Comebacks, Upsets, and Double KO’s: The Top 5 Hype Moments of Manila Cup 2015
“Hype”. This was what numerous people said when we asked what they thought of Manila Cup. The first and largest international fighting game gathering in the country promised FGC locals with an exciting weekend and they did not disappoint. Without any further derailment of the hypetrain, here are our top 5 hype moments of Manila Cup 2015.
Might Tested: IPT|Migosan vs PBE|Stats
We already mentioned in our results rundown that the “Macayan Brothers” are currently recognized to be the top Mortal Kombat players in the country. It was on full display last weekend as brothers Migo “migosan” and Martin Macayan took the top two seats for the tournament, with migosan as champion and Martin coming in second.
In all their matches that took place during Manila Cup, non could be a better demonstration of skill and prowess than when migosan took on Playbook Elite’s (PBE) Enzo “Stats” Prats and his up and coming Shinnok. In a match between new blood and hardened veteran, migosan expertly demonstrated why experience and solid fundamentals are still very much the deciding factors when it comes to the tournament setting.
From there, migosan continued on a rampage with a 12 game win streak, and the rest is history.
For the VoDs, follow link here. (Starts at 15:05 mark)
Getting Noticed by Senpai: PBE. Noob vs BE|ABEGEN
In our interview with Manila Cup Guilty Gear Champion Takaaki “TAKA” Tsutsui, he pointed to the showdown between Black Eye’s Genki “ABEGEN” Abe’s Potemkin and PBE’s Mark “Noob” Casing with his Zato-1 as his favorite match during the Guilty Gear Tournament.
PBE Noob is recognized by many in the local GG scene to currently be the best player overall. He has won numerous local tournaments with his trade mark Zato-1. Going into Manila Cup, it’s no wonder why almost everyone named him as the best bet we’ve got to go up against the Japanese competitors.
“Noob has been winning all the tournaments over the past 6 months at Playbook and Imperium” Playbook Elite owner Richard Brojan explains. “It’s nice to see him faced with a real challenge. It’s the only way he really can improve.”
Their match in loser’s finals would go down as one of the most heartstopping fights during the event. Although PBE Noob was defeated by ABEGEN, the Filipino player was able to showcase that he does have what it takes to compete at an international level. ABEGEN even went so far to acknowledge his skill as a player and wished that he would travel to Japan. “I believe that if he goes to Japan and train, he would definitely get a lot stronger” he says in an interview.
For the VoDs, follow link here. (Starts at 2:00:30 mark)
Clash of the Titans: Itabashi Zangief vs. r/Kappa stormKUBO
What happens when the Red Cyclone faces off against the German incarnation of Andre the Giant? One of the most anticipated matches in the event, that’s what.
On one side of the ring we have the seasoned veteran Hiromiki “Itabashi Zangief” Kumada (ItaZan for short). Itazan is widely recognized as one of the best Zangief players in the world and has consistent top placings in tournaments he’s entered. His knowledge and experience with using the Russian wrestler is probably second to none.
On the other side, we have Kubo “stormKUBO” Arashi, a player who just recently exploded into the international spotlight. StormKUBO made waves this past August at the Taiwan Fighter Major with his big-bodied Hugo. He placed in second, which is definitely impressive for a first time showing at an international event.
The two had already faced each other numerous times, most recently in TWM2015. It was ItaZan who initially sent stormKUBO to the loser’s bracket for that major. However, stormKUBO came back and sent ItaZan home when they faced each other at loser’s finals. True to their characters, their matches were of epic proportions, with neither showing signs of letting down. For the FGC faithful spectating, their meeting at Manila Cup is something to definitely watch out for.
The match didn’t disappoint, and ended up being one of the best fights for USF4 for Manila Cup 2015. If you haven’t watched it, click the video below, grab your popcorn and enjoy the show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX57Faj8REM
Hometown Hero: IPT|Dru vs Itabashi Zangief
While the Philippines did not have any representation in top 8 for USF4, there were three Filipinos who managed to break out of their pools and get into top 16. Without taking away any credit to Imperium Pro Team’s (IPT) Garret “Effy” Baluyot, Keno “Keno” Echaluse and James Prado, it was IPT Andrew “Dru” Martinez who managed to win the entire crowd over when he took down ItaZan 2-0 to get into Winner’s top 16. Many had already put money on Japan and the other internationals to occupy the top spots. Seeing a fellow Filipino come out on top and in dominating fashion against an internationally recognized top player was a treat to behold. For IPT Dru, this was a repeat of their previous encounter.
“We already faced each other earlier this year at South East Asia Majors in Thailand, and I beat him during a 3 v 3 exhibition match,” Dru narrates.
Dru credits his impressive performance to personal match up knowledge. “I have good experience with the match up since we have a lot of Zangief players in the local scene. Also, by default, I think my character (Chun-li) is a good counter against the Russian wrestler.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwoXPSa_Crw
Grand Finals Foreshadowing: CCG | Humanbomb vs TONPY
We mentioned in the results rundown that the winner’s final match between Takenori “TONPY” Shimomura and Canada Cup Gaming’s Johnny “Humanbomb” Cheng was one of the hypest matches that night. Rarely do we get instances of a Double KO, so you could just imagine the crowd reaction when it happened twice in one set. In the end, TONPY came out on top 3-0, but not after intensely slugging it out with the Hong Kong Sakura player.
We were able to ask TONPY to describe his thoughts on the Double KOs. “After it first happened, I didn’t know what to do next. I was at a loss” he said. “I just took a moment to shake it off, and went to focus on the following fight.”
All credits go to Xsplit for the videos
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
