Qualified this week: Momochi
Much has been made of Momochi’s slow climb back up to the top of the heap in SFV. After a slow start playing Chun-Li, Momochi took 17th at NorCal Regionals, fifth at Red Bull Kumite, second at Battle Arena Melbourne and now first at Stunfest. But now that he’s back on top and heading to the Capcom Cup Finals, it’s probably time to look at Ken in general.
We have stronger and stronger Kens popping up around the world, after months of people saying he seemed weak. But the best Ken players, Hiroyuki “Eita” Nagata, Adel “Big Bird” Anouche, Julio “Julio” Fuentes and even Momochi play around those weaknesses. While the first three players often focus on rushdown, Momochi was playing with a little more range at Stunfest.
In his Grand Finals match against Ai “Fuudo” Keita, Momochi played just a few steps away from R. Mika. He was fishing for jumps, or even unsafe approaches he could punish with either a well-placed Shoryuken or a quick EX-air Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. Once he secured the hit, Momochi focused on landing small hits he could hit-confirm into big combos, or even his Critical Art.
That kind of hit-confirm oriented style is getting more popular among Kens, but requires absolute precision and focus. While most Kens would have run out of steam, Momochi kept up the pace over the course of a grueling 20-minute set, against a character that could slaughter him for any mistake. The King of Ken is back on his throne, long may he wake up-DP.
Big winners: Justin, Julio and Filipino Champ
Ryan “Filipino Champ” Ramirez got a little lost in the shuffle of Toryuken, but so did a lot of players. Toronto was overrun by incredible talent from south of our border, and only two locals made Top 8.
Admittedly, some might have called Toryuken a stop for easy points, but even golden-boy Julio was dropped into the losers’ bracket early on by local Birdie player Chris “Bus” Alphonso. And while the North didn’t go down without a fight, it did give up some of its points, and one of its two Regional Finals qualification spots, to the American champions.
Actually qualifying for the Regional Finals at the end of the season is Filipino Champ, who only finished in third place. His Dahlsim continues to look very strong, perhaps even the best in the world. The competition was fierce at Toryuken, and Champ had to beat out Ricki Ortiz, Kevin “Dieminion” Landon and Eduardo “PR Balrog” Perez for his spot, but qualifying from third is mostly a sign that NA dominance has been achieved. Justin Wong has conquered North America.
Justin won his fourth straight ranking tournament at Toryuken, jumping him straight to the top of the global leaderboard, above two-time premier tournament champion Seonwoo “Infiltration” Lee. Justin Wong is qualified for the Latin American and North American regional finals, and at this rate, will have more than enough points to qualify for the Capcom Cup finals anyway. While he hasn’t fared as well at international tournaments, Justin has the best footisies, neutral and fundamentals in the West, and he’ll be taking everyone’s points until someone surpasses him.
For now, the closest contender is Julio. Julio is actually fifth on the global leaderboards now, an impressive feat for someone who was nowhere near the top of the rankings last season. Julio’s Ken is a little more aggressive than Momochi’s, and his biggest problem has persisted since his time playing Street Fighter IV. When he smells blood in the water, he goes all out to secure a kill. Right now, it’s working, but it’s also what led him to lose to Bus 2-0. Julio is good, but if he wants to get better he needs to stay calm and let his opponents come to him once he has a lead.
Who to watch: Misterio and Xiao Hai
King Of Figthers is one of those fighting games that has a stranger regional strength distribution than most. Specifically, its strongest regions are South America and China, meaning that when we see those regions appear in the Street Fighter V scene, we’re often dealing with people who juggle SFV and KOF, and play a very different kind of game.
In Peru at Lima Salty, Felipe “Misterio” Patricio Torres Carvacho showed off a frenetic Karin, much faster and more hyperactive than any we’ve seen win tournaments so far. While Kenryo “Mago” Hayashi plays Karin defensively, and Justin Wong prefers to hold a mid-screen presence and build V-Meter, Misterio was all in during his Grand Finals match against Richard “Chancho Kay” Carvajal Clivio
His playstyle was defined by random command dashes, extremely close-range footsies and quick conversions off of very small hits. Misterio’s moment-to-moment decision making definitely draws from KOF’s faster pace, but his application of that style in SFV is amazing to watch. He’s playing the game faster and with more buttons than anyone. Except for Zhuojun “Xiao Hai” Zeng.
Theoretically, Xiao Hai should get to press more buttons and end matches faster because he’s playing a much faster character. But in practice, his Cammy has her slow moments. Against Kun “Xian” Xian Ho at Stunfest, Xiao Hai did occasionally stop to respect F.A.N.G’s poison, but most of the match was about Xiao Hai walking Xian down, cornering him, then overwhelming him with quick pressure. Fourth place at a Premier event is China’s best performance so far, and it looks like Xiao Hai has finally figured out how to play Cammy: nonstop aggression.
Name: Daniel Watson