Spoiler: Results

1st Place - Shiro (Jacky)
2nd Place - Barugo (Jean)
3rd Place - Katayama (Pai)

Proper summary maybe later. Sleep first!

Edit: challonge bracket, then nap!

Not for this tournament. I believe it is still not 100% sure what that empty slot is for on the Main Menu of the game . But I assume the big summer update (regular online tournaments, team battle mode, and simultaneous play in rooms) should include that "coming soon" mode.

My guess it is the regular weekend tournaments where the winners get a special title.

Slowly updating the first post with the tournament info.

This coming Sunday, on VF_Officiai Sega channel, Itabashi and Shiro will be guests on a show to go over the Pre Season Match. In addition information on game update with an exhibition of the "Team Battle"!

Both Shiro and Barugo no Jean are in their late twenties and seem to have started playing the game seriously during VF5, so still 10+ years of experience! It will be interesting to see if the The Under 19 tournaments will garner more interest to an even younger generation.

After the Pre Season Match ended, the winner of the event Shiro and producer Seiji Aoki interviewed with 4Gamer. I translated (with help of Google Translate ) and summarized portions of the interviews with additional notes in this post. Please check out the original Japanese 4Gamer article as there maybe details that is of interest to you that did not get translated or can be translated differently than what is described in this post!

Shiro (Left) and Aoki (Right)

Shiro's matches against Barugo no Jean.
- His first match in the tournament was against Guriyan (KA) a former Star Player from Kyushu region. He thought this will be tough, but after defeating Guriyan 2-0 he used that early momentum to survive to the finals defeating many strong players along the way.

Spoiler: Akai's Notes: "Shiro's Match History"

Winner Round 1 - versus Guriyan, won 2-0
Winners Round 2 - versus San no Rashou, won 2-0
Winners Round 3 - versus Julietta, won 2-1
Winners Round 4 - versus Buruha, won 2-1
Winner Round 5 - versus Mukku, won 2-0
Winners Round 6 - versus Chopper, won 2-1
Winners Finals - versus Barugo no Jean, won 2-0
Grand Finals - versus Barugo no Jean, loss 0-2, reset
Grand Finals - versus Barugo no Jean, won 2-1s

- Winner's Final - the first game was determined with fast pace action and combos; second game was more deliberate pace. Instead of combos being a major factor it was a mix of throws and a mid-low strike game. Shiro won 2-0.

- Grand Final and the Reset - Barugo took the momentum from winning Losers' Final to decisively beat Shiro 2-0 in the Grand Finals. Shiro reflected that he did not attempted to throw Barugo very much in the Grand Finals. So Shiro went into the reset deliberately throwing more. You can see Shiro, used more throwsfirst game of the reset, he Knee Strike and Smash Upper

Spoiler: Akai's Notes: Throw Stats

In Grand Final - Shiro attempted at least 7 throws in 8 rounds. Of those 7 throw attempts, 3 were successful.
In Grand Final Reset - Shiro attempted at least 18 throws in 10 rounds. Out of those 18 throw attempts, 12 were successful.

2nd Part of the Article was an Interview of Shiro
4Gamer - Did you have many opportunities to fight with Barugo no Jean outside of the tournament?

Shiro - I played against Barugo no Jean many times in Final Showdown. While not as active as 10 year ago, I continued to play the game, not getting bored or quitting the game.

4Gamer - A main reason for the popularity of the Virtua Series was the team competitions. With this competition being an individual online tournament, was it difficult to play in a quiet house?

Shiro - The difference from playing at home compared to the arcade is very different. The reason I continued to play Virtua Fighter was because Abare-ba, team leader of Abare-ba Bokujou, invited me to be part of his team for Beat-Tribe Cup. So it definitely felt lonely not hearing the cheers and heckling. Also, I have heard many stories of arcade players not comfortable playing with the arcade stick on their lap.

4Gamer - The tournament allow players to change character if you lose one battle, did you had a sub character?

Shiro - I did not prepare a sub character for the tournament. Strength of characters changes considerably depending on the stage. Since stage selection was set to random, I just stuck with Jacky.

4Gamer - The Challenge Cup series is the next official tournaments of Season 0. Any suggestions on what you would like to be improved in the future?

