Breaking down the competition in the Tekken World Tour 2022 Finals

The Tekken World Tour 2022 Finals is going to be very different from what we have seen for the past five years. If we count from 2018, year after year we have seen Korean players dominating the finals, although stronger challengers have been appearing every year.

Do you know who are the most repeated TWT finals players? Here they are:

• JDCR (KOR): 5 times
• Knee (KOR): 5 times
• Qudans (KOR): 5 times
• Saint (KOR): 5 times
• Noroma (JPN): 5 times
• Take (JPN): 5 times
• Anakin (USA): 5 times
• JeonDDing (KOR): 5 times
• Fergus (IRL): 5 times
• Super Akouma (FRA): 5 times
• JimmyJ Tran (USA): 5 times
• Tissuemon (ITA): 5 times
• Rangchu (KOR): 5 times
• Chanel (KOR): 5 times
• Speedkicks (USA): 4 times

For the most part, a good portion of the same players have had repeat appearances in the finals. Seven (7) of them are from Korea, three (4) are from USA , and three (3) are also from Japan and Europe. Though there are others that have appeared more than once, these are the players with the most appearances in the last five Tekken World Tours.

This time it is very different. The Tekken World Tour structure has limited players per region, which means we will no longer see eight (8) Koreans in the finals. In fact, the most we could see are five, if they manage to qualify in the LCQ. Also, in the last few years the strength of other regions has increased and it seems that the Korean domination might be coming to an end (could it be?). And I am looking specifically to the Pakistani players!

This year we now have 16 regions. From some regions two players qualify, and from others only one player qualifies, with direct pass to the finals. In fact, we already have that list:

Regions with two players qualified

North America: Joey Fury and Speedkicks
West Europe: K-Wiss and Joka
Pakistan: Arslan Ash and Atif Butt
Korea: Knee and Yeonarang
Japan: Nobi and AO

Regions with one player qualified

Central America: Divine_Exorcist4
South America: Noel
East Europe: Ghirlanda
North Africa: Unknown.EXE
West Africa: Skywalker
South Africa: Callym Beukes
Middle East: Raef
South Asia: Tejan
Southeast Asia: Shin Akuma
Philippines & East Asia: AK
Oceania: Yagami

And finally the top 3 from the LCQ will be added on February 4th, making a total of 24 players who will compete in the finals the following day, February 5th.

Source: https://liquipedia.net/fighters/Tekken_World_Tour_Finals/2022

This division by regions involves more players who previously did not have the opportunity to show themselves since the qualification was global. So, the more you could travel and compete, the more chances you had to accumulate points. Of course, there is a melancholic part in all this as we know we may be missing players that we used to watch at the finals each year. Now we do not know if they will be able to do it or not, precisely because of the limitation of spots by region.

But let’s go back to the current 21 players roster (pre-LCQ) we have and let’s find some interesting data.

NORTH AMERICA: Joey Fury and Speedkicks qualified. Ok, we all agree that these players are strong in their region, but “no Anakin?” If I had been told that Anakin wasn’t going to be there I wouldn’t have believed it. Of course, Anakin will be in the LCQ and there is a good chance he will finally get into the finals as there are three slots available.

WEST EUROPE:. From the 3 qualified UK players in the top 8, two of them made it to secure their spot in the finals. That’s a strong statement regarding the power balance in the region. But, what happened to Super Akouma? He was way ahead with 890 accumulated ranking points in his region, compared to the 530 K-Wiss had. But, that wasn’t enough to make the cut. Due to this year’s rules, you not only need to perform great during the ranking season to gather enough points, but also perform great at the regional finals. And where is Fergus? He had us used to watching his Asuka in the finals on screen. He had participated in the last five TWT’s and now it is highly possible that he’ll be cut out. LCQ is going to be difficult for him, as any other player.

SOUTH AMERICA: Noel is a great player. Last year Sergi Mazter won convincingly, but this year he didn’t have enough. The same with Abel del Maestro, players that come to mind when we think of the region as a safe bet have been left out of the classification.

KOREA: This one is quite an upset and most controversial. Knee, of course can’t miss, but watch out, Knee is the equivalent of Anakin in his region, and Anakin didn’t make it. And he is accompanied by Yeonarang. No Jeondding, no JDCR, no Ulsan, no Kkokkoma, no Chanel. Well, there is still the LCQ and any of these players are favorites to earn a spot to the finals.

PAKISTAN: Pakistan, Winner of both Japan EVO and Las Vegas EVO in the same year, nothing less than Arslan Ash making it on top to the TWT Finals. His companion Atif Butt. Many times considered the strongest for his region (but not this time). Atif had a hard time, but finally made it to get his VISA and we will see both of them at the TWT Finals in Amsterdam. But, there is more, Khan will be also competing in the LCQ (if he gets his VISA). There is another player, Bilal, who already has the VISA to travel to Amsterdam. So, they might be a force to be reckoned with.

So I could go on with each region but I’ll leave it at this point. Perhaps as a final note on the regions, this year the focus will be on the “new” players in the African regions and some of the Asian regions that we had not been able to witness. It will be a good gauge of the power level of the regions and will probably be taken into consideration for the next Tekken World Tour.

I guess we will have to wait for the Finals to happen until we can really tell if this format is a better version of the TWT. The real filter will be entering the TWT Finals top8. For sure those will be the strongest players in the world. Regardless of region, qualifier points, etc. Have you paid attention to all the effort that takes making it out there? I can’t wait to watch the finals. Who do you think will finally make it to that top 8?