Rental Animator is offering a promotion for LAG attendees!
Enter and follow the instructions for a chance to win a free Mayflash 300 Elite Fight Stick!

https://x.com/rentalanimator/status/1954715771604816106?s=61&t=YdTPMUN_jZ-bJ_fK-fhBbg

TRAVEL PROMOTION!

• Southwest Airlines is having a sales promotion that will end today (Thursday, August 14th). The cheapest one-way non-refundable tickets during this promotion are $39.
• Check to see if your potential flight meets this deal!
• Link: Book now

SOME BIG UPDATES!

• The LAG Website Is Live!
  • https://the-lag.com
  • The website was designed by @White_Worm who we happily recommend for your graphic design, branding needs, and more!

• We have spoken with the hotel and the Room Block will be available and exclusive to LAG guests until Friday, September 12th!
  • https://tinyurl.com/lag2025rate/

More than a month away and LAG has a lot of confirmed guests already! And even more people who are planning to go but finalizing plans!

Here is a list of players that have been confirmed in some public way (DM me if there are mistakes on this list):

• JAPAN
  • Homestay Akira
  • Tetsuko Yamada
  • ChinpanJ
• ARIZONA
  • Solari
• CALIFORNIA
  • AdamYuki
  • Ba Ba Ba_Ba?
  • Banok
  • CobraKaiTone
  • CobraTron
  • Dennis0201
  • Dr. B
  • Especia
  • Genesis Frenzy
  • Gweebert
  • HernanVFDC
  • JustMonika
  • Just_Myles
  • KC Fusion
  • Rental Animator
  • Yellowtail
• COLORADO
  • KDQ|Assassin
  • Camilo
  • NFang
  • SoulNinja
• FLORIDA
  • Gentleman Thief
  • Team Khris
• MARYLAND
  • Setsuna_X
• NEVADA
  • D_C_Theo
  • Fu-Sung E. Cookye
• OHIO
  • DandyJ
  • Oioron
  • Sente
• OREGON
  • Chanchai
• TEXAS
  • Limy Porcupine
• WASHINGTON
  • Claytus
  • Montage
  • XTN

We have a lot more players we know that are planning to go, but we will put them on the list when they are confirmed!

LAG is going to be awesome!

UPDATE ON HOTEL ROOMS @ AYRES

• ALL 15 ROOMS IN THE BLOCK HAVE BEEN BOOKED, HOWEVER, AT THIS TIME THERE MIGHT BE A FEW ROOMS AVAILABLE.

• “LOS ANGELES GATHERING LAG” promo rate of $159 per room will still be available for LAG attendees booking any remaining rooms today.

• AYRES HOTEL RESERVATIONS during LAG is at high occupancy so there really aren’t many rooms left.

• For anyone wanting to book today on the LOS ANGELES GATHERING LAG promo rate, you will want to call
RONALDO
310-536-0400 ext 510

• We will open up roommates discussion soon if anyone is looking for roommates on their existing booking.

• Today (September 12th) is the last day of the promo rate. It’ll probably be $188 per night and above after this at AYRES. But there are many wonderful hotels nearby

• (Also letting people know that reservations at hotels booked with the hotel directly are charged upon arrival—which might be different from what you might be used to if you use booking sites)

• Currently we are at 35+ totally confirmed attendees at LAG but we have quite a few we are certain are going and sone people still working it out. No surprise, LAG IS GOING TO BE AMAZING!

Visit Exciting SPLASH MOUNTAIN!
“This is where you fall down!”

This #VirtuaFighter shirt by Rushdown Turtle (aka @White_Worm ) is too good

Buy it at www.rushdownturtle.com

SPECIAL DEAL:
LA Gathering Attendees can order this week (by Friday) and get free shipping & no tax! Best of all, the shirts you order will be delivered to you in person by Rushdown Turtle himself at LAG!

Email bdlacount@gmail.com for the deal!

Sadly, due to logistics, today is the last day for the LA Gathering Promotion on RDT’s amazing apparel!

I highly recommend these! Only $25 no tax and you’ll have these hand delivered to you at LAG

HERE ARE THE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULES AT LAG:

MAIN EVENT: October 10th & 11th

• Friday, October 10th
  • 12:30pm: Random Select, Single Elimination tournament
  • 3:30pm: 3v3 Waseda Team Battle
• Saturday, October 11th
  • 2:30pm: Singles Double Elimination tournament

• The PALLADIO BALLROOM will be open for battles 11am - 8pm on FRIDAY and SATURDAY!

• We also plan to facilitate FT5 with Pro Feedback with Homestay and ChinpanJ on both days!

WEDNESDAY PRE-EVENT SCHEDULE
If you are joining LAG during the Pre-Event, please let me know so I can make sure you find yourself at the right place or at the very least I can connect you with other players who are there!

This schedule is not a requirement, these are optional activities which are open to everyone (well, the reservation dinner is locked in already)

11:00am BRUNCH AT MARTHA'S (Hermosa Beach)

12:30pm - 4:00pm GRIFFITH OBSERVATORY

5:00pm - 6:30pm HANG OUT AT THE BEACH
Feel free to join us, message me to know where we are at!

7:00pm RESERVATION DINNER AT "THE ROCKEFELLER"
Reservation only. Those on the list, be a little early.

