This article is part of our FGC series.
The Red Bull Conquest circuit continued this weekend as the regional qualifiers made its way to Seattle for the second stop on the tour. As is the case with any FGC event, there was plenty to like about each bracket, and this was by far the most raucous crowd of the circuit thus far. In the end, though, only three people could be crowned champions of their respective games. Hamad "Hamad"Akbar took the top prize for Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, Changbin "Binchang" Moon stood victorious in Tekken 7, and Christopher "ChrisCCH" Hancock closed out the night with a win in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition.
Hamad absolutely thrashes the Guilty Gear bracket
Hamad was the villain of the day, coming from his home state of Texas to claim the Pacific Northwestern regional title. Using Ky, he simply ran roughshod through the entire bracket, not dropping a single game during his championship run, compiling a ridiculous 14-0 record across six sets.
Despite taking this bracket with ease, that didn't mean there weren't some tense moments. During his winners' final set against David "Dave O" O., he managed to come up with one of the most clutch plays you'll ever see in Guilty Gear. With just a sliver of health on both sides, Hamad patiently waited for the perfect moment to take down Dave O's Sol and pick up the round.
That play might have been the end of Dave O during the winners' finals, but it wasn't the end of Dave's penchant for getting stuck in tense moments. In his losers' final bout against Dan "DayUn" Evans, he again found himself on the losing end of a nailbiter.
Dave O shook off the tough loss, though, calmly navigating his way through the series to come back from a 2-0 deficit. Dayun's Faust was a formidable force through this Top 8 bracket, but it was just no match for the poise of Dave O. It seemed as though no matter hard he tried, Dayun just couldn't shake off the funk of the losers' bracket and was sent packing. The same can be said for Chad "@ChadDrawsThings" L. as his own Cinderella losers' bracket run was cut short by Dayun in the losers' semifinals.
At the end of the day, though, Hamad stood tall and will now get to bide his time until the National Finals in Washington, D.C. this November.
Binchang hushes the crowd to take the Tekken 7 title
Not to be outdone by the Guilty Gear Top 4, Binchang and Moltariuz put on one hell of a show during the grand finals of Tekken 7. There were plenty of hype moments during the winners' finals and losers' finals, but the grand finals was where this bracket really proved its worth.
Moltariuz was no doubt the star of the show, as the Washington native fought tooth and nail to push Vancoucver's own Binchang to the absolute brink. Binchang shot out the gate with a fairly quick 2-0 lead and looked to be on the verge of the championship, but then Moltariuz kicked it into high gear.
It all started with the floor breaks.
Moltariuz used the environment to his advantage to take control over the momentum in the closely contested set. Anytime that it looked like Binchang was going to get over the hump and take the series, Moltariuz was right there to shut the door. He did this time and again until he eventually completed the reverse sweep and reset the bracket, much to the glee of the hometown crowd.
Once the reset grand finals got underway, however, Binchang completely switched up his pace and caught Moltariuz off guard. Binchang opened the reset with a whopping six straight rounds to quickly go back up 2-0. Moltariuz pleased the crowd by winning Game 3, but that was all he could do as Binchang took the fifth game and the Seattle title.
ChrisCCH cleans up in Street Fighter V
When it came to Street Fighter V, it was a relative snoozefest compared to extreme levels of hype from the previous two Top 4 sets. ChrisCCH had no match whatsoever during this tournament, as he only dropped one game in his seven series this weekend for an impressive 16-1 record.
Throughout his two sets in the Top 4, he completely dismantled the Birdie of Nelson "WestCoastPlease" Romaine. For every move that he made, ChrisCCH was right there to shut it down. WestCoast tried to jump? ChrisCCH met him with a Somersault Kick. WestCoast tried to force a command grab? ChrisCCH hit him with a Sonic Boom. WestCoast, in the face of overwhelming pressure, simply got shut down by ChrisCCH, showing just how dominant ChrisCCH truly was.
Perhaps the most surprising bit of all is that ChrisCCH is just 16 years old. He recently turned 16, too, which barely made him eligible for the competition. As the youngest competitor to make it to the National Finals, ChrisCCH will be wading in uncharted territory come this November in Washington, D.C.
