Final Round delivers varied Street Fighter V top 8

— -- The first premiere event on the Capcom Pro Tour, Final Round 19, concluded with fireworks. It was a tournament with plenty of surprises -- from the tournament participant numbers (capped at over 1000 players), a strong showing from the western hemisphere, and character variety (eight different characters in the top 8), it was a great way to kickoff the tournament season.

The first day was dedicated to pool play -- an intense 16-hour affair that trimmed the tournament numbers from four-digit participants to the 128, and then 128 was whittled down to the top 8. At the end of Final Round, here's what we got from it:

Top 8, the established guard and the newcomers

With an exception of a couple matchups, each pairing in the final eight players was a newer player (either in Street Fighter or in a top-position at a major tournament) and a veteran fighter. The story was less about where you're from, but do they really belong amongst the elite? Similar to Winter Brawl, it was another eclectic mix of veteran players and fresher faces -- this could be the immediate trend for Street Fighter V.

Here's the breakdown (three countries represented):

USA: Dominique "SonicFox" McLean, Brentt "Brenttiscool" Franks and Nando.

Japan: Hajime "Tokido" Taniguchi and Kenryo "Mago" Hayashi, Tatsuya "Haitani" Haitani and "Go1-3151."

Korea: Seonwoo "Infiltration" Lee

The North American trio, collectively, went out to a record of 2-15 (the two victories by Nando). SonicFox, a fighting game wunderkind and newcomer to the Street Fighter competitive scene, did extraordinarily well. A heavily-criticized player due to his successes in Mortal Kombat, Injustice, and Skullgirls (no Capcom-developed games), he proved many wrong this past weekend. Nando was another big surprise with his skillful use of Rainbow Mika. He was a competitive player from northern California, but never flashed contender status at any major tournament; he showed up in force. Brenttiscool, the other California representative, showed off how his hard work paid off and could be a fixture in many more top 8s.

And then, the established guard of fighting game tournaments: Japan. What top 8 would be complete without at least a Japanese player (or four)? Tokido, Haitani, Mago, and Go1-3151 are legends in fighting games and it translated in their play at Final Round. Haitani, arguably the strongest Japanese player, translated his signature reads-based and aggressive style into his Necalli perfectly. Mago and Tokido were consistent top-placers in Street Fighter 4 and transitioned perfectly to the newest iteration. And lastly, the 'anime fighting game' monster that is Go1-3151 was probably the least-likely candidate to represent his country in the top 8 of a Street Fighter game, but he played Chun-Li masterfully and deserved his spot.

Korea reigns supreme

Infiltration was the dominant force throughout Final Round and finished his top 8 run with an immaculate 9-2 record. He was a man undeterred and unconditioned; determined to absolutely bully the opponent until they played his style and his pace. The stream commentators consistently pointed out Infiltration's mobility with his character, Nash, and it was the best descriptor for his play. Whether it was his constant dashing, hit-and-run play, V-Trigger uses, or advancing normal moves to close-in distance or escape the corner, he was unpredictable in the movement department.

The victory was akin to the year when Infiltration owned the Street Fighter world for an entire year -- winning tournaments in such a way that made the rest of the competition look like fresh meat.

The quality of play is already top-notch

With a blend of eight different characters representing the final eight players in the tournament, Street Fighter 5 is already off to a fantastic start. Final Round proved that monotony or the potential of staleness will not ruin the game's start.

And, courtesy of fighting game veteran, Alex "Calipower" Valle: