RULES

Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O.

EVO Japan 2025 Special Tournament

with The 19th VFR BEAT-TRIBE CUP (5on5)

About VF5R BEAT-TRIBE CUP

VF5R BEAT-TRIBE CUP is a national scale 5-on-5 team tournament organized by the Virtua Fighter community group VFR (Virtua Fighter Relationship).

The tournament origins first date back to 1994's original Athena Cup tournament, one of Japan's most significant early fighting game competitions. The 2023 18th BEAT-TRIBE CUP marked its 29th anniversary, further solidifying its legacy within the fighting game community.

One of the tournament's unique features is the regional rivalry format. Japan is divided into seven regions: Hokkaido/Tohoku, Kanto, Tokyo, Chubu/Tokai, Kansai, Chugoku/Shikoku and Kyushuu. With representative teams from each area, the competitors battle it out to defend their regional pride.

Despite the decline in arcade popularlity, the appreciation for regional representation and identity remains strong amongst Virtua Fighter players, making this specific event a celebrated tradition within the community.

With the reality and difficulty of finding a proper venue to honor this long running series of events, Evo Japan is helping keep the tradition alive for Virtua Fighter fans around the world with this newest iteration of BEAT-TRIBE CUP.

Rules and Regulations

Version: Steam version of Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O.
The latest version at the time of the tournament will be used

Maximum number of participants: 1500 (300 teams)

If the maximum number of participants is reached, you will not be able to register even if you have already purchased an admission ticket. Please ensure you check the registration status of your desired title before purchasing a ticket. After purchasing your ticket, register as soon as possible. You can check the registration status here: start.gg

Classification and Definition of Participating Teams

Classification of Participating Teams
Participating teams will be divided into four categories, with higher-category teams benefiting from more advantageous rules. This system prioritizes players who achieve high rankings in large-scale or regular tournaments held across Japan. Players are encouraged to compete in various tournaments to aim for higher categories and improve their standings.

Categories	Criteria	Benefit
Seeding	Teams that those players who got “seeding rights” belong to	Advancing as top-ranked team in the 1st round secures a direct entry into the final tournament
Recommended	1st In total points for each area	Will not play against other seeding/recommended teams in 1st round.
General	The total points ranking of teams from each region determines the number of qualifying spots they receive in the tournament.	Can skip qualifying round
Qualifying	-	None

Rules for Tournament Eligibility
To bypass preliminary rounds without preferential conditions and begin directly in the main tournament, players can utilize two factors: Seeding Rights and VFR Points.

	How to get	Eligible Tournaments/Events
Seeding Rights	Win a cup tournament that grants a seed rights.	Basically, huge 5on5 tournaments (irregular schedule) ・Pre-Beat Tribe Cup ・Newton Cup ・Tokai Cup ・Tenjin Cup ・Hokuriku Cup etc.
Seeding Rights	Achieve the annual championship/overall victory in the "Tokyo Bay Area Cup."	Tokyo Bay Area Cup（a tournament held once a month） Compete by earned points for a whole year and decide the champion.
VFR Points		・Tokyo Bay Area Cup @Game Newton Oyama Store ・VF GP @Ikebukuro Mikado ・Railway Series @Game Newton Oyama Store ・BO9 Monday / BO9 Tuesday @Ikebukuro Mikado ・Tokai Bay Area Cup @GiGO Tomei Ball ・Kyushu Bay Area Cup @Tenjin Taito Station ・Hokuriku Bay Area Cup @Leisure Land Fujie

*Note: The number of seed privileges issued is subject to change based on the total number of participating teams and the frequency of designated tournaments.

Tournament Format

The tournament is divided into several waves: Qualify Round, 1st Round, Play-Off, Wild Card, and Final Tournament. The flow from the previous 18th tournament was as follows:
Each Wave progresses as follows;
QUALIFY ROUND:
The QUALIFY ROUND is for teams in the "QUALIFY ROUND" category. Teams will compete in single-elimination tournaments in a 5-on-5 elimination style format within each group block. Match pairings are determined by random drawing. The team that places 1st in each group block will then advance to the "1st Round."

1st ROUND:
This round includes teams that placed 1st in the Qualify Round, along with teams from the "Seed," "Recommendation," and "General" categories.
Teams are divided into Seeded and Non-Seeded blocks, where each block conducts a round-robin format among three teams using a 5-on-5 elimination-style battle. Match pairings are determined by random draw, and teams advance to the following waves based on their results:
- 1st place in the Seeded block advances to the Final Tournament.
- 1st place in the Non-Seeded block advances to the Play-Off.
- 2nd place in both blocks advances to the Wild Card.

PLAY-OFF:
This wave is for teams that placed 1st in the Non-Seeded blocks during the 1st Round. Match pairings are determined by random draw. The winning team advances to the Final Tournament, while the losing team moves to the Wild Card.

WILD CARD:
This wave includes teams that placed 2nd in the 1st Round and teams that lost in the Play-Off. Teams compete in either a 1-on-1 single-elimination tournament or a round-robin format, with one representative from each team (representatives cannot be changed mid-tournament). Match pairings are determined by random draw, and the winning team advances to the Final Tournament.

FINAL TOURNAMENT:
The Final Tournament features a total of 16 teams: teams that placed 1st in the Seeded blocks, teams that advanced from the Play-Off, and teams that advanced from the Wild Card. The tournament will be conducted as a single-elimination 5-on-5 elimination-style format. Match pairings will be determined using the K-1 (Fortune Box) method, where teams draw numbered lots and, in order, select their preferred positions in the tournament bracket
For each wave, if teams have the same win-loss record in a round-robin format, a tie-breaking match will be conducted with one representative from each team, regardless of the total number of individual match victories.
If the representatives' match ends in a tie, another player will be selected from the remaining four team members to compete. This process will repeat up to the third player if necessary.
If the tie persists even after the third player's match, the outcome will be determined by the total number of rounds won by each representative in their matches.
The final structure of each wave will be reviewed after the registration deadline. Adjustments may be made based on the total number of participating teams.

Match Format

Both 5-on-5 matches and 1-on-1 representative matches will be conducted in a BO1 format.
The following rules must be applied regarding the characters selection
Each team must use at least three different characters.

Once a specific point determined by the organizers is reached, character changes will not be allowed for the remainder of the tournament.
Following game settings will be applied to each match:
Matches will be conducted as two-player battles using "Offline Versus" mode.

Rounds will be set to 45 seconds each.

Matches will be decided in BO3 format.

All characters available at the time of the tournament may be used.

Players will play rock-paper-scissors to determine their choice of play side or stage selection rights.

Teams must declare their starting player to the judge before the match begins.

For players from the second position onward, decisions must be made within three minutes after the end of the preceding match. If this deadline is missed, the choice of the next player will be handed over to the opposing team.

Controller Configulation Rules

When assigning directional movement to buttons or directional keys, the same movement input cannot be assigned to multiple input systems.
If left and right directional keys or buttons are pressed simultaneously, the controller must either recognize both inputs as valid or invalidate both inputs.
If up and down directional keys or buttons are pressed simultaneously, the controller must recognize the upward input as valid.

ENTRY