Week 16 was one of our worst weeks in terms of playing all the matches. It tied for the worst with a completion rate of only 65%, which ties it with Week 9. A total of 22 matches had to be 'decided' to close out the week, which is especially pitiful since we only had 62 regular weekly matches compared to the usual 72 matches (16 fighters were involved in the Ryder Cup II tournament). The fighters participating in the Ryder Cup tournament did keep their rankings from last week, as promised. Despite the high number of unplayed matches, only 4 members left the league following last week, including a well-respected and valued member of the league. More details below. As we now move into Week 17, don't forget about the next live event, WAR GAMES, scheduled for this coming Friday, February 18th at 10 PM Pacific Time. All league members are welcome to play, including the European members who may have to wake up early on Saturday morning at 6 AM or later.
I'll never stop writing this, but once again, thank you to all the committed members of this league. The success of the league is completely based on all of its members playing each week, and those that have been here over the many weeks of season two (and some that go back to season one), I thank you for making this such a fun place to be.
The SFCCL is 72 members (144 fighters) strong going into Week 17 with members in 9 different countries.
WEEK 16 RECAP
A total of twenty-two (22) matches were "Decided" to close Week 16. Below are the final statistics:
Completed matches: 40 out 62 (65%)
Forfeited matches: 10 out of 62 (15%)
Draw matches: 3 out of 62 (5%)
Double Forfeit matches: 9 out of 62 (15%)
OLD, NEW, & CHANGING MEMBERS
As I mentioned before, despite the high number of unplayed matches, only 2 members were actually dropped due to two weeks of inactivity. The other 2 members left the league on their own. All 4 members were in the Americas Region. No changes to the European Region roster this week. The departing members are:
Deliriousidoit (California)
DJPlace (New York)
King-Sun (Florida)
Skrface13 (New Jersey)
Thank you for your commitment to the SFCCL. I have dedicated a part of this weekly blog to SKRFACE13 further below and his great career in the SFCCL. As a result of the departing members, we have a total of four (4) new members this week in the Americas Region:
DOCTOR_ROUSE (South Dakota)
ELFRONKI28 (Florida)
LUHY (Alabama)
RED---RANGER (New York)
All members were invited to join the active roster from the Waiting List. Welcome to the SFCCL!
The following 'Auto-Promotions' occurred as a result of the former members and change of fighter (note - depending on where the vacant spot is in the division, not all fighters take advantage of the auto-promotions):
GOLD Division: 1 spot
SILVER Division: 3 spots
BRONZE Division: 4 spots
A Division: 4 spots
B Division: 6 spots
C Division: 8 new fighters
RED Division: none
BLUE Division: none
GREEN Division: none
Any fighter that did not play their matches do not benefit from these Auto-Promotions, and could see other fighters jump them in the rankings. It pays to play.
Members changing fighters and Division change:
Manwithnoarms2 DEE JAY to BISON (Bronze to A Division)
Kitori-Sama SAKURA to ROSE (B to C Division)
Any member in the league can change their fighter, but it will result in a penalty of the new fighter dropping one division and starting at the #15 ranking.
THE WAITING LISTS
With the many departing members of the league, the Waiting Lists continue to get shorter every week. Contraction of the lower divisions may still happen in a few weeks. The Americas Region list has 9 players waiting, while the European Region list has 2 players. Feel free to recommend the league to any of your friends, or online rivals. The biggest compliment you can pay me or the league is to recommend it to other people.
MATCH OF THE WEEK:
Gold Division:
Champion Cuby KEN (9-2-1) vs. #1 Contender ElGeneral GUILE (14-5)
A clash between the current, new Champion and the former, longest-reigning Champion. Every once in a while, we get a matchup between two popular characters with the two members who are probably the best with each character in the league. This week we get to see just that! I'll try to get video for this great match two weeks in the making.
CUBY's KEN (9-2-1)
* Joined:Week 8 of season 2 (October 2010)
* Location: Florida
* First ranking: #9 ranking in the C Division
* Last 3 wins: Rteruyas BALROG, Epedemicc GOUKEN, Flashfan7 BALROG
* Alternate fighter: Sakura (12-2, #7 rank in Silver Division)
ELGENERAL's GUILE (14-5)
* Joined: Opening tournament of season 1 (March 2009)
* Location: California
* First ranking: Opening tournament seed / Silver Division Champion
* Last 3 wins: Helnova VEGA, Epedemicc CODY, Jay19000 VEGA
* Alternate fighter: M. Bison (10-7, #4 rank in Gold Division)
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
RYDER CUP II
The second Ryder Cup is still underway. The 1st round of matches is now complete. Just like first Ryder Cup, the Americas Team has a commanding lead over the European Team after the first round. In fact, the exact same score as the first tournament following the first 8 matches. The Americas Team is winning 6 points to 2 points, and only needs to defeat the final 2 European fighters to win a second Ryder Cup tournament, and maintain the title of "Grand Champion of the SFCCL" for the Gold Division Champion. Since the European Team is outnumbered in the second round, their 2 fighters get matched up first against the lowest ranking fighters from the Americas Team. All other fighters receive a bye in the 2nd round. If the European fighters can win their matches, the tournament continues with the remaining fighters. Only until all 8 fighters from a team are defeated can the tournament be completed. Since this is the second week of the tournament, all involved fighters will have to play their regular weekly matches in addition to any Ryder Cup matches. But knowing all the participants as I do, they welcome the challenge.
