Author: Berzerk

BAM12 COSPLAY COMPETITION With Guest Judges and CrunchyRoll Expo Prizes

We are pleased to announce BAM12’s official cosplay competition! Join us in your best fighting game costume for a chance to win some awesome prizes and your very own BAM Trophy! Not only is BAM Australia’s biggest fighting game event, it’s a gaming festival, so we would like to invite everyone to appear in character!

Join our cosplay guests TJ Cosplay and AstroKerrie Cosplay on SUNDAY MAY 15 at BAM, held at MCEC. All you need to register is a Spectator Pass ($25) at smash.gg/bam12

INFO

There’s over $250 in cash and prizes for the Cosplay, Plus, TOP 4 – Passes to CrunchyRoll Expo!

Photography: On the floor of BAM, we will have a photo wall and photographer onsite, so there’ll be great shots to come from the event. We also welcome photographers to join the event!

Cosplay Changerooms: There will be a dedicated space off-floor for Cosplayers to change.

WHAT:
Battle Arena Melbourne 12 Cosplay Competition

BAM Info: www.battlearenamelbourne.com.au

When:
May 15 (Cosplay welcome all three days of event)

Cosplay registration:
Just register in person at the Registration Desk. You can also pre-fill some info for our judges by entering details on this form

Event Entry: Only a spectator pass ($25 for weekend) is required.

TIMES:

  • Registration Ends 12:30PM Sunday
  • Pre-Judging 1pm to 2pm (Marshall at Photo wall 12:45)
  • Parade: 2:30PM Sunday (Marshall at Photo wall 2:15)

Theme:
Fighting Game characters (Has appeared in a fighting game)

Where:
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Bays 23 & 24

Cost:
Spectator pass – $25

 

PRIZES:

TOP 4 – Pass to CrunchyRoll Expo

1st Place $125 Cash and a BAM Trophy!

2nd place $75

3rd place $50

Plus, Anime Blu-Ray and Merch!

Follow the BAM12 Facebook Event for updates

 

COSPLAY GUESTS

TJ Cosplay and AstroKerrie Cosplay

RULES

  • You must purchase a spectator pass to compete.
  • Please register for the cosplay competition at the registration desk at entrance
  • Your costume must be a character that has appeared in a fighting game.
  • Handmade and bought costumes are both acceptable, however handmade costumes will be rated higher in judging.
  • When you’re on stage, we want to see you embody the character! Be ready to answer some questions about your costume, too.
  • Most importantly, have fun!

CouchWarriors League New Points System Aug 2021

If you ask the question, “why are the CouchWarriors events all called Ranbats?”  It’s short for Ranking Battle – a long standing tradition in the community, offering players an incentive to compare their progress and get ever stronger! Today we’re announcing an update to the point system to make it more inclusive of players of all levels.

Of course, all our Ranking Battle live events are not just about tournaments, they’re perhaps moreso about socialising, casual matches and even long sets, with a great opportunity to learn and improve.

By also having tournaments this adds some goals and structure for a day’s play – and the point system is part of that. Tying all our offline and online events together via the points is CouchWarriors League – the league ladder tracks each game and region, which you can filter here on the website. This has been a great way to determine seeding and invitations for events, and prize rewards.

Now as we dive into the 2nd half of this year’s season under CouchWarriors League, we’ve updated the system, in consultation with the tournament teams.Lets take a look:

What’s new and why do we like it?

  • Expands the point system down to all participants, not just top 4-8
  • This means participation is encouraged for those who think they can’t place, they can build up a small base of points just by entering consistently.
  • We have kept the weighting towards offline tournaments vs online, however all points totals are increased, so if you play consistently, even online, you have a chance to post a good score
  • This provides a nice second split/half season boost as we go towards finals. We won’t reset the points completely, but it provides an effective reset for those actively playing thanks to the increase.
  • Still acknowledges season 1 players who get a kick start, recognizing due to COVID, its been an uneven year for live events.
  • The system gives more scope for flexibility in determining prizes and finals seeding.

The point system will be in effect from July events onwards! Yes, that means you can earn more points for playing any of the current tournaments! Register here

Rewards

We recognise this year has been uneven due to Covid, so some regions may have more events than others. This is why we will award end of season prizes to the top players in every game – in each region.

