Flashback with Noble – Results for CEO 2017
CEO 2017 has come and gone, but the post-tourney blues have yet to cease. So for those looking for fond memories to reminisce about, let’s rewind ten days ago to the weekend of June 16-18th!
Of our entire crew, ten Nobles went swooping in on their prey at Orlando’s Wyndham Resort. As CEO doubled as a qualifier for an uncounted number of leagues, our players would be fighting for staggering amounts of cash and chances to qualify for World Championship events set for the end of the year. We targeted the competition in Street Fighter V, Injustice 2, Pokken and Super Smash Bros. Brawl – four out of eleven of the games featured at the tournament!
25% of the Top 8 for Injustice 2 consisted of Nobles, specifically Dragon and iLuusions. Both players traveled quite a dusty road to get to such a level, toppling titans and redefining their approach to the game. Dragon escaped his pools in Winner’s after defeating Fable Destroyer and Deg, the latter having placed Top 8 in Injustice 1 for CEO 2013 as a Harley Quinn specialist. After declawing StarCharger’s Catwoman in Top 48, Dragon was forced to edge out his comrade iLuusions in order to cement his spot in the Top 8. As for iLuusions, he too qualified from the Winner’s side of his pool with a victory over Buffalo, after which he sent Biohazard to Loser’s. In order to survive in the tournament after his loss to Dragon, Luu fended off Method SylverRye and sent him home at ninth place to join Dragon in the Top 8, albeit on a different side of the bracket.
When the Top 8 commenced, Dragon faced off against Slayer in an Aquaman vs. Black Adam match-up. At first Dragon took a commanding lead, but Slayer scouted out the weakest areas in Dragon’s play and ran it back three matches straight to make it into Winner’s Finals. The outcome left a disheartened Dragon at the mercy of SonicFox’s Black Adam. Obviously he was at a loss on how to overcome the match-up, and it would be this setback that would end his tournament life at fifth place. As for Luu, his Green Arrow took an unsuspecting Theo by surprise. He’d initially gone Superman to find a zoning advantage only to see that there was none to be had, so he fell back to Aquaman and the difference was noticeable. Desperation settled in, driving Luu to opt for a better match-up which did not yield an improved result. Luu was eliminated at seventh place.
Semiij, a recent addition to the Noble family, had also emerged from his pool on the Winner’s side after collecting an impressive scalp – the EVO 2013 champion, EMP KDZ. This triumph gave him understandable confidence, enough to plow through DR Viking but not enough to stand against Whiteboi’s fearsome Scarecrow. Still, he stood on the brink of stepping into the Top 8, but he found himself face-to-face with his legendary rival from the days of the Kombat Cup – Echo Fox SonicFox. Their resulting series proved to be a spectacle worthy of the EVO World Stage, but unfortunately Semiij ended his CEO run at ninth place.
While BeyondToxin did not make an appearance in the upper levels of the Injustice 2 bracket, he certainly had his share of obstacles to contend with. After a one-sided loss to SQ1 ATP, his focus intensified and not one poor soul in the Loser’s Bracket was spared his wrath. Toxin fought his way back to his pool’s Loser’s Semifinals where he seized the opportunity to run it back with ATP and ultimately defeat him 3-0. Unfortunately, when faced with Kinetic Skeezer’s strategy, he drew a blank, finishing in 49th place.
If you’d like to relive the excitement alongside Noble’s NRS players, feel welcome to hit up the archives from Netherrealm’s Twitch channel!
As CEO was next in line as a Premier Event for the Capcom Pro Tour, Vagabond and Nightmare2450 readied themselves for their first major tournament where Street Fighter V’s latest patch would be in effect. At first Vagabond was sailing smoothly through his pool, but ShinLad came along and sunk his ship, dropping its occupant into the lower bracket. Not one to be deterred, however, Vagabond fed two more souls to Necalli to enter a second pool where success would propel him into Street Fighter V’s Top 24 bracket. Another 3-0 victory against BxA Squall would lead him to a confrontation with Stupendous, against whom he did not have a response to offer. Thus, he concluded his SFV run at 49th place, adding another league point to his standings on the CPT leaderboards.
As for Nightmare, he embarked on a win streak that propelled him right into Winner’s Finals where he faced off against a formidable foe – Verloren. Despite his efforts, Verloren triumphed 2-0, but due to the fact that CEO had adopted Combo Breaker’s policy of “three-player advancing pools,” Nightmare advanced to the next phase of the tournament from the Loser’s side without the need to play in another finals. It did not take long for the Necalli specialist to recover his train of thought, as players like SimpleTricks and Princess Slim discovered the hard way. Their eliminations cleared the way to a match with EG NYChrisG, who had previously eliminated him at NorCal Regionals. However, Nightmare was surprised by ChrisG’s decision to use not Guile, but Nash. Nightmare found himself challenged to rediscover the Necalli vs. Nash match-up while trying to wear down ChrisG. Sadly, ChrisG’s streak against him persisted, and Nightmare was eliminated at 33rd place, a result that netted him five league points.
