This thread actually covers two events: The National Tournament, which is March 3, as well as the Eve 5on5, which takes places the day before. The 5on5 is actually the larger of the two in terms of participants (see the Info section below), featuring players that will compete in the National Tournament the next day as well as outside participants. The 5on5 is simply an affiliated tournament serving as a sort of prior celebration however, the National Tournament being of significant prestige.
The winner of the first National Tournament in 2009 (SFIV), a singles event, was Iyo (Dhalsim), who defeated RF in the Grand Finals. The winners of the 2010 National Tournament (SFIV), a 3on3 tourney, were Kindevu (Rufus), RF (Sagat), and Momochi (Gouki) who as a team also won Tougeki - Super Battle Opera (SBO) that same year.
There was no national tournament in 2011, though Capcom did host the Caravan tournament series.
STREAM
The National Tournament will be streamed on Nico Nico Live:
http://www.niconico.com
You can watch on Niconico.com, as the stream is embedded on the front page. No registration required.
http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv82613945
You must have a Nico Nico account to view live streams on the above site. You can register here, with English instructions. You'll be able to view recorded video as well (though this can also be done via embed sites, without an account).
The 5on5 the night before, run by organizer and commentator Kagecchi, will streamed on Ustream:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ssf4ae-ffe1
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ssf4a...夜祭5on5-another-予備
INFO
The National Tournament is a 32-team 3on3 single-elimination tournament. Character selection is locked, and duplicate characters within a team are not allowed.
There are three special invite teams: Team Mad Catz (Daigo Umehara/Tokido/Mago); a special foreigner team (PoongKO (South Korea)/GamerBee (Taiwan)/Ryan Hart (United Kingdom)); an invite for the winners of the Taito Mosa Cup (Hanamaruki/Shiro/Shungoku Neurosis).
The majority of the teams were decided by a series of qualifying tournaments around Japan, representing different regions. The last several teams to fill out the 32-team bracket will be decided by a preliminary tournament right before the main tourney begins.
The 5on5 is also single-elimination, however duplicate characters are allowed.
The event is not all about SSFIV AE however. A large part of the event is to celebrate the upcoming release of Street Fighter X Tekken (March 8 in Japan). The four winners of the Miss Sutokuro COLLECTION Auditions will make a special appearance during the SFxTK Stage portion of the event. Each girl will be decked out in cosplay, so if you're a fan, be sure to watch.
"Miss Chun-Li" Nami Kasuya
" Miss Cammy" Kaoruko Fujita
"Miss Nina" Riina Ohtsuka
"Miss Asuka" Momo Itou
Namco Bandai's Katsuhiro Harada, producer of the Tekken series, will also be at the event as the CEO of the National Tournament.
PRIZES
1st Place
-Exclusive in-game title (「カプコン 王者認定」, "Capcom Champion Recognition," roughly), certificate, trophy
-Street Fighter X Tekken Collector's Package (which includes the game, 2-CD Soundtrack, a 44-page Character Art collection artbook, and the World Warrior Gem Pack, which features 9 GEMs).
-Bonus prize: Street Fighter X Tekken Arcade FightStick Pro Cross design, provided by Mad Catz
-Bonus prize: UMAGEN Takumi Curry Set, provided by CoCo ICHIBANYA
2nd Place
-Exclusive in-game title (「カプコン 準王座認定」, "Capcom Runner-up Recognition"), certificate, trophy
-Street Fighter X Tekken Collector's Package
-Bonus prize: Deka-O packaged ramen bowls (Pork Kimchi and Crispy Moyashi Miso flavors), provided by Nissin
3rd Place
-Exclusive in-game title (「月下天翔」, "Soaring in the Moonlight"), certificate, trophy
-Street Fighter X Tekken standard edition
-Bonus prize: Red Bull energy drinks, provided by Red bull
Fighting Spirit Award
-Exclusive in-game title (「渾身一撃」, ("One blow with all one's might"), certificate
-Street Fighter X Tekken standard edition
-Bonus prize: Clorets XP Extra Hyper chewing gum, provided by Nihon Kraft Foods
Attendance prizes
-SFxTK reversible file
-SFxTK "Saikyo!" hand towel
Players may choice which version of the games and arcade sticks they want. Note that the PS3 versions feature the exclusive characters Toro, Kuro, Cole, Mega Man and Pac-Man.
TEAMS
Translated by Eventhubs and Zhi. Untranslated list can be found here.
Special Invite Teams
Team Mad Catz Umehara (Ryu), Mago (Fei Long), Tokido (Akuma)
Foreigner Team PoongKO (Seth), GamerBee (Adon), Ryan Hart (Sagat?)
