Gaming
Will it be East or West? Ken or Ryu? We ask Kumite’s MC Asenka what he expects to go down in Paris.
There’s only three weeks left until Red Bull Kumite returns, this time to the classy Parisian venue of the Salle Wagram, to show off Street Fighter V’s top talents. Just down the road from the Arc de Triomphe, this 19th Century ballroom is the perfect place to showcase the best footsies in the business and it’s all ready to kick off.
There are 14 pros stuffing the rosters already, and on Saturday 23 April, 256 members of the public will duke it out for the final spots in Sunday’s top-16 brawl. From last year’s USFIV Kumite champion Bonchan to the currently unstoppable SFV machine, Infiltration, the heavyweight names are ready to rumble in Paris. Ahead of the big showdown, we chatted to the Master of Ceremonies, Guillaume “Asenka” Dorison, to find out what we can expect when fists collide on the dancefloor.
Hey Guillaume, how’s the prep going for Kumite? We're doing all right! But there are three weeks left until Red Bull Kumite, so it's a scramble to the finish line! We're finishing up the last details to make sure everything is perfect, not only for the people at the venue but also for those watching the stream. We aim to offer more than a simple tournament, to build it up in the minds of the public as much with the list of players as with the stage setting...
How do you prepare to host a tournament? I really like commentating Street Fighter V matches, but for this event I will share my speaking time with Ken Bogard, our French star Street Fighter commentator! Our collaboration worked very well like that last year; I MC the opening ceremony, introduce the players, run the post-match player interviews, and so on, while Ken is in charge of commentating the matches themselves. Finally, Rayoux will take care of the off site interviews in the players' VIP area! But that's just the French casters team, we also have a full team of US speakers for Red Bull TV (Mike Ross and his crew) and British commentators for the Twitch stream (F-Word and Zade). We even have a Japanese channel! Our goal is for everybody to be able to enjoy the show from home in the best possible way.
How has SFV changed how viewers watch games? Are they more enjoyable to understand. It's too soon to have a full track record of SFV and its audience. What we can say for sure is that the stream numbers received a massive bump for the first few events featuring the game. Whether it's Final Round 19 or the NorCal Regionals 2016 (both part of the Capcom Pro Tour), there's a noticeable difference with the previous numbers for Ultra Street Fighter IV. In the same way, the number of registered players for the recent tournaments are just outstanding. So there indeed is a “SFV effect”.
Also the game is simpler in some respects: fewer option selects, fewer “vortex” type situations, fewer top-tier characters head-and-shoulders above the rest of the cast – for now, at least. Simply, the game goes back to the basics of fighting games: a bit of risk and reward, some mind game options. The person that wins is the one with the best read for the game, or the one that is right in the most situations. Right now, I'm having much more fun with SFV than with IV, and I'm having more of a blast commentating it!
Do V-skills change the game for casters and spectators at all? Gameplay-wise, I think the game is more enjoyable to watch because of mechanics like the V-Skill or the V-Trigger which are different for each character, which is an improvement on the Focus mechanic of USFIV, for example. This way, the game offers characters that give more variety to the gameplay situations. Capcom made a visible effort to create real differences between the characters and their style of play. F.A.N.G was really created with this frame of mind and I'm pretty curious to see him played by Xian at Red Bull Kumite.
Who would you say are the favourites to win the tournament? If you're looking at the last few big tournaments, Infiltration of course! He walked on water during the big Capcom Pro Tour events and it would be insane to give another name. But there will be a big novelty for this Red Bull Kumite: Daigo will make his first appearance! It's his first big tournament for the game and nobody knows what to expect of his real competitive level. We're expecting good things, that's for sure and he will most likely will have thought of something to counter the Infiltration problem.
In the same frame of mind, we'll see the first foray of the French player Alioune into the international SFV scene. He is considered by many to be the best European player of the game, we'll see if the pressure doesn't get to him in a best of three format. That said, to be honest, anybody can win: Xian plays a weird character, Bonchan is the reigning champion, Justin Wong is in great shape right now, Tokido seems invincible – except against Infiltration! – and so on.
Are there any dark horses you see that could surprise us? Yes! Two players are coming from the Open Qualifier of the first day, they will have come on top of a 256-strong tournament of the highest level. Their fighting muscles will be warmer than those of their opponents, with a boost to their will to fight. Last year, Gagapa the French player qualified through the last chance, and had a great performance during the top 16, even beating several star guest players. I'm also curious to see the level of the Brazilian player, Keoma. He was a big surprise at the end of the Ultra Street Fighter IV era, he might be the real dark horse for this event.
There’s much less of an East-West divide in SFV compared to previous iterations. Do you think that’s because this one did not come out in arcades in Japan first? Yes, the fact that the Japanese players didn't get the game months in advance is averaging the overall level. However, I think that mostly it's online play that is playing the biggest part in this story. To be able to play non-stop at home, against strong players is a way to experience worldwide what only the Japanese could experience in the 90s and 2000s: An all-you-can-eat buffet of matches! To sum it up: international release plus lots of experience equals a more homogeneous level.
There are a lot of Japanese players of which we had never heard before, for the simple reason that since the end of the Tougeki Super Battle Opera, there is no huge major on Japanese soil. There's a lack of balance at this point. If you put the stars aside, people like Daigo, Tokido, Mago, Fuudo, Bonchan and co that travel to the USA a lot, the other players can be as strong as they want, but if there is no tournament to reveal them, it's a loss.
My gut feeling is that right now, there are still monster players in Japan. But long term, if you consider the number of majors in the US, the overall investment of the American players in the fighting game genre, the quality of their live streams and simply the sheer number of high-level players there. I think it's almost inevitable that they will trust the top of the International ladders. But of course, Europe can always come and spoil their plans!
The game still seems wide open in terms of characters at the moment. Do you see any in particular becoming top tier or get picked more often at Kumite? F.A.N.G! This character doesn't seem that strong right now, but he offers a lot of set-up options, and in the hands of someone like Xian he could be formidable, especially in terms of okizeme, vortex options, and so on. In the long run, I think he has a heck of a potential. But if you're facing a high-level Chun-Li, Karin or Ryu it could be another story altogether. And let's not forget about Laura, who is top tier in Europe! Our best players almost all play Laura. And of course there's Alex, who just came out as a DLC. But it's too soon to call it.
Go on – predict the final four players and where they will place. Mmm, if I had to give a realistic answer:
1. Infiltration 2. Daigo 3. Tokido 4. Justin Wong
But, I'd really like to see:
1. Alioune 2. Daigo 3. Xian 4. Snake Eyez
For the simple reason that I'd love to see more matches between these players!
You can buy tickets for Red Bull Kumitehere or visit RedBullKumite.com to watch the whole event live. For more eSports coverage, follow @RedBulleSports on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
