NEC XII SC4 Full Results & Aftermath

The final major tournament for Soulcalibur IV is now in the books here at NEC XII in Philadelphia, PA. Competitors from across North America and Europe participated in one of the toughest tournaments that I have seen during the life of this game, along with those who came to try out the demo build of Soulcalibur V.

I would like to thank everyone who came through to NEC, to the European players for flying over to compete, to the staff who helped keep things going, and to Namco Bandai for their support of NEC XII. Everyone had a hand in making NEC an amazing success.

SC4 2 on 2 Random Teams: 16 Teams

1: LongShot - Malek
2: RTD - Niz
3: DK - Lolo
4: Partisan - LostProvidence
5: Keev - FTD
5: Scud - Goofus
7: MTFighter - ZeroEffect
7: thugish_pond - Sid
9: Rigel - KPC
9: Woahhzz - Page
9: Sporko - OOFMATIC
9: FightClubHuBBs - Kira
13: HumanTyphoon - JJJ
13: AkazukinChaCha - Eli123s
13: IceColdEdge - jimmypikachuchoi
13: NDK - BlackMambaMoan

SC4 Singles: 57 Entrants
1: Woahhzz
2: Lolo
3: Scud
4: SCPartisan
5: Malek
5: RTD
7: Pantocrator
7: thugish_pond
9: DreamKiller
9: Keev
9: Mick
9: Rekki
13: ZeroEffect
13: ChaCha
13: OOFMATIC
13: Jian
17: Furzy
17: LP
17: Goofus
17: Ramon
17: MTFighter
17: Eli123s
17: Kira
17: Sporko
25: Aneudee
25: JJJ
25: Sid
25: OmegaXCN
25: Page
25: KPC
25: HumanTyphoon
25: ZMFallen
33: Livingshadow
33: IceColdEdge
33: JimmyPikachuChoi
33: Balack Omamba
33: NeoRussel
33: Kika
33: NDK
33: FightClubHuBBs
33: Chuck the Lancealot
33: Saion
33: Spider Fingers
33: FTD
33: Malice
33: Niz
33: P.Y.R.E
33: Rigel
49: Old Sifu
49: Why
49: Zbeast
49: JRWR7
49: Blackstar
49: Angel-sama
49: BigRichez
49: Arctic Komodo
49: Lowsweep

North America Vs Europe

Team North America: RTD, Woahhzz, DreamKiller, OOFMATIC, thugish_pond, lolo, Mick (Coach)
Team Europe: Furzy, Keev, Malek (Coach), Kira, Pantocrator, Scud

RTD defeats Furzy
RTD defeats Keev
Malek defeats RTD
Woahhzz defeats Malek
Woahhzz defeats Kira
Pantocrator defeats Woahhzz
Pantocrator defeats DreamKiller
Pantocrator defeats OOFMATIC
thugish_pond defeats Pantocrator
Scud defeats thugish_pond
lolo defeats Scud

North America WINS!

Soulcalibur V Exhibition: Ramon wins defeating Mick in Grand Finals

Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/malice215/sets/72157628292105283/

 

Just like to take this moment to remind everyone that LP had come up with Old School vs. New School and actually had an AMAZING idea for NEC but thought that time restraints would make it impossible to implement (and they would have).

Part of the logic behind OvN was that the game had not only enough time for everyone to explore it, but lots of players new and old were beasting (so it wasn't that hard to find candidates after the rules had been lain down). Add on to the fact that, like Vincent insinuated, some of us still aren't 'Old School' in the slightest with the fact that there probably won't be too many overly new new people in the first year and the outcome can already be seen.

What I would propose, especially within the first year, would be a regional team tournament. There are obviously decent players from...just about everyone (at least two). You could structure the tournament in such a way that the newer players have to play their part (whether it be vets vs. new or new vs. new and so on, with the same format of OvN).

Not only would such an idea give everyone an incentive to level the fuck up and play together, but (if done new vs. new/vet vs. vets/ and then leftover) nobody feels like a huge burden because they have to go up against some beastly player first.

Of course, I think it would be even better if we could raise a pot for such a tournament and make it something like 6v6 (3 old/3 new or 2 old/4 new depending on the ratio...and then regions with many more players could assemble more teams, and maybe even a team 'last pick' for all the leftovers...or lower the number of single teams in order to accommodate everyone).

Sorry, I just like fun ideas. >_>

 

Does anyone else want to see RTD main Ezio while coming to tournaments in a full out Ezio getup?

 

I'm sad that I didn't get to come out to this one and see all you guys, and see USA bring home the bacon...

But, I can't say that I'm sad I missed NEC cause, well, it sounds like it was another NEC :-p

Gratz to everyone, and maybe I'll see you around SCV!

 

I'm sad that I didn't get to come out to this one and see all you guys, and see USA bring home the bacon...

But, I can't say that I'm sad I missed NEC cause, well, it sounds like it was another NEC :-p

Gratz to everyone, and maybe I'll see you around SCV!

