Frosty Faustings XII Results, Summary and Highlights

Receiving a lower number of 105 entrants compared to last year, the SOULCALIBUR VI event of the tournament was much shorter but a more competitive one. Moreover, similar with Kumite in Tennesee 2020, its reigning champion Sandman was dethroned before almost reaching the top 8 as he was eliminated by BxA | Twixxie placing 9^th in the tournament.

With that, a new champion will be crowned amongst the remaining 8 players of the tournament who are BxA | Twixxie, Incendiate, AXL | RichSticks, AXL | Boom on the winner’s side and EMP|KN KDZ, TwoSwords, Kugui and Wind Charmer on the loser’s side.

BxA | Twixxie

With a number of familiar names who were favorites to win the tournament including Incendiate, Boom and RichSticks, There is a name that rose up surprising everybody. That name is none other than Twixxie who not only reached the winner’s side of the top 8 but also reached the said placing by eliminating the last year’s champ beating the latter’s “Sand-mina” with his Ivy. Placing himself among the winners of the top 8, he would be facing some of its best participants.

His 1^st match was against Xianghua played by Incendiate who is one of the New York’s best SOULCALIBUR VI players. Game 1 – Twixxie got an early headstart winning the 1^st round. In round 2 however, despite him outplaying Incendiate in the 2^nd round the latter managed to steal the round by hitting the former with a counter hit 6BB while on the edge and continuing it into a Ring-Out. Incendiate proved his previous round win was not a fluke by getting an early health lead during round 3. Although Twixxie fought back, Incendiate’s good use of Xianghua’s stances hit the former with a grab continuing with a guaranteed Critical Edge won him the round. In the next round, Twixxie got his composure back by again dominating Incendiate and halting the latter’s comeback attempt with Calamity Symphony. In the last round, both players wasted no time in dishing heavy damage with their full gauges against each other. In the end, Incendiate stand as the victor a perfectly timed AGi to seal his Game 1 win.

Incendiate taking Game 1

Twixxie answering back in Game 2

In Game 2, Twixxie starting a strong win in the 1^st round with an early Summon Suffering against his opponent and took control of the round by distancing himself to his opponent. Next round was all Twixxie as he dominated Incendiate making sure to negate the latter’s AGi attempt with an Ivy Soul Charge unblockable in the end. Not wanting to back down, Incendiate showed why he is a difficult opponent by winning the succeeding two rounds without even using a single meter (but with some spices of teabagging to Twixxie). Reaching another full meter final round, Twixxie made sure to win the round by immediately using his 2 gauges to Soul Charge to overwhelm his and dominate his opponent. Match set at 1-1.

After taking his time, Incendiate did not take Twixxie’s challenge of an Ivy mirror match and stayed with his Xianghua in the Final match set. In the 1^st round, Twixxie took control early by taking his distance and whittling his foe’s health with Ivy’s ranged pokes. However, when Incendiate managed to hit Twixxie with a lethal combo, the former’s win was secured when his flurry of attacks did not let the latter breath till the end of the round. Next round, an even exchange of blows was won by Twixxie with a use of a meter. The 3^rd was a commanding win for Incendiate as he controlled the whole round ending with a Critical Edge. Twixxie then answered right back with his own commanding win in the 4^th round. In the final round, despite Incendiate having two full meters, Twixxie had a headstart with an early Summon Suffering. Incendiate immediately evened the match with his confusing rush attacks. However, Incendaite’s rush was controlled by Twixxie by a well-timed Reversal Edge which he won by pressing B (and getting a meter). In disadvantage, Incendiate used one of his meters as Soul Charge and hitting his opponent with a launcher soul charged enhanced combo to even the round again. In response, Twixxie used his only meter to a Soul Charge and managed to hit his opponent leaving the latter with a slither of health. To avoid pressure, Incendiate used his last meter into another Soul Charge. After a few seconds of distance between the two, Twixxie was able to win the 50-50 by hitting his opponent first ending such an evenly fight against Incendiate and advancing into the Winner’s finals and securing a top 3 placing.

