Tekken254 Circuit set to adopt a new competitive format for its 2020 schedule.

After a wild 2019 schedule, the Tekken254 Circuit will move into the 2020 schedule with a new competition system that seeks to grow the local competitive Fighting Game Community scene in Kenya.

Running for three seasons currently, the Circuit has seen immense growth in its player growth, competitive gameplay and as well as a rise of Esports organizations feeding into the circuit signing players (Article on Esports Organization-4th September). The Circuit has seen various changes that the organizers have made to help steer the local competitive scene forward and also make it easy for players to grow. The circuit moves into its fourth season in January 2020 and is set to have various changes.

TEKKEN254 CIRCUIT 2020 (UNIFICATION OF DIVISIONS)

The 2020 schedule will still be eight months series with qualifiers played monthly. The circuit major change will be the unification of both divisions (Premier Division & Challenger Division).

Season three saw a separation of vet players locked down to a premier division and a new division that sought to build and encourage new players to sign up was formed. The challenger division helped drive in 15 players who have played through the whole season and gained enough gameplay knowledge of the game.

Heading into our 2020 schedule, the circuit will have the divisions unified and a bigger player bracket per pool formed. Players will be playing using a bracket format for the 2020 schedule unlike in season three where players played in a round-robin system during pools stage.

Follow @AceProGaming_Ke and @itstekken254 on twitter for more news about the Tekken254 Circuit.

After six qualifiers, it all comes down to the finals this Saturday.

Season Three of the Tekken254 Circuit comes to an end this weekend with the top-ranked 16 players from the Seasons Qualifier. Season Three kicked off in January this year with a new format of play that saw 6 Qualifier tournaments played with participants fighting for the top 16 slots.

After 6 tournaments this year, Michael “Mickey” Muhoro finished at pole position with Nick Fury closing down this year’s finalists finishing at 16th place. The finals will be played in a double-elimination format.

Tekken254 Circuit Finals Fixtures

  • DVK v. RobbyM$
  • MoM|Frost v. T-Vets|Nick Fury
  • SU|DarkTempest v. T-Vets|Poker Face
  • Xstar v. Priest
  • Mickey v. Vega
  • Tony v. Stanley Styler
  • T-Vets|Battousai v. Overhaul|In4red
  • Furious Monkey v. Proto-G

The Tekken254 Finals will be staged at the PSG LAN Party set to be held this coming Saturday at The Junction, Nairobi.

THREE SEASONS IN, STRUCTURED COMPETITION SYSTEM, STRONG COMMUNITY

The Tekken254 Circuit Qualifiers comes to a curtain close as we head towards Qualifier 6 of this season series. Organized by Tekken-Two-Five-Four and Ace Pro Gaming, the circuit has seen a rise in competitors from 19 competitors to the current 32 registered players who have once attended the structured competitive tournaments held in Nairobi.

Started in 2017, we held a tournament in one of Nairobi's most visited Gaming Lounges (Tric Gaming) where we held our very first tournament. The Tekken254 has later grown into one of the most connected and growing communities filled with discipline and hard work amongst its members. The community is slowly cementing competitive system as one of the strongest in the region.

The Circuit was birthed immediately after the Tric Gaming Tournament and it is currently closing on its third season. More players trickling in the community and staying competitive with efforts to welcome more as we continue our work to strengthen Esports and Digital Entertainment in Kenya.
The Circuit adopted a new format that sought to increase community members, increase competition but most importantly level up Tekken knowledge within the community.

The system saw two divisions split between Premier Division (24 players) and Challenger Division (open entry) with a pro-rel system. The tournaments were also spread out monthly with 6 Qualifiers in the circuit. As we move into our final qualifier, we would like to thank the Tekken254 Community members for their bond, hard work, commitment, and great Tekken play.

THANK YOU

THEY CAN, AND PROBABLY WILL TAKE OVER THE CAPE TOWN SHOWDOWN

The Tekken World Tour announced its expansion strategy to newer communities across the globe and the greatest news for Africa was the announcement of the Cape Town Showdown scheduled for September this year.

The tournament will see many African Tekken players converge in South Africa this year for a great eSport event in the region. The Tekken communities in Africa have been vibrant with many local tournaments organized in many parts of Africa.