Americas Team II remaining fighters
Gold #1 Contender: ElGeneral GUILE (14-5, California) *
Gold #2 Skrface13 BLANKA (15-6, New Jersey) *
Gold #3 Fran_Gil BARLOG (14-6, Dominican Republic)
Invitee: Gold #7 Jay19000 VEGA (13-2, Florida) *
Invitee: Bronze #4 Zabi- VIPER (17-4, New York) *
Invitee: A Division #11 Serjery KEN (3-0-1, Canada)
Europeans Team II remaining fighters:
Red #2 Cravin456 RYU (10-1, England)
Invitee: Green Champion RisoH GUY (2-0, Germany)
The asterisk (*) denotes the returning fighters to their Ryder Cup team. The Americas Team returns 4 members from their Week 9 winning team, while the European Team only has 3 returning fighters. As usual, look for instant updates via SFCCL Facebook, and the Ryder Cup II webpage.
2nd Round Matches:
Jay19000 VEGA vs. Cravin456 RYU
Zabi- C. VIPER vs. Risoh GUY
Remaining Americas Team fighters receive a bye in the 2nd round, and await the European winners, if necessary. However, the European Team has gained another points as a result of...
SKRFACE13 has retired from the SFCCL
As a result of Skrface leaving the SFCCL, the Americas Team must automatically forfeit a point to the European Team. Therefore, the current Ryder Cup II score is now 6 to 3 Americas Team.
As mentioned above in the Old/New/Changing Members section, one of the Grand Champions of the SFCCL, Skrface13 from New Jersey, has dropped out of the league due to personal reasons. His departure comes with a bit of sadness since he is truly one of the best and classiest fighters in the league. And he is one of the few members that I consider a friend.
Skrface13 joined the SFCCL back in season one during Week 19. His first match was for the F Division championship (yes, we had that many divisions!). He defeated one of my old rivals, Devon202's Balrog. That would be his first of 13 wins during season one, which culminated in his Blanka winning the first-ever Super Brawl tournament that ended the first season of the SFCCL. In doing so, he defeated 7 fighters to claim the final Grand Championship for the season. His only loss in season one...a forfeit in Week 25. So, yes, even the great Skrface can go a week without playing his matches! I should have kicked him of the league then! Just kidding. That remained his ONLY unplayed match in 48 league matches.
Skrface went on to begin the second season as the Grand Champion of the SFCCL based on the fact that he had won Super Brawl, but also due to the fact that his Blanka had the best winning percentage at the end of the season (13-1, 93%). He would lose the title to ElGeneral's Guile in a classic match in Week 3, but then became the 2nd ever Champion to regain the title by promising to win the Fall Brawl Gold Division tournament in Week 11. He did win the tournament. He also won the first War Games on July 31st, 2010.
He served on two Ryder Cup teams for the Americas Region, going undefeated at 3-0. Skrface was invited to the first Ryder Cup team by none other than ElGeneral, the same guy who became the first member to defeat Skrface in a league match. The respect between the two former champions would mirror the respect that all members in the league would have for Skrface. As great as he was fighting with his Beast from the Amazon, he was always ready to chat with anyone about SF and strategies. He welcomed all challengers and did it with a sense of humor and confidence that everyone came to expect...and I think feared. He was never shy from claiming to be the best Blanka player on the PS3. But more importantly, the way he carried himself with class set him apart from many other great fighters in the league. I can't recall one incident where anyone had anything negative to say about him. His commitment to the SFCCL was also worth noting since I truly believe that this league is better as a result of his involvement. He recruited many great players to the league and remains one of the shining beacons for this league. He is the type of member that I hope every new member turns out to be. Committed. Competitive. Focused. Gracious. A friend.
Guys like Skrface are the reason why I give everything I got to this league. If strangers like him can join my crazy little funhouse and give their 100% commitment, the least I can do is continue to run this community as best I can until the very end.
I think I speak for everyone when I say thank you for the memories and matches, Skrface. Your presence in the Gold Division will be missed. In his retirement email, Skrface did leave one bit of interesting information...
"I might come back during the summer, hopefully by the time the SuperBrawl takes place :) "
The WAR GAMES is schedule for Friday, February 18th at 10 PM Pacific (Saturday, February 19th at 1 AM Eastern / 12 midnight Central). All active members of the league are welcomed to play. Just be in the SFCCL Clubhouse at the specific time listed, and you'll be included. Any European members will be included via PSN messages. The live events are the fastest way for a fighter to climb the rankings if they place in the tournament (1st, 2nd, or 3rd Place Prize Matches).
All participating members will assemble in one or many Endless Battle lobbies. The first to win a certain number of matches will move on to the Final Endless Battle lobby to fight for the Prize Matches. While the number of wins in the opening round will be determined at the time of the event, the final lobby will require the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place fighters to win 10 matches each. The first to accomplish this will earn the 1st Place Price Match, and so forth. Since I cannot be in every lobby, I will need someone to verify the results in each lobby. When I receive word that someone has met the requirement, I will ask another member that is in the lobby for confirmation. This way, everyone has a chance to qualify for the final battle while earning in front of others to see.
DEADLINE FOR WEEK 17
Deadline for Week 17 matches is Sunday, February 27th, 2011.
Good luck to all members this week!