Tournaments in esports have all followed a similar set of rules and structure in the past. There’s qualifiers, groups, playoffs and finals. While they do vary in certain ways, Capcom’s new “Battle for the Stones” is taking a different route allowing players to change the rules of the game.
Fighting tournaments have always been a spectacle. They’re an ancient form of competitive gaming that has existed alongside some of the biggest esports achievements to date. They may not be as popular as some of the more recent competitions but have been around since the beginning. Capcom’s new tournament structure is an effort to generate interest for the new title, and it does sound rather interesting. Battle for the Stones will be Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite’s first tournament for $30,000, and its first tournament of this nature.
Battle for the Stones will feature 16 players from various qualifiers who will all qualify in their own way. The first seven players will be some familiar champions from EVO tournaments, who are mostly winners of previous Marvel vs. Capcom championships. A further three spots will be awarded to online regional qualifiers in North America, Latin America and Europe who will each offer one spot. The final six spots are where it becomes interesting. The last six spots will be awarded to winners of various major fighting tournaments on the calendar, including Red Bull Proving Grounds and Milan Game Week. Following the Marvel theme, each winner of these tournaments will receive an “Infinity Stone” and these stones will allow them to affect the tournament in various ways.
It’s unclear what Capcom plans to do, and what abilities these stones have, and their abilities may or may not be in line with their fictional abilities in the Marvel Universe. For clarification, these are what the six stones are capable of in the Marvel Universe.
- Sould – Allows the user to steal, control, manipulate, and alter souls, living or dead, and is the gateway to an idyllic pocket universe that is much like Heaven. It also has the ability to steal the powers and abilities of others.
- Time – Allows the user total control over the past, present and future. It grants its user the ability to see into the past and the future; the ability to stop, slow down, speed up or reverse the flow of time; time travel; the ability to change the past and the future; age and de-age beings; and trap people or entire universes in unending loops of time.
- Space – Allows the user to exist in any or all locations, move any object anywhere throughout reality, and warp or rearrange space. The gem allows its user to teleport oneself and others any place the user can imagine regardless of distance or preventive measures such as walls or spells.
- Mind – Allows the user to greatly strengthen and enhance mental and psionic power and access the thoughts and dreams of other beings. Backed by the Power Gem, the Mind Gem can access all minds in existence simultaneously.
- Reality – Allows the user to fulfill wishes, even if the wish is in direct contradiction with scientific laws, and do things that would normally be impossible. The gem can also be used to create any type of alternate reality one wishes and when backed by the other stones it allows one to alter reality on a universal scale.
- Power – Accesses all power and energy that ever has or will exist, and can boost the other gems’ effects. Allows the user to duplicate almost any physical superhuman ability and grants them Omnipotence. It also grants the possessor the potential to manipulate all forms of energy for virtually any effect.
It would be interesting to see how Capcom incorporates the lore behind each stone in their tournament, and the abilities the players receive once they get these stones. These abilities will be revealed at a later stage. If a stone bearer is defeated, the victor will receive that stone even if they already possess one. The stones can be used only once by each stone bearer during the tournament unless a new stone is acquired. If a player uses their stone its duration will only be 3/5 of the best of five series, which will make the match extremely interesting. The theme of “Battle for the Stones” will tie in nicely with the release of Avengers: Infinity War which releases on the 25th of April 2018. A smart move by Capcom to drum up excitement for the new series.
Like esports?
Check out esports central
Last Updated: September 22, 2017
