Bandai Namco have given us a lot of teases for stuff to come, and this weekend is likely to give us more substantial details for the upcoming content

This weekend will be the climax of this year's installment of the Tekken World Tour, and the hype is massive leading in to the event.

Not only are we going to see the culmination of some fantastic storylines that have been building throughout this year of competitive Tekken, but everyone's giddy to know when we'll finally get our hands on the much-hyped Leroy Smith who was first shown at EVO 2019 earlier this year. We also know there's more content coming of the game besides him, and odds are good we'll get to see more surprises at these finals. Let's take a closer look at what the event may have in store for us.

The Event

Where is it happening? This year's Tekken World Tour Finals will be taking place in Bangkok, Thailand, meaning that for anyone living outside of Asia, you'll need to adjust your sleeping schedule a bit to follow along live. It also means that Asian players will have an easier time of making it to the Last Chance Qualifier, which already looks like it'll be insanely stacked. Given the entrant numbers we've seen throughout the year, expect it to be big. When is it happening? This weekend, Saturday the 7th and Sunday the 8th of December, the Tekken World Tour Finals (and Last Chance Qualifier) will be happening. As earlier stated, this is Thailand time so make sure to adjust to it in time. To know exactly what times are accurate for your specific time zone, please have a gander at the schedule image below courtesy of AceKingOffSuit.

Click images for larger versions What can we expect? First of all, it's important to note that Bandai Namco haven't said anything official about what will or won't be shown at the Tekken World Tour Finals, but we were teased to a cinematic trailer of upcoming brand new character Leroy Smith back at EVO earlier this summer, and since he was listed next to Zafina (who has been out for a while now), it seems like a fairly safe bet we'll get to see Leroy's gameplay and get a release date for him probably set for the very near future. We also know that a bunch of training mode improvements are set to come to the game as well as a substantial balance patch. There are also still unknown characters coming after Leroy, for which I made my predictions here. In short, Bandai Namco have set the stage for a LOT of hype things to hit us this weekend, even outside of the matches.

Now, with the meta stuff out of the way, let's focus on the main event itself — the players participating. 19 competitors are qualified via points gathered through tour events this year, and one warrior will have a hard path through the Last Chance Qualifier to join them, rounding out the total number or finalists at 20.

The Players

It's been a long tour, and thousands of players across the world have given it their all to reach the top rankings of 2019's Tekken World Tour, even moreso than past year's with the successful Dojo events giving scenes that have a harder time traveling chances to earn points as well. The 19 highest scorers have earned their way to the finals, and we'll be detailing them below.

ROX|Knee Country: South Korea

TWT Points: 1375

Characters: Basically the whole cast Although we've seen ROX|Knee gravitate a bit more towards Steve lately, he really is the type of person who can bring out any character in any situation and it's hard to even be surprised. As such, it's almost impossible to narrow down a main for him, and this versatility is one of the main reasons he's the point leader for this year's season. It can't be ignored, though, that ROX|Knee's biggest storyline this year is probably his defeat at the hands of RB|Arslan Ash at EVO 2019, which was another part of showing the world just how good Pakistan is at Tekken. Obviously, ROX|Knee has been doing his homework since then, and we've seen him take RB|Arslan Ash down in longer sets since ... but is that just Arslan holding back before the finals, or has Knee truly figured him out? That's what the finals might show us — unless any of the other 17 players cut ROX|Knee down on his way there. Whatever the case, he hasn't gained this point dominance by a fluke, and his shifting between different characters at the drop of a hat makes him a difficult player to research. The competitors all have their work cut out for them when trying to figure out how to beat this man.

RB|Anakin Country: U.S.A.

TWT Points: 1265

Characters: JACK-7 The most successful player from the North American region this year, RB|Anakin has been an absolute unstoppable beast on his home turf. That's not to say he'd be worse off in other regions — he's just been so dominant there hasn't been any need for him to travel. His iron will and solid gameplay which takes the opportunity of any openings his opponents happen to leave him have guided him very well thus far, and he'll surely be bringing this strong mentality with him to the finals in Bangkok.