With this, we want to focus on the Kenyan scene that has been vibrant with a strong community, well-organized tournaments and online presence. The Tekken 254 Circuit is currently in its third season, the season was restructured to have six Qualifiers and one major where 16 of the best 24 (Premier Division) will qualify for the Savanna Majors set for August.  The Circuit planned to get new members by launching a second tier called the Challenger Division which currently has 11 active members. The Circuit, with a Pro-Rel (promotion-relegation) format, will see the bottom four in the Premier Division play against the top four in the Challenger Division for spots in the Premier Division for Season Four.

The Circuit has given the community an avenue to practice and plays in monthly tournaments that have improved gameplay, character knowledge and confidence in tournaments. The community’s online groups have also been an avenue to discuss matchups, character moves, strength and this has improved the gameplay of many players.

Some of the Circuit’s players participated in an Online Cities Battle against players from Durban, South Africa in December 2018. In a first-to-two, five v. five takedown format, the Nairobi team managed to win 5-2 in both rounds.

DVK, AP | Mickey and XiT | QueenArrow have all shown an interest in taking part in this great fighting game event set for September. XiT Woundz, an eSport organization managing Sylvia “QueenArrow” Gathoni, has confirmed her participation. Will the Kenyan representatives manage Top 8 entry? Yes, they will.

Cape Town Showdown 7 will be held at the Radisson Red Cape Town on 7th-8th September this year.

THE CHECK | XIT WOUNDZ OWNER CODY.M TAKES US INSIDE THE WORLD OF ESPORTS BUSINESS, EXISTING MARKETS & TEKKEN254

XiT Woundz has operated in Kenya for close to a year now participating in Kenya’s premier FGC series called Tekken254 run and organized by Tekken Two Five Four and Ace Pro Gaming. The circuit currently is on its third season and going into the third qualifier this coming weekend before heading for the April break.

XiT Woundz has expanded its operation globally tapping into various Esports markets. The Esport organization is represented by Catholic University of  Eastern Africa law student Sylvia Gathoni Wahome who goes by the name of QueenArrow.

Ace Pro Gaming connected with XiT Woundz owner Cody M to bring you the interview below:

APG: Tell us a brief history of XiT Woundz Esport Organization

Cody M: Good afternoon Ace Pro Gaming! It is a pleasure to be speaking to everyone here today and I hope everyone is having a wonderful day wherever they are in the world. To begin, XiT Woundz was originally formed as a Halo 2 team at MLG (Major League Gaming) Las Vegas Nevada 2005 by the brothers nicknamed Bonfire and ItWasLuck. The team yielded an incredible presence in both Halo 2 and Halo 3, earning over 40,000 USD in tournament prizing and were a constant Top 8/Top 16 team during their initial reign. Their time as a team came to an end around 2009 with MLG Columbus being their final event. In 2017, I was approached by an old business partner about reforming the brand in the competitive eSports circuit. I was working as an eSports journalist at the time but decided this was an excellent opportunity to build something of my own and continue a legacy.

After discussing terms with ItWasLuck, an agreement was met that continuing the XiT Woundz legacy would indeed come to fruition. In 2018, we kicked off the brand’s re-emergence in January and since then seek to build upon the brand’s legacy and carry the traditions the old team set before us.

APG: XiT Woundz has players from various eSports markets (countries). If you do not mind answering, why expand to these markets?

CM: Excellent question! As most of the audience out there may know, the U.S.A. is the eSports hub and world market. This simply means that most high-end competitive circuits will almost always do business in the United States simply because we have the prime locations and biggest prize pools. Considering how established we are as a country in competitive gaming, this also comes with the territory that we hold the largest eSports organizations market in the world, with multiple organizations being based in various states throughout the country.

Other countries such as Mexico, Baltic Europe, South America and even Africa are just now starting to catch on to the eSports market and infrastructure we have out here in the west. This means that local talent can be found all over the globe. When looking to establish our presence as an organization, we wanted to find markets that would fit our brand’s image and showcase what is possible in the world. After doing about two months of research, I found different African establishments that presented the development of a competitive eSports circuit and gaming culture and from there we found the TEKKEN 254 circuit in Kenya and the rest is history.

I love signing underdog players and talent. It’s important to give players across the world a chance to compete at the highest level. When we found QueenArrow we knew this would be one of the greatest player acquisitions we will ever do, it’s been a wonderful experience.

APG: Does the organization have plans to expand its player base in the current markets you are present in? Do you have plans to expand into different countries (markets)?