MISSSSSS YOOOUUUUUU!!!

 

Does anyone else want to see RTD main Ezio while coming to tournaments in a full out Ezio getup?

That's my idea! :P

 

hah. let's see ;) although if I played a female character, you can forget cosplay. which reminds me...there was a cosplay chun li at Nec that was really hot!

who's going to be the next hottie that will do a little cosplay?

 

hah. let's see ;) although if I played a female character, you can forget cosplay. which reminds me...there was a cosplay chun li at Nec that was really hot!

who's going to be the next hottie that will do a little cosplay?

Hey, Hilde get up is not THAT girly!
Unless you dress up as w/e her 2P is going to be, lol.

 

So I just got back from NEC12 and I would like to make this post to address a few concerns. You guys don't usually see me posting in result threads; but I feel there are a lot of issues and criticisms that need to be addressed. First things first, I would like to apologize for the issues we had this weekend; especially to the Europeans. You guys travelled very far and we should have a better run event for you.

As for the lack of Soulcalibur IV singles on stream. If you check the schedule I had posted, you can see that I had 2 hours set aside for SC4 singles on stream (KOF had a 2 hour block as well, and Tekken had a 1 hour block). However, half-way through Saturday, I was told that KOF had been pushed back to Sunday, in which case I wouldn't have to use that 2 hour block for KOF. I instead, to be fair, gave an extra hour to Tekken (to bring their stream time to 2 hours) and chalked the remaining hour as a buffer for in case the stream had holdups.

The schedule was running smoothly, and then later in the night, I was told that KOF had started; and had not been pushed back to Sunday. Atlas, the publishers of KOF were a sponsor for NEC, so I was obligated to give them stream time. So this forced me to take the 2 hour stream block for SC4 and give it to KOF. This was unavoidable and for this I apologize.

The Soulcalibur community is my family; and if I had it my way, we would still have our own stream at NEC. However, the bandwidth requirements just make that not feasible anymore. NO GAME has their own dedicated stream at NEC. At NEC, I was streaming FIVE games, not just Soulcalibur. But to make it up to you guys, I made sure to stream as much SC5 as possible; we have over 10 hours of streaming video from SC5!

It totally sucks that venue took off two hours from SC4 singles and 2-on-2 teams events. And that SC doesn't have it's own stream anymore at NEC. >:(

It's not your fault Jaxel. I understand. I would have loved to have seen the SC4 matchups (since I've never seen those before myself, I have not been on this board for that long). If I ever have my own venue any SC game gets there own stream in my book! ;)

 

Gg's to all & Cograts to placers. Congrats to Ramon for taking the exhibition Tournament.

 

although if I played a female character, you can forget cosplay.

Go back to the cowboy hat. Be faithful to your soul and unleash your true power.

 

GGs to everyone.

NEC was a horrible tournament overall. It was a great event though. Odashima-san, Yoshi-san, SC5, TTT2, great players flying in from all over the world, plenty of events to do.

Also worth mentioning, the 8wayrun/SC4 tournament was ran well, when considering that within a vacuum, so props to that. It's great for anyone who only entered in SC4. But for someone who entered multiple tournaments like myself:

-ALL of the tournaments ran super late (3-5 hours)
-ALL of the singles tournaments ran at the same time
-NONE of the TO's of the various games in the various rooms had ANY sort of contact with each other (you would think this would be planned out beforehand)
-NONE of the staff bothered to make a simple print-out list of the pre-registered players, thus delaying all of the tournaments EVEN MORE
-When pre-reg players had to sign-up again (!), we were treated like potential criminals, having to 'prove' that we had pre-reg with a 'receipt'. (if you wanted hard proof of who I was, ask for my ID, since the paypal list has my real name with my gamertag [that is, if they bothered to actually print a simple list out, like they should have already])
-It was a 2-day major, with as many games, events, and gamers as a 3-day event, thus compounding scheduling problems even further.
-NEC tournament structure was horribly planned period.

Because of stuff like this, I was called for two matches at once on opposite sides of the hotel, which led to me being DQ'd for my SC4 tournament match. Literally dozens of other players had similar DQ'ing experiences as I had, but for me that equated to wasting the almost $1000 I spent that whole weekend to travel across country for that tournament -- the SC4 tournament was the primary reason I flew out there.

This isn't even talking about the super-small rooms for the different games with not even enough space for breathing, the super-expensive hotel with nothing in walking distance.


What saved the trip for me was:
1) SC5, SC5, SC5 :D
2) Odashima-san, and Yoshi-san from NamcoBandai
3) Playing casuals and being able to talk with the best players in SC4
4) SC5


There were plenty of other problems and inconsistencies, but I'll stop there. Even with just this, all of the problems with NEC 2011 was preventable and totally uneccesary. I did have alot of fun at NEC, and it wasn't a total downer (like I said, it was a great EVENT, though I didn't come for the NEC event, I came for the tournaments), but don't count on me spending money on NEC for a shoddy tournament experience again. Unless I somehow move to Philly (thus reducing my costs), or even better, TO's stop running these tournaments like weekly locals and more like a true major.