UYU|LowHigh Country: South Korea

TWT Points: 1255

Characters: Shaheen, Law The 2018 EVO champion has had a strong year overall, though he hasn't been able to grab that many #1 placings on this year's tour. His diligent appearance at events has led to many high positions, though, and is the reason we see him with as many points as he has. Even if he doesn't get the first spot, he'll definitely be up around the top. People were probably looking more his way last year since he won EVO, but he's been performing amazingly well this year too, meaning that anyone who overlooks him is likely to get completely destroyed by his world-class Shaheen play (or Law if he feels like it).

JDCR Country: South Korea

TWT Points: 1055

Characters: Armor King, Dragunov, Heihachi JDCR, along with GG|Saint, were the two players everyone was talking about for the first couple of years of Tekken 7 tournaments, seemingly unstoppable by anyone except each other, but it's clear from standings these last few years that such is no longer the case. Still an enduring presence at the top levels of the tournament circuit, JDCR has solidified himself as one of the best Tekken 7 players in the world, even if he might not be the dominant force he once was (which is likely because of other players improving further, rather than he himself deteriorating in any way). Although he showed us a lot of hype moments with Armor King for a long time this year, lately he's been back more to his old Tekken 7 main Dragunov with the occasional Heihachi mixed in. Perhaps he just doesn't think Armor King is good enough to cut it at the highest levels, or perhaps he's deliberately been hiding his fearsome wrestling persona for a perfect opportunity like this weekend... ?

THY|Chikurin Country: Japan

TWT Points: 1035

Characters: Geese, Jin While we saw a lot of players jump ship from SNK's big boss man Geese Howard after he was hit with the nerf stick, THY|Chikurin stood by the Lord of South Town, and it's been paying off quite well for him even after the character became a bit weaker. Originally famous in Tekken 7 as a Jin master, he's been seeing increasingly stronger results since his Geese switch, and now uses the two characters in symbiosis meaning he has two quite different styles of offense to pressure his opponents with. He's also the highest points taker from Japan, a region which has been very strong in Tekken overall, which should serve as a testament to his skills.

RB|Arslan Ash Country: Pakistan

TWT Points: 940

Characters: Kazumi, Geese The double-champion of EVO Japan 2019 and EVO 2019, RB|Arslan Ash has basically become a household name in the fighting game community at large after putting Pakistan on the map, and the storyline of Pakistan's thriving Tekken scene has been turning heads in the community all year long. With the Pakistani scene still being fairly unknown to the community at large, what's clear is that their style of play is perplexing even the very strongest of players, and while RB|Arslan Ash is a top candidate to win, you also know that he's been studied all year long by every player qualified for this event. If he can overcome even the most prying of eyes and come out on top at this event, Arslan will have had such a legendary run in 2019 that any future player is unlikely to outmatch.

Talon|Kkokkoma Country: South Korea

TWT Points: 901

Characters: Dragunov, Kazumi Talon|Kkokkoma has been one of the better players in Tekken 7 since it came out, and while he doesn't tend to be the name brought up as a candidate for absolute best player in the world, he's solidifed himself as one of the top players in his home country of South Korea — basically the Mecca of Tekken — which subsequently also ranks him as one of the best players in the world. We've seen a lot of Kazumi play from him in the past, but lately he seems to be gravitating more towards Dragunov, who he's also had in his roster for a long time, although the stray Kazumi pick still shows up now and again. Both characters fit his style very well, so it'll be interesting to see how he uses them together, or even if he has a completely different ace up his sleeve.

CRaZY|SuperAkouma Country: France

TWT Points: 875

Characters: Akuma Akuma has been the main headline for Tekken for the last month or two after the character seemed to get a big too prevalent in top tournament placings, but CRaZY|SuperAkouma is a man who has been using the demon himself since long before he was the flavor of the month. Having mained the character for the entire game of Tekken 7, he's made a name for himself as perhaps the strongest player in all of Europe, and in fact being the only player from said region to be qualified for the finals this year. His highly aggressive style has caught many players off-guard in the past, and we're looking forward to seeing how much damage his Akuma play can make to round out this year.