CM: XiT Woundz always has plans to expand our operations to other countries. Like any expansion plan however, it all boils down to logistics and cost effectiveness. We currently feature players in USA, Canada, Venezuela, Kenya and Germany and we even had a Dota 2 team in Cambodia last year. To say the organization is everywhere would almost be an understatement. I would like to say we are absolutely looking to head to Europe and Japan as our next major expansion for 2020 but first we need to further establish our presence and build our local market community and that means further establishing our presence in the state of New Jersey as that’s our home turf.

Now, as for what games we are seeking to get invested into, well I’ll let time do the telling when we get there!

APG: Which of the existing markets does the XiT Woundz organization find easy to manage players?

CM: It’s always tough to answer what is the easiest player base to work with. Of course, if it’s based on logistics/traveling then our United States players are the easiest to figure out plans for. However, I would have to say that so far, we have been able to get everyone involved in tournaments on a global scale effectively! And for that I have my amazing staff to thank for.

APG: With the TEKKN 254 Circuit running its third season, what is your brand involvement with Sylvia Wahome like from management point of view?

CM: Sylvia is a diamond in the rough, a true fighter at heart. We are continuing to assess her abilities as a player during her run in the TEKKEN 254 Circuit Season 3 tournaments. What’s awesome is that all our players from Canada and Germany have been able to give her some of the most incredible advice from improving her game step by step, so in this case her training since last year has been almost all Canadian. With the TWT (Tekken World Tour) circuit we would love to see her get a top placing at a serious major; however, everything comes with time and as we move forward, we will continue to help her grow and develop her skills at a higher level so she will be more tournament ready.

APG: With the expansion of the Tekken World Tour, will we see Sylvia take part in the African leg to be staged in Cape Town, South Africa?

CM: We would love to see QueenArrow in South Africa for the TWT event later this year! However, that will be completely up to her, if she feels she is ready.

APG: Still on the TWT Cape Town leg, how best would you love the Tekken World Tour format to be for other existing players who cannot attend the various events in the schedule?

CM: With the introduction of the Dojo series, this gives players an incredible amount of motivation to attend their local weekly series to earn TWT points. The best part is, all the organizers must do is apply online via the website and wait for a response. Outside of the Dojo system, I would love to see an official TWT major in Kenya as I feel they have a city to host it and a solid developing tournament infrastructure to showcase to the world. I can also see countries like Ghana, Vietnam, Denmark and various others get a shot to host a major soon.

I would love to see more countries get the chance to showcase their communities and top players to the entire world! Build the foundation now and bring the TWT to an even greater podium in years to come!

APG: What is your take on the growth of eSports globally?

CM: Esports, or as I still call it, competitive gaming, is a longstanding tradition of gamers across the globe with all nationalities and religions to come together and compete at the highest level possible. In the early years of the 2000s, who would have thought everything would grow to an exponential level that we see today; it’s absolutely mind-boggling to me. However, it still has a lot of problems that need to be corrected; player unions should become a thing for players to feel comfortable in their contracts and have re-assurance that the organizations won’t screw them over as we have seen here in the States an alarming amount of times. With this also being said, the alarming potential factor that many large tournaments may eventually become more monopolized and invitational only is a great concern for the FGC entirely.

It’s hard to say where exactly everything will go for the future, but since entering the industry back in 2004, I can safely forecast what will end up happening and I hope and wish that all players and organizations out there take great care now to prepare themselves for even greater hurdles we have yet to see from a business standpoint. Other than that, however, I think competitive gaming nowadays is a beautiful thing as it truly brings gamers together from all walks of life and for that factor alone, I can be grateful for.

XiT Woundz owner Cody M. continued to thank all eSport players in Kenya, TEKKEN 254, Davy Kamanzi (TEKKEN 254 president) and Pro Series Gaming.

Qualifier two sees Frost finish third

Qualifier two had mixed results and reactions such as the first ever reset in the Tekken 254 Circuit, AlphaPlay | Mickey losing, Frost breaking out to finish third and a deadly Pool C that saw best players fight for top 2 finishes.

POOLS

The Tekken 254 Circuit Pool A saw AlphaPlay | Mickey secure Top 8 spot after cruising past the pool with 5-0 Win-Loss record dropping only one match against Proto-G (3-2 Win-Loss record). Mickey was joined by Frost in top 8 who completed the pool with a 4-1 Win-Loss record. Proto-G, PokerFace, XiT | QueenArrow and Dawa Jr finished 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th respectively.

Pool B had AlphaPlay team member Simba finished with a 5-0 Win-Loss to take up 1st position and was followed by Vega (4-1 Win-Loss record). Furious Monkey (3-2 Win-Loss record), Battousai (2-3 Win-Loss record), PseudoDude (0-4 Win-Loss record) and Mugi (0-4 Wins-Loss).

