$1m Street Fighter 6 tournament under fire as FGC blasts “criminal” bracket

The official brackets for the upcoming Capcom Cup X for Street Fighter 6 were revealed on February 14, 2024. However, the community is unhappy about the brackets and feels that Capcom should have considered seeding instead of the method that is currently in play.

Capcom Cup X is set to become the biggest fighting game tournament ever. This Street Fighter 6 tournament will feature a one million dollar grand prize which will push the competitors to their limits. The tournament will start on February 16, 2024, and the brackets are finally available.

The methodology for the brackets that Capcom chose to pick for the event was random, with regional slots populating the group stages of the tournament, were picked at random. Now, players are unhappy at a potential imbalance in the group stages. Previous Capcom Cup tournaments have used points-based systems to seed top players, and this is not present in Capcom Cup X.

Street Fighter 6 players left disappointed by the Capcom Cup X brackets

The brackets can be considered uneven with this random placement of players. In particular, Group F features several top players, like EVO champion Angrybird, two-time Capcom Cup winner MenaRD, young talent Endingwalker, Caba, Leshar and Nerotheboxer. Only two from the group will qualify for the tournament’s top 16 stages.

This is leading to matchups that many players expected in the later stages of the tournament. Players, viewers, and members of the FGC have expressed their disappointment at the format on social media, such as content creator Brian F.

Additionally, MenaRD showcased his disappointment with the statement, “I just need my competitive drive to not fail me for the first time”

This has happened because the qualification for Capcom Cup X was done through tournament wins. This included a couple of offline tournaments and a plethora of online tournaments. While this allows for a broader range of players, it also means that stronger players are completely unseeded within brackets.

This issue was pointed out by Big Bird, who stated on social media: “I hope you all know how desperately we need points system, with this much money on the line.” Finally, legendary fighting game player Justin Wong also criticized the system with the comment, “redo the whole seeding lmfao.”

This is not the only criticism Capcom Cup X has had, as its last-chance qualifier tournament is also stacked with legendary names like Daigo, Tokido, Kakeru, Punk, iDom, and Problem X. This is down to failure to qualify due to high regional competition, with only two players from each region represented in the current standings.

Capcom Cup X is due to kick off in its group stages very soon, culminating in a Top 16 clash on February 25.