Or, unless Odashima-san comes back. :p

 

BLACKSTAR84: You're supposed to enter only one tournament so you don't get disqualified. Shame on you.

 

BLACKSTAR84: You're supposed to enter only one tournament so you don't disqualified. Shame on you.

*smack-my-own-face facepalm*

___________________________

Big E messaged me saying that he realizes the problems and will try to improve for next year. This reassures me at least, because it's good when organizers recognizes player individual complaints, which doesn't always happen. Thanks, Big E.

Like I said in my post before, I DID have fun, and also, I like supporting community tournaments, so because of this, I'm gonna keep an eye out for NEC 2012

 

go0fus: you disappoint me fats...ehhhh...

 

This isn't even talking about the super-small rooms for the different games with not even enough space for breathing, the super-expensive hotel with nothing in walking distance.


What saved the trip for me was:
1) SC5, SC5, SC5 :D
2) Odashima-san, and Yoshi-san from NamcoBandai
3) Playing casuals and being able to talk with the best players in SC4
4) SC5

I feel you. When events get to this size, I dont mind paying $-60-$70 to ensure that occupancy wont exceed the maximum by 100+ people and that there will actually be more than 3 consoles/shitty TVs. There was a lot of stuff to be upset about, but all those bad feelings get washed away because I was able to meet my buds and put names to faces. That's what made the trip worth it to me.

 

I feel you. When events get to this size, I dont mind paying $-60-$70 to ensure that occupancy wont exceed the maximum by 100+ people and that there will actually be more than 3 consoles/shitty TVs. There was a lot of stuff to be upset about, but all those bad feelings get washed away because I was able to meet my buds and put names to faces. That's what made the trip worth it to me.

Lol, yeah, the TVs statement had me thinking about the CRTs at the SC4 tourney. Those tv's did look pretty bad, as the screen sizes varied WILDLY and at least a few of the screens were so blurry that I couldn't even read the character names that well. Of course, SC4 wasn't the only one; the tv's in the capcom room were only slightly better.

Just to mention, I don't think this was anyone's 'fault', but it's just the nature of CRTs in 2011.

But I hope more tournaments in the future embrace tournament-standard LCDs in the future, like the EVO monitor. SC5 stations and 8wayrun-streamed games were all run on LCDs (the SC5 stations had 40+ inch LCDs that didn't seem to lag at all! Large LCDs have dubious reputations when it comes to lag), and not only did the games look great on there, but nobody (out of the several 100's that showed up) even made a whisper about lag.

That being said, I agree with your statements, Spid3r. For me, it was the games and the people that showed up that justified it in the end. The people were all (mostly) awesome -- whether from the Capcom community, SC, KOF, BB, MK, everybody was cool and receptive, even the top players. And I was suprised at how open the Namco staff were overall, it was great. And SC5 is just too awesome. :) Even the NEC staff was cool. Big E was always interacting with players (from what I seen), and I was kind of hype talking with HuBBs about VF:FS. :D I only have beef with that girl at the Capcom room front desk who copped an attitude when I asked when the Marvel tourney started for the third time. Lol, what did she expect? I didn't want to get DQ'd. :P


(For the record of any TOs that might read this, I personally wouldn't mind paying a (slightly? :P) higher entry fee that goes toward helping the tournament experience (outside of locals). Honestly, anyone outside of the city its held in, is likely going to spend a relatively higher amount than normal to attend FG tournaments anyway.)

 

It's definitely time to move away from the CRT which would be easier to do for SCV.

 

CRTs have no lag. Why would u want to stray away from absolutely 0 lag. Do u really need to read the character names?
For the record I felt some lag on those SCV stations, and I know damn well I wasn't the only one. America finally got to play SCV tho, how stupid do a group of ppl look complaining about lag when we got to play that wasn't even released yet.
Don't be so hasty about the 'no-CRT' rule at tournies.

 

The lag from tourney-standard LCDs is less than a frame (if I remember correctly). You get more lag from the PS3 itself when playing SC4(not to mention certain stages)!

If such a small amount of lag was that big an issue, the tournament would have been on Xbox360, but hey, it wasn't.

And nobody said NO CRTs at tournaments. (but I would say no crappy CRTs)

 

CRTs have no lag. Why would u want to stray away from absolutely 0 lag. Do u really need to read the character names?
For the record I felt some lag on those SCV stations, and I know damn well I wasn't the only one. America finally got to play SCV tho, how stupid do a group of ppl look complaining about lag when we got to play that wasn't even released yet.
Don't be so hasty about the 'no-CRT' rule at tournies.

I felt it too but I let it ride because of adrenaline(SCV IS AWESOME!!!). Only on the tv to the far left though.