Week 23 brings back the ever-popular Inter-Divisional matches. For those new members, the Inter-Divisional matches occur every 5th week in the League. This week, a division will fight another division with each rank fighter matched up against the same rank fighter from another division. Some divisions will be fighting the the division below them, and visa versa. For example, the Gold Division Champion will fight the Silver Division Champion, the #1 ranked fighters will fight, and so forth. Instead of moving up or down in rankings within your own division, a win moves you up a whole division. Obviously, a defeat moves you down a whole division. Conversely, the higher division fighters are defending their spot from the the lower division fighter - basically proving their spot in the League. This is one of the 3 ways you can move your fighters into another division quickly.
PREVIOUS WEEK RECAP: WEEK 22
Week 22 was not one of our best weeks. The number of completed matches fell to a pitiful 53% completion rate. That is the lowest number of completed matches in the past 3 weeks. Imagine any league in which only half of the matches are actually played. I am truly appreciative of all those members that try and complete their matches. If not for your commitment, this league would not exist. Week 22 has a total of 32 matches that ended in a forfeit or double-forfeit. That is 42% of the matches scheduled. I can understand when matches end in a Draw or a single forfeit, but the double-forfeits do annoy me a great deal. A double-forfeit occurs when both members failed to play their 2 matches , and therefore, results in a loss for both fighters. It makes the league weaker when members do not play, but it also makes my job harder since I have to be the one ‘deciding’ so many matches that should have been played. For anyone unhappy with the ‘decision’, there is a way to avoid that. Play your matches. Part of the reason we have the 2-fighter-per-member rule is to help everyone in the League. By playing two matches each week, it creates a variety of matches with people from literally all over the world. Based on messages and posts on various forums, I can tell which members are truly active in the League. It’s those members that are seriously concerned about getting their matches played. Also, while times zones and personal schedules do play a big factor in playing these matches, the opportunity to play two different people help determine who is really serious about their commitment to the SFCCL. Its one thing to not be able to play one specific person, but it’s another thing to not play two different people, especially if your opponents found time to play their other match. If you find it difficult to play two 10-minute matches every week, then perhaps this or any other League is not for you.
WEEK 22 STATS:
Completed matches: 40 out of 76 (53%)
Forfeited matches: 21 out of 76 (28%)
Double forfeits: 11 out of 76 (14%)
Draw matches: 4 out of 76 (5%)
OLD & NEW MEMBERS
Despite all the forfeits & double-forfeits, only 5 members left the League. One member dropped out due to his schedule, FOCUSHIN. I personally thank him for being considerate of the League, me, and other members for letting me know. The other 4 members were dropped due to two weeks of forfeits.
Joining the SFCCL for Week 23 are 8 new members, just like last week. Please welcome the following members:
Jewelman_, Snow-Unleashed, COnspire86, Bambooboy, RB_999, SolidxPanda, Karate_Fingerz, & Cool_Rain.
The SFCCL is now 79 members (158 fighters) strong going into Week 23.
MATCH OF THE WEEK
While last week’s MATCH OF THE WEEK (MOTW) pitted two of the best Ken players in the League, this week pits two of the best Guile players against each other as a result of the Inter-Divisional matches: Gold Division #1 ranked ELGENERAL Guile (21-4) versus Silver Division #1 ranked MARCOPOLO177 Guile (11-3). What makes this matchup very interesting is that this matchup was supposed to happen in Week 20 for the Gold Championship title. However, UltimaCloud’s Rufus challenged #1 ranked Marcopolo’s Guile with his Prize match earned for winning the 2v2 Tournament, and knocked Marcolpolo’s Guile down to the Silver Division. UltimaCloud’s Rufus then went on to defeat ELGENERAL’s Guile for the Gold title. Now, each of these Guile members is facing off for the #1 Gold ranking which will then guarantee their fighter a rematch with the Gold Champion, UltimaCloud’s Rufus.
ELGENERAL is one of the three remaining founding members of the SFCCL (along with BankerD and myself), which goes back to March of 2009. ELGENERAL is from the USA and ranks in the Top 10 among league members in Grade & Battle Points. His fighter, Guile, is one of only 4 Gold Champions in the history of this league. He defended his Gold Title for a total of 10 weeks, which is a SFCCL record. Out of his 25 official matches with Guile, only 6 wins came via forfeit most of which were as a result of his mirror matches with his other fighter, Bison, who is also in the Gold Division. MARCOPOLO177 has been in the MOTW before in Week 21. He is from the USA and joined the League in Week 10 thru the SFCCL website. He has played all 14 of his matches with his Guile. Currently, there is only one other member in the League that can claim to defeating his Guile as he has consistently made a steady climb up the rankings no matter the division. Marcopolo’s other fighter, Ryu, is also in the Silver Division.
Anyone like to guess the number of Sonic Booms taht wil be thrown? I'll give you an over/under of 100. I'm just sayin'......
SONIC BOOM! SONIC BOOM! SONIC BOOM! SONIC BOOM! SONIC BOOM! SONIC BOOM! SONIC BOOM!
SFCCL ANNOUNCEMENTS & NEWS
Just as a reminder that the 3rd ever Official SFCCL Event, Survivor Series Tournament, is taking place this Wednesday, January 27th. As of Sunday, only 6 people have confirmed their attendance. This event is completely voluntarily, and will not adversely affect anyone for not playing. However, the top 3 finishers will earn Prize matches for Week 24. The prizes will include 1st place challenging any fighter in any division for their ranking, 2nd place will earn the right to challenge any fighter in the next highest division, and 3rd place earns the right to challenge any fighter in your current division. Remember, if you wish to participate, send a Friends Request to SFCCL_WILD_X. At the time of the event, WILD_X will invite all online members to a Text Chat to begin the tournament. All the details of the event are located on the Special Events page:
http://sfccl.weebly.com/special-events.html
And despite our great number of members and fighters (currently at 78 members / 158 fighters), I did create the necessary bracket to have everyone involved. Of course, to reach the perfect number of 128 fighters in the second round for an even, balanced bracket, there will be many 1st round byes. The 1st round will basically consist of a ‘play-in’ round meaning the fighters playing in the 1st round are going to have to earn their way into the 2nd round which will have only 128 fighters. From 128 we will fall to 64 then to 32 then to 16 then to 8 then to 4 then to 2 and then finally to 1 remaining fighter. The final Gold Champion of the SFCCL.
Complete details will be posted on Wednesday, including which fighters will have to play in the 1st round. Here is a small hint…your ranking is VERY important as to where you are seeded in the SUPER BRAWL tournament.
DEADLINE FOR CURRENT WEEK
DEADLINE TO PLAY WEEK 23 MATCHES IS SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7th. The weekly schedule has been extended to a full 14 days since that seemed to help more matches be completed compared to the smaller 10-12 days weeks done before.
Good luck to all!