There is more to compete for in the Mortal Kombat 11 first season, thanks to the recent announcement of Razer and Turtle Beach joining the fight. Over this past weekend, however, we saw more fighters join the battle for online dominance as combatants from around Sub-Saharan Africa gathered for their shot at glory in the second XP