Results from August 25-27

The weekend of August 25-27 marked one of Team Noble’s busiest times thus far in 2017. Eleven of our players were spread out across four events to compete not just in fighting games, but in PUBG, a shooting title that quickly rose through the ranks to become a notable entity in esports.

The first of these events was Shine 2017, a Smash-centric event that also brought along a roster of fighting games for those not quite invested in Smash. As Shine was connected to the Brawlhalla Circuit, Nobles Astronaut and Starlight eagerly converged on Boston to add league points to their name. Shine kicked off with a Doubles bracket on Friday, during which Astronaut and Starlight combined their efforts to achieve an admirable third place finish against twenty-three other teams.

However, the greater challenge came with the Singles bracket, in which sixty-five players would compete for the crown. Noble Starlight’s streak was flawless until Boomie broke it to escape their pool in Winner’s Finals. Starlight proceeded to the Loser’s side of Top 12, where he faced off against Cake in a grueling set. Cake ultimately prevailed 2-0, sending Starlight home at 9th place. As for Astronaut, he had his share of double trouble against STTP WILSON and Dr. Phazon. Astronaut was unable to escape his pool, but not without pushing his opponents to their limits. As such, he concluded his run at 33rd place.

The Brawlhalla footage from Shine 2017 can be found in the archives at the following Twitch channels:

www.twitch.tv/bigbluegg2 (Singles)
www.twitch.tv/vgbootcamp (Doubles)
www.twitch.tv/bigbluegg (Doubles)

Over at Germany, ESL hosted an invitational event featuring PUBG, or PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, at the Gamescom festival in Cologne. Naturally, Noble was eager to get in on the fun; our PUBG roster was more than willing to rise to the challenge. The PUBG invitational was split into four divisions:

• third-person solo
• third-person duos
• first-person duos
• third-person squads

Of these four, Noble’s PUBG players entered the event as a third-person squad. Their division’s bracket would round out the entire tournament as the team battle that many had prepared for. Out of all the teams present, Luminosity took home the crown as well as $80,000! Trailing behind them was Tier 3 Gaming and Team Noble, who’d finished in the Top 3!

We’re proud of our team for being able to stand alongside the greats at the conclusion of a drawn-out team battle in one of the hottest esports titles! Congratulations to our PUBG players for the result:

• BooM
• DaZ
• Interrogreat
• Edakulous

The archives for the PUBG Invitational at Gamescom can be found at the PUBG Twitch channel.

While the invitational was ongoing, another portion of our team ventured to Texas to participate in Absolute Battle 8, which was tied to both the Injustice 2 Pro Series and the Capcom Pro Tour as a ranking event. Three of our Nobles – Dragon, Luu and Semiij – were geared up for Injustice 2, whereas Vagabond single-handedly took on Street Fighter V.

For Injustice 2, the Top 8 was practically an invasion – not a single Texas native stood tall to defend their territory in the finals. Three of the Top 8 were occupied by Noble, two from the Loser’s side and one from Winner’s.

After a convincing 3-0 victory against Echo Fox Theo, Dragon’s rivalry with SonicFox was finally re-enacted. Immediately the two went straight to their best characters, refusing to hold anything back. Both players were reduced to their second life bars in every game as they matched each other read for read, but ultimately Sonic claimed three consecutive victories, knocking Dragon into Loser’s Finals.

At Semiij’s side of the bracket, his match-up with A F0xy Grampa felt almost like a re-enactment of the PUBG Invitational. With no armor on his MB Cat Dash, he had to navigate a barrage of bullets as well as layer upon layer of Foxy’s strategy. Semiij came within arm’s reach of running it back, but Foxy snatched a close victory from the jaws of defeat. Semiij’s tournament life ended with a seventh place finish out of almost 140 players.

For Noble iLuusions, the outcome was a reverse of Semiij’s set: it also came down to five games against Circa Forever King, but Luu’s Green Arrow would find the bulls-eye and win 3-2. With Biohazard next in line, Luu partly expected to use Bane as target practice for his trademark archer, but he got into a tango with Deadshot instead. Lead proved more lethal than wood as Bio outmatched Luu not only in zoning but in close quarters combat as well. Although Luu was able to scratch Bio’s record with a loss, it was not enough to save him from elimination.

When the dust settled in Loser’s Bracket, only Echo Fox Theo and Noble Dragon were seen standing amid the rubble. This would set the stage for a runback. While Theo’s Supergirl proved more formidable than most had expected, Dragon quickly took a 2-1 lead, bringing himself within arm’s reach of another runback with SonicFox. However, although he’d taken a life lead in their fourth match, Theo’s timing proved impeccable, enough to catch Dragon off-kilter. Finally he came off his Clash in an effort to stay alive, only to be defeated by a point-blank teleport attack from Supergirl. The venue almost exploded from the shockwaves emanating from Theo’s extreme clutch factor.

Dragon tried to regather himself, but it was clear that the ending of the fourth match had taken its toll on him. Unable to get any type of momentum going, his change for vengeance against the Fox slipped away, and he finished his journey at Absolute Battle 8 with a third place finish.

The Injustice 2 Top 8 at AB8 was more than a display of skill, it was a practical novel about the evolution of our game and its community. You’d need to see it to believe, and thanks to the convenience that is YouTube, you can do just that! Check it out.

Meanwhile, Vagabond brought pride to his home state in the SFV bracket by performing a near-flawless run of Bracket A2, up until he got to his Winner’s Finals match with Flash. The narrow loss to Flash stabbed at his composure, but fortunately each pool would advance three players at the event, so Vagabond advanced to the second phase of SFV pools despite the setback. With a clean victory against Flash House, Vagabond looked well on the way to recovery, but VGP Docta Afrikan put a stop to his efforts in the Loser’s Bracket. Thus, Vagabond bowed out at 25th place, but despite his loss he took heart in the fact that his fellow Texans proved incredibly strong when it came to Street Fighter.

Shortly after the Injustice 2 finals at Absolute Battle, the action continued in Las Vegas, where the finale for Hometown Heroes ran its course. Having qualified from the region of Atlanta, Noble Tweedy faced off against seven other representatives from the U.S.A. Set To Destroy’s 2eZ sought to manipulate Tweedy’s fate, but the Kryptonian’s clean 3-0 victory demonstrated that only he would make his destiny for himself. However, his momentum was swiftly shattered by Nubcakes from Los Angeles, who’d brought a highly calculated playstyle with Batman to which Tweedy had no answer.

Over at Loser’s Bracket, Chicago’s Anbu Getreked issued a bold challenge to Tweedy: the Superman mirror match. Tweedy’s response? A power-packed Superman Punch that resulted in another 3-0 victory in his name. With another champion out of the tournament, Tweedy advanced to the Top 4 where he would confront Florida’s F3 DR Gross. Although Gross was known for using Green Lantern, he had a Black Adam ready to go. Once again, Tweedy found himself at a loss on how to manage the match-up. Unable to keep Gross pinned down, the dictator was free to do as he pleased.

Tweedy was eliminated from the Hometown Heroes finale at fourth place after an excellent run through the bracket. His consistency throughout the entire circuit has been remarkable, and we commend him for his performance. Should you wish to relive the finale yourself, check out this archive from Netherrealm’s Twitch channel!

The course of the weekend marked a notable chapter in the organziation’s growth, one that we could not be more proud of. But our efforts are far from done – join us at East Coast Throwdown in New Jersey this Saturday as we enter the final ranking event for the Injustice 2 Pro Series!

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