So if you’re the best player in a feature title in your state, or online, which is treated as its own region, you’ll be rewarded!

Current online feature titles are Street Fighter V, Guilty Gear Strive, Tekken 7 and Super Smash Bros Ultimate.  These run monthly, so there’s a tournament each week and a prize will be allocated each month.

An additional two titles, while not guaranteed to run an online tournament each month, are staples of offline and will also have an end of season prize: Dragon Ball FighterZ and Super Smash Bros Melee.

Prizes are to be announced as the season progresses. You can count on support from our excellent sponsors Astro and Mwave for starters.

Regular titles you find at your local ranbat are all tracked in the points system, and at minimum we will add rewards at the finals.

Finals

On finals we will be planning to conclude the CWLeague season at CWC – CouchWarriors Crossup – in December with a boosted prize pool and more, to be announced.

If it is impossible for us to run a live finals event, we will run an online invitational using the league ladder. Last year there were over $5,000 in prizes and we are aiming high for this year.  We will have more to share on this soon, but rest assured those points are worth striving for!

ASTRO STEPS INTO THE RING AS THE PRESENTING PARTNER OF COUCHWARRIORS LEAGUE AND BAM

Australia’s premier fighting game esports league and its major event, are now powered by ASTRO GAMING

MEDIA RELEASE: ASTRO Gaming today announced it will be pulling on the gloves and supporting the Australian Fighting Game Community as it becomes the presenting partner of CouchWarriors League and BAM (Battle Arena Melbourne) for 2021-22. As the exclusive partner for headsets, CouchWarriors League will be equipped with ASTRO headsets for events, player prizes and commentators to call the action in top fighting game titles including Street Fighter V, Tekken 7 and Super Smash Bros Ultimate.

CouchWarriors League is the premier esports league for fighting game fans in Australia, with live events across the country in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide, along with online tournaments broadcast to thousands of monthly viewers. The CouchWarriors series of events has been an anchor for the fighting game community (FGC) for nearly 15 years. It welcomes grassroots play from casual matches to major tournaments.

Australia’s largest major FGC event, BAM, returns in May 2022, presented by ASTRO. BAM has been the home of amazing moments on the FGC world stage, featuring international talent as stops for world tours including Capcom Pro Tour and Tekken World Tour.

Most of all, it is a must attend for fighting game fans nationwide both for connecting with the community, and competing in the national championships. Over 1,000 unique competitors joined the fray in 2019.

“We are incredibly excited at ASTRO Gaming as a major supporter of fighting game esports globally, having sponsored major events including EVO World Championships, CEO and Combo Breaker. BAM is the equivalent major event on the Australian calendar having hosted thousands of competitors and world tours. As part of CouchWarriors League, we look forward to being part of the year-round hype and energy of the fighting game scene” Said Daniel Hall, Senior Category Portfolio Manager, Logitech G and ASTRO Gaming Australia.

“The passion and vibrancy of the fighting game scene calls for an equally passionate partner for the CouchWarriors League and we’re thrilled to have ASTRO on board, supporting the players and tournament organisers in the scene. We’re excited for what the partnership will bring to all our events from local live tournaments nationwide, to our regular online tournaments and major events like BAM. The pedigree and dedication to fighting games by ASTRO worldwide is unmatched” Added Daniel Chlebowczyk, Director of Events Engine, the partnership manager for CouchWarriors League.

The next event will be BANC – Battle Arena NightClub in Melbourne on July 11. https://smash.gg/banc 

Catch the live action across the CouchWarriors Twitch Channel and the CouchWarriors Smash Twitch Channel.

Follow the CouchWarriors League ladder and links to event registration at the official website:

Join the battle at CouchWarriorsLeague.com.au

BAM 2021 – Postponed to 2022. New Melbourne July Event planned

To all the FGC community from the dedicated BAM team, we are announcing the postponenment of BAM 2021. After careful consideration of the COVID safety state across Australia, and discussions with the venue we have taken the difficult decision to postpone.

We are moving BAM to its traditional month of May, 2022.  In its place, for those that can attend in Melbourne on July 11th, we will have a special alternative event we dub “BANC” or Battle Arena Nightclub. More on this below

Why Postpone

Due to the Melbourne lockdown recently, with a slow rate of changes to restrictions, the scope of the event has been affected. Adding to the decision, new hotspots in NSW and QLD have diminished the ability for interstate visitors to attend our community’s national event.

