Trenchtown Gaming Tournament | The 17 August Report

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Like all of the Trenchtown events to date, the morning started out with a downpour. Rain appears to accompany gaming, but thankfully, unlike the first Trenchtown event it didn’t appear to deter as many players.

Even the slight risk of dropping Black Ops 2 for Halo 4 wasn’t quite the disaster-in-waiting it could’ve been. It’s pretty clear there is a Halo community in Cape Town willing to support LANs, and credit to that community as the number attending the first Halo 4 LAN hosted by 2upGamers eSports was greater than the number that attended the first Black Ops 2 LAN. Not that it’s a competition of course. It’s just pleasing to this cold, undead being to see such a swelling of support in the gaming scene.

While every effort to start earlier than previous events was made, the weather had played its part, and some routes to Observatory were flooded, which caused a slight delay to allow those on their way an opportunity to join in on the action.

Having welcomed everyone – and attempted to remember every announcement necessary (and failing) – the action got under way at 12pm. This time, the action included Halo 4 (free-for-all), FIFA 13, Street Fighter IV, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Injustice: Gods Among Us, with Street Fighter and Tekken being operated by the good people of Cape Town Showdown.

FIFA 13

IMG_9664FIFA 13 saw the usual good support, with 22 players over two platforms. The double elimination on both Xbox 360 and PS3 saw some tantalising games thrown up and on PS3, Andrew-Lee Tobias (Franchizeboy87) had to battle from the loser’s bracket to book a place in the final against Jody Lewis. In a goal fest of a final, Jody came back from 3-0 down to take the match 5-4 to book his place in the grand final against the Xbox 360 winner, while Andrew would face off the runner-up on Xbox 360 to determine the overall third and fourth place finisher.

On Microsoft’s console, the competition was just as intense, with a number of favourites dropping quite early into the loser’s bracket. In the end Yazeed Dollie had to come via the loser’s bracket to beat Ricardo Marcelino (playing in his first competitive FIFA tournament) twice to secure his spot in the grand final.

IMG_9802The third and fourth play-off saw Andrew take a 2-0 lead on his away console (Xbox 360) against Ricardo. In the reverse leg, Andrew held on to his lead and extended it with a 3-1 win to grab the third place with a 5-1 aggregate win.

Yazeed followed suit and took a lead on his “away” console – the PS3 – against Jody. Taking  a 4-1 lead onto his home console he held on 1-1 to take the winner’s spot 5-2 overall.

Placings and prizes:

1st: Yazeed Dollie – R400 + R100 Cheap Codes credit
2nd: Jody Lewis – R200
3rd: Andrew-Lee Tobias – R100
4th: Ricardo Marcelino – R50

FIFA 13 PS3 Results | FIFA 13 Xbox 360 Results

Injustice: Gods Among Us

The DC Comics fighter only just had enough numbers to make it a go (eight was the minimum, so make sure to support or we’re pulling it…) but still proved an entertaining affair. In the end however, it was the unbeaten run of Stuyvesant (know as Alasdair Donaldson in real life…) who grabbed the top spot on the podium, with Sameegh Jardine taking second spot.

IMG_9810Placings and prizes:

1st: Stuyvesant – R250 + R100 Cheap Codes credit
2nd: Sameegh – R150
3rd: PaasHaas – R100

Injustice Results

Street Fighter IV

Street Fighter IV proved to be more popular than Injustice and drew 11 competitors to the fray. While a number of familiar names from the Injustice tournament, the winners were totally different and included well known zombie hunter, erm, ZombieHunta in the top three. However, the winner was Khan-Khan who came via the loser’s bracket to beat Luminous twice in the final.

IMG_9830Placings and prizes:

1st: Khan-Kahan – R250 + R100 Cheap Codes credit
2nd: Luminous – R150
3rd: ZombieHunta – R100

Street Fighter Results

Tekken Tag Tournament 2

Namco Bandai’s fighter proved the most popular on Saturday. 12 entrants battled their way through the double elimination tournament until only one was left standing, but not before an epic battle in the final. Having dropped to the loser’s bracket in the third round, Di Lhong (one of the favourites) battled back into the final, where he took the first match 3-0. To grab the win, he would need to beat HotShot a second time. However, in an exciting final match, HotShot fought back and grabbed it 3-1 to ensure the win.

