Ryoto “Kazunoko” Inoue continued his run of stellar performances on the Dragon Ball FighterZ international scene by winning the Dragon Ball FighterZ World Tour Finals. With the victory, Kazunoko has now won six of the last seven DBF tournaments he entered – placing second in the lone event he failed to win.
Kazunoko has now won six of the last seven DBF tournaments he entered – placing second in the lone event he failed to win.
Kazunoko cruised through the first two rounds of the tournament, going a combined 6-1. However, things started to get more difficult for the Japanese competitor, barely squeaking by Goichi “GO1” Kishida in the Winner’s Bracket Finals before making his way to the Grand Finals.
The Grand Finals itself set up for a potential feel-good story, as Kazunoko faced off against Shoji “Fenritti” Sho – the man he defeated in the quarterfinals of the Winner’s Bracket. Fenritti won the initial Best-of-5 against Kazunoko in the Grand Finals but the tournament was double elimination, meaning that Fenritti needed to beat the most dominant DBF competitor twice in a row. The task proved to be too much, as Kazunoko took the final set of the tournament 3-1.
SonicFox, HookGangGod Both Upset Early
The space between the competitors in the field appears to be getting tighter in Dragon Ball FighterZ. Both Dominique “SonicFox” McLean and Eduardo “HookGangGod” Deno were eliminated early in the tournament.
SonicFox was shocked in the first round of the Winner’s Bracket, losing 3-2 against BNBBN (a relative newcomer to the world of DBF). The EVO Champion would eventually finish in 5th-6th place.
HookGangGod – one of the four pre-tournament qualifiers – dropped his two games at the event by a combined score of 6-2.
Four New Characters Unveiled for Dragon Ball Fighterz
Four of the six new DLC characters for Dragon Ball FighterZ were also announced during the Dragon Ball FighterZ World Tour Finals. Fans of Dragon Ball will soon get their hands on Jiren and Videl, as the two will be released on January 31, while Super Broly and Gogeta (SSGSS) are both “coming soon.”
Everyone already knew Jiren was on the way after it broke in some Japanese publications recently but all four additions should satiate the needs of many hungry fans.
In terms of the competitive meta – the only DLC character that has become a constant is Bardock. It will be interesting to see if any of the six new characters can crack into the meta, especially with some of the top tier players looking at a break after the World Tour Finals.