In this uncertain environment we cannot guarantee an event befitting the scale and style expected of BAM.

What about my BAM registration?

Our team will remove all registrations and refunds will be issued for BAM progressively over the coming week. The event listing itself will remain so you can keep your bookmark for smash.gg/bam12

We will reopen BAM registration closer to the event.

Alternative Event: BANC

We have an alternative event planned called Battle Arena NightClub (BANC) at the nightclub venue, Inflation in the Melbourne CBD. We recognise there are attendees who would still like to travel on the BAM dates, and take the opportunity to play in a fighting game major.

Looking to make the best we can out of the situation, this event will have big pot bonuses and prizes, at a unique venue.

Registration is found here: smash.gg/banc.

This event will be in a bar/nightclub venue opening up for us through the day, making for a cool fighting club atmosphere.

Pot bonus – $500 minimum (up to $1,000)
We are announcing at BANC there will be a Community prize bonus from CouchWarriors:
$500 for each of these titles. If the registrations for each hit 64 or more we will double it to 1,000

  • SFV
  • Tekken
  • Melee
  • Ultimate
  • DBFZ
  • Guilty Gear Strive

BAM Bounties in effect at the Battle Arena NightClub

The recently announce BAM bounties – which reward the top players at the end of June’s CouchWarriors League ladder in 5 feature titles – SFV, Tekken, Melee, Ultimate and DBFZ.

Top of points in each game will receive FREE entry to BANC and a $50 Mwave voucher

However those players are TARGETED.

The first player to beat that player in the tournament for that game at BANC will win a $50 voucher also.

MWAVE and CouchWarriors League Partnership 2021

We are proud to announce Mwave is supporting CouchWarriors League, which incliudes BAM, as PC Retail Partner!
Mwave have long been a fantastic supporter of the scene, providing digital prize vouchers and the latest awesome tech for our online tournaments in 2020.  Building on that tradition, Mwave is officially supporting the league through 2021
To celebrate, MAY IS MWAVE MONTH and we have prizes for May online & offline events across the country.
  • Each online tournament has Mwave vouchers, $100 1st and $50 2nd.
  • 10 Tournaments at Melb, Bris and Adelaide offline Ranbats in May will receive $50 1st and $20 2nd. (Allocation to be announced)
  • Social Media prize draw for everyone to enter (coming soon)
  • Prize Support across BAM tournaments and Door Prizes to be announced soon!

Make sure you show your appreciation by visiting MWave anytime you need PC parts, accessories and tech at www.mwave.com.au

BAM Returns July 9th to 11th at MCEC!

That’s right. BAM is coming back on July 9th to 11th, 2021 at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The FGC’s biggest national event will be returning with the hype, community and competition we all love.  This year BAM will be colocated with ITZ LAN, a 1,000 seat BYOC PC LAN. Making this “ITZ BAM” even bigger for the gaming community.

Stay tuned for Registration info and more news and updates!

CouchWarriors League 2021 – return of offline events!

CouchWarriors League returns for 2021, and as we steadily see restrictions pulled back, we are returning with live, offline events for the community!

Online and Offline

Online – This year we are once again running Online tournaments with feature games Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, Smash Bros Ultimate, Smash Bros Melee, and now – Dragonball FighterZ!

Offline – In addition, look forward to LIVE offline ranking battles every month in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.  Ranking battle events are the best place to learn, level up, just enjoy casuals and of course, to show your skills!

Prizes and rewards

We will have more to announce, similar to last year expect prizes for top of table placers, and pot bonuses for special events.

Points system

The points system remains the same, however post COVID with more live events, remember that offline events count for more points, and Majors count for double that!

Online Win: 5 points

Offline (Ranbat) Win) 10 points

Major Win: 20 points.

Full points table is found here

All games ranked

This year we’re also including rankings for additional games often played at Ranking Battle live events (See ALL games sectoin). Track your progress and compare to your rivals including interstate using the CouchWarriors League website

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CouchWarriors teams with Cospendium Convention for Gaming Zone and tournaments!

We are pleased to announce a new partnership with Cospendium Cosplay and Games Convention!

Cospendium is a brand new event on the pop culture calendar, which is developing a new approach to convetions and will be including gaming in a big way! 