7:30pm WEEKLY VF TOURNAMENT @ Dave's Console Arcade: Shining Wizard Wednesdays
$10 for day pass (special rate for FGC players) + $5 for the tournament pot

9:00pm VF PLAYERS MEET UP @ Dave's Console Arcade
$10 for day pass (special rate for FGC players)
The staff seem open to staying open past midnight

WHO IS ALERADY HERE?
AdamYuki, CobraTron, Mech, Montage, Homestay Akira, Tetsuko Yamada, ChinpanJ, Chanchai

WHO DO WE THINK IS JOINING LAG ON WEDNESDAY?
Sente, Oioron, Setsuna, Bababa, Juicebox, Solari, Kumubou, Genesis Frenzy, Banok, Yellowtail, DJ Bust A Nut, DandyJ, Rental Animator, Limy Porcupine (late late)

WEDNESDAY
(6:30pm PST / 9:30pm EST) We recommend the stream channel for Shining Wizard Wednesday as it will feature both the local weekly tournament at Dave's Console Arcade, but after dinner more and more VF players from LAG will converge upon the venue and you can expect to see a lot of amazing matches!
https://start.gg/swwednesday

THURSDAY
I will update this if any of the Thursday action gets streamed. Just in case, it's a good time to watch out for https://www.twitch.tv/dropkickevents/

FRIDAY
(12:30pm PST / 3:30pm EST) The Main Event Begins On Friday! Expect to watch this on DropkickEvents, but if there are any cool surprises we will post them here!
https://www.twitch.tv/dropkickevents/

SATURDAY
(2:30p PST / 5:30pm EST) The Main Main Event! Singles Tournament! Expect to watch this on DropkickEvents, but we will post here if there are any cool surprises!
https://www.twitch.tv/dropkickevents/

SPECIAL SHOUTOUTS

• Montage is the person behind DropKick Productions and he has been doing a great job!
• Mech is doing a lot of work along with Montage of DropKick Events.
• TeamStrike1st has always supported VF events in NA and they bring their energy, affiliation, and hype to LAG too!
• Chanchai_VF is here too and I am working on helping the attendees have a better experience in subtle and not so subtle ways. I also do a lot of the direct communication and outreach and spreading the word to the players ready and able to join.
• AdamYuki is of course a legend and in so many ways! I am so grateful for him doing this event and putting together an amazing team!

WEDNESDAY ACTIVITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
This post will be used to call out activities as we do them. The schedule was posted in a previous post.

11:00am - BRUNCH @ MARTHA'S
If you are joining us for Brunch, send me a DM or reply here.
We are meeting at the Hotel Lobby at 11am.
If you want to meet us at Martha's, please let me know ASAP!

AFTERNOON AT GRIFFITH OBSERVATORY
If you want to join us at Griffith Observatory, let me know in advance!

AFTERNOON VF BATTLES
We are organizing some offline Virtua Fighter battles during the afternoon too! Let me know if you want to join in on the action!

On Wednesday Night we had a lot of VF action at DAVE'S CONSOLE ARCADE in LAWNDALE!

It was a great time and many battles from a single elimination tournament was streamed! Here is the VOD!

ON PLAYING VF TODAY:

• We believe the hotel is cool with setting up play in THE STUDY & SMALL DINING ROOM (if not reserved) which are just behind the stairs at the main entrance. You are welcome to bring your setups to play there!
• Feel free to use the ACTIVITY SIGN UP SHEET to setup your own HOTEL ROOM SESSION to invite others to play and see if others are setting up their room for designated times! Kumite, League Mode, Team Battle, Arcade Rules, Pillow Fight--whatever you like as long as it is legal!
• Dave's Console Arcade is a great venue! That is always an option too!

(If you don't know about the Activity Sign Up Sheet, DM Chanchai)

UPDATE ON THURSDAY DINNER:

• By popular demand, we are changing Thursday's dinner away from a reservation dinner into... KOREAN BBQ!
• We will meet up at Korean BBQ together. We expect to be waiting in line but we expect to have an amazing time!
• If you want to join, DM Chanchai about the Activity Sign Up Sheet.

We are setting up VF behind the stairs in the lobby For public play ☺️

For additional play options, refer to the ATTENDEE SIGN UP SHEET. For example, GWEEBERT has a 10:00pm Room Battle Scheduled you can sign up for.

We will be going to Moon Korean BBQ at 7:00pm tonight!

6:30 from hotel lobby (optional)
7:00pm meet us at the restaurant

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZFYxtBLa5pYB4CAK9

There's an official place for photos from #LAG2025 on Sega's Official VF Discord!

We encourage all of our guests to share the experiences they are having at LA Gathering and hope the community enjoys them!

https://discord.com/channels/1301488958512828456/1426035290899746971

UPDATE:

• The ballroom will officially be open for casuals at 11:00am. If we get casuals going on earlier there, we will let you everyone know!
• At 1:30pm there will be a special event where players compete in Rock Paper Scissors (I like to think of it as Punch, Guard, Kick) to win wonderful Virtua Fighter inspired figures as prizes.
• The Tournament on Saturday will start at 2:30pm! Be there early ^_^

VODS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4H7DZeEs9E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNXvlYDHAw4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huVGUKs1M74