. Mango/Redact
Super Smash Bros. Brawl – Singles
1. Attila
2. Tibor
3. Earl
4. Zxv
Super Smash Bros. Brawl – Teams
1. Attila/Tibor
2. Splice/Earl
In addition to the brackets, there were also a number of in-house community awards:
SSFIV: AE – Most Improved: Phero
BlazBlue – Most Improved: Marco
Tekken 6 – Most Improved: Zero (Baraa)
Virtua Fighter 5 – Most Improved: THK
Melee – Most Improved: Redx
Brawl – Most Improved: Allans
MvC3 – Cheapest Player: Burnout
SF3 – Low Tier Hero: Kenny
Most Salty: Tibs
Biggest Shit Talker: Dekar
Commentary Award: Heavy Weapons (honourable mention to Kyle the Guile)
Sportsmanship Award: EXC355UM
People’s Champion: Carnage
Best Dressed: Chris Ho
Community Appreciation Awards: Loki, Redact, EXC355UM, Muttons, Chris Ho
Farthest Travelled (from home): Skullator
Jack of All Trades: Burnout
YouTube Moment of the Tournament: SSFIV AE Singles Winners’ Final: TEC|Sol T (Sakura) vs AkiraHat (Sagat)
Special thanks to the guys at Couch Warriors for hosting a wonderful event, Berzerk for showing me there was more to Virtua Fighter than slow looking juggles and Saturn-era sound engineering, THK for spending the better part of an evening furiously studying VF5 ringout gimmicks, D.Yoshii and the crew at Level 3 for some additional correspondence, Stephen from Namco Bandai and Alan from THQ for providing the demo builds, and the countless others I’m hazy with names for.
