Stunfest 2016 was a

fighting game The fighting game video game genre, genre involves combat between multiple characters, often (but not limited to) one-on-one battles. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappling, counter- ...

tournament that took place on May 21–22 in Rennes, France. Being a Premier Event of the

Capcom Pro Tour The Capcom Pro Tour is a series of international fighting game esports, tournaments sponsored by video game developer Capcom. The Pro Tour culminates in the annual Capcom Cup, a single-day tournament held in the San Francisco Bay Area. 2014 Cap ...

, the winner of the event would qualify for the 2016 Capcom Cup. The Grand Finals of Stunfest 2016 were dominated by Asian players such as Tokido and

Daigo Umehara is a Japanese esports player and author who competes competitively at Fighting game, fighting video games. He specializes in 2D arcade game, arcade fighting games, mainly those released by Capcom. Known as "Daigo" or "The Beast" in the West and ...

, with European players like

Luffy , also known as is a fictional character and the protagonist in the Japanese manga series ''One Piece'' created by Eiichiro Oda. Luffy made his debut as a young boy who acquires the properties of rubber after accidentally eating one of the On ...

being eliminated on day one. Japanese players

Fuudo , better known as , is a Japanese electronic sports player specializing in the ''Street Fighter'' series. Fuudo entered the fighting game scene in 2005 playing ''Virtua Fighter 4''. Fuudo has won various fighting game tournaments, including the ...

and

Yusuke Momochi Yusuke Momochi, better known as Momochi, is a Japanese professional fighting game player, particularly of ones in the ''Street Fighter (series), Street Fighter'' series by Capcom. Momochi won the Capcom Cup 2014 championship, as well as winning t ...

faced off in the final round, with Momochi winning the tournament.

Background

Shortly before the release of ''Street Fighter V'' in February 2016, Capcom announced the schedule of the Capcom Pro Tour, Stunfest being its third global premier event. Stunfest 2016 shared its spotlight with two other Capcom Pro Tour tournaments that took place during the same weekend. Various

Evil Geniuses Evil Geniuses (EG) is an American esports organization based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. Founded in 1999, the organization has fielded players in various fighting games, ''Call of Duty (series), Call of Duty'', ''Counter-Strike ...

members, including

Justin Wong Justin Wong (born November 15, 1985), occasionally shortened to Jwong, is an American professional fighting game player residing in Canada. Wong has won more EVO titles than anyone else with nine tournaments won: seven for '' Marvel vs. Capcom ...

, competed at Toryuken V, which took place in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada. Meanwhile, top

Peruvian Peruvians (''/peruanas'') are the citizens of Peru. What is now Peru has been inhabited for several millennia by cultures such as the Caral before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Peruvian population decreased from an estimated 5–9 ...

and Chilean players participated in Lima Salty 3 in

Lima, Peru Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

. All three tournaments started on Saturday, May 21, Stunfest kicking off at 6:30 AM local time. Taking place in Rennes, France, over 500 players registered to compete in order to qualify for the

Capcom Cup The Capcom Cup is an annual fighting game tournament specifically focused on the ''Street Fighter'' series. The event's first incarnation was in 2013 which featured '' Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition'' version 2012, '' Ultimate Marvel vs. ...

later that year.

Tournament summary

Participants

Having won the first two Premier events of the season, Infiltration had already qualified for the Capcom Cup and therefore did not need to show. This gave players such as Hajime "Tokido" Taniguchi, who had finished second to Infiltration at three separate events, a higher winning chance. Regardless, many players who had already qualified for the Cup still contended, including Hiroyuki "Eita" Nagata, and Tatsuya Haitani who won the Asian Pro Tour events earlier that season. Champion of Stunfest 2015

joined the tournament as well, it being his first Pro Tour event this season and his second ''Street Fighter V'' tournament. Umehara stated during a

livestream Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming media, streaming of video or Digital audio, audio in real-time communication, real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature ...

that his goals at Stunfest "revolve more around personal improvement than results." Stunfest 2016 also featured participation by

, who had been highly successful at ''

Ultra Street Fighter IV is a 2008 fighting game developed by Capcom and Dimps and published by Capcom. It was the first original main entry in the series since ''Street Fighter III'' in 1997, a hiatus of eleven years. Designed for the Taito Type X2 Arcade video game, a ...

'' during the 2014 and 2015 Pro Tour seasons and won three ''Street Fighter V'' tournaments in a row in the month prior to Stunfest. Other high-level players that participated in Stunfest 2016 included Nathan "Mister Crimson" Massol, Arman "Phenom" Hanjani, Benjamin "Problem X" Simon,

GamerBee Bruce Yu-lin Hsiang () is a Taiwanese esportist fighting games player who specializes in ''Street Fighter'' where he mains Adon and Elena in ''Ultra Street Fighter IV'', and Necalli in ''Street Fighter V''. GamerBee is currently sponsored by ...

, and

Xian Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

. The tournament's participation primarily originated from Europe and Asia, the highest-level American player being Ryan "Gootecks" Gutierrez.

Competition

The eight players that made it through the elimination rounds to reach the Grand Finals were Xiao Hai, Tokido,

, and

in the winner's bracket, and Xian, Haitani, Daigo Umehara, and Eita in the loser's bracket. The Top 8 all hailed from the Asian continent, and Europe was not represented during the Finals. French player Luffy finished 13th, while Marcus "Packz" Parker finished 9th. The tournament was won by Capcom Cup 2014 and EVO 2015 champion Yusuke Momochi, defeating Eita, Xiao Hai, and Tokido during the finals. After being sent to the loser's bracket, Momochi beat Fuudo twice during the Grans Finals, despite the latter's "surprisingly strong"

R. Mika , better known as R. Mika, is the professional wrestling moniker of , a character in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' fighting game series. First appearing in ''Street Fighter Alpha 3'' (1998) as a wrestler trying to make a name for herself, Mika was ...

play. Momochi became the second player to qualify for the 2016 Capcom Cup this way, following Infiltration. Daigo Umehara was eliminated in the first round by Haitani, while Xian played strong games using F.A.N.G., a rarely chosen character.

Results

References

{{Capcom Cup 2016 Esports competitions in France 2016 fighting game tournaments Sport in Rennes History of Rennes May 2016 sports events in France