A Brief History of Shadowloo Showdown

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I remember well when I heard the first whisperings of Shadowloo Showdown. We had just come off Battle Arena Melbourne 2010, where an epic war between Sydney and Melbourne had been waged. Sadly for the local crowd, Sydney had won the day with Johnny “Humanbomb” Cheng OCVing (one character victory) the entire Melbourne team in the Melbourne vs. Sydney 5 vs. 5 and winning in the Super Street Fighter IV grand finals against ToXy. The fighting game year was over for us, or so we thought. Register Login We were in the offseason! (../../wp- (../../wp- Then I heard whispers. The Shadowloo Abdo brothers, made up of Ali “ login.php- login.php.htm EXC355UM (https://twitter.com/TheyCallHimX)” Abdo, Kode “ registration=d ) Bosslogic (https://twitter.com/Bosslogic)” Abdo and isabled.htm) Sol Abdo (https://twitter.com/Soltography) started promising that they had something big planned in December. I personally wondered just what the hell it could be since you know, the fighting game year was supposed to be over!

Then the announcements and trailers hit like a bombshell. When Sol put his arm Who We Are around my shoulders and confided in me that arguably the two most famous Japanese Gamer Kick aims to provide you with fighting game players outside of Daigo Umehara Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi and quality, original editorial content that Kenryu “Mago” Hayashi were coming down to Melbourne along with Taiwanese drives conversation within the gaming community. So get reading! superstar Bruce “Gamerbee” Hsiang, my mind was blown. Read more » (../../about/index.htm) After all, we have a modest scene in Australia, at least when compared to say the U.S. or Japan. We try our best but we are limited by Australia’s sheer land size and small population, (and not to mention Abbott’s internet.) Our tournaments have never Popular Articles reached the numbers of even a small U.S. regional tournament, so to get down three worldclass internationals like that was a huge shock. Super Adventures Of Chad & Chris – Tony Hawk’s (../../videos/superadvenPturroe sSkcahtaedr 4 christonyhawksproska(.t.e/r../videos/su 4/index.htm) peradventures chadchris tonyhawks proskater 4/index.htm) 4 weeks ago

Super Adventures Of Chad & Chris – Street Fighter (../../videos/superadvenEtuXre3sstreet fighterex3/index.htm) (../../videos/su peradventures streetfighter ex3/index.htm) 1 month ago

Why Delsin Needed A (../whydelsin The Three Kings with Ali. Mask – The Failures Of neededamaskthefailurIensfaomfous: The Shadowloo crew have never been short of ambition, small community or being infamoussecondson/indSeexc.hotnmd )Son down under be damned. And the community banded together and threw together a (../whydelsin major, complete with live stream and a venue at the Rydges, in the space of two neededa months they said it couldn’t be done! Together with the original “Three Kings” of maskthe Mago, Tokido and Gamerbee, the original Shadowloo Showdown was born. failuresof infamous second Since then, SS has kept growing and growing. son/index.htm) SS2011 took it to another crazy level with more than thirty internationals descending 2 months ago upon Melbourne, with luminaries such as Cross Counter’s Gootecks and Mike Ross plus the strongest from all over the world such as Japan’s Momochi, Haitani, Uryo and so many others.

SS2011 was even the “birthplace” of superstars such as Singapore’s Xian and Korea’s Poongko who really made people sit up and take notice of their names with their performances. And the pool of competitors almost doubled exploding into the 500 man range. Staffing, brackets and logistics all became an incredible struggle at SS2011. But the end result was an amazing international caliber tournament it was almost like EVO had come to our side of the world.

The immortal Gootecks and Mike Ross.

SS2012 kept growing this time there were over 40 internationals with an even more diverse range; you had Ryan Hart and Zak Bennett from Europe, Xiaohai and Dakou from China, fighting game legend Justin Wong and Filipino Champ from America, and a veritable army from Japan including EVO 2011 Super Street Figher IV champion Fuudo. We even had competitors flying down from places such as New Caledonia! Even sniffing top 64 in Super Street Fighter IV: AE v.2012 was a major accomplishment at Shadowloo Showdown 2012, with the top 32 being a giant sharkinfested pool of international killers.

When Sunday rolled around, the top 8 left standing for AE was amazing in how all the favourites had been knocked out. No EVO champ Fuudo, no SS2011 champ Poongko or the runner up Momochi. Instead you had lesser known but exciting character specialists such as Amiyu and his Gen, Shungoku Neurosis with his M. Bison and Naruo with his showstopping Evil Ryu duking it out for the title. In the end Eita took it out with his swashbuckling Akuma (as a shoto player I was amazed at Eita vs. Neurosis I have never seen Bison been killed that fast every round!)

From left: Xiaohai, Fuudo, Eita, MOV, Gamerbee, Marlin Pie, Justin Wong, Tokido.

In Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Marlin Pie defeated the favourites Justin Wong and Filipino Champ with his signature C.Viper, Doom, Amaterasu team, mixing in his usual spectacular swaggy combos with some clutch Amaterasu Xfactor comebacks. Marvel was the game where Australia really made an impact with Melbourne’s own Antony “Antman” Nguyen defeating Tokido much to the elation of the crowd, and Tyrone from Queensland aka Omega Red putting in a strong performance with his Wolverine team.

