Battle by the Bay

B3: Battle by the Bay, the B4 Championships, and the B5 Championships were the first three instances of the open fighting game event that is now known as the annual Evolution Championship Series. B3 was created by Tom and Tony Cannon, Joey Cuellar, and Seth Killian, and was held in an arcade hall in Sunnyvale, California in 1996. B4 and B5 were held in Folsom, California in 2000 and 2001 respectively, and the tournament was renamed Evolution in 2002. The three tournaments were entirely focused on the Street Fighter and Capcom Versus video game franchises.

Battle by the Bay
Tournament information
LocationSunnyvale and Folsom, California, United States
Tournament
format(s)
Round-robin/Double elimination
Venue(s)Golfland Sunnyvale;
GameRoom Folsom

Though the Battle by the Bay mainly drew in competitors from the Street Fighter tournament scenes that had coalesced in various cities throughout the United States in the mid-1990s, the tournaments also attracted international challengers early on.

B3: Battle by the Bay
Golfland Sunnyvale arcade hall in 2007

During the mid-1990s, a Street Fighter II tournament scene had coalesced in various cities across the United States. The Golfland arcade hall in Sunnyvale, California was one of the hottest spots for competition in the country, with rivalries happening among various player groups, in particular between Northern and Southern California players. Players were also finding each other and discussing strategies through the internet on message boards. The Battle by the Bay was conceived in order to quell debate over who was the best Street Fighter player in the country.[1][2]

B3: Battle by the Bay was organized by Tom "inkblot" Cannon, Tony "Ponder" Cannon, Joey "MrWizard" Cuellar, and Seth "S-Kill" Killian,[2] and held in the Golfland arcade hall in Sunnyvale, California in 1996. The tournament had 40 contenders mostly from the United States, though B3 also featured players from Canada and Kuwait. Tom Cannon noted that the international interest in B3 had a big impact on him.[1] Luke Winkie of The Atlantic described B3 as "a snapshot of the brilliant optimism of esports during its earliest days," noting the significant black American presence in the young fighting game community, and therefore the racial diversity at the event.[3]

Alex Valle made his first major appearance at the Battle by the Bay, defeating John Choi in the Street Fighter Alpha 2 grand finals. To win the tournament, Valle revealed an unblockable combo he had discovered, which was dubbed the "Valle CC."[4]

Results
Super Street Fighter II Turbo[5]
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st United States Graham Wolfe GWolfe
2nd United States Jason Nelson xrolento
3rd United States Mike Watson Watts
4th United States Alex Valle CaliPower
5th United States Alex Wolfe A_wolfe
5th Kuwait unknown Firas
7th United States Jason Cole AfroCole
7th Canada Dave Finnie
Street Fighter Alpha 2[5]
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st United States Alex Valle CaliPower Ken, Ryu, Sagat
2nd United States John Choi ChoiBoy Ken
3rd United States Jason Nelson xrolento Charlie, Ken, Sagat
4th United States Jeff Schaefer Akuma, Ken
5th United States Tony Ngo Ryu
5th United States Richard Koven Chun-Li
7th United States Julien Beasley Zass Sodom
7th United States Thao Duong Ken

B4 Championships

The B4 Street Fighter Championships were held on July 15–16, 2000, in Folsom, California. Like B3 four years earlier, B4 featured a Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Street Fighter Alpha 2, but B4 also introduced several new Capcom fighting games to the roster: Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes.[6] The newly released Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was the first non-Street Fighter game to be included, and a precedent for the tournament to branch out to other games. The Capcom Versus series has since had a large presence in the Battle of the Bay and Evolution Championship Series events.[7][8]

The five winners of the Street Fighter Alpha 3 tournament at B4 were flown to Japan to partake in 5v5 exhibition match between the top-ranking American and Japanese players. Here, Alex Valle would face off against Daigo Umehara for the first time. The lead up to this exhibition match was subject to a documentary directed by Peter Kang, titled Bang the Machine.[1][9]

Results
Super Street Fighter II Turbo[5]
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st United States Mike Watson Watts Balrog, M. Bison, Ryu
2nd United States Alex Valle CaliPower Ryu, O. Sagat
3rd United States John Choi ChoiBoy Ryu, O. Sagat
4th United States Jason de Heras Shirts O. Dhalsim
5th United States Jason Cole AfroCole O. Sagat, Dhalsim
5th United States Jason Nelson xrolento Balrog, M. Bison
Street Fighter Alpha 2[5]
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st United States Alex Valle CaliPower
2nd United States John Choi ChoiBoy
3rd United States Thao Duong
4th United States Jason Wilson DreamTR
Street Fighter Alpha 3[5]
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st United States John Choi ChoiBoy V-Sakura
2nd United States Alex Valle CaliPower V-Akuma, V-Sakura, X-Rolento
3rd United States Thao Duong A-Charlie, X-Dhalsim
4th United States Eddie Lee V-Karin, V-Sodom, V-Vega
5th United States Mike Watson Watts V-Akuma
5th United States Jason Cole AfroCole A-Balrog, V-Dhalsim
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike[5]
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st United States Alex Valle CaliPower Chun-Li, Ryu
2nd United States Hsien Chang hsien Akuma, Yang
3rd United States John Choi ChoiBoy Ryu
4th United States Eddie Lee Chun-Li, Ibuki
5th United States Mike Watson Watts Chun-Li
5th United States Martin Vega Urien, Sean
7th United States Mike Devonish Mike D Ibuki
7th United States Jason Wilson DreamTR Elena
Marvel vs. Capcom 2[5]
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st United States Duc Do Ducvader
2nd United States Alex Valle CaliPower
3rd United States J.R. Gutierrez Image
4th United States Arturo Sanchez Sabin
5th United States Eddie Lee

