Capcom Pro Tour Australia: There's A Cody At Capcom Cup!!!

There's going to be a Cody at Capcom Cup! I repeat, THERE'S GOING TO BE A CODY AT CAPCOM CUP! While the results of the Australian leg of the Capcom pro tour online is not news to anyone anymore, the impact and heft of the result still have me reeling as I write this.

I must confess, and it feels like I say this every week, I did not know a whole lot about the Australian FGC going into this, but that has been one of the biggest advantages of the Capcom pro tour online—the discovery of players I did not know before. In what was an action-packed Grand Final, Yuvin 'Rumours' Manadeniya recorded a stunning victory over DC Somniac, winning the set 3-1 after a bracket reset.

Excitement galore

As mentioned earlier, the grand final was a spectacle well deserving of its name, and it had everything a great set should have: intrigue, skill, and loads of drama. However, if you think the grand final was the only set that was exciting, you'll be quite wrong. Most of the top 8 matches ended in insane fashion with a lot of last-gasp winners and one particularly crazy time out win.

Interestingly, Somniac was involved in a couple of these tight games. For instance, his battle against Schenkhan was one of the most riveting sets of Street Fighter V I have seen this year, and at 2-2, the game seemed delicately poised. Somniac pressed for a winning round to take the game, and with time running on the clock, it looked like Bison would win it only for Schenkhan's Zeku to execute a well-timed crouching medium to take the round. Somniac would go on to take the next round, thereby winning the set, but that was a round that will stay in my memory for quite a while.

After a China tournament that was great but also a little lacking on the excitement front, it was great to get some edge-of-your-seat action from Australia. Also of note was the set between Somniac (again!) and Pahnda in the losers' final. The game was also poised at 2-2 with Pahnda's Akuma in the life lead. But, with 4 seconds on the clock, Somniac's Bison jumped in and executed a grab that put him in the life lead, and with some nifty footwork, he was able to avoid Pahnda long enough to claim the victory with a Timeout win.

Rumours had a few close shaves of his own, especially in his match in the winners' final against Pahnda where he was down two games and had to work out an incredible comeback. Even his match against Somniac was anything but smooth as he lost 6 straight rounds to suffer a bracket reset before finding the tools to win the set and qualify for Capcom Cup 2020.

Rumours the history maker

Rumours has done Australia proud with this result in the Capcom pro tour online tournament as he is now the first person from Australia ever to make it to the Capcom Cup. He did this by some effective displays where he showed his ability to adapt to his opponent's play style. Also, his patient approach was quite remarkable as his match against Somniac showed. His capacity to figure out a solution to Bison's zoning game and close the distance between the characters was great to see.

Not only has he put Australia on the global FGC map, but he also did this with a character that many pro players have described as 'low-tier.' Cody is not a character you see in a lot of top 8s; talk less of grand finals, but Rumours, a former Birdie user, might have changed the perception of Cody for many players. His impressive use of Cody's V skill 2 was instrumental to his victory, and now I can't wait to see how he does at Capcom Cup.

The last Capcom pro tour will be the North America West 2 coming up next weekend, and I can hardly wait.

Congratulations Australia! You are giving us a Cody!