By now, I've lost count of the number of times Rico Suave has won Next Level Battle Circuit. Given that Injustice has only been on the market for 3 months, that should convey an idea of just how dominant he has been at Brooklyn's Battle Circuit in just a short period of time. Although Rico has made it look easy at times, it has become anything but a foregone conclusion. Some of the best players in the area -- as well as some surprising players of lesser-known characters -- have all come down to the Arcade recently to test their might. Wednesday night was no exception, as the ECT champion Tom Brady was in attendance, along with NJ's EMP DarthArma, Revolution Gaming's JRosa, and returning fan-favorite 'Grr', an improving Bane player who is currently still in his teens.
One of the matches everyone had been waiting to see, was Rico Suave vs Tom Brady. With Tom having been sceduled to make an appearance at VxG, and declining to travel on short notice, the two ended up on a collision course on Wednesday and met each other in Winners Finals. The set started out with both players playing extremely patiently, sizing each other up and trading ground tridents with lightning bolts. With Tom playing in his usual unhurried style, walking backwads and baiting Rico into making punishable mistakes, the two played cat and mouse throughout their first lifebars. The match was fairly even until Tom caught Rico with a scoop and then an anti-crossup d2, giving him the life lead and momentum he needed to sit back and close out the match. In Game 2, Tom again worked his way up to a convincing lead, at one point sending Rico packing to the next part of the stage with a perfectly-timed b3 just as Rico tried to jump in with his trait activated -- causing the announcers and stream chat to yell "Ooooooohhh" in reaction. Tom continued to play confidently through the latter part of the match, and appeared to be on the verge of heading into Grand Finals as he went up 2-0.
But along with KDZ and Denzell Terry, Rico has made a name for himself as one of the best adjusters in the IGAU tournament circuit, and he showed why again this week. In the third game, he began to pressure Tom heavily, using throws, footsie-range lightning and Black Adam's trait to keep Tom from getting comfortable. Twice Tom went for an interactible in the neutral game, and twice Rico read it and punished it, giving himself a solid lead. A baited From the Deep with a Divekick punish forced Tom to clash, and Rico continued his roll in order to take his first game. In Game 4, Tom built another solid lead, but watched it evaporate when another errant ground trident was punished with a meter-burned divekick into full combo. Tom caught Rico with an anti-air d2, but Rico began pressuring Tom with up-close cancels into low lightning that caught him off-guard, eventually using his trait to take his second match. And in the final game, after continuing to throw out From the Deep, Tom was again hit with the same punish to give Rico a solid life lead. With Tom now forced to come in, Rico was able to sit back and pester him with low lightning as he attempted to walk forward -- at one point hitting him with 3 or 4 in a row -- and a timely Lightning Cage gave Rico the victory and advanced him to Grand Finals.
In Losers Finals, Tom was matched against NLBC regular EMP DragonGod, who has been looking stronger each week, and had himself gone up 2 games over Rico last week before eventually losing the set. Tom and DragonGod started off in a similar fashion, feeling each other out and trading barbs from a distance. The two battled back and forth, trading punishes until Tom eventually forced DragonGod to clash. But a missed conversion on a d2 allowed DragonGod a second chance at life, and the theme of the evening repeated itself once again as DragonGod divekick-punished Aquaman's From the Deep and then repeatedly hit Tom with low lightning to win the match. Tom started off the second match strong, taking DG's first lifebar before DragonGod had a chance to touch him and using the background interactibles to maximize his combo damage. DragonGod used a low lightning to bait Tom into ducking and then hit him with a MB divekick into combo; but Tom held his ground and was able to take the win. After DragonGod took a very even 3rd game by using the Menagerie tele interactible for a full punish, Tom was unable to build up steam again, and DragonGod took the set 3-1 with a very convincing last match.
Grand finals was a matchup we have seen quite a few times at Next Level, between Rico and DragonGod. Although their first match was a nailbiter, with DragonGod losing by a razor's edge, Rico looked more and more in control as the set went on. By the end of Game 2, he had nearly a life bar to spare, and he opened with a strong lead in Game 3; but DragonGod embarked on a True Master™ comeback, landing a pair of divekicks into combo and temporarily saving himself from elimination. Rico, however, was never seriously threatened in the final match as he cruised to another victory.
Despite the talent that has been showing up at NLBC, no one has yet been able to loosen Rico's iron grip on the #1 spot. With Summer Jam around the corner, Rico is looking as strong as ever and will attempt to connect the dots to win his first IGAU major. Also in successive weeks, the ever-improving DragonGod has beaten the both ECT champion and the EVO champion at Battle Circuit.
Will anyone else be able to unseat Rico in the weeks to come? Tune in to find out!
