Manila Cup 2015: Final Results
The dust has finally settled over at the Imperium e-Sports bar in Metrowalk and six champions have come out on top. There was hype, cheering and celebration as Manila Cup 2015 ended this past Sunday, September 6.
For those who missed it, here’s a complete rundown of the results for the first international fighting game major in the country.
Ultra Street Fighter 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOTeVSPoyqo
The grand finals for Ultra Street Fighter 4 came down to Japanese C. Viper player Takenori “TONPY” Shimomura in winners going up against Canada Cup Gaming’s (CCG) Jonny “Humanbomb” Cheng from Hong Kong from losers.
The two had already faced each other in winner’s finals, with TONPY coming out on top. Their winners match finals was one of the most hyped matches that night, to say the least, and the crowd was definitely looking forward to the runback.
The match started out with Humanbomb using his trademark Sakura. However after getting defeated again, albeit more convincingly, the Hong Kong player surprised the entire room by pulling out a pocket Ryu. The character change proved to be successful with Humanbomb winning three consecutive games and resetting the bracket.
The second set however saw favor back to TONPY. The Japanese would prove to be the better fighter using C. Viper’s array of special moves to mix up and bait mistakes from Humanbomb, winning the set 3 – 1.
“I have joined many tournaments in the past, but this is my first time winning in an international major, so I’m very happy” TONPY exclaimed.
When asked to talk about his thoughts during the final match, TONPY said he was scared. “I was really surprised and worried when I saw he pulled out Ryu, and it was really good. I never expected it.,” he said in the post match interview.
“I have faced many good Ryu players back home in Japan, so thankfully I was able to change my play style and win the second set.”
Final Results:
TONPY (L) and CCG|Humanbomb (R)
1. TONPY (C.Viper)
2. CCG|Humanbomb (Sakura, Ryu)
3. NISHIKIN (Blanka)
4. Reiketsu (Poison, Vega, Yang)
5. Jiewa (Ken)
5. Itabashi Zangief (Zangief)
7. DouYuTV|GOD OF SKY (Elena, Vega)
7. r/Kappa|stormKUBO (Hugo)
9. IPT|Dru (Chun-Li)
9. YBK|Kim1234 (M.Bison)
9. Keno (Elena)
9. Gonzalez (Seth)
13. IPT|Garret (Makoto)
13. Ikatsui Yarou (Zangief)
13. James (Balrog)
13. Chuan (Guile, Fei Long)
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
For Smash Bros., the grand finals was a Mario mirror match between Imperium Pro Team’s (IPT) Patrick “DJR” Levy and PlayBook Elite’s (PBE) Mikel “Godz” Godinez. Among the top four players to place in SSB4 at Manila Cup, Godz was the only one without any previous championship experience in local tournaments and the hunger was evident. Godz came in and beat everyone on his way to grand finals including DJR during winner’s finals.
The fight was intense with neither players backing down. “He kind of figured out my play style as we played, so the matches were pretty close,” said Godz.
The fourth match was played in the Castle Siege match from Fire Emblem, a map noted for it’s arena transitions mid match. By this point, Godz was ahead of DJR two to one, and only needed one more win to secure the championship. The match started out in DJR’s favor, getting an unexpected first stock with expert use of Mario’s FLUDD special. Godz answered back with a forward smash and mid-air interception to even the stock count 1 – 1.
It was during the third stage transition that luck smiled on Godz’s side. As the arena changed, DJR was caught unaware and found himself positioned off the stage. This resulted in a self destruct for DJR, earning Godz his first ever championship title in Super Smash Bros.
Godz however expressed his dissatisfaction at how the match concluded. “After such a hard match, it was a pretty sad way to win. But a win is a win. I had to take it” he said.
Final Results
PBE|Godz (Center) with PlayBook owners Richard and Bianca Brojan
1. PBE|Godz (Mario)
2. IPT|DJR (Mario)
3. PBE|DYG (Mario)
4. Cheese (Pikachu)
Mortal Kombat X
Grand Finals VoD can be found here (36:44 mark)
Grand finals for Mortal Kombat X came down to a match between brothers and fellow IPT members Migo “migosan” Macayan and Martin “Martin” Macayan. the “Macayan Brothers” are widely known in the Philippines Mortal Kombat Community to be the best players in the country. For many, this match up was a long time coming. However, unknown to the spectating crowd, emotions were running high between the two brothers.
“Our dog, our best bud of 14 years died earlier this morning. Me and my brother Martin barely had any sleep” Migo narrates. “This grand finals match was for him.”
Both brothers played their heart out that day, until they eventually met up for the championship, Martin in winners and Migosan in losers. Migosan came in hot, coming in from a convincing three game comeback against PBE Enzo “Stats” Prats and sweeping John Mark “Krimpai” Frianeza to make it to grand finals.
Migosan’s winning streak continued as he completely swept Martin in grand finals. He won three consecutive games to reset the bracket and won three straight again to take home the championship.
Migosan thanked his knowledge of Martin’s play style for his victory at Manila Cup. “I play him everyday so I know how to fight him. It kind of feels unfair since although he uses top tier characters, I have all the time to adapt to it,” Migosan explained.
“All the credit still goes to my brother for getting to grand finals in dominant fashion. As much as I wanted him to win, I wasn’t gonna give it to him for free. I can’t just throw the game away.”
When asked for his final thoughts, Migosan just said he wanted more players to participate and join in. “If you’re too scared to join the tournament, then join us for casuals first or just watch the event. It’s a learning experience and it’s really fun.” he said.
“We had three new faces this past Friday. Since then they have kept posting in our groups about how much fun it was. Continue training, continue having fun and don’t get intimidated by anyone.”
