Red Bull Kumite Las Vegas 2021 Recap

Time Stamp: November 16, 2021 5:04 PM

Red Bull has always been one of the biggest names, even before launching the Red Bull Kumite series in 2015. Since then, they have hosted countless events across the United States of America.

This chapter of competition took the best of the best as they all traveled to the fight capital of the nation, Las Vegas. Some fought for glory and some attended just to celebrate the love and passion they have for the fighting game community.

Red Bull Kumite

This year’s lineup included staples like Street Fighter V and Tekken 7 while Under Night In-Birth got replaced by newcomer Guilty Gears Strive. Tekken 7 and Guilty Gears Strive shared the same format in an 8 player bracket with 7 invited players and the last spot going to the Last Chance Qualifier winner. Headlining the event was Street Fighter V, which featured 15 invited players and the Last Chance Qualifier winner.

Street Fighter V

The largest of the 3 titles was definitely Street Fighter V, featuring sponsored players like Punk of Panda Global and Oil King of UYU. 94 players from across the globe fought in the LCQ for the last spot in the main event. ChrisCCH managed to make a huge run through losers, only being knocked down by Jot at the doors of top 8. Through his losers run, the American player finally managed to get revenge on Jot.

During the competition, he took down many other great names, such as Shine and JB. ChrisCCH is also a member of UYU, which means he had to face off teammates Oil King in the group stage and NL in the Semifinals. It is no other than MrProblemX who brought home the title after taking down NL 5-3.

Tekken 7

Tekken 7 returning was no surprise as this franchise participated in laying the fondations of what the fighting game community is today. The Last Chance Qualifier events were held offline at the Caesars Palace. HyunJin Kim, better known as JDCR, fought 73 other competitors to secure his spot. JDCR fought his way into top 4 of the main event but eventually fell to Knee during the Semifinals.

Tekken, similarly to Strive, was won by a player of Japan as Gen took down Knee 5-2 in the Grand Finals.

Guilty Gears Strive

A lot of eyes were on Guilty Gears Strive since it was the newcomer and one of the most anticipated titles of the year. Unlike the others, the Guilty Gears Strive LCQs had an online format, with over 100 total competitors fighting for a championship spot. A player known as Diaphone won the event in an intense 3-2 Grand Finals reset over his opponent Razzo. Diaphone ended up winning the Last Chance Qualifier and performing well above expectations in the main event. He had definitely made a name for himself by taking second place in this Kumite championship, only losing to 御傍 (Smerinthinae).

This Red Bull Kumite featured a prize pool of over $50 thousand across all titles, with Street Fighter V taking nearly half of the total ($22 thousand). All 32 competitors in the main event received $500 on top of the prize pools dedicated for making top 4 and top 8 finishes. Since the Last Chance Qualifier for Guilty Gears Strive was organized online rather than in person, the winner also received hotel and flight accommodations to attend.

Written by Jakob Johnson

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