Pools: Saturday, 10am ET/7am PT on twitch.tv/IGChannel
Top 8: Sunday, 8am ET/5am PT on twitch.tv/IGChannel
Brackets can be found here.
The TEKKEN World Tour makes its European debut this weekend with a stop at The Colosseum Spring 2018 in Rome, Italy. The fall 2017 edition of the biannual tournament was part of last year's Tour, but it was one of two European events that weekend. This edition of the event has the Tour spotlight to itself, which means that nearly all of Europe's best will be under one roof.
Registration is still open as of the time of this writing, but the field already includes stars from all over Europe. Eight of the top nine European finishers from last year's tour are in the field. That figure includes all five of the continent's qualifiers for the 2017 TEKKEN World Tour Finals: Blackbeard, Fergus, Kaneandtrench, Super Akouma, and Tissuemon.
Here are a few of the storylines to watch for this weekend:
Will the Italian stars turn in another strong performance on home soil?
Italy boasts a strong TEKKEN scene. This weekend's host nation produced three of the top nine finishers from last year's European leaderboard, while no other country had more than one. Italy swept the top eight positions at The Colosseum Fall 2017, and local fans will hope for a repeat performance in Rome.
Much of the attention will be on Tissuemon, who finished last season atop the European region. The Italian-by-way-of-Japan won three events on last year's Tour, including both of the Tour events in his home country (The Colosseum and Milan Games Week), and he would love to make it a perfect three-for-three on home soil.
Tissuemon is not the only Italian player who can do damage this weekend. Ghirlanda finished runner-up to Tissuemon at last year's Colosseum event and is more than capable of making another deep run in Rome. Fellow Colosseum top-eight finishers Harry Potter, Devilnin, and Mitrust-Storm will also be in the hunt.
Can Super Akouma continue his strong run?
Super Akouma had a strong start on last year's TEKKEN World Tour. The Frenchman was the top European finisher at two Master events in 2017, and he rode that momentum to a place in the global finals. He experienced a dip in performance towards the end of the season, finishing outside the top 16 at both Barcelona Games World and Paris Games Week.
Heading into The Colosseum, all signs point to a return to form for Super Akouma. He picked up his first-ever Tour victory with a win at the Kuwait Battle Royale last month. This past weekend he beat Tissuemon to win Ultimate Ranking - a non-Tour event - to earn a trip to Evo. With two recent titles already in hand, will a third be in the cards this weekend?
How will Fergus kick off his European campaign?
2017 was a great year for Fergus. Although he did not win a Tour event, he reached the last eight at six Tour stops throughout the year, including a second-place finish at Milan Games Week. That consistency earned him a place in last year's Tour Finals caught the eye of UYU, who added him to a team that includes JeonDDing, P.Ling, and reigning Tour champion Qudans.
The Irish star only entered one 2018 TEKKEN World Tour event before this weekend, but it may have set the tone for another strong year. He picked up wins over Rip and Joey Fury on his way to a ninth-place finish at Final Round. The Irish star will certainly be a threat to make another deep run this weekend, but can he match - or even go beyond - the heights he reached in Milan last year?
