37 players – slightly up on the June event, and the most in over a year – convened in Belfast’s Accidental Theatre this past Saturday for the latest in the now six-year-old Button Mash series of locals. With five tournaments on the agenda, a busy day of gaming was in store. Let’s check out how it went down…
Tekken 8#
With May winner FreakingFracker (T8 having been put on hiatus for the June event) absent, all indications were that we were set for a tightly-contested bracket. However, OATS (Fahkumram) delivered a dominant performance, not dropping a single game on his way to victory. OATS is originally from these parts, but is now living in the Netherlands where he has been sharpening his skills against some of Europe’s top players, and it showed as he swept aside all comers. Newcomer The Benburb Bull (Feng) had an impressive run, coming out on top in a close losers’ final against Skeletorr (King), but had no answer to OATS, only narrowly avoiding the No-Round Brown in the grand final.
Street Fighter 6#
CriticaLizard (Zangief) returned to the top step of the SF6 podium after beating June winner MigBee (Jamie) not once, but twice. After just falling short in a 3-2 defeat in the winners’ final, MigBee saw off the challenge of Neilo (Dee Jay) in the losers’ final to secure a grand final rematch, but could not deliver an improved performance as CriticaLizard wrapped up the tournament with a 3-1 win.
Guilty Gear Strive#
Maka (Lucy) nearly made GGST the second game of the day in which a recently-released DLC character claimed victory, but had to settle for second place after a thrilling series of matches with Alumento (Baiken). After losing a winners’ final that went to an extremely close double Luigi, Maka made short work of FabricatorZayac (Anji) in the losers’ final, then beat Alumento to reset the bracket. Alumento, however, stepped up his game after the reset to win 3-0 and claim his first Button Mash GGST title.
The King of Fighters XV#
It had been a while, but KOF was here again at Button Mash – albeit with a low turnout, meaning that the tournament was contested as a round robin. When the smoke cleared, it was Yreval (Athena/Hinako/Terry) who emerged on top, only dropping a game each to WonderDownUnder (Clark/Yuri/Terry) and Neilo (Gato/Yamazaki/Krohnen). Neither of them, however, made the top three, with Alia Sun (Nakoruru/Blue Mary/Sylvie) taking second and Pennma (O. Shermie/Darli/Kukri) coming in third.
Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection#
Recent Button Mash events have generally seen the inclusion of a throwback game in the tournament line-up; sometimes a beloved classic such as Marvel vs Capcom 2 or Soulcalibur II, other times a more left-field choice such as Sonic the Fighters or Project Justice. This tournament fell very much into the former category, as the PS3s were dusted off and nine players tested their skills in a game that celebrates its 20th anniversary this year (insert that one Sanae Kochiya meme here). Neilo (Feng) earned the right to challenge Skeletorr (Baek) in the grand final after prevailing in a close losers’ final against CJ (Law), but was swept 3-0 in the grand final.
What next?#
No date has been set for the next Button Mash offline event, but expect it sometime in October. In the meantime, there will be a GGST online tournament on Wednesday the 3rd of September, as part of the Mashing with Purpose fundraiser series, and of course there are the weekly Tuesday night sessions in association with QUB Dragonslayers. Be sure to check the Button Mash socials for the latest info on FGC events in Belfast.