Tyler Reis-Sanford
More than 60 contestants came together for TKO Tuesday at Level One Gaming Pub last week. Packed together shoulder to shoulder in the basement, onlookers watched as community members punched, kicked, and Combo’d through the competition.
“For the most part our Tuesdays are our anime games,” said Zach, a competitor who goes by SpookyMemes. “We do other games like Street Fighter and stuff on Fridays across town.”
This tournament bracket had a full 62 competitors, and TKO Tuesday regulars had the opportunity to face off against each other in familiar matchups.
“Everyone has a bracket demon,” said Zach St. Pierre. “It’s someone who no matter what you can’t get past. You can be having a great tournament, you can beat someone who is one of the best there, but then there’s just this one person, maybe they spam a character you hate, or like, maybe they just have your number. You’re praying you don’t have to face them.”
He shrugs.
“They’re just your bracket demon.”
Local rivalries are one of staples of a thriving fighting game community, says Kieran Steeves, who regularly attends TKO Tuesday and other events in Ottawa. Steeves says it gives players something to work towards, that it provides stories for the other members of the community, and most of all, it sharpens the skills of competitors for other tournaments, some of which boast massive cash prizes.
“Things can get pretty intense down here,” said Steeves. “Lots of guys are getting ready for Frosty’s (a highly competitive fighting game tournament) so guys are going all out.”
Steeves said that TKO Tuesday regularly has brackets of more than 50 competitors, and helps Ottawa boast one of the strongest fighting game scenes across Canada. Toronto and Montreal regularly have thriving communities as well, so local invitational tournaments often provide the opportunity for each city to pit their best competitors against each other. Steeves says that these often help start friendly rivalries and bring the best out of everyone involved.
“We tried to get a Canada wide tournament going last year, we invited people from across the country, Montreal came up, Toronto ducked us because they’re scared,” said Steeves. “But it’s that kind of thing that really keeps the community thriving. We beat Montreal, then they’ll take one on us. Once we brought a handful of guys to their local, and just cleaned up, so guys were definitely talking a lot of shit after that one. They got us back though.”
As if on cue, a raucous chant started from a table in the corner of the room, where a group had gathered around to watch a particularly lively round of action.
“Jack is ass! Jack is ass! Jack is ass!” They shouted together, jumping up and down.
“And that’s what I mean,” said Steeves. “We like to have fun here.”
