Australian fighting game event runners and community. Hosts of BAM: Battle Arena Melbourne, Australia's largest fighting game/open entry esports event.
FEBRUARY 10, 2016– Today Capcom, ahead of launching Street Fighter V, announced its Capcom Pro Tour event circuit. CouchWarriors’ eighth annual Battle Arena Melbourne, Australia’s largest competitive fighting game event, and the fourteenth OzHadou Nationals (Sydney), Australia’s longest running competitive fighting game event, will both be Ranking Events on the international esports series, the Capcom Pro Tour, putting Australia’s best fighting game players in the global spotlight.
By earning Ranking Points at BAM8, OHN14 and other Capcom Pro Tour Ranking Events, competitors can qualify for a place in the prestigious Capcom Cup Finals at the end of the year. In addition, winners of Street Fighter V at each event will be sent to the Capcom Pro Tour Asia Finals in South Korea; the winner of this CPT Premier event will earn a direct qualification to the Capcom Cup Finals.
The Capcom Cup, in its fourth year, has showcased the best of the best in Street Fighter, with past champions including renowned players Naoto Sako, Yusuke Momochi and “Kazunoko” Ryota Inoue. All three have made appearances in Australia before, so only time will tell what sort of international talent the promise of CPT ranking points might bring to Melbourne and Sydney this year, and which local champions will rise up to challenge the best in the world.
If you’re looking for your own piece of the action, you can register for Battle Arena Melbourne 8, to be held at CQ Functions in Melbourne on May 13-15, and look forward to news regarding OzHadou Nationals 14 in Sydney, closer to its date of August 26-28.
As part of the wider Australian fighting game community, both CouchWarriors and OzHadou strive to make new players welcome, and host a range of events for players to enjoy and level up their game.
About CouchWarriors: CouchWarriors Inc. is a not for profit association created to energise the fighting game community. Starting in 2006 as an informal community group, it created an event series for social play and ranking battles which serves as the heart of the Melbourne scene. The project has blossomed into large events like the major annual, Battle Arena Melbourne (BAM), providing tournament services, support and resources for industry including major events such as PAX Australia, and ongoing support to community companion events.
About OzHadou: OzHadou is a group passionate about bringing together fighting gamers throughout Australia. Since its founding in 2001, OzHadou has been establishing connections between fighting gamers nationwide. As the chief fighting game body in Sydney, the OzHadou team has developed extensive tournament experience which culminates annually in the OzHadou Nationals (OHN), Australia’s first and longest running fighting game major, where the nation’s best gather to compete for the coveted title of “OHN champion”.
COUCHWARRIORS Proudly Presents OFFICIAL STREET FIGHTER V LAUNCH TOURNAMENT Supported by Capcom and Playstation 4
Celebrating the launch of Street Fighter V, join us at our major events venue for casual matches, and the first tournament. Who will set the pace for the new era of SFV?
Major prizes for Winners, Runners up, and a range of Participation prizes.
– Fighting game tournaments and casuals – ALL Games! Special event Ranbat at CQ (BAM VENUE) IN THE MELBOURNE CBD!
Note as a premium event there will be a $15 Entry
Tournaments, casual games, tips and training – CouchWarriors Ranking Battles (Ranbat) are a day long fighters festival! At each Ranbat players can earn ranking points from participating in tournaments, with Prizes and Medals earned at the end of the year!
BRING YOUR OWN CONTROLLER There is a BYOC / Sticks policy for the event. Our friendly players will often loan a controller, but we ask you to please bring your own! Also, while we should have enough equipment to run the tournaments, everyone will appreciate anybody who can bring setups for casuals and DIYs.
HOW TO GET THERE
CQ Functions is on Queen St, a short walk up from Melbourne Central train Station, or Flinders St Station.
Upcoming Event Dates
Regular Ranbats will take place at the regular venue Monthly on the 3rd and 4th SATURDAY of every month.
(Except BAM in May and TBC Premium end of year Dec) Mason Hall, 6 Davies St Brunswick. Subscribe to our Facebook events list and look for updates at www.couchwarriors.org
With our first chance to play SFV at CouchWarriors Ranbat for August last weekend, many in the community had their first hands on with the game. Here are a couple of the photos from our Facebook page on the day. Read on for impressions and video!
Getting the chance to play on on one with live opponents in the gamescom build of the game was a great chance for community to get a feel for the upcoming game. The reactions have been generally very positive, and players are looking forward to the game.
CouchWarriors member and avid youtuber, Kevin “Burnout” Kim did a great job at pulling together some analysis of changes between the online beta version, which received coverage on Shoryuken.com
Check out the videos below and look for more community impressions and video from the event soon!
Get Ready to RISEUP – we will have a special preview of STREET FIGHTER V at this month’s Ranking Battle event.
There will be two stations available for players to get a hands on experience in two player offline matches. It will be the gamescom build, so try Ken and Necalli!
We will be running some house rules to move people through the preview with three matches on, then move to next players for most of the time. We will also schedule some exhibitions with top players later in the day.
Thank you to Capcom for the opportunity to showcase the new game.
Regular event info follows
Tournaments, casual games, tips and training – CouchWarriors Ranking Battles are a day long fighters festival! Newcomers are welcome as well as tournament veterans.
Each “Ranbat” monthly is a chance to play long sets of casual games for practice, but also earn Ranking Points for the tournament games listed below. Look for regular updates on the ranking points here on the site. You can view the current rankings here.
Come play or BYO your setup. Enjoy some casuals or get in your tournament practice going with our structured events.
Event Info
When: SATURDAY AUGUST 22 11am-10pm
Where: Brunswick Masonic Hall 6 Davies St, Brunswick North
Cost: $10 Entry + Tournaments (Expected pot fee is $5 per tournament)
11am – Doors, Casual play 11:30am – Super Smash Bros. Wii U doubles 12pm – Super Smash Bros. PM Singles 12pm onward STREET FIGHTER V PREVIEW – CASUALS, EXHIBITIONS 1pm – Super Smash Bros. Melee Doubles 3pm – Dead or Alive 5 Last Round 4pm – Guilty Gear Xrd 3pm – MORTAL KOMBAT X 3pm – Super Smash Bros. Wii U Singles 4pm – Super Smash Bros. Melee Singles 3:30pm – 6pm – Ultra Street Fighter IV
BRING YOUR OWN CONTROLLER There is a BYOC / Sticks policy for the event. Our friendly players will often loan a controller, but we ask you to please bring your run! Also, while we should have enough equipment to run the tournaments, everyone will appreciate anybody who can bring setups for casuals and DIYs.
HOW TO GET THERE
The venue is a short walk from Moreland Train Station, Sydney Road Tram, and there is ample parking at the venue . It’s just off Sydney Rd, before Moreland Rd.
Upcoming Event Dates
September Animaga – Anime and Gaming convention – Melbourne – September 5-6 http://animaga.com.au/
Ozhadou Nationals 13 – Sydney September 11-13 www.ozhadou.net
CouchWarriors Ranking Battle September 19 (Melbourne)(TBC)