#BANC – Battle Arena NightClub Interviews & Recap

Sunday, July 11th saw a year of pent-up competitive energy unleashed from a highly unusual venue. Inflation Nightclub and Entertainment Complex has been a party fixture on Melbourne’s King Street for decades, but they’d never seen anything quite like the crowd of 240+ FGC diehards hollering over the noise of the venue to celebrate a knockout blow. 

 

BANC2021 in full swing

With a brief window to take advantage of lowered COVID restrictions but no way to facilitate a full-sized major, an event was planned to carry on the spirit of BAM in the best available venue, and thus we got to enjoy #BANC – Battle Arena Nightclub 2021.

Read more

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.

CouchWarriors League Recap – May 2021

The fires of competition have burned more brightly than ever before across the CouchWarriors League, as we count down the days before the long-awaited BAM12 major. The month of May set a new all-time record for most ranking points on offer, impacting the race across all five CWL games.

In the past, the league rankings have often been dominated by a handful of regional champions who can reliably scoop their local tournament every time – but 2021 is looking different. Not only have we seen a few instances of top players traveling interstate to play spoiler for one event, but almost every game and region is seeing a more even spread of winners as the months roll on. It’s been the perfect way to foreshadow the inevitable clash for bragging rights we’ll see at BAM.

Read more

BAM12 Registration Roundup!

Get hype! The biggest AusFGC news of the year is the biggest AusFGC event of the year: BAM 2021.

Battle Arena Melbourne is making its comeback in 2021. Held from July 9th-11th, #BAM12 will feature the peak of competitive play for fighting games across Australia as part of the CouchWarriors League, as well as a rare chance for our top talent to battle world-class opposition. Expanding the gaming on offer, alongside BAM will be ITZ Gaming PC LAN (more on that below)!

BAM’s status as Australia’s top Major on the official circuits brings together players and broadcasters from all sorts of games, and CouchWarriors are going in even harder on that big-tent ethos with this year’s event. Whether you count yourself among the hardcore competitors, niche game specialists, casual fans, artists, cosplayers, or game developers, #BAM12 has something to offer.

Read more

CouchWarriors League 2021 – The Season So Far!

Get ready for the next battle – because CouchWarriors League is back for 2021!

Rising from the ashes of last year like a wakeup shoryu, Australia’s first unified fighting game circuit has begun a fresh season, now with more games and more events to compete in!

With monthly ranbat events in four state centers and the revamped CouchWarriors Online Series, there’s a huge expansion in the amount of season points available – which seems destined to produce a much tighter title race in each of the five featured fighting games.

Read more

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

Image

CWL November Report – Melee & Tekken

The pivotal final month of Saturday online events for CouchWarriors League 2020 has delivered a barrage of top-flight competition, with three games having concluded their ranking seasons so far. The last two weekends were a study in contrasts; Smash Melee was reduced to a victory lap for an unstoppable champion, while Tekken 7’s overall season winner wasn’t decided until the very last blow!

Read more

1 … 5 6 7 8 9 … 39