B5 Championships

Held in August 2001 in Folsom, California, the B5 Championships was attended by a much larger international crowd, particularly from Japan. Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 made its introduction in the tournament roster at B5,[6] and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was again a headliner of the event, being described by TechTV as "the hottest arcade fighting game of the season."[10] Justin Wong was only 15 years old when he traveled to B5 and won its Marvel vs. Capcom 2 tournament.[11] Tom Cannon later remembered 2001 as a difficult year for the fighting game community: while the tournament scene was growing in size, many arcades throughout the country were closing down. The tournament was rebranded as "Evolution" the next year, with a mission of preserving the arcade tournament scene. Joey Cuellar noted that naming further tournaments "B6" and "B7" would have seemed too confusing.[12]

Results
Super Street Fighter II Turbo[5]
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st United States Jason Cole AfroCole Dhalsim
2nd United States John Choi ChoiBoy O. Sagat, Ryu
3rd United States Alex Valle CaliPower Ryu
4th United States Mike Watson Watts Ryu, Balrog, Vega
5th United States Jason Nelson xrolento M. Bison, Dhalsim
5th United States Jason Gonzales Apoc Vega, Balrog
7th United States Bob Painter kuroppi E. Honda
7th United States Graham Wolfe GWolfe Balrog, Vega
Street Fighter Alpha 3[5]
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st Japan Ryo Yoshida BAS V-Akuma, V-Cody
2nd Japan Tomo Taguchi Chikyuu V-Rolento, V-Sodom, V-R. Mika
3rd United States John Choi ChoiBoy V-Sakura
4th United States Mike Watson Watts V-Akuma
5th United States Alex Valle CaliPower V-Akuma
5th Japan unknown White V-Sakura
7th Japan Kuni Funada Kuni A-Zangief, V-Sodom
7th United States Ricki Ortiz Hel-o Kit-e V-Sakura
Marvel vs. Capcom 2[5]
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st United States Justin Wong Jwong Storm/Sentinel/Cammy
2nd United States Duc Do Ducvader Spiral/Cable/Cyclops
3rd United States Jay Snyder Viscant Doctor Doom/Storm/Sentinel
4th United States Mike Devonish Mike D Storm/Cable/Cammy
5th United States unknown Golden Nismor Spiral/Cable/Sentinel
5th United States Alex Valle CaliPower Magneto/Storm/Psylocke
7th United States Rattana Phanthourath Rattana
7th United States Peter Rosas Combofiend Magneto/Cable/Cyclops
Capcom vs. SNK[5]
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st Japan Tomo Taguchi Chikyuu C-King, Sakura, Raiden
2nd United States Jason Nelson xrolento (S) EX-Balrog, EX-Guile
3rd Canada Jean-Francois Lussier JFL
4th United States Ricki Ortiz Hel-o Kit-e

References
  1. Learned, John (2017-07-17). "The Oral History of EVO: The Story of the World's Largest Fighting Game Tournament". USGamer.
  2. Brathwate, Brandon (2018-07-23). "OPINION: The Past, Present, and Future of Evo Makes It Prime for Investment". The Esports Observer.
  3. Winkie, Luke (2021-05-05). "The Original Kings of Esports". The Atlantic.
  4. Martin, Michael (2016-01-21). "Casuals: Alex Valle, the Veteran". Red Bull.
  5. Painter, Bob. "Evo Tournament Results 1996-2011". Kuroppi. Archived from the original on 2013-01-27.
  6. Virtua Kazama (2015-07-13). "The History of EVO (Part 1): B3-EVO 2002". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 2015-07-16.
  7. Walker, Ian (2018-08-04). "Evo Sidelined Marvel Vs. Capcom Players But They Killed It Anyway". Kotaku.
  8. Park, Edward (2020-02-17). "Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 in Evolution Championship Series". The Quad. West Chester University.
  9. Vazquez, Suriel (2017-04-16). "How A Fighting Game Documentary Survived 9/11 And Became A Cult Favorite". Game Informer.
  10. "B5 TechTV coverage". TechTV. 2001.
  11. Smith, Wynton (2016-07-12). "The evolution of the world's largest fighting game tournament". ESPN.
  12. Learned, John (2017-07-17). "The Oral History of EVO: The Story of the World's Largest Fighting Game Tournament". VG247.
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