Pool C saw Tiz top the pool with a 5-0 Win-Loss record but dropping 3 matches. AlphaPlay | PRIEST came second with a 4-1 Win-Loss record to book a top 8 bracket spot. Nakuru based DarkTempest (3-2 Win-Loss record), Chuma Mzee (2-3 Win-Loss record), RMP | Shoryuken (1-4 Win-Loss record) and Dice1533 (0-5 Win-Loss record) finished 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th respectively.

Pool D saw Xstar wash out DVK 2-0 in the first set to top the Pool with a 5-0 Win-Loss record as DVK came second with a 4-1 Win-Loss record. In4red, RobbyM$, Pipsqueak, and FlurryFists finished 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th respectively.

AlphaPlay | Mickey v. DVK

AlphaPlay | Mickey’s clean record was shattered in this set with DVK snatching up a win with a 2-0 score. Switching characters between Bob and Violet, AlphaPlay | Mickey fell short dropping 6 rounds and managing to take up only 1 round.

Tiz v. Vega

Tiz sent Vega packing to the losers’ bracket in the second set of the Top 8 bracket. Using Nina, Tiz dropped only 1 set against Vegas strongest character choice Akuma.

Frost v. Xstar

Xstar lost his lead against Frost in a set that ended 2-1 to Frost. Using King, Xstar failed to hold his lead to lose the final match (3-2) to give Frost the set and seal the win.

AlphaPlay | Simba v AlphaPlay | PRIEST

This set saw two teammates go up against each other in a thrilling match that ended 2-0 to AlphaPlay | PRIEST.

FINAL TOP 8 POSITIONS

The circuit saw Xstar take 7th place pushing Vega to 8th, AlphaPlay | PRIEST, AlphaPlay | Simba finished 5th and 6th respectively. Tiz secured 4th position to bag himself 21 points whereas Frost took 3rd position.

The grand final saw the very first reset we have ever had in all tournaments held. AlphaPlay | Mickey coming from the losers final managed to beat DVK 3-1 to take the grand finale to a reset where he again beat DVK 3 sets to 1 to take up the 1st position.

AlphaPlay | Mickey goes into qualifier two with sights to complete a clean record for the second time.

Michael Muhoro aka AlphaPlay | Mickey came into this new season with a mind of taking over the Tekken scene in Nairobi with his deep knowledge of the fighting game for the second time. Signed to AlphaPlay, an Esport Organization based in Nairobi seeking to tap into the rising digital sport in Kenya, he continues to put up a great performance in each tournament he walks into.

His mastery of different Tekken characters that he selects for each set he plays also shows a player that understands the technicalities and various move lists contained in these different characters.

With the new season going into its second Qualifier this weekend 21st July, AlphaPlay | Mickey continues to extend his unbeaten record since November of last year when we held our first ever Tekken tournament that birthed the Tekken254 Circuit. He currently sits at the pole position with a clean record of 24points, a win-loss record of 9-0 and 20MatchWins. He managed to keep this season’s opener clean just as he did with season one.

COMPETITION

The Tekken 254 Circuit saw changes made in its format and system coming into the new season. Incorporating a reverse point system where points are rewarded according to the number of participants in reverse order. (With 24 players, 1st position acquires 24points, 2nd gets 23points….24th position gets 1point). This has helped increase competition and strategy for the players with many targeting top finishes to capture points in the various positions. Also, with just a 1point difference between positions, players see it easy to improve in the next tournaments. The new system also increased games for players that do not make it to the top 8 double elimination bracket having them play extra games with players from different pools in the various position playoffs.

Focusing on competition, many great players such as Tiz (23Points, a win-loss record of 8-2 and 17 MatchWins) have put up great competition against AlphaPlay | Mickey but always falling short.

AlphaPlay | Mickey and Tiz holding 1st and 2nd position respectively will go into Qualifier two in different Pools.

Tiz will be joined by RMP | Shoryuken, AlphaPlay | PRIEST, Chuma Mzee, DarkTempest and Dice1533 in Pool C. This Pool C is projected to be the Pool of death with 4 of the players being highly rated in the Tekken254 community. The fight for top 2 slots will be the stakes in this pool.

AlphaPlay | Mickey top seeds Pool A and will be joined by XiT | QueenArrow, Proto-G, Frost, Poker Face and Dawa Jr.