GG|AwaisHoney Country: Pakistan

TWT Points: 815

Characters: Akuma Another Akuma player who we've become aware of much more recently is GG|AwaisHoney, the only other Pakistani representative outside of the earlier outlined RB|Arslan Ash. GG|AwaisHoney is an extremely interesting case since he really represents the emergence of Pakistan in a big way, with only 5 entered events for him this year still managing to result in 815 points. He won the ROXnROLL Dubai Master event, got 2nd place at the Tokyo Tekken Masters and won the Challenger event FV Cup. Outside of those, he's only entered two Dojo events, one which he won, and the other where he got 3rd place. There's so little data to go on for this player besides that he keeps winning, and when failing that, getting as close as you possibly can. He's a gigantic threat for the championship this year, and it's likely that the only player who really knows what kind of countermeasures to take against him is his fellow countryman RB|Arslan Ash, so any other players might be in for a huge surprise if they end up having to fight GG|AwaisHoney.

Fate|Ulsan Country: South Korea

TWT Points: 795

Characters: Kazumi, Bob Fate|Ulsan is another player who has been diligently stacking up points throughout the years, with many good placings at events, though he may have been flying somewhat under the radar. While he does have a win at a Master Event, BAM 11, outside of that he's been placing mostly on the lower end of the top 8 or right outside of it, meaning he's a prime candidate for other players to accidentally overlook. Of course, given the amount of strong players who have flocked to the Tekken World Tour events this year, placing in the lower portions of a top 8 is an amazing feat. There's no question about his skill, but his placings may work in his favor in having other players forget about his presence somewhat, giving him a prime opportunity to strike.

UYU|Double Country: Japan

TWT Points: 755

Characters: Law The best Law loyalist in the world, UYU|Double sticks to his guns no matter what and it's given him quite a bit of success so far. Much like Fate|Ulsan above him, his results this year have been a little less prestigious than the very top players, with several top 8 placings but much fewer top 4 placings, which might lead to him also being a bit underestimated by the other competitors. He has a proven track record of holding his own against the very best, though, and anyone who falls in the trap of disregarding a player like him is going to fall on their face, and hard. UYU|Double definitely has full faith in his skill as a player and his character choice, all that's left is to unite those two aspects and bring them to the very end.

ROX|Chanel Country: South Korea

TWT Points: 740

Characters: Alisa, Eliza, Julia, Zafina Another seasoned multi-character specialist, you never really know what ROX|Chanel will be bringing to the table. Although he made headlines last year just from his reaction to his beloved Julia Chang's trailer, he definitely hasn't dropped his other characters just for her, but instead woven her in with the rest of his picks. Having many different characters at your disposal is important in keeping your enemy on their toes, but when the mind game begins at character select, it's also easy to second guess yourself and end up hanging yourself with your own rope. ROX|Chanel will have to be strategic in how he plays the various matchups, and who he picks. When he's on his A game, he brings all of his characters to a top level and overwhelms his opponents with a great balance of offense of defense.

AMPLFY|Rangchu Country: South Korea

TWT Points: 740

Characters: Julia, Panda, Katarina Last year's Tekken World Tour champion was a bit of an underdog going in to last year, and despite being the defending champion feels very much like one again. Getting famous largely for his Panda play and winning the most prestigious Tekken 7 event of the year in 2018 with what many considered to be a bottom tier character, he's also made sure to cover up with other picks as well. Lately, we've seen him gravitating mostly towards Julia, though it wouldn't be surprising to see more of his Katarina, either. Panda is always going to be there, and you know the crowd is going to go wild if that pick happens, but AMPLFY|Rangchu is definitely not putting all of his eggs in one basket. He definitely knows the opponents will have studied him just on virtue of being last year's champion, too, so the pressure is on.

