eSports
Timothy Lee, Special to ESPN.com 7y

Punk edges Haitani for DreamHack Austin title

esports

Panda Global's Victor "Punk" Woodley took down Grapht's Haitani "Haitani" Tatsuya to win the Street Fighter V tournament at DreamHack Austin on Sunday at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. Punk's victory added another Premier Event to his resume and all but secures his spot in the Capcom Cup.

The final three players left in the tournament, Team Razer's Kun "Xian" Ho, Punk and Haitani were the only three to win a Premier Event this year. Haitani won the Ultimate Fighting Arena in Paris; Xian was the victor at Final Round in Atlanta; and Punk won Northern California Regionals in Sacramento, Calif. It was an impressive show of consistency and arguably cemented these three players as the best players in the second season of SFV. Despite the different play styles and characters of the three players, the one consistent was a stifling ground game. To win the title would require solid fundamentals regardless of gimmicks or character tier lists.

Punk's run at DreamHack Austin was nothing short of impressive. He only lost two games, total, in his run from top-48 to the Grand Finals. He destroyed CyGames Beast's Daigo "Daigo" Umehara, Evil Geniuses' Ricki Ortiz, and Qanba Douyu Zhuojun "Xiao Hai" Zeng in quick 2-0 sets and never lost control. Echo Fox's Justin Wong took one game from the "Alpha" but could not overcome the damage difference. Wong changed to Chun-Li to no avail, and Punk marched on in the bracket. He destroyed BX3's Arman "Phenom" Hanjani in an ELeague rematch, 3-0, and showed off his immense and quick growth as a player since their match a month ago.

But the cherry on top of his run was his mauling of Xian. He forced a F.A.N.G. character switch, stunned his opponent in every game and ran through the set in a blink of the eye. Xian was a Premier Event winner and the talk of the international crowd, and Punk shut it all down.

The grand finals: Haitani against Punk

Haitani entered the set on the winner's side due to his amazingly dominant run throughout Dreamhack Austin. He made short work of legends and up-and-comers alike with his Necalli. But, he wasn't Punk. The match was a Karin clinic. The reset to the grand finals required only four games to close; Haitani spent more time holding his chin in a quizzical look than on the sticks in combat.

Punk sprinted ahead with a quick 2-0 lead in the set and truly overwhelmed Haitani's defenses. Whether it was through whiff punishes, throw baits, or just great confirms, Punk was all over his opponent's Necalli. But Haitani chased him down for a 2-2 tie. He shut down all defenses and ran at Punk with every button Necalli had.

The last game was a scramble. Punk dominated the first round with signature corner-pressure and whiff punishes. But Haitani slowed the match down until the final moments -- both players scrambled for a single hit in the final round and both managed to drop the round-winning critical art. In the end, Punk landed the last hit to finish off the set.

^ Back to Top ^