Taito Mosha Cup Champions Shiro (Makoto), Hanamaruki (Sagat), Shungoku Neurosis (M. Bison)
YHC Mochi (Dhalsim), Ajipon (Rufus), Taigi (Oni)
T-SRAI (Blanka), Vegeta (Gouken), Bon/Playerjun52 (Ken)
Akua (Cammy), Fransujin (Cody), Tsukami (Juri)
Kuroken (Dudley), Y. (Cammy), Kawaguchi (Rose)
Inco (Rufus), Keshikaran (Rose), Waike (Juri)
Lariken (Sagat), Jinetta (M.Bison), Tsuna (Juri)
Pantyjohns (Zangief), Asutabi (Cammy), Muki (Adon)
EX Mamehara (Adon), Gachimottsun (Sagat), MDR (Rufus)
Kekkonyama (Rufus), Sendaime Ryou-san (Yang), Soy Master (Sagat)
Jeppa (Rufus), Chiba (Akuma), Adlibouji (Cody)
Chichi Monda (M. Bison), Gacha Boy (Adon), ☆Shin☆ (Juri)
Karichin (Adon), Yossan (Juri), FU★K YUN (Yun)
KOK (Evil Ryu), Pie (Sagat), Juso (Sakura)
Akimo (E.Honda), Nekojita (Abel), NISHIKIN (Blanka)
Reiketsu (Vega), Anton (Gouken), Toncotsu (Ibuki)
-R- (Balrog), Kichijyoji Ken (Ken), Ukifune (Cody)
Shin★Chan (Balrog), Mohamed (M.Bison), Banuno (Akuma)
Kyabetsu (C.Viper), RF (Sagat), Kindevu (Cammy)
Hishou (Seth), Kouji KOG (T.Hawk), Meu (Makoto)
Dogura (M.Bison), Haitani (Makoto), Eita (Akuma)
Kazunoko (Seth), Bonchan (Sagat), Nemo (Yang)
Dashimaki (C.Viper), Kamata San (Sakura), Nen (Rufus)
Fuudo (Fei Long), Itabashi Zangief (Zangief), Dashio (Seth)
Banbaban (Cammy), a.k.a.jojo (M.Bison), Y24 (Chun Li)
Naruo (Ryu), Haneyama (Juri), Shinochan (Oni)
Uryo (Sakura), -6- (Akuma), Wao (Oni)
SCHEDULE
The highlighted time (left) is EST (GMT -5). The bolded time is JST (GMT +9), the native time for the event. Note that for EST, the National Tournament actually begins the night before, running concurrently with latter hours of of Final Round XV Day 1.
FRIDAY - Pre-Nationals 5on5 Tournament
12:00AM 2:00PM Registration, team formation, lottery
3:30AM 5:30PM Break
4:00AM 6:00PM Tournament starts
6:30AM 8:30PM Break
7:00AM 9:00PM Finals tournament
8:00AM 10:00PM Award ceremony, closing
SATURDAY - National Tournament
8:00PM 10:00AM Venue opens
9:00PM 11:00AM Opening, qualifier
11:00PM 1:00PM Main tournament starts
1:30AM 3:30PM Street Fighter X Tekken Special Stage
2:30AM 4:30PM Finals tournament
And for a slight change in pace:
Japanese Lesson Time with USD
The full name of this year's National Tournament is quite lengthy.
ストクロ完成記念
スーパーストリートファイターIV アーケードエディション 2012 CAPCOM公式全国大会 春獄節! 〜格闘ひな祭り〜
SFxTK Completion Commemoration
SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV ARCADE EDITION 2012 CAPCOM Official National Tournament SHUNGOKUSETSU! ~Fighting Hinamatsuri~
The actual word used for SFxTK is "Sutokuro," which is the Japanese short term for Street Fighter X Tekken. SFIV is referred to as "Suto IV," while SSFIV is "Supa IV." Super Street Fighter II Turbo (known as SSFII X in Japan) is "Supa II X," while 3rd Strike is called "Saado," the awkward pronunciation of "3rd" in Japanese.
"SHUNGOKUSETSU" is a play on Akuma's Super Combo*, Shun Goku Satsu (known in the US as Raging Demon), using the kanji for "spring" (春, Shun) along with 節 (せつ, Setsu), which can be used when referring to a period of time, a season (季節, きせつ, Kisetsu) or, in this case, a seasonal festival (節句, せっく, Sekku) (see below).
*It can also be a reference to Sakura's mock Shun Goku Satsu from the Street Fighter EX series (among others), which has the same pronunciation but uses the kanji for "spring", as above.
Hinamatsuri (Doll Festival) is Girls' Day, celebrated March 3 in Japan.
