« FINAL ROUND XV - March 2nd-4th - Atlanta, GA - Event Information & Attending Teams List »
IPLAYWINNER | Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 5:36PM 
Final Round XV
March 2nd-4th, 2012
The “Westin” Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Streams:
http://www.twitch.tv/teamsp00ky
Final Round has been labeled the “Evo” of the East Coast, now on its 15th anniversary it has become THE TOURNAMENT you have to attend if you are a fighting game fan. Final Round is organized and directed by Larry “Shin Blanka” Dixon and has the designation of being a “Road to Evo” pit stop with pot bonuses applied to Super Street Fighter 4 AE:2012 ($1,000.00), Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 ($1,000.00), and Soul Calibur V ($500.00).
Namco is throwing a massive amount of support towards Soul Calibur V by adding $5,000.00 to the pot. Winter Brawl 6 Soul Calibur V Champion LinkRKC has received seeding and comped travel for Final Round XV. Atlus will also sponsor the event with a $1,000.00 pot bonus for King of Fighters XIII. This has led to Final Round being possibly the largest King of Fighters XIII tournament ever, with over 100 pre-registered entrants. There has also been hints of an international presence with “Dark Geese coming over with a cache of killers from Mexico”.
The Melty Blood community has also received support as well with an anonymous donation of $500.00 to the pot and Japanese players Garu and Chelsea coming over to take on all American challengers. Continuing on the international thread, a series of Final Roundbats were held in Japan to send Tekken 6, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Super Street Fighter 4 AE:2012 players to Final Round. Those players are AO the number 1 ranked Tekken 6 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 player in Japan, Ageo Joe the innovator of the DHC glitch in Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, and Abelity one of the hidden killers in Super Street Fighter 4 AE:2012.
What may be perhaps the biggest story at Final Round is the grand finals of “Cross Assault”. Produced by Team Spooky, IPLAYWINNER, Capcom Unity, and Maximillian, “Cross Assault” is the first fighting game reality show that is designed to showcase Capcom’s newest game, “Street Fighter X Tekken”. The grand finals will held at Final Round and include Renic, Dr. Subzero, Hornett, and Nerd Josh. The winner of this will go home with $25,000. Going along with the theme of Team Street Fighter Vs. Team Tekken, here are a few prominent teams that will be in attendance at Final Round.
Brokentier: http://www.brokentier.com/
Created and led by Paul “Koogy” Kugler, team Brokentier contains players with a large fan base and list of accomplishments. Recently, Dieminion has been added to the roster and he is known as one of the most dominant players in the East Coast and a force in both Street Fighter IV AND Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. Clockw0rk is also set to make his re-reappearance on the major circuit after a brief hiatus. Commentary King IFC Yipes will be in attendance as well. Finally, Koogy has teased that the next member of team Brokentier will be revealed at Final Round.
Evil Geniuses: http://myeg.net/team/divisions-players/street-fighter-division/
Team EG is likely the premiere team in not only the Fighting Game Community, but in North American Competitive Gaming as a whole. Currently Justin Wong and Floe are the only members who have spoken about attending Final Round. Justin Wong is continuing his streak of dominance with dual championships at Winter Brawl. EG Floe also has proved to be a threat with a top 16 finish at Winter Brawl and placing 2nd at the LG Cup USA qualifier. With an increased international presence and player pool at Final Round, this will be a great opportunity for the team to make a statement that they are the best in the world.
Complexity Cross Counter: http://www.complexitygaming.com/roster/
A prominent team that has remained relatively quite in the early 2012 tournament circuit. They look to make a big splash at Final Round by sending the entire roster to the event. Combofiend, who many believe is the best Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 player in the U.S., enters Final Round with an air of mystery as he has not been using his trademark characters in local events. Filipino Champ will be looking to apply all the training acquired from the FGTV project win another title as he did at Canada Cup. Final Round has treated Mike Ross and Gootecks quite well in the past years, so it will be interesting to watch how they do this year.
Empire Arcadia: http://www.empirearcadia.com/home.html
Empire Arcadia has probably the longest history in the fighting game community as one of the longest running teams. Despite a brief hiatus their fighting game division has recently restarted and their players have been popping up at more and more East Coast events. Currently, the only players that confirmed their attendance at Final Round are Remix and KDZ. KDZ has been the more active of the two players with Grand Final appearances at Big 2 in Soul Calibur V and Super Street Fighter IV AE:2012. Triforce has teased a possible announcement that would be a huge development for Empire Arcadia.