Final Results
IPT|Martin (L) and IPT|migosan (R)
1. IPT|migosan (Ninjutsu Scorpion, Master of Souls Ermac)
2. IPT|Martin ( Covert Ops Sonya Blade, Hollywood Cassie Cage, A-List Johnny Cage, Mournful Kitana)
3. JAV|Krimpai (Full Auto Jacqui Briggs)
4. PBE|Stats (Bone Shaper Shinnok)
BlazBlue Chronophantasma Extend
Grand Finals VoD can be found here
Similar to Mortal Kombat, grand finals for BlazBlue came down to two IPT members once again. In winners we had Robert “Blickwinkel” Andrada with his Jin taking on Angelo “MacArthur” Baldonado using Relius and Valkenhayn from losers. Both players are veterans and good friends, having gone abroad to represent the country in international events.
Blickwinkel would go on to assert his dominance and win three straight games to win BlazBlue at Manila Cup. That win made him the only local player to attain championship titles at two internationally recognized events. His first one was last year when he took first place for the same game at Southeast Asia Majors in Singapore.
“Since MacArthur is a good friend of mine, I entered grand finals in a relatively calm mood. We’re training buddies, so we’re familiar with each other’s play style,” said Blickwinkel.
When asked how he felt about being the first local fighting game player to have two international titles under his belt, Blickwinkel hoped that more would come to follow.
“Of course I’m very proud, since I’m the only one so far who’s gotten this achievement. I do hope that more Filipinos would follow similarly in different games, particularly in Street Fighter.”
Final Results
IPT|MacArthur (L) and IPT|Blickwinkel (R)
1. IPT|Blickwinkel (Jin)
2. IPT|McArthur (Valkenhayn)
3. EHADA|Chase (Ragna)
4. PBE|NiteRAId (Hazama)
5. Zenoviah (Noel)
5. BE|ABEGEN (Tager)
7. Gio
7. IPT|Alden
Guilty Gear Xrd
Grand Finals VoD can be found here (2:15:44 mark)
Guilty Gear grand finals came down to team Black Eye’s (BE) Genki “ABEGEN” Abe with Potemkin and top Slayer player Takaaki “TAKA” Tsutsui. Many already expected this outcome as Japan is recognized to house the best Guilty Gear talent in the world. Nevertheless, the crowd was still excited to see top level play from these competitors.
TAKA already played ABEGEN earlier and sent him to losers convincingly thanks to his excellent play with Slayer. Meeting in grand finals once again, TAKA was happy that he would be facing a fellow Japanese. “I was happy that I was going up against ABEGEN, but at the same time I was very nervous,” TAKA explained.
Their grand finals bout would be a repeat of their earlier encounter, and TAKA secured his first International Championship. “This is the first one I’ve ever won internationally, so that makes me very happy” he said.
When asked about the best moment in Guilty Gear during Manila Cup, TAKA pointed to ABEGEN’s match with PBE Mark “Noob” Casing. “I really found their match to be intense and the most hyped one for GG during the event,” he explained.
Final Result
BE | ABEGEN (L) and TAKA (R)
1. TAKA (Slayer)
2. BE|ABEGEN (Potemkin)
3. PBE|Noob (Zato-1)
4. PBE|Draqqe (Venom)
5. OS|Daiga Umaestra (Leo Whitefang)
5. PBE|Shinji (May)
7. Jayron (Sol Badguy)
7. IPT|Bickwinkel (Elphelt)
Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3
Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 got special mention for being the only game wherein we have a local player and an international player facing off in grand finals: BE|ABEGEN and his unorthodox team of Tron/Thor/She-Hulk would take on Playmore Friction’s Peter “Papable Peter” Chua.
ABEGEN has been a crowd favorite for most of the event. This was primarily because of his team composition. Much like his teammate and current EVO Champion Nicolas “Kane Blue River” Gonzales, ABEGEN’s team did not consist of top tier characters. However, he as able to make them synergize well and put up a fight against some of the best players in the world. It was exciting to see characters that weren’t often used doing crazy things on screen.
While known for running either Magneto and Wolverine on point with a Dr. Doom/Vergil shell, Peter went to one of his more specialized teams consisting of Dr. Doom/Dormmamu/Strider to take on the Japanese competitor. Unfortunately, Peter’s adjustment did him no favors, as ABEGEN convincingly took him down, first during winner’s finals and again in grand finals to take home the championship.
“I’m so happy that I was able to win it. This is the first major I’ve won overseas,” ABEGEN said. “Apart from winning the title, I was also able to prove that my team is definitely strong.”
When asked to describe his finals match, ABEGEN said he could tell that Peter was nervous. “I could tell that he was panicky and nerves were getting to him so I focused on a more rush down kind of style for our final match.”
Final Results
BE|ABEGEN (L) and PF|Papable Peter (R)
1. BE|ABEGEN (Tron/Thor/She-Hulk)
2. PF|Papable Peter (Magneto/Doctor Doom/Vergil, Doctor Doom/Dormammu/Strider Hiryu)
3. bully69 (Wolverine/Doctor Doom/Vergil)
4. IPT|Anton Castilla (Zero/Doctor Doom/Vergil)
5. TS|Ran
5. IPT|Garret (Magneto/Doctor Strange/Dante, Spider-Man/Rocket Raccoon/Doctor Strange)
7. NM|Kim
7. Zekira G. Drake
Stay tuned as we bring you more highlights from Manila Cup 2015 this coming week.
Credits to Xsplit for the videos. Special thanks to IPT Dan “Balbs” Balbas for serving as our Japanese translator.
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