The last weekend of October was a busy one for the Irish FGC, with events in Dublin and Cork in addition to Belfast - not to mention the small matter of IGM in Dun Laoghaire next weekend - so it was unsurprising that turnout for the October edition of Button Mash was down on August. That said, there was still a new game on show, as well as a game that was decidedly not new, but it was new to Button Mash. Let’s check out how it went down:
2XKO#
2XKO was one of two games to be run as a round robin, and a closer tournament you couldn’t possibly have asked for, as Lianoc (Yasuo/Jinx), Mini_Kai (Vi/Darius), and Kaworuscott (Braum/Illaoi) all finished on a 4-1 record. On account of his superior game count, Lianoc was declared the inaugural Button Mash 2XKO champion.
Street Fighter 6#
With none of August’s top 3 in attendance, it was all to play for in the SF6 bracket. Indeed, most sets were closely contested, with few in the way of 3-0 sweeps. Cobalt Frog put on a good show with newly-released, highly-technical DLC character C. Viper, but could only manage third place after being on the receiving end of a thrilling comeback in the losers’ final against Kaworuscott (Marisa). This put Kaworuscott into the grand final against Mr Potato (Jamie), with Mr Potato coming out on top in another tight match.
Guilty Gear Strive#
Jo (Testament) survived a bracket reset from Mattie (Ky/Lucy/Potemkin) to take top spot in GGST. After losing a super-close winners’ final to Jo, Mattie went on a tear, delivering consecutive 3-0 beatdowns to Mr Potato (Chipp) and Jo, but in the grand final reset his momentum petered out as Jo reasserted his superiority.
Tekken 8#
With a much-reduced turnout from August, Tekken 8 was the other round robin tournament of the day. This one was somewhat more cut and dried than 2XKO, with Skeletorr (Armor King) dropping only a single game to second-placed Friezer (Clive) on his way to a dominant victory. Kaworuscott (Leroy) finished in third place.
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core +R#
This time around it was the turn of GGXXAC+R to fill the throwback game slot, and just like its successor it provided a thrilling winners’ final and a bracket reset. Yreval (May) narrowly defeated Kaworuscott (Zappa) 3-2 in the winners final, but Kaworuscott locked in for the rest of the tournament, defeating Mr Potato (Order Sol/Potemkin/Chipp) 3-0 in the losers’ final, winning the first rematch against Yreval 3-0, and unlike Mattie in GGST, he finished the job with a 3-1 win in the grand final reset.
What next?#
Button Mash will return on Sunday the 7th of December, in the Accidental Theatre, with GGST, SF6, T8, and two other games to be confirmed nearer the date. Not only that, but Button Mash Online Fundraiser: Tekken 8 Edition is set for Wednesday the 5th of November. Last but not least, the Belfast weekly locals hosted by QUB Dragonslayers are moving to Saturdays for the foreseeable future, although they will not be taking place this forthcoming Saturday the 1st of November owing to IGM. As always, keep checking the Button Mash socials for the latest info.