Twixxie winning the match

In the next round though, meeting him there is a much more difficult opponent and tournament favorite RichSticks. In their matches during the Winner’s finals, Twixxie was overwhelmed and dominated by his opponent’s Maxi which he never found any answer whatsoever. As such, he lost the winner’s finals 0-3 and going down into the loser’s bracket.

Wind Charmer

If Twixxie was making noise among the winner’s side of the bracket, another one also making noise within the loser’s and that is Wind Charmer and his Talim. Although technically this isn’t that surprising as Wind Charmer is one of the best Talim players in the USA, he still made some notable wins of his own during the top 8.

Starting from the loser’s side, Wind Charmer faced Kugui first. Showing his mastery of Talim, Wind Charmer controlled most of his matches against Kugui’s Azwel (winning 2-3) in the first match and then his Xianghua in the second match (again winning 2-3). Next up, his next opponent is Incendiate who just had a close match against Twixxie during the winner’s column of the top 8. Although his match-up with Incendiate’s Xianghua was much closer compared with his previous match, he was able to beat and eliminate his opponent by dominating their last match 3-1 again exhibiting his great knowledge with Talim’s movesets.

Wins over Kugui (left) and Incendiate (right)

A Shotgun comeback

Advancing further in the top 8, Wind Charmer found himself facing Boom, another favorite to win the tournament, in the loser’s semis. Round 1 of the first match, Wind Charmer immediately took the win of the round with his button-mashing. Next round Boom took early control with his Yoshimitsu’s mix-ups continually hitting his opponent. However, with arguably the most memorable moment of the night, Wind Charmer surely but slowly caught back by whittling his opponent’s health despite being a few hits away from losing. When Boom’s health reached 1/3, Wind Charmer attempted a Reversal Edge which he canceled into a guard break attack. Reading his opponent next move, he backed-dash using Talim’s stance and perfectly countered his opponent’s AA with Talim’s signature “shotgun” thus earning the round win. In the next round, the same story happened where Boom’s dominating start failed to stop’s Wind Charmer’s momentum as the latter again earned another come-back victory for a sweeping 1^st match set.

Next set, Boom started the 1^st round strong ending it in commanding fashion. However, Wind Charmer immediately answered back in the next round earning his own commanding finish. The third round was much closer between the two but Boom fell victim to another perfectly timed stance back-step into a shotgun from Wind Charmer in the final moments of the round. In the final round, despite Boom’s valiant efforts for a come-back, Wind Charmer’s reaction and better judgment in pressuring moments just got the better of him. As such, Win Charmer advances to the loser’s finals to face Twixxie.

A Surprising Exit for Boom

Truth be told, did anyone expect for a Twixxie vs. Wind Charmer in the Loser’s Finals in a tournament which had Sandman, Incendiate and Boom in its competitors? The answer is definitely no. But showing how balanced and unpredictable the game sometimes, upsets or surprise are surely to happen. Nonetheless, the loser’s finals commenced with an Ivy vs. Talim match.

All Smiles between the Two

1^st match – despite great efforts of Wind Charmer to get close with Twixxie’s Ivy, the latter made great reads to disrupt the former’s plans. Twixxie then controlled the pace of the game with Ivy’s longer and more damaging hits thus earning him two straight round wins. In the 3^rd round, a desperate Wind Charmer took the round but with the cost of using his two meters. In the 4^th round though, Wind Charmer did not need a single meter in order to beat his opponent who was in Soul Charge during the round. In the final round, Wind Charmer accomplished another come-back win by breaking Twixxie’s guard in the final moments and finishing off his smiling opponent to win their first match.

A Boot to the Head

2^nd match started similarly like the previous match with Twixxie winning two straight rounds against Wind Charmer. The difference? Twixxie made sure that no come-back win will happen as he won the 3^rd round convincingly despite some great performance by Wind Charmer.

The 3^rd match and the 4^th match sets was then an exchange of wins between the two fighters wherein Twixxie ended the 3^rd match with a wake-up Calamity Symphony to halt his opponent’s come-back tendencies while Wind Charmer even up the set 2-2 by being relentless in the 4^th match which Twixxie failed to answer back.