IMG_9820Placings and prizes:

1st: HotShot – R250 + R100 Cheap Codes credit
2nd: Di Lhong – R150
3rd: Stuyvesant – R100

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Results

Halo 4

A game that has maybe become a little ignored in recent times due to Black Ops 2 becoming the flavour of the eSports scene on console… Not really. The total number of pre-registered players for the game was 25, and while only 20 pitched, there were another eight walk-ins, which indicates a definite interest from the Halo community in Cape Town.

With the players split into four groups of seven for the first round of matches, the action kicked off on the ubiquitous ‘Haven’ and ended later on the very same map. The tournament was a free-for-all one based on Slayer Pro, and each group played three matches on three different maps. Points were awarded for placings (like the Grand Prix) and the highest scoring top four in each group progressed to the next round.

Round 2 saw the competition really hot up with all the favourites making it through only to have to face each other on another three map group phase. On the line this time was a finals place for each of the top four finishers in the two groups, meaning it was time to get serious. It also meant a lucky reprieve for one of the players that had fallen out in the first round. Due to a player needing to leave before his round kicked off, Devon got an opportunity to make his way onward and upward. Sadly for him, the round was to be his last, as the top eight that made their way through were: Danny, Justin, Andrew, Sidney, Jsharp, Keegan, Ziyaad and Jiyaad. Up for grabs was a cash prize pool for the top four finishers.

By now the players were pretty familiar with each other and the maps, but the second map in the final was a wildcard that really appeared to test the players. Complex proved to be a close run affair – at least when it came to the placings. Haven turned out to be a decider with Danny , Jsharp and Sidney all sitting in a position to finish top. Danny had two first place finishes under his belt, but a win by Jsharp or Sidney on Haven would have seen a tie for first place. Jsharp (the winner of last year’s Xbox SA Halo 4 tournament) ended an agonisingly second on the map which allowed Danny to pip him as overall winner by one point.

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Halo 4 Results

Cosplay

IMG_9742In an effort to expand the scope of the event, an ‘informal’ cosplay competition was held. Attendees for the competition were judged by the attending gamers, who chose their favourite cosplay of the day. Whoever received the most votes was announced the winner and walked away with R350 cash and a R100 Krafts By Witch Knight voucher.

The winner on the day was Jason who came as the Pyro from Team Fortress 2, but all three of the other entrants deserve a mention and thanks too: Rueben (Assassin’s Creed), Marike (Van Helsing) and Marissa (Lucy).

And that’s not all

As if that wasn’t enough entertainment in the day, there were also a couple of stalls selling their wares, as well as a member of the UCT Genshiken Anime Society offering Anime to anyone who had a USB storage device. Twisted Designs offer a variety of custom designed t-shirts whether you are looking for metal t-shirts or gaming hoodies – the choice is yours. If classic comics are more your thing, Blake the Comic Book Guy (not his actual name) is a good place to start – he sells some classic comics. One of the sponsors of the event also had a few items one display, and if hand-crafted items of the darker nature are your thing, then Krafts By Witch Knight will appeal to you we’re sure.

Thank you and good night…

After a solid eight hours of gaming, the event drew to a close. Winners had won, and losers had… well, there weren’t really losers in our eyes, because your support is greatly appreciated.

Each and every attendee has our undying gratitude and we truly hope you had an enjoyable experience, and that we can entice you back again.

Our collective thanks go to:

  • The crew on the day (they know who they are and how awesome you are).
  • Cape Town Showdown for coming onboard to operate the fighting games.
  • Trenchtown for opening their doors again, and for their sponsorship of the event.
  • Cheap Codes for sponsoring additional prizes for FIFA 13, Injustice, Street Fighter and Tekken.
  • Clan ISLB for fronting additional cash prizes which went to the cosplay winner and the top three Halo 4 players.
  • Apex Interactive for supplying games to give away in random draws – prizes will be sent to the players who were notified on the day.
  • Krafts By Witch Knight for sponsoring part of the cosplay prize.
  • Red Bull for sponsoring an energy drink per player.
  • And you…

For more photos from the event, check out our Facebook Album.

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About 2upGamers eSports

2upGamers eSports is the collaboration of the original 2upGamers brand – owned by Glenn Alexander – and the Zombiegamer Events wing operated by Zombie Dredd (aka Clint O’Shea). The aim is to bring increasingly professional console eSports events to the gamers of South Africa – both in a private capacity and as an affiliated MSSA club. SA gaming’s time is now, and can only be a success with the support of the community.