Due to Internet issues at the venue, broadcasts for the SFV bracket were difficult to keep online. Fortunately, all of the match footage has been recorded and shared via the at YouTube, including pools. Check ’em out!
Out of our other four representatives, three of them took on a heavy challenge: a bracket of over six-hundred players total for Smash Wii-U! Such numbers come as no surprise considering Smash’s success as an esports title, but it did nothing to lighten the weight on the minds of Noble Sol. Regardless, he found his comfort zone against Captain Q, Radda Radda and GenericRhyme, but when he faced off against Phoenix1’s CaptainZack, his streak suffered a blow. Once again, however, CEO’s stipulation of advancing three players per pool allowed him to skip his pool’s Loser’s Finals and proceed into the second phase. Not one to dwell on the past, Noble Sol eliminated Puppeh to keep himself in the tournament, but his recovery came to a swift end due to the efforts of DNG Kameme.
Like Sol, Noble Ryo’s consistency ensured his victories in the upper side of his bracket, but the competition had no intention of lowering its difficulty level. At Winner’s Finals, Ryo was startled to find himself facing off against IMT Anti, one of the many titans of competitive Smash 4. In an amazing display, Ryo toppled Anti to proceed into his next pool! Unfortunately, his confidence quickly diminished after his first match with Marss’s Rosalina, but with Top 24 still within arm’s length he eliminated Child 2-0 and advanced to fight ZD in a race to three wins. ZD’s masterful Fox McCloud disarmed Ryo’s Roy, prompting him to change up his strategy with a switch to Ike. The decision proved wise at first as Ryo tied the set at one win apiece, but ZD quickly broke the stalemate and shut down Ryo to advance to the Top 24 finals. Despite his elimination, though, Ryo’s definitely attracted the attention of Smash 4’s competitive player base!
With his fellow Smashers drowned, Noble Manny resolved to stay on top of his game to bring glory to his team. His road followed a course similar to that of Ryo’s, except this time he managed to survive in the lower half of his second pool by cR dekillsage and SWG Lima to proceed into the Top 24. His confidence through the roof, Manny proceeded to send Circa 6WX home 3-0 as his fellow Floridians screamed their approval. Unfortunately, he ran into the very player responsible for Ryo’s elimination. Although Manny seemed to be better prepared for the Rosalina match-up, new chapters etched themselves into Marss’s book of tricks as the set progressed. At one point, Manny had taken a 2-1 lead and was poised to advance through the Top 16, but his expectations crumbled into ruin as Marss readjusted his tactics to pull ahead and win 3-2. Nevertheless, with over six-hundred players competing in Smash 4, 13th place is a very respectable result to conclude your run with. Well done to Noble Manny!
Missed out on the excitement of Smash Wii-U? Not to worry – you can catch up by watching the archives from VGBootCamp’s Twitch channel! You might have to scroll down the page quite a bit before you find the CEO videos. Additionally, we recommend you follow the Nintendo Versus Twitter to stay informed on all esports circuits related to Nintendo titles, including the recent update to Pokken Tournament.
Speaking of Pokken, we’d like to acknowledge Noble TeeJay’s run through the Pokken Tournament bracket at CEO. His Twitter bio states that he is recognized as North America’s best Sceptile, a reputation that appears to be well-earned as he slices his way through the opposition to reach Winner’s Finals. However, slippinbug, the Pokken champion from DreamHack Austin, gate-kept TeeJay from the bridge to Top 16, and unfortunately for TeeJay, the bracket did not have enough entrants to necessitate the “three-player advancing pools,” meaning that he’d have to win his match in Loser’s Finals to have a shot at the finals. TeeJay was more than down for the challenge, but when ThankSwalot reached him at the end of the pool, the Sceptile specialist found himself taken by surprise. He still managed to claim a match, but Swalot’s adaptation proved beyond remarkable, and much to TeeJay’s dismay, his run at CEO ended within mere inches of the Top 16. We have confidence he will bounce back as he continues his preparation for the Pokken World Championships later this year!
Check out the Twitch archives from the PokkenTournament channel to get your fill of 3D Pokemon combat!
CEO is recognized as one of the largest tournaments established in the North American FGC, with over two-thousand players from almost the entire globe competing at the sun-drenched beaches of Florida. For our players to hold their own as well as they did speaks volumes about their drive to be the best! We are happy with their performance and we’ll be stepping up our game for Evolution 2017, which will take place at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas within three weeks from today!
We at Noble would like to thank you for supporting our players! Please be sure to keep a close eye on their Twitter pages to stay informed on their endeavors! To anybody attending EVO…we will see you there! 🙂