ROX|Abel del Maestro Country: Peru

TWT Points: 730

Characters: Eddy, Eliza While your first instinct may be to think that a Peruvian player would have mainly been farming points on events close to his home turf, ROX|Abel del Maestro has not only been traveling quite a bit this year to events in France, South Korea and Canada, he's also been very successful at defending his home work, taking the Master Event Collision both over his more local competitors but also from Asian invaders Talon|Kkokkoma, GG|Saint, 2017 Tekken World Toru champion Qudans and Talon|Book. This guy has been a true world traveler this year, and he's seen high placings across the globe. He's one of the best players from the very strong Peruvian scene, and has proven himself on the global stage many times. Perhaps this year will be his time to go even higher and take home the final championship.

Jimmy J Tran Country: U.S.A.

TWT Points: 720

Characters: Bryan One of the most feared competitors in all of Tekken, Jimmy J Tran has long been U.S.A.'s secret weapon, often being able to defeat foreign players that other Americans just haven't been able to take down. Even though times have changed and the skill has been raised all over the world, Jimmy J tran still remains as one of the players people respect the most, and he keeps taking names at every event he enters. He hasn't traveled all too much this year, so the public perception of Jimmy J Tran in 2019 may be somewhat muted, but no matter who he goes up against or where he ends up placing, we all know that anyone who watches this year's Tekken World Tour Finals is going to remember Jimmy J Tran's matches.

Yamasa|Nobi Country: Japan

TWT Points: 695

Characters: Dragunov, Steve The inaugural EVO champion for Tekken 7 back in 2015, Yamasa|Nobi has stayed relevant throughout the game's lifespan and is always cited as one of the strongest players in Japan. While he'd been mostly focused on Dragunov for the majority of the game's lifespan, in more recent times we've seen him use quite a bit of Steve as well, to great success. This juggling of several characters has been a slam dunk for Yamasa|Nobi and has reinvigorated his previously dwindling results quite a bit, making him one of the top players to look out for in 2019, and earned him a spot here at the Tekken World Tour Finals for this year.

COOASGAMES|Noroma Country: Japan

TWT Points: 665

Characters: JACK-7, Dragunov, Devil Jin Yet another of the more successful JACK-7 players in the world alongside the likes of RB|Anakin and GG|Saint, one thing that sets COOASGAMES|Noroma apart however is his proficiency with several other characters as well. While he's definitely most comfortable with the massive robot man, he'll bring out other highly effective characters like Dragunov and Devil Jin as well when the situation calls for it. Overall a very adaptive player, COOASGAMES|Noroma has had several solid placings this year, but without any first places. If you're going to hold off on taking 1st, then this is definitely the event to save it for, right?

Disrupt|Shadow20z Country: U.S.A.

TWT Points: 630

Characters: Claudio, Anna One of the newer emerging players from the U.S.A., Disrupt|Shadow20z has been a rising star in Tekken 7 and consistently proven himself to be one of the best players in the nation, and someone to look out for in any national or international tournament. Perhaps the best Claudio in the world, he's also made good use of Anna lately, leaving him with two fairly unorthodox characters at his disposal. Although top players will always have practiced matchups as best they can, the top player with any given character is the top player for a reason, and the fact that not many others at the highest level use his picks could very well give him an extra element of surprise against his opponents.

GG|Saint Country: South Korea

TWT Points: 596

Characters: JACK-7, Bob GG|Saint has been performing somewhat below the expectations you might have of him, certainly when compared to the earlier years in Tekken 7's lifespan, just barely managing to make it in to this year's finals by the skin of his teeth. He has been experimenting with using more than just the fairly linear character JACK-7 though, bringing out a Bob pick for certain matchups or when his back is against the wall, so it's clear that GG|Saint has identified this as something of a slump and is working hard to reverse it. Getting in to the Tekken World Tour finals is a big step, and the next logical one is to win them. Let's see if 2019's GG|Saint has what it takes.

Well, that's our rundown of the Tekken World Tour 2019 finalists and what we may see at the event. Hopefully you enjoyed it, and please make sure to tune in to the event on Saturday and Sunday. As always, we'll be doing full coverage of the tournament here at EventHubs, so stay tuned for live results updates and fast posts for any breaking Tekken news that hits us this weekend.