Team Final Round http://finalround.org/
The hometown team for Final Round is looking to defend their turf from a massive army of invaders. Shinkuur made a huge splash last year defeating a bevy of high profile opponents on his way to placing top 8 at Final Round XIV. Atl Hoa stunned the Tekken community last year by seemingly coming out of nowhere and defeating the seemingly unstoppable Koreans at the MLG National Championship in 2010. Other members include prominent Tekken and MK9 player ATL Redd, premiere Adon player Ramen Addict, popular online Sakura DB Joseph, Druseph, D.Slicer, Clint Da Beast, and Roach King. Final Round organizer Shin Blanka promises that his team will make a huge waves this year.
Team Mad Catz Family: http://teammadcatz.com/
Eternal Rival: http://eternalrival.com/team/
A relatively new team that is making its major debut at Final Round. Members AndyOCR and Tatsunical will also being making their East Coast debut at this event. It should be interesting to watch how they adapt to new play styles and hopefully they will be able to leave their mark in Atlanta.
Always Godlike: http://www.alwaysgodlike.com/
Always Godlike recently announced their partnership with Mad Catz at Winter Brawl. Team member Marlin Pie seemed to be invigorated by this announcement with his third place finish at Winter Brawl. Confirmed members attending Final Round will be Spektrum, IFC Ricky, Dr. Chaos, and Kazi. An impressive showing at this event will definitely enforce the moniker, Always Godlike.
Delta Red Squad: http://deltaredsquad.webs.com/
Delta Red Squad was another team that has recently partnered with Mad Catz. They will be sending prominent Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 player Masta CJ to Final Round. While Masta CJ did not place as he might of wanted to in UMVC3 at Winter Brawl, he did finish in third place in the King Of Fighters XIII. Hopefully Final Round will be a return to form for the Dormammu Master.
Dominion Method Gaming: http://dominionmethodgaming.com/
DMG is one of the first American teams to be sponsored by Mad Catz. 2011 was a great year for the team as members captured multiple major titles and 2 Evo World titles. New member Juicebox made an impressive debut at Winter Brawl with a second place finish. DMG is looking to make an impact on Final Round by sending Kor, NYC Fab, Burnyourbra, Juicebox, and iPeru. Final Round is known as the premiere Tekken tournament in the U.S. and Kor will be looking to defend his Evo World Title. NYC Fab is also a premiere Tekken player, having traveled internationally to compete in Tekken Crash, but has also been making waves in Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 as well. iPeru has been turning quite a few heads with his El Fuerte play by finishing third at SCR 2011 and being one of the US SBO representatives in Japan. DMG has definitely brought out the big guns for Final Round.
Team MRN: http://teammadcatz.com/team/team-mrn/
One of the interesting teams in the fighting game community to watch. Team MRN is currently composed of the enigmatic Marn and the quiet Wolfkrone. Wolfkrone will be in attendance at Final Round and is a huge threat due to his constant top 8 placing and high profile victories over international competitors. Another item to note is that Wolfkrone was originally a Soul Calibur player, so it will be interesting to see how he fares in Soul Calibur V. After earning fourth place at Winter Brawl 6, Wolfkrone will definitely be aiming for the number one spot at Final Round.
Lone Guns
Alex Valle: https://twitter.com/#!/alexvallesf4
“Mr. Streetfighter” himself has not been to an East Coast event since 2006. This is an exciting opportunity for East Coast players to challenge one of the totems of the West Coast scene and the creator of “Rush that Sh*t Down”. Although he has been busy coaching team Street Fighter to victory at Cross Assault, Valle had been previously been training in SoCal to compete in Soul Calibur V, Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, and Super Street Figher 4 AE:2012.
B.A.L.A.: https://twitter.com/#!/balaLuisito
The premiere KOFXIII player in the U.S., B.A.L.A. has a huge target on his head at Final Round XV. First at SCR 2011, first at Revelations, and first at Evo 2011, this will also be B.A.L.A.’s first voyage out to the East Coast. Top players such as Chris G, Masta CJ, and Ryry are definitely local looking to showcase their skill against B.A.L.A., not mention the other international players attending.
