Pro ‘Street Fighter 5’ players forfeit tournament matches over lag

By
Mo Alshorbaji
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Pro 'Street Fighter' players forfeit tournament matches over lag

Professional Street Fighter competitors iDom and ElChakotay dropped out of the Capcom Pro Tour North American Qualifiers due to internet connectivity issues.

Street Fighter 5 has never been known for its stellar netcode. The 2D brawler is widely known among fighting game veterans as one of the worst online experiences out there, and Capcom’s ongoing tournament qualifier hasn’t improved that reputation.

Due to the ongoing pandemic crisis, the Capcom Pro Tour is one of many eSports competitions that has opted to transition to an online format to ensure the event pushes through.

Unfortunately, online tournaments are prone to lag, especially in games like Street Fighter 5, which North American eSports pro competitors Derek “iDom” Ruffin and Chakotay “ElChakotay” Andrich had the misfortune of experiencing first hand.

Rage quitting on the big stage

Last year’s Capcom Cup champion iDom made it to the losers bracket semi-finals of the North America East qualifier, where he faced Metro M. Using Poison. iDom took on Metro M’s Vega, which proved to be an uphill battle.

During the final round, just as Metro M’s victory seemed assured, iDom suddenly disconnected from the match, leaving both the commentators and the audience baffled.

 
 
 
 
 

Despite losing the match, iDom’s spot in the Capcom Cup remains secure due to him being the reigning champion. That didn’t stop him from voicing out his frustration, however, as the American eSports player took to Twitter to vent.

iDom criticized his opponent and the qualifier as a whole, saying he felt sorry for people who had to compete in the event given its current state. He also urged Street Fighter 5 developer and publisher Capcom to unban the “Grid” level, which is said to have the least amount of lag and distractions.

Metro M went on to face ElChakotay in the losers’ bracket finals, with the match ending in a similar result. Metro M took two games, prompting ElChakotay to abruptly drop out of the match without returning.

The Defend the North 2019 runner up also let his frustrations out on Twitter, explaining how he wished people could see the match from his end, in addition to a sarcastic comment about Capcom banning the Grid.

DR Mandrake’s message to his fellow competitors

Metro M eventually went head to head and lost against Yoryi “DR Mandrake” Bueno, earning Mandrake a spot in the upcoming Capcom Cup.

The North American qualifier winner came to Metro M’s defense with a tweet of his own, stating that he played against Metro M offline in the past, and he was “pretty decent.”

Mandrake went on to explain how Street Fighter 5’s shoddy netcode coupled with poorly optimized stages and a frustrating character like Vega can be hell to play online, but still wasn’t enough reason to rage quit and refuse to play against an opponent, which Mandrake found to be unprofessional.

The player from the Dominican Republic also asked for a little more acceptance about how things are being run on account of the COVID-19 issue and requested that complaints and demands be made in a more organized manner.

There’s a long way to go before next year’s Capcom Cup, which should give Capcom time to iron out some of the Street Fighter 5 tournament’s more glaring performance issues. Here’s hoping they can figure things out before more pro players find themselves in similar situations.

Image courtesy of Capcom Pro Tour

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