Published , by Donovan Erskine
Published , by Donovan Erskine
Red Bull Kumite has begun in Las Vegas, with some of the best fighting game players in the world facing off in the ring. The first day of competition was packed with action and memorable moments, so let’s dive in.
The day kicked off with the Guilty Gear Strive Top 8 tournament. Held in a round-robin format, we watched as the players went through a gauntlet of matches, building their records and looking to avoid elimination. The competitors were randomly sorted into two pools.
Pool A
Skyll
Gobou
BNBBN
ApologyMan
Pool B
Uriel Legion
SonicFox
Diaphone
Daru I-No
Diaphone was the breakout star of the group stage, dominating the competition with his I-No. Going 6-0, he didn’t lose a single game. He met with Daru in a mirror match and pulled off an upset against one of the favorites going into the tournament.
SonicFox had a rough go at it, going 0-3 in their matches and eventually being eliminated from the tournament. Gobou had an excellent performance in the A Pool, only dropping a single match on the road to a 3-0 finish.
Gobou and Diaphone met in the Grand Finals to determine the first ever Red Bull Kumite Guilty Gear Strive. Gobou shook things up and went with Goldlewis, while Diaphone stuck with I-No. After a strong showing, Gobou emerged victorious and was crowned the first-ever Red Bull Kumite Guilty Gear Strive Champion.
The Tekken 7 Top 8 was the second tournament event of the day and followed the same round-robin style as the previous one. Once again, the players were randomly sorted into two pools.
Pool A
Anakin
Book
Gen
Knee
Pool B
Super Akouma
Infested
Cuddle Core
JDCR
The matches were exciting and competitive, with one of the standouts being when longtime rivals Anakin and Knee met during the Group Stage. Knee dominated in the opening round of the final four, sweeping JDCR 4-0 on his way to securing a spot in the Grand Finals.
In the Grand Finals, Knee faced off against Gen in what was an epic conclusion to the day’s action. In the end, Gen ended up winning with a final score of 5-2, taking home the title of Red Bull Kumite Tekken 7 Champion.
It was a wild day one of Red Bull Kumite, with both the Guilty Gear Strive and Tekken 7 tournaments bringing the heat. The action is going to continue soon with Day Two, which features the Street Fighter 5 main event tournament.