The top 8 at Evo Japan’s Tekken tournament was riddled with new DLC character Leroy Smith.
However, Thailand’s Nopparut “Book” Hempamorn proved to be the best Leroy, as he made it to the grand finals where he defeated Japanese pro, Ryoto “Mikio” Ikeda.
In game one, Book easily took the first round, but Mikio came back pretty strong in the second.
While Book found himself low on life, he easily closed out the round with a deadly hit-confirm jab string at the wall.
Round three was no different. Book’s incredible hit-confirm combo to wall-stun dealt incredible damage to Mikio, and Book needed just one more low to take the early 1-0 lead.
In game two, Mikio came back with his own mix-ups. Playing a more defensive game, Mikio opted to sidestep Leroy to launch him to the wall. With just one hit-confirm Mountain Crusher, the Japanese player tied up the score at 1-1.
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Game three went the distance with both players taking two rounds. In the final round, Book had a solid lead thanks to a big wall combo, but Mikio quickly finished the round with a grab and Rage-Art bait into a punishing uppercut.
Book took two quick rounds to start game four and looked firmly in control, starting the third round with Leroy’s one-time-use cane.
With just one cane combo to the wall, the Thai national brought Mikio down to Rage mode, then went straight to a command throw to put himself at tournament point.
In game five, Book took quick rounds, but Mikio showed that he still had life in him, and came back with an incredible round. Utilizing his Magic-4 kick, he was able to juggle Leroy from one wall to another, ending the perfect round with a jab that punished Leroy’s one-inch punch.
Despite the win, it wasn’t enough to stop Book’s momentum, and he closed out the game with the same hit-confirm combo that he used in the first game.
With the championship win, Book goes home with JP¥ 1M (US$ 9,100) while runner-up Mikio takes JP¥ 400,000 (US$ 3,600).
Since Evo Japan is not part of this year’s Tekken World Tour, no points will be awarded to the top 8.
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