A Rare and Unexpected ending for an Evenly Matched Battle

In the final set, Twixxie started out strong in the 1^st round again controlling it with by not letting his opponent get close while also chipping the latter’s health away at a safe distance. The 2^nd round was much closer as Wind Charmer successfully managed to get to close distance and got considerable damage to Twixxie. However, a Twixxie counter became a lethal hit which returned the favor in the damage category. This did not stop Wind Charmer in getting close again to pressure his opponent. In the end though, Twixxie managed to stop Wind Charmer’s advance with a Reversal Edge which he hit and won the round by winning the succeeding RPS with a lethal hit K. Not wanting a sweep, Wind Charmer got a domination perfect finish in the 3^rd round not letting Twixxie breathe even for a second. In the next round, another memorable moment of the night occurred which showed just how this two competitors are close to each other’s skills. With a blow-to-blow exchange between the two, they dished everything against each other in a highly contested match where it ended with a rare Draw. Since he was leading 2-1 before the Double K.O., Twixxie won the match over a great player in Wind Charmer who performed over and beyond everyone’s expectations. Earning for another rundown with RichSticks, Twixxie prepared for the Grand Finals…However…

AXL | RichSticks

Last year’s Frosty Faustings was RichSticks first ever major tournament coming from being an online warrior. During that tournament, he was streaming past sweeping everybody going into the Grand Finals. However, his “should have been” easy path to his first trophy was halted by Sandman and his Azwel. From then on, RichSticks would go on to compete to more tournaments where he established himself as one of USA’s top SOULCALIBUR VI players achieving numerous top 8 in different big major tournaments around the country. However, for all his great performance and showing (managing to get runner-up in Combo Breaker and CEO), there is one thing he had not achieved yet and that is winning a major tournament. A year after his debut in the FGC scene, would he finally get what was long denied from him? Turns out, it’s a yes.

With the Winner’s Finals starting earlier than expected, there was a chance that RichSticks would freeze from dominating the top 8 after sweeping players like his Teammate Boom and Twixxie in order to reach the Grand Finals. However, facing Twixxie again in the tournament finale, RichSticks was still hot as lava when the Grand Finals commenced.

During the 1^st and 2^nd match of the Grand Finals, RichSticks was in complete control of the rounds against Twixxie. Combining aggressive gameplay with fast reaction to disrupt his opponent’s counter-attacks, RichStick displayed flawless display of Maxi’s style in dominating the said 2 matches by letting Twixxie only get 1 round win. In the 3^rd match, although Twixxie put a better fight compared the previous 2 rounds, RichSticks just could not be stopped in getting his first ever trophy by literally going undefeated in the top 8. Finally beating his opponent, RichSticks could not control himself in finally winning a major tournament thus earning his right to be amongst the winners in the top class of the SOULCALIBUR VI echelon. A well-deserved victory for a fighter who never stopped chasing to lift his curse.

The Final Hit, the Shake, the Celebration and the Exit

Brackets links : 

smash.gg/tournament/frosty-faustings-xii-2020/events/soul-calibur-vi/brackets

AXL | aliciaxlife & PG | Kitana Prime

So proud of my mans @RichsticksSC for winning frosty faustings

He has come a long way and worked really hard for it! Send love his way! #FrostyFaustings pic.twitter.com/4FdIzrThKV

— RVNT | Kil Bils @ Frosty Faustings (@FGCKilBils) January 18, 2020

I don’t have much to say but thanks everyone for the support, it means so much to me. Up next is to keep going strong for the world tour this year pic.twitter.com/ye3cpPRbl5

— AXL | Richsticks (@RichsticksSC) January 18, 2020

Congrats to the #SOULCALIBURVI Top 8 at #FrostyFaustings! :3

1.AXL | Richsticks (@RichsticksSC)
2.Twixxie (@TricksyTwixxie)
3.Wind Charmer (@Wind_Charmy)
4.AXL | Boom (@ayob00m)
5.Incendiate (@incendiate)
5.KDZ (@KDZaster)
7.Kugui (idk Twitter)
7. TwoSwords (@_TwoSwords_)

— NGEN | Storia (@MissStoria13) January 18, 2020