Qualifier Five preview: Pools set for consecutive tournament meetings between players

It seemed to be yet another case of déjà vu at Qualifier Four on 4 May, with defending Circuit champion AP | Mickey winning the tournament ahead of Frost and DVK for the third consecutive tournament this season. Stanley Styler finished in the Top 8 for the first time, becoming the fourth player to join that club this season, as the Top 16 begins to shape up in the run-up to the Circuit Finals.

With Kafikan absent for the tournament, fellow promotion contender RMP | Komrad_Vadim moved to the top of the Challenger Division with a tournament, convincingly beating Kelz in the grand final. Goldie came in third to earn valuable points in a late push to qualify for the Premier Division Playoffs.

The Premier Division draw, conducted in early May, saw a number of players find themselves facing each other in the pool stage once again, with previous losers perhaps looking for some revenge this time round.

PREMIER DIVISION PLAYOFFS UPDATE

Pip Squeak (centre) has not attended a TEKKEN 254 Circuit tournament since Qualifier 3 last season in August 2018

In accordance with Circuit rules and regulations, Pip Squeak and PseudoDude, who have been perennial absentees this season, were evicted from the Premier Division for failing to attend three qualifiers without prior communication with the organisers. This means that should they return to the Circuit in the future, they will be competing in the Challenger Division.

The development also means that the top two players in the Challenger Division after Qualifier Six this season will be gaining automatic promotion to the Premier Division for Season Four, with the third and fourth-placed players left to face the Premier Division's twenty-first and twenty-second-placed players at the end-of-season Premier Division Playoffs for the remaining two Premier Division slots for Season Four.

POOL A

T-Vets teammates Battousai (left) and Chuma Mzee (centre right) have faced each other three times on the Circuit, the first of which was here at Qualifier Two last season in July 2018, with the former leading the series with 2 set wins

Having yet to finish outside the top 3 this season, Frost is in his finest form so far on the Circuit and will be looking to continue that run going into Qualifier Five. He will be facing Furious Monkey on the Circuit for the second time this season, with the latter yet to come out on top since their first meeting at the playoffs for 13th to 16th place in Qualifier One last season.

T-Vets | Battousai is set to lock horns with Furious Monkey for the third time this season, but is yet to register a win in the head-to-head between the pair which began at Qualifier Two last season. The same is the case with Frost, whom Battousai is set to face for the second time this season and the fourth time overall.

RobbyM$ and T-Vets | Chuma Mzee are poised for a fifth overall Circuit meeting, with the previous one at Qualifier Four this season going the former's way in a close set. The same tournament saw RobbyM$ notably hand Frost his only pool loss in the first meeting between the two, while Chuma Mzee will be looking to level his series with Battousai after losing their last meeting at Qualifier One this season.

POOL B

Seen here during their last meeting at Qualifier Three last season in August 2018, AP | Tony (left) and DVK currently sit in fifth and fourth place overall, respectively, and haven't met in pools since Round Three of Season One in March 2018

Looking to continue his positive run of form after a dismal start to the season, DVK is set for his fourth Circuit meeting with AP | Tony, who only suffered his worst ever placing on the Circuit so far at Qualifier Four after getting to the tournament late and missing the pool stage. Joining the fun will be Lord Vega, who will be facing DVK on the Circuit for the ninth time overall and AP | Tony for the seventh time overall in a series currently tied at 3-3.

Coming off a narrow loss to DVK in Pool D at Qualifier Four, Proto-G will surely be in a mood to turn the result the other way this time, as he also looks for his first set wins in a third meeting with Tony and a second meeting with Lord Vega.

Challenger Division newcomers Lowlife and Overhaul | Deno_dev have not faced each other since Qualifier Two last season but have both missed the last two qualifiers and find themselves in and around the relegation zone as the end of the season approaches.

POOL C

RMP | Shoryuken (left) and XiT | QueenArrow have faced each other three times on the Circuit, the second of which came here at Qualifier Two of Season Two in July 2018

Despite currently sitting third overall on the rankings, Xstar is yet to finish in the Top 3 at a tournament this season and will be looking to break that duck by first working to get out of Pool C. His first opponent is Overhaul | In4red, whom he will be facing for the second time this season and the fourth time overall.

Qualifier Four will also see RMP | Shoryuken, AP | PR1EST and XiT | QueenArrow all in the same pool for the second tournament in a row. The former two are set for the third overall Circuit meeting, while QueenArrow will be looking for her first set win against PR1EST in their third overall meeting. Shoryuken and QueenArrow will be facing off on the Circuit for the fourth time overall.

Shoryuken meets both Xstar and In4red in the pool stage for the second time this season. PR1EST leads Xstar 2-1 in their series with the latter winning their last meeting at Qualifier Two this season, while QueenArrow is set to face In4red in a second consecutive tournament.

POOL D

T-Vets | Nick Fury (left) and AP | Mickey faced each other in the first three tournaments of Season One, including Round Two here in February 2018, but haven't met on the Circuit since

Dominant as he has continued to be on the Circuit, AP | Mickey will be launching his bid for yet another tournament win in Pool D against Darktempest, who took him to a final match during their third overall meeting in Top 8 at Qualifier Three earlier this season. Riding on some good form, Stanley Styler will also be gunning for another Top 8 placing in his first season in the Premier Division, as he prepares for second meetings with everyone else in the pool besides T-Vets | Nick Fury, whom he'll be facing for a third time, and Tiz, whom he has never faced.

Nick Fury will be facing his T-Vets teammate Poker Face for the second consecutive tournament, while he is also set to face Darktempest for the second time this season. Poker Face will meet Mickey on the Circuit for the first time ever, as he prepares to face Darktempest for the second time this season and the third time overall.

Having been unable to attend any tournament this season, Tiz looks almost certain to drop to the Premier Division Playoffs and fight to keep his place, unless he can gain 24 points from the last two qualifiers with Lowlife and Deno_dev missing them both.

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Registration for the Challenger Division remains open to all who wish to join the TEKKEN 254 Circuit, with deadline for Qualifier Five set for the end of day on 6 June 2019. If you would like to know more about the Circuit and participate, click here for more information.