esports
Red Bull Kumite once again invited warriors from around the globe to compete in the coveted cage. This time, the battleground was Street Fighter 6. Here’s what went down.
There are few better ways to start a new era of fighting games than with an explosive Red Bull Kumite. It’s only been a month since Capcom released Street Fighter 6, but fans and professional players alike have been grinding non-stop. For Red Bull Kumite 2023, an elite selection of pros gathered in Pretoria, South Africa for an epic brawl.
The invitees ranged from longtime Street Fighter competitors and newcomers who’ve made their mark in recent years to local heroes with proven skills on a big stage and multi-game champions searching for another title to conquer. To round out the list of top-level players, the survivor of a brutal Last Chance Qualifier joined the field.
In a stacked competition with some serious talent, it was Algerian/Emirati player Adel ‘Big Bird’ Anouche who emerged as the 2023 Red Bull Kumite champion. With the tournament all wrapped up, here’s everything that went down in South Africa.
01
Day one: Last Chance Qualifier results
The first day of competition saw the Last Chance Qualifier take place, where one victor would go on to compete in the main event the next day. In the Top 8 phase, talent from the home scene ran heavy as esteemed South African players Sekwele Ramaube and Safraz ‘Ren’ Muhammad joined the fight. They were joined by Red Bull Kumite Japan LCQ Qualifier winner Kakeru and Red Bull Kumite UK LCQ Qualifier EndingWalker. Those two met in the Winners Finals, but it was Kakeru who proceeded to the Grand Final with a 3-1 victory, utilising tricky movement with JP’s Departure teleports to catch EndingWalker off guard.
EndingWalker had to crawl his way towards the LCQ Grand Finals to get revenge, taking Ren out of the tournament on his warpath. When the two met once again in the last set of the night, EndingWalker tried to catch Kakeru unaware with a Ryu pick in the first match, but the JP player was all too prepared. The switch to E. Honda from EndingWalker was more effective, but Kakeru’s pressure was too hard to handle. The dominance of Kakeru was rewarded with a seat at the Red Bull Kumite 2023 Main Event the next day.
02
Day two: the Main Event begins
The first Round of 16 fights saw some of the most intense SF6 competition we’ve seen yet. The weight of single elimination made it even harder for the competitors to keep focused as losing just once meant they were out of the tournament.
All of the competitors posed a threat, with the roster including names like William ‘Leffen’ Hjelte, Hajime ‘Tokido’ Taniguchi, Masato ‘Bonchan’ Takahashi, Tsunehiro ‘gachikun’ Kanamori, Benjamin ‘Problem X’ Simon, Christ ‘Akainu’ Onema, Ricardo ‘Mono’ Roman and Leevy 'Oil King' Lin.
With SF6 still in its infancy and only a few weeks of prep time under his belt, this would prove to be Big Bird’s greatest challenge yet. In his first match in the Round of 16, he had the unfortunate draw of facing off against his training partner and long-time friend Amjad ‘AngryBird’ Alshalabi. His associate piloted Ken aggressively, while Big Bird played the stone wall of muscle named Marisa. Because they practise together so often, Big Bird had to introduce new tactics to get the edge. It was a nail-biter of a match, coming down to the reversal decision. In the end, Big Bird walked away victorious.
"That was a heartbreaking matchup," said Big Bird. "But the main goal for us is that one of us wins it, so he's happy that I didn't waste the win against him."
03
Quarter-finals: Capcom Cup IX’s runner-up
Before he could move up through the bracket, Big Bird had to fight the new upstart JP player from China, Kuang Zhen. The Chinese fighter made a splash during February’s Capcom Cup IX, breaking through the LCQ and taking down names like 2022’s EVO champion Kawano before falling in the grand finals. This time however in Pretoria, Big Bird was in his way. Yet it seemed that the more comfortable Zhen got as the match progressed, the harder it was for Big Bird to fend him off. It took some next-level comebacks – including a moment where he was on a single pixel sliver of health – to clutch victory from his opposition, finalising his first to five.
04
Semi-finals: the LCQ champion
For many, the match between Big Bird and Kakeru in the semi-final would determine who would take home the trophy. Big Bird had been the one to watch since taking Reversal’s EMEA Ultimate Open Series tournaments and doing well in the Wanted exhibitions. On his streams, he showcased his extensive knowledge both during long sets and in conversations. However, Kakeru had looked equally strong, especially after taking down many godly players in Japan during his LCQ Japan run.
At first, Kakeru’s JP felt comfortable playing in the same range that Marisa shines in, sometimes punishing Big Bird’s Marisa from doing her Gladius move. That all changed once Big Bird worked his way in and began to rotate his offensive options, calling out Kakeru’s enhanced Amnesia parry move and taking advantage of every punish given to him. Coupled with the optimal damage and cashing out big whenever possible, Kakeru fell short to Big Bird, and could only take one game from him. The master of Marisa earned his spot in the Grand Finals and waited for who would be his last challenger.
05
The Grand Final
While Big Bird did not have a straightforward path to the Grand Finals, neither did his opponent, Christ ‘Akainu’ Onema. The French player had battled his way through Leffen, Mono and Oil King to reach the grand stage, showcasing his Guile play throughout the tournament. Big Bird reached the home stretch, but an on-fire Akainu stood in his path. The last match of the night would push both players to their limit.
Akainu continued that heat by gaining a perfect over Big Bird in the first round and kept him at bay with rapid zoning in the next. Big Bird answered back in the second game by reading the Sonic Boom patterns Akainu was putting down and using Marisa’s armour to cut through. Every exchange would deal out the damage the muscular character is known for. From there, the snowballing began, from utilising round start Drive Impacts as a read against Akainu’s buttons and forcing his opponent to have to fight desperately outside the corner. For every defensive manoeuvre Akaniu would show, Big Bird would show something in rebuttal. After five straight wins, Big Bird emerged as the winner of Red Bull Kumite 2023.
“I can't believe it, it's surreal, it's amazing," said Big Bird. "This is the first Red Bull Kumite in Africa and I'm from Algeria, so it feels good to win a tournament on my continent.”
For Big Bird, the win means many things. After falling short at previous Red Bull Kumite events, lifting the trophy in a new era of competition means that he’s set the bar. After an event like this, all eyes are on Big Bird as he moves with momentum toward EVO 2023. And if this display of his prowess was any indication of how he’ll perform, he'll be more than ready to face anyone who steps up to the plate.
"Next for me is EVO 2023," added Big Bird. "It's the biggest fighting game tournament in the world and this year it's broken the record for the most entrants. It's going to have more than 5,500 entrants for Street Fighter alone. It's going to be an endurance test, but we're pro gamers, so hopefully, we'll be ready for the job."
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