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5 Biggest Moments From Proving Grounds and The Pit
Red Bull had a busy weekend of fighting games, and these are the can't miss beatdowns.
Red Bull knows how to throw a fighting game event, and in turn, some of the world's greatest players know how to fill them with the kinds of hype moments that echo through venues and reverberate across social media channels.
This year, Red Bull put on not one, but two huge live events: Red Bull Proving Grounds Fall Finals outside Chicago, and Red Bull: The Pit Finals in Germany. Both saw teams of talented Street Fighter V pros battle it out in incredible 3v3 skirmishes, while the Proving Grounds Fall Finals also played host to Capcom's latest Battle for the Stones tournament stop for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite.
There were plenty of battles to choose from, but in the end, we picked the five most thrilling and exciting moments across our busy weekend of combat. Watch them here:
5. The Pit: ECV|BlindWarriorSven
Despite all of the cheering and hollering heard elsewhere during The Pit, this is one moment marked by near silence — and intentionally so, too. Sven "BlindGamerSven" Van de Wege is, as his handle suggests, completely blind, but that hasn't stopped him from using audio cues to become seriously skilled at Street Fighter V. For this early match, the crowd and casters went silent, letting BlindGamerSven hold his own as Ken against a fully sighted opponent.
4. Proving Grounds: GAM|DR Ray
Red Bull Proving Grounds is all about local regions showing their stuff on a much larger stage, but instead, last season's champs Team Philadelphia got upstaged this time around by Team Proving Grounds Online. Ray "DR Ray" Rosario acted like the team's secret weapon, waiting until the second set to even play and then saving his main character until the end, when they needed to close out Philly. It worked, and now Team PGO is going to Battle Grounds in Boston.
3. Battle for the Stones: Fort|Cloud805
For anyone who believes that Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite can't be hype, just feast your eyes on the grand finals at Proving Grounds on Saturday. Fort's Jonathan "Cloud805" Morales and Echo Fox's Dominique "SonicFox" McLean fought their way to the end of the Battle for the Stones event at Proving Grounds, and showed that this game really is ready for prime time despite community quibbles. Props to those two for showing how it's done with this explosive finale, and to Cloud805 for taking the win.
2. Proving Grounds: BXA|The Cool Kid93
Has M. Bison ever been as disrespected as he is here, flicked in the face in the middle of an epic takedown by the hulking Abigail? Chicago's home team might not have made it to the grand finals, but Marcus "The Cool Kid93" Redmond still showed some local flash with this incredible perfect against Team Los Angeles' Richard "Pnoy" Clink. And while it wasn't quite as show-stopping, Cool Kid also pulled off a similar chain against eventual winner Cristhoper "Caba" Rodriguez of Team Proving Grounds Online.
1. The Pit: CDV|WhiteBl4ck
Just check out the crowd and casters's reactions here and you'll quickly get why this is such an amazing moment from The Pit. Anas "Keftaroz" Houmaid's Rashid is about to unleash his Critical Art and sweep Maël "WhiteBl4ck" Vautor's Akuma out of the match — but WhiteBl4ck already triggered his teleport, allowing him to dodge the move and finish off the battle with ease. That incredible anticipation won him in the match, and delivered the weekend's most exciting few seconds.
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