And it’s not just Street Fighter IV and Marvel. Every year there’s magic to be witnessed in all the games at SS. It might be Fuudo’s mastery in Virtua Fighter, the legendary MOV holding it down in Street Fighter III: Third Strike, or an Australian actually taking a crown MMT winning Tekken Tag Tournament 2!

And of course we can’t leave out our favourite Murdaface – Tokido, for placing top 8 in a completely and utterly ridiculous total number of SIX games!

So what will Shadowloo Showdown bring this year?

Bigger and better

This year, SS is at a brand spanking new venue at the Atrium inside the Flemington Race Centre, and we’ll need the space to safely host this fighting game event of this size along with a fullyfledged(http://www.shadowlogic.com.au/cosplaycompetition) Cosplay Competition. (http://www.shadowlogic.com.au/cosplaycompetition)

SS always has so much going on besides the tournament, there’s special exhibition matches, custom arcade buttons and components on sale, side tournaments, raffles, door prizes, and the simple joy of hanging out with your fellow fighting game brethren.

Shadowloo Showdown 2013 - World Warriors Moments

Every year there is something incredible, something that makes you tell your friends “I was there.” Such as:

The hype of Mike “I BELIEVE IN MIKE ROSS” Ross and the prescience of Heavy “I called it” Weapons. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vIZab_aPnY)

Inviting legendary Japanese fighting game players and asking them: “Do you even lift bro?” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p6KxaF9wMQ)

Being on the verge of defeat and going OLE! (http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=40TTKAuGPqc)

A once in a lifetime opportunity

To meet the fighting game community (FGC) legends in the flesh. The Gods of Japan. The OGs from America. The players that have amazed you for years on stream with their incredible feats are now mere mortals standing a few feet from you, flesh and blood people you can get some dab from, chill and commiserate with.

This year’s lineup features some huge names including the return of the “Three Kings” of Tokido, Mago, and Gamerbee and the EVO2013 SFIV:AE 2012 champion Xian. We have the fan favourite Abegen sporting his wacky Tron, Thor, SheHulk team in UMVC3, the Zangief monster Snake Eyez from California, and so many more (http://www.shadowlogic.com.au/specialguests).

Personally the man I am excited to see coming down is Southern Californian Marvel legend Daniel “Clockw0rk” Maniago. The man played the same Doom/Strider team in MVC2 for over ten years! This guy brings so much electricity to the room, and even when he lost in the last megamoneymatch of MVC2 he still tore the roof off!

The Final Chapter: @MvcClockw0rk vs @GoldenBoyNe...

The man inspired me to play Doom on point, and now I get to shoot the breeze with him in my hometown. This sort of opportunity only happens at Shadowloo Showdown. Sunday, bloody Sunday

Shadowloo Showdown Sunday, otherwise known as “finals day”, is when we all gather in one big crowd and sit back and enjoy. To watch the games we love so much and invest so much time into be played at the very highest level.

We can all ooh and ahh together, chant “FooFootDive!” with every Doctor Doom combo and sing merry songs about the weather whenever Storm goes into her hailstorm super. We can marvel at amazing reads, and hold our heads in despair when the player we’re rooting for drops a combo at the most crucial moment. Sunday is when we go on a emotional roller coaster ride, and come out of it cheering in euphoria when the worthy champion is crowned.

Togetherness

Shadowloo Showdown is an overachiever.

There is no logical reason why a fighting game event down under should attract so many worldclass players and international eyeballs on the stream. It’s only through the immense sacrifice of the local fighting game community and tireless work of unsung individuals such as Kode “Bosslogic (https://twitter.com/Bosslogic)” Abdo, Justin “Bugsimus (https://twitter.com/Bugsimus)” Creed and Chris “GC Chris” Ho that an event like this can be run in Melbourne, Australia, right at your doorstep.

The Shadowloo crew deserve a lot of credit for having the ambition to take the concept of a local tournament like this and turn it on overdrive into an international caliber event. And much love to the entire community who support and attend this event, without whom Shadowloo Showdown would not even be possible.

So if you want to see what the power of a grassroots organisation or a passionate community can do? Come see with your own eyes at Shadowloo Showdown 2013.

Shadowloo Presents The Pop Off

For more information on Shadowloo Showdown 2013, visit the official ShadowLogic website (http://ss.shadowlogic.com.au/).

(Remember even if it’s too late to register, or you’re hesitant about competing, a weekend spectator pass is just $20. Come along and enjoy the atmosphere, everyone is welcome.)

When: October 1213

Where: The Atrium, Flemington Race Center; 448 Epsom Road, Flemington VIC 3031

Game Lineup:

Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition v. 2012

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 The King of Fighters XIII

Injustice: Gods Among Us

Super Smash Bros Melee

Super Smash Bros Brawl

Tekken Tag Tournament 2

Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown

If you’re a first timer when it comes to fighting game tournaments, check out my Beginner’s Guide to Battle Arena Melbourne (../abeginnersguidetobattlearena melbourne/index.htm) for some useful tips.

Photos used in this article were taken from the Shadowloo Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/theshadowloo/) page. Featured image originally created by BossLogic. (http://bosslogicinc.com/)

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About Author View all posts by Chee Seng (../../author/chee/index.htm)

Chee Seng "Muttons" Siow is a writer and longtime competitor/tournament organiser in the Melbourne fighting game community. You can read his antiLaker rants on Twitter @muttonhead01 (http://twitter.com/muttonhead01) or laugh at his latest tournament mishaps at beingascrub.com

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