By Tom Cannon

August 8, 2001

If you were at B5 on Sunday night, you were witness to the largest Street Fighter tournament ever held in the US. There was plenty of excitement, but the real story of the tournament was what you didn't see: "west coast" dominance. In the B5 aftermath, one thing was made clear: the old regime of west coast dominance is over. Instead we have a New World order, with top players from all over US and beyond competing on equal footing.

Two stories illustrate this dramatic change. The first is of course Justin Wong's romp through the 2001 tournament season. Wong, a New York player, was unstoppable, winning all three major tournaments of the summer, and capping it off by going undefeated in B5 match play. Justin has climbed the mountain and is now the undisputed MvC2 champion.

The second story is about a bunch of guys you've probably never heard of: the Northwestern MvC2 players. In the spring of 2000, Washington state was a Street Fighter desert; believe me, I lived there. There were virtually no good players, and tournaments were few and far between. At B4 a couple of Oregon players came down and were quickly eliminated. That's when things started getting serious. The players banded together, started holding regular tournaments, and came back to B5 in force, placing 10 players in the 64 player finals. This is an amazing accomplishment for just one year, and it proves that there's nothing magical about California. Competition breeds excellence, wherever you are.

So how did this happen? At last year's Midwest Championships, 8 out of the top 10 spots went to CA players. B4 wasn't any better. Yet at B5 we have an East Coast champion and Canadians placing in the top 3! I think there were two key events that coincided at exactly the right time, fundamentally changing the way we play Street Fighter.

The first key was this site. Before Shoryuken.com, there were only two ways to get Street Fighter information. The first was to go to the arcade, where hopefully there was someone there who could give you a challenge. The second was to get on Usenet, which was, let's face it, a geek's-only playground. By by 1999 alt.games.sf2 was more of a flamer's haven than a real SF information source. Basically if you didn't live in an SF hot-spot you were screwed.

Shoryuken.com changed this in two ways. First, it provided top-level strategy articles, and actual tournament videos. Articles like Seth's "So You Want To Be a Dominator" series explained the mindset required to win tournament matches. Being able to actually see tournament- winning strategies was infintely more valuable than any number of Usenet posts explaining the same techniques.

Second, this site provided a well-known meeting ground where players could learn from each other and organize real-world meetings to practice and play. The SRK forum community is far larger than Usenet ever was, and players have taken advantage of that.

The second key event is Capcom's switch from CPS2 to Naomi. Why was this big? Training mode. For the relatively low cost of a Dreamcast and some MAS arcade sticks, players could get a near-exact arcade experience, and the perfect environment to hone their skills. And you could get all of this right when the arcade game is released, not in some lame console port 12 months later.

The implications of these two events cannot be understated. Seemingly overnight, players have been armed with world-class knowledge, and with an unlimited, free training environment to learn and master new skills. The result? Techniques are able to leapfrog across the country at an extremely rapid pace. A trap could be discovered in one area, posted to the net, picked up on by a player in a completely seperate state, then perfected at home on the Dreamcast, and "transplanted" into that new area wholy intact.

Where we go next is anyone's guess. The next logical step is to take Street Fighter online, as has already been done in Japan. Are we on the verge of a world-wide SF community similar to what already exists for PC games like Quake and Starcraft? Imagine a Worldwide Open Championship, with players from across the globe competing in online qualifying rounds, then meeting face-to-face to decide the true world champion. If anything, the B5 results show the extent of what is possible when people come together for a common goal: the continued growth of the scene. Congratulations to all B5 winners and finalists, see you next year.