Red Bull’s Tekken 8 tournament Golden Letters rewards style points in a Perfect way

The third edition of Red Bull’s Tekken tournament Golden Letters is looming, a tournament that’s not just about beating your opponent, but doing so in style.

Usually, a tournament set is awarded to the first player to win a set number of games. But at Golden Letters, any time a player scores a “Perfect” or a “Great” round victory, it holds the same weight as a game win. That means a player that only won three rounds the entire match could still come out on top.

Golden Letters will give everyone a reason to remember the 28th and 29th night of September, where 20 competitors from various nations of the Tekken empire will descend upon the Red Bull Gaming Sphere in London.

The Gold Standard

There is no coaching allowed at Golden Letters, so competitors are entirely on their own. All matches played at Golden Letters are first to three game wins, but because you can win based on Perfect or Great rounds, a match could end in a single game, before it ever goes the distance.

20 competitors separate into four groups of five, and play out their 1v1 matches in round robin style. Every player in a pool plays each player in their pool once. The three combatants with the best match records in each pool will advance to the final Top 12 double elimination bracket. First and second place go to the winner’s side, and third on the loser’s. In the event of a tiebreaker, players compare game counts, then “golden letter” round victories.

Here are the groups for the Red Bull Golden Letters 2024 tournament:

Pool 1

• Arslan Ash
• AK
• KaneAndTrench
• Yuyu
• Sour Piggy

Pool 2

• Atif
• JDCR
• Speedkicks
• Ayo Richie
• Nino

Pool 3

• Ulsan
• Joka
• Jodd
• Anakin
• Shonen

Pool 4

• CherryBerryMango (CBM)
• Yagami
• Joey Fury
• the-SAM-brother
• Tetsu

The player pool is a who’s who of Tekken, and chock-full of absolute killers. Arslan Ash is a five-time EVO champion and a front-runner to win any event he enters. Ayo Richie was the inaugural Golden Letters champ in 2022, and looks to regain his title after falling short last year. Anakin and KaneAndTrench fought in the two previous tournaments, but have yet to stand at the top of the podium. The one certainty with Golden Letters is that it’ll be an interesting watch.