As a major part of the event, Cospendium and CouchWarriors have joined forces, and with their fantastic support, we’ll be able to bring you an amazing Gaming Zone at Cospendium featuring our core Fighting Game Tournaments, PC Freeplay, Console Freeplay, Indie Games, Gaming Exhibitors, and much more to be announced. The gaming zone will be amazing for new fans and old, whether learning to play, showing your skills, or checking out cool new games.

As part of today’s first announcement we’ll reveal the first tournament titles which will each have a $1,000 prize pool!

Tournament Games with 1,000 Prize Pool
  • Street Fighter V
  • Super Smash Bros Ultimate
  • Dragon Ball FighterZ
  • Tekken 7

Thanks to the amazing support from Cospendium, who are creating something special with this new convention, the same will be true of the CouchWarriors Gaming Zone. The tournaments hosted here will be consequential, supported with great prizes and an amazing, big screen spectator experience.  

Tournament info

Here are the first round of CouchWarriors Gaming Zone Tournaments at Cospendium!

Each tournament will feature $1,000 cash prize pool, and will be open to everyone with a Cospendium ticket.

Step One: Make sure you have a Cospendium ticket at https://cospendium.com.au/ 

Step Two: Register for your tournaments on http://smash.gg/couchwarriorscospendium

You will be able to preregister online and, if spaces are available, on the day for each tournament.  Major tournaments will be run with a feature stage, and live stream to capture those clutch moments.

CouchWarriors League Announced

CouchWarriors League Announced

National Fighting Game Esports League launched. Season one brings state champions together at BAM, Australia’s international finals

Australian esports events organisation, CouchWarriors, today announces a national points based league for fighting game tournaments. CouchWarriors League (CWL) is tying together monthly Ranking Battle tournaments across four states, with a special reward for top point scorers in each one of four feature titles. The state champions will be rewarded with a paid flight and entry to BAM, Australia’s international fighting game major.

 

The League Season tracks how players fare across “Ranbat” events in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The monthly events are each the focal point for the local community and a step into the esports tournament scene. The success of CouchWarriors local ranking battle events has seen an average of 150 attendees at each city’s gatherings every month

Visit the CouchWarriors League site to follow the latest rankings!

The feature titles awarding travel in the first season of CWL are Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, and Super Smash Bros Melee.  Regular online events will also give players across the country the opportunity to edge ahead on points.

We support a big range of tournament titles, which will also have results tracked, so you can see how you compare with your fellow players. 

Every month as events conclude you can follow the player rankings on a central points ladder. The ladder can be found at CouchWarriorsLeague.com.au

Each event is live streamed and featured in Twitch.TV front page promotion in ANZ.

Read more

CouchWarriors Annual General Meeting 2019

Date: 17th of November 2019.
Time: 11am (booking to 5pm)
Venue: Level 11, 179 Queen St Melbourne. (

It’s time for the CouchWarriors Annual General Meeting!
Another successful year behind us, we have a lot to talk about and a lot to be excited for.

CouchWarriors Mission Statement:
CouchWarriors is a non-for-profit association that was created in 2006 to help grow the Fighting Game Community. We aim to do this by providing services and events for the community such as: creating welcoming spaces for new and veteran players to learn and play, running monthly ranking tournaments, hosting our national-level tournament Battle Arena Melbourne (BAM), and providing support and resources for companion events in the community.

Annual General Meeting:
Our AGM is open to the public, if you feel like you would like to be a part of CouchWarriors and to help out with tournaments and building up the fighting game community in Melbourne, please feel free to come along. Our scene is built on the passion and dedication of volunteers and organisers.

Nominations:
2020 Officer roles and positions of the President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer will be determined at this event via the nominations of the CouchWarriors Committee. The first round will be recieved via nomination. Nominees can make themselves known by emailing us at [email protected].

Only CouchWarriors Committee Members can cast votes, be nominated and elected.

At the AGM we will discuss an agenda of the following:

– Review of majors including BAM, Ranking Battles and Conventions,
– Financial review,
– Review & clarification of our mission statement.
– Report from each interstate team

– Our direction and strategy moving forward
– Review of event and management structure

– Look ahead to 2020

– Questions/Roundtable

The secretary will add a detailed agenda based on last year’s AGM agenda soon.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

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