'East Coast is Beast Coast', Bar Fights II results

Set 1 match notes

1. Marn (Viper) defeated Mike Ross (Honda) in the first game. Marn had some great execution here, and this match came down to the wire.

2. Joe "ILOVEU" Ciaramelli (Sagat) beat Ken I (Rufus). Joe played a mostly defensive match, kept it smart and pulled out the win without Ken I being able to do much.

3. Sanford Kelly (Cammy) defeated Peter "Combofiend" Rosas (Abel). Sanford mostly controlled this match although Combofiend was able to get a few things in there.

4. Arturo "Sabin" Sanchez (Dhalsim) defeats Ed Ma (Akuma). Ed Ma pulled off an amazing Raging Demon that blew through Dhalsim's Super to win round 1, but Arturo controlled things well here and won the match.

5. Justin Wong (Rufus) defeats Alex Valle (Ryu) in a pretty convincing fashion. Valle just couldn't get anything going.

Set 2 match notes

After getting beat pretty handily by the East Coast team, the West Coast team changed up their lineup a little bit to try and counter what they saw the first time around.

1. Marn (Viper) defeats Mike Ross (Honda) again. Marn got out of the gate quickly here, perfecting Mike Ross in the first round, and although Ross bounced back somewhat in the second round, Marn was clutch and won again.

2. Alex Valle (Ryu) defeats Joe "ILOVEU" Ciaramelli (Sagat). Joe won a big round 1, but Valle tied it up with a very close round 2 victory. Joe was in the zone here, playing a great defensive game, but Valle pulled off an amazing win with just a sliver of life left.

3. Sanford Kelly (Cammy) defeats Peter "Combofiend" Rosas (Abel). While Combofiend got beat in the initial match, he started off well here, but Sanford countered with a dominating round 2 and round 3 was close, but Sanford made the clutch plays to take another game.

4. Arturo Sanchez (Dhalsim) defeats Ken I (Rufus). This is a match most people think is in favor of Rufus (6-4 in the tier rankings), but Arturo showed his exceptional zoning skills by keeping Ken I at bay through most of the match. Ken I created some openings, but couldn't capitalize and Sanchez won.

5. Justin Wong (Rufus) beat Ed Ma (Akuma). Justin was in control the entire first round and although round 2 was close, Wong made a clutch play to win it.

6. Marn (C. Viper) defeats Alex Valle (Ryu). Marn's Viper was pretty convincing here. Marn had another victory over Valle, like the one that happened at the West Coast Warzone finals a little while back. It was not Valle's day and Marn smacked him down.

Set 1 match notes

1. YeB (Gen) defeats Marn (Abel). Marn won big in the first round, but YeB came back with a clutch performance in round 2. In round 3, YeB pulled out some great stuff and nearly had Marn killed. But his Abel was able to bounce back and make things close. Marn missed a combo that would have won it, and YeB capitalized on the mistake and took this game.

2. Sanford Kelly (Dan) defeats Kai (El Fuerte). Sanford connected with an Ultra and made some smart plays to take round 1. He hunted Fuerte down in round two and won.

3. ShadyK (Ryu) defeats ILOVEU (Viper). This wasn't even close. It didn't seem like Joe really knew how to play Viper at high level at first, but he changed people's minds later...

4. Justin Wong (Fei Long) defeats Tatsujinken (Vega). Justin showed here that he might be a good player some day if he works at it (sarcasm). He dominated in round 1 against Tatsu's Vega. After Tatsu controlled most of round 2, Justin made an outstanding comeback taking the game.

5. Arturo (Seth) defeats Gootecks (Balrog). Arturo consistently countered Balrog's run punches with his Spin Kicks. Didn't quite seem like Gootecks was prepared for this, and although he got in a few times Sabin held a very good defensive position through most of the game.

6. Sanford Kelly (Dan) defeats YeB (Gen). YeB opened up strong beating Sanford's Dan without losing much life. Sanford bounced back and took round 2, in the process connecting again with Dan's Ultra. Going more defensive, Sanford was able to make some good reads on YeB and took this one.

7. Justin Wong (Fei Long) defeats ShadyK (Ryu). Justin busted out his typical superior spacing, and won the first round almost by a perfect. He later finished off Shady to win the first set of East Coast vs. Wild Card.

Set 2 match notes

The Wild Card Team also adjusted their lineup after losing the first set. Here's how things broke down.

1. ShadyK (Ryu) defeats Marn (Abel). Although Marn looked real good here, ShadyK pulled out a very clutch play to land with his Ultra and take round 1 and then follow through to win.

2. Kai (Fuerte) defeats Sanford Kelly (Dan). After a big opening round from Kai, Sanford bounced back with win with Dan in the second round. Sanford had made some clutch plays with Dan's Ultra, but finally missed one here and Kai pulled out the win on the whiff.

3. Justin Wong (Fei Long) defeats Tatsujinken (Vega). Tatsu tried a random Ultra here and lost round 1. After that, he never seemed to recover and Wong kept up his rushdown to win.

4. Gootecks (Balrog) defeats ILOVEU (Viper). While Joe looked really raw in his first match with Viper, he quickly proved that was a fluke here, showing some good skills. Gootecks pulled it out though, making the big plays Balrog is known for.

5. YeB (Gen) vs. Arturo Sanchez (Seth). This was the first in person match for these two players. While Seth is Arturo's secondary character, he's still put a lot of time in with him. Arturo started off playing a lot of offense, but once he built a lead he backed off and played smart to take round 1. YeB adapted well in round 2 and pulled out his usual bag of Gen tricks to take it. Arturo was having nothing of it though and perfected YeB in round 3 by playing a strong defensive game.

6. Justin Wong (Fei Long) defeats ShadyK (Ryu). Although ShadyK made some good plays, Wong again applied his great spacing and opportunist style to take this game.

7. Arturo (Seth) defeats Kai (Fuerte). After some back and forth play, Arturo made smart decisions with Seth to take the game.

8. Justin Wong (Fei Long) defeats Gootecks (Balrog). This was an interesting match because Wong is an extremely good Balrog player. He read his opponent well, and while Gootecks kept it competitive, Wong's Fei Long got the edge and won the set to permanently end Team Wild Card's hopes.