Top 4:
1) G4C RG Rico Suave (Black Adam)
2) EMP Dragongod (Black Adam)
3) EMP Tom Brady (Aquaman)
4) EMP DarthArma (Batman)
Stream Archive:
http://www.twitch.tv/nycfurby/b/435453025?t=58m50s
Bracket:
http://nextlevel.challonge.com/NLBC29INJ
One of the matches everyone had been waiting to see, was Rico Suave vs Tom Brady. With Tom having been sceduled to make an appearance at VxG, and declining to travel on short notice, the two ended up on a collision course on Wednesday and met each other in Winners Finals. The set started out with both players playing extremely patiently, sizing each other up and trading ground tridents with lightning bolts. With Tom playing in his usual unhurried style, walking backwads and baiting Rico into making punishable mistakes, the two played cat and mouse throughout their first lifebars. The match was fairly even until Tom caught Rico with a scoop and then an anti-crossup d2, giving him the life lead and momentum he needed to sit back and close out the match. In Game 2, Tom again worked his way up to a convincing lead, at one point sending Rico packing to the next part of the stage with a perfectly-timed b3 just as Rico tried to jump in with his trait activated -- causing the announcers and stream chat to yell "Ooooooohhh" in reaction. Tom continued to play confidently through the latter part of the match, and appeared to be on the verge of heading into Grand Finals as he went up 2-0.
But along with KDZ and Denzell Terry, Rico has made a name for himself as one of the best adjusters in the IGAU tournament circuit, and he showed why again this week. In the third game, he began to pressure Tom heavily, using throws, footsie-range lightning and Black Adam's trait to keep Tom from getting comfortable. Twice Tom went for an interactible in the neutral game, and twice Rico read it and punished it, giving himself a solid lead. A baited From the Deep with a Divekick punish forced Tom to clash, and Rico continued his roll in order to take his first game. In Game 4, Tom built another solid lead, but watched it evaporate when another errant ground trident was punished with a meter-burned divekick into full combo. Tom caught Rico with an anti-air d2, but Rico began pressuring Tom with up-close cancels into low lightning that caught him off-guard, eventually using his trait to take his second match. And in the final game, after continuing to throw out From the Deep, Tom was again hit with the same punish to give Rico a solid life lead. With Tom now forced to come in, Rico was able to sit back and pester him with low lightning as he attempted to walk forward -- at one point hitting him with 3 or 4 in a row -- and a timely Lightning Cage gave Rico the victory and advanced him to Grand Finals.
In Losers Finals, Tom was matched against NLBC regular EMP DragonGod, who has been looking stronger each week, and had himself gone up 2 games over Rico last week before eventually losing the set. Tom and DragonGod started off in a similar fashion, feeling each other out and trading barbs from a distance. The two battled back and forth, trading punishes until Tom eventually forced DragonGod to clash. But a missed conversion on a d2 allowed DragonGod a second chance at life, and the theme of the evening repeated itself once again as DragonGod divekick-punished Aquaman's From the Deep and then repeatedly hit Tom with low lightning to win the match. Tom started off the second match strong, taking DG's first lifebar before DragonGod had a chance to touch him and using the background interactibles to maximize his combo damage. DragonGod used a low lightning to bait Tom into ducking and then hit him with a MB divekick into combo; but Tom held his ground and was able to take the win. After DragonGod took a very even 3rd game by using the Menagerie tele interactible for a full punish, Tom was unable to build up steam again, and DragonGod took the set 3-1 with a very convincing last match.
Grand finals was a matchup we have seen quite a few times at Next Level, between Rico and DragonGod. Although their first match was a nailbiter, with DragonGod losing by a razor's edge, Rico looked more and more in control as the set went on. By the end of Game 2, he had nearly a life bar to spare, and he opened with a strong lead in Game 3; but DragonGod embarked on a True Master™ comeback, landing a pair of divekicks into combo and temporarily saving himself from elimination. Rico, however, was never seriously threatened in the final match as he cruised to another victory.
Despite the talent that has been showing up at NLBC, no one has yet been able to loosen Rico's iron grip on the #1 spot. With Summer Jam around the corner, Rico is looking as strong as ever and will attempt to connect the dots to win his first IGAU major. Also in successive weeks, the ever-improving DragonGod has beaten the both ECT champion and the EVO champion at Battle Circuit.
Will anyone else be able to unseat Rico in the weeks to come? Tune in to find out!
Top 4:
1) G4C RG Rico Suave (Black Adam)
2) EMP Dragongod (Black Adam)
3) EMP Tom Brady (Aquaman)
4) EMP DarthArma (Batman)
Stream Archive:
http://www.twitch.tv/nycfurby/b/435453025?t=58m50s
Bracket:
http://nextlevel.challonge.com/NLBC29INJ
