Australian fighting game event runners and community. Hosts of BAM: Battle Arena Melbourne, Australia's largest fighting game/open entry esports event.
In the coming months we want to shine a spotlight on some of the hard-working, stylish and upcoming players making their name in CouchWarriors League.
This time, we spoke to SFV competitor Jason “2fast2fed” Barrett, who just broke through with his first CWL Online top 4 this month in a head-turning performance:
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You can hear it all around the country. The click-clack of buttons, the churning of arcade sticks.
February will see the first blows struck in the 2022 season of CouchWarriors League, Australia’s biggest tournament circuit for fighting games. The last few seasons have been tumultuous, but the focus on online events during the pandemic has given many new players the chance to make their name.
With tentative projections for a return to live events this year, the stage is set for these fresh challengers and decorated veterans to clash head-on, establishing a new power ranking for the Oceanic FGC.
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.
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.
Hyper Magazine, the longest running independent gaming magazine in Australia, has released its quarterly special, with the theme of esports.
The issue features a six page special feature on the Australian fighting game scene by CouchWarriors own Daniel “Berzerk” Chlebowczyk and members of the FGC!
In print at newsagents everywhere now.
The piece features interviews with top players and organisers:
Xavier “Somniac” Nardella (SFV),
Sam “SD” Darroch (Melee),
Adric “Falco” Middleton (SFV),
Jacob “Cabjoy” Bynes (MKX),
Kevin “Burnout” Kim (SFV),
Youssef “FaYd” Faddoul,
Daniel “Spoony” Finegan (CouchWarriors),
Henry “Genxa” Sham (OzHadou)
Plus standalone interviews with Somniac, SD, Berzerk and more.
Here’s a preview shared by Berzerk on Twitter: