Tekken Online Challenge: DVK finishes third at South Africa Online Masters

Pools

Pool 1

The tournament began in the pool stage with a total of seven Kenyans taking part. In Pool 1, Xstar kicked off his run with a 2-1 win over Malagasy player Sokas, before being sent down to the losers' bracket early by South African player CactuarKiDD. Elsewhere in the bracket, Frost looked to be headed for Top 8 after getting consecutive 2-0 wins against Malagasy players Tikalo and Mijoro, as well as CactuarKiDD. However, in the Winners' Final, Frost was sent to the losers' bracket on a coin toss, having agreed to the procedure along with his opponent—eventual South African runner-up Callym Beukes—rather than facing each other on what they deemed an unfavourable Internet connection.

Down in the losers' bracket, Xstar seemed intent on making up as much ground as he could, clinching consecutive 2-0 wins against South African players SuperSora and Streetwise_Damage, as well as Malagasy player Yondaime, before getting his revenge on CactuarKiDD with a 2-1 win. In an all-Kenyan Losers' Final, Xstar managed to upset Frost in a 2-0 win that saw him sail through into Top 8.

Pool 2

In Pool 2, Furious Monkey started off with a 2-0 win over South African player Jon-snoo, before getting a walkover over Zambian player Kamui who was disqualified for failing to appear in the tournament. However, he was then sent to the losers' bracket in a 2-0 loss to South African player Drooopy-ZA, who eventually finished the tournament in fourth place, before being sent home by fellow South African player Gasmaskguy in another 2-0 loss.

Elsewhere in Pool 2, Darktempest began his run with a 2-0 win over Malagasy player Kami, before being handed a walkover over South African player Jin, who was also disqualified as a no-show. Drooopy-ZA would also prove to be Darktempest's gatekeeper in the bracket, consigning him to a 2-0 loss to send him the losers' bracket, after which Malagasy player TOavn handed him a 2-1 loss to send him out of the tournament.

Pool 3

In Pool 3, Vega was the first Kenyan to step into action, clinching a 2-0 win over South African player Carly_GGs. Waiting for him in the next round, however, was none other than DVK, who won 2-0 to send him to the losers' bracket. Vega managed to stay alive with a walkover win over South African no-show ShinGouki, a 2-0 win over another South African, MrChocolatezzz, and then another walkover win over Angolan player Eddy Wang who also failed to appear for the tournament, prior to being bundled out by Malagasy player Manounou.

Following his win over Vega, DVK was handed a walkover over yet another no-show, Malagasy player Kotolita, prior to securing back-to-back 2-0 wins over South African player Genoss Hazard and Malagasy player MOMOSIS to secure himself a spot in Top 8.

Pool 4

Pool 4 saw perhaps the biggest controversy of the tournament as far as the Kenyan contingent is concerned. Reigning Savanna Circuit champion Mickey conceded a walkover in his first set against Malagasy player Cerberus261 for excessive delays, prior to getting a 2-1 win over South African player 404.

In his second set of the losers' bracket, despite having reported a 2-0 win over Malagasy player ChickenLord, Mickey was controversially disqualified again for excessive delays, having earlier reported that his game had crashed during the set. It is worth noting that the TOC rules state that "if a Match disruption occurs that is out of control of the Players of the Match Set, such as action of another Player’s un-desynced controller or a Game software crash or console hardware failure making Players unable to continue a Match, the Tournament Organizer staff member shall order the Players to restart the Match."

Top 8

Over in the Winners' Side of Top 8, DVK continued his run with a 2-0 win over Drooopy-ZA to proceed to the Winners' Final. Opting to use Miguel against his opponent's Hwoarang, DVK put on a convincing display to book a showdown with the eventual champion, Mozambique's Bigdaddymike. It was here that DVK was finally sent to the losers' bracket, succumbing to a strong display from Bigdaddymike's Bryan; switching to Jin from Miguel after losing the first match, DVK was unable to find any significant answers and suffered a 3-0 loss.

In the losers' bracket, Xstar carried on his winning streak against South African Kunimitsu player Unga Bunga. Undoubtedly the most exciting moment of the set was how Xstar ended it, catching Unga Bunga with King's infamous Rolling Death Cradle to send him crashing out of the tournament.

It was in the Losers' Quarter-Finals, however, that Xstar's run would come to an end, becoming the third Kenyan victim of none other than Drooopy-ZA, who went with Feng to face Xstar's King. Drooopy-ZA employed some elusive gameplay that Xstar couldn't seem to catch on to for the most part, sailing through to the Losers' Semi-Final with a 2-0 win. Xstar's run earned him 70 points to leave him in fifth place in the TOC South Africa regional league leaderboard, as well as US$ 60 in prize money.

In the Losers' Final, DVK returned to Miguel to face off against Callym Beukes, an Eddy loyalist who had earlier knocked out his compatriot Drooopy-ZA with a 2-0 win in the Losers' Semi-Final. It was a frantic set that saw the two players going back and forth; DVK employed some aggressive play to take the first match but seemingly took his foot off the gas in the second, allowing Callym to dictate proceedings and level the score. DVK resumed the aggression to take the set to 2-1, but struggled to get in as Callym put on a solid defensive performance to take the set to a final match. DVK could not regain momentum and continued to work very hard to impose himself on Callym, but the South African's defence ultimately proved decisive as he sent DVK home to earn a Winners' Semi-Final rematch with Bigdaddymike in the Grand Final.

DVK's run earned him 150 points to leave him in fourth place in the TOC South Africa regional league leaderboard, as well as US$ 260 in prize money.