Shiro - Time constraint only allowed a subset of the matches to be broadcast live. I would like the broadcasts to build on the drama of how players reached to the final matches that were broadcasted. For example, no one would have expected me to be one of the 6 remaining players left in the tournament (laughs). Having some way for viewers to see who I or had beaten to get there would be nice.

4Gamer - Most of the media, including this tournament made it difficult for players in their 20s, such as Shiro yourself, who have played an active part in the tournament scene, to be in the spotlight.

Shiro - I'm 28, so I'll be in my thirties in two years (laughs). Barugo no Jean is 29. There are other players in their 20s who are on the front line. I think it is possible that our generation and players in their early twenties will grow and lead the scene in the future.

Spoiler: Akai's Notes:

Looking back at 15th Beat-Tribe Cup Team List, I found the teams that Shiro and Barugo no Jean participated in.

Team 暴れ馬牧場 Abare-ba Bokujou [Abare-ba (LA) / SHENRON (GO) / Shiroko☆Jacky (JA) / Imaru (LA) / Ranka (LI)]

Team さんりお Sanrio [Barugo no Jean (JN) / Neppa (JA) / Kamereon (PA) / Noko (BR) / Oniku (JE)]

4Gamer - Since the development of "VFes", there have been many talks about increasing the number of pro players. Do you want to become a professional player?

Shiro - I don't want to be a pro player, but I would if I can play a role in revitalizing the "Virtua Fighter" scene.

===

Third Part of the article was an Interview with VF Producer Seiji Aoki

4Gamer - First of all, please give us your impression of the first official online tournament in the "Virtua Fighter" series.

Aoki - Even though it was the first tournament for "VFes" it was positioned as a preparatory tournament before the start of the Challenge Cups, the result was as exciting as if it was for a big tournament. Young people were in the finals, I hope that star players will come out from Shiro's generation. There will be more tournaments in the future, so I think it was a good opportunity to hype up "VFes".

4Gamer - It looks like there was no trouble with running the tournament and it ended with smoothness that is unusual in many e-sports or online fighting game tournaments. Are you examining the factors behind the success of that area?

Aoki - For me, it was the first time running a tournament for Virtua Fighter. Our company, however, have been running tournaments for a couple of years with "Puyo Puyo". So I think this is one of the reasons why the tournament was able to proceed smoothly. There were many cases where the matches between players were 2-0, which is probably the reason why the match progressed. I thought it would have been nice to get entangled a little more, but for the first tournament, smooth management was a priority, so I'm relieved for the time being.

4Gamer - From the perspective of Virtua players, it was an online tournament with double elimination rules, which is quite rare, but did you have any confusion there?

Aoki - I agree. I think that they were able to proceed smoothly in that area as well. It is a result that a new generation of star players who are likely to rewrite the history of the series was born, and that even "Virtua Fighter" was able to respond that e-sports development would be successful.
　However, there are some issues in the operation. For example, I think it would be better to change the specifications so that the stage can be selected. Online events likely will continue with random stage, but I think there are still issues with how to show it offline. I would like to identify issues and improve the offline competition that will be held in Season 0.

4Gamer- How about the response of "VFes" itself, which has been about one and a half months since its release?

Aoki - We are refraining from publishing specific numbers such as the number of downloads, but more people are playing than we expected. When it comes to how much it exceeds...two to three times more, it's hard to say with real numbers.

4Gamer - At the next official tournament, there are two divisions, Free and U-19. With "VFes", which seems to be a relatively old age group, you decided to make a division for younger generation but not for the older generation. What is the intention for this?

Aoki - I wonder if there are many teenagers who are actually playing "VFes". However, as part of Sega, we want to see young people play the "Virtua Fighter" series and participate in e-sports competitions. There was a debate about whether we should make the division for 19 years old or younger, or a little higher, 24 years old or younger. I wanted people to know that I want the younger generation to participate, so we decided U-19.

4Gamer - You mentioned earlier that a player of a generation like Shiro won the championship, but will you continue to consciously discover star players?

Aoki - Yes, I am quite conscious, but that does not mean we are making any special selections. I thought it would be great if a new star player could be born from the younger generation. I think it was a result in the sense that a new history is about to be born, including the fact that this final was between Barugo and Shiro.
　On top of that, I want to work with the "VF Old Men" (VF Oji, VFおじ) who has continued to play the Virtua Fighter games for a long time and with legendary players to create a community that will lead the younger generation.