Shine Makes it to the Red Bull Kumite Play-In

Fighting Games

February 5, 2024

Jordan Ashley

This year’s Red Bull Kumite is one of the biggest we’ve ever seen, and it’s getting a few format changes. One of the biggest is an increased role for the Red Bull Kumite Play-In and Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ). This time around, the LCQ is going to be deciding who two of our final Street Fighter 6 competitors are, with a bigger format that’s giving more players a shot at attending. This weekend, we’ve seen our first few players locked in for the Kumite Play-In.

Traditionally, the Red Bull Kumite SF tournament LCQ only moved one player through to the finals. The rest of the tournament roster, on the other hand, were simply invited. This secured a mix of the established best SF 6 players and also a player who had fought their way through to the event. This year, the LCQ and Play-In are going to be bigger with two different players being invited. That’s after we play through a new stage for the qualifier, a fresh Play-In. This weekend has seen both Shine and NoahTheProdigy secure their spot at that play-in.

Source: @RedBullGaming

Red Bull Kumite Last Chance Qualifier Play-In Gets First Two Competitors

The new stage for the LCQ will provide a separate route to qualification for the main tournament. One player moves forward to the full tournament from the LCQ, and another from the Red Bull Kumite Play-In stage. These two parts of the Last Chance Qualifier will give even more players the chance to make this tournament’s final stage.

With an expanded format, we’re going to see more players competing. This weekend the first few qualification tournaments have already taken place. We’ve seen two impressive players move forward. The first is NoahTheProdigy, who beat out Nephew to get his slot. There’s also Shine, who had a dramatic bracket reset before securing his spot.

Both of these players are going to take their places in the new Red Bull Kumite Play-In Tournament. Over the coming week, we’ll see two more qualifiers take place. These will secure the rest of the slots for the United States. Then, there’s an early March tournament for Japan before the Play-In itself takes place. This is one of the more exciting fighting game esports events right now while we wait for the Capcom Cup. Once we see these qualifying events conclude, we’ll finally have our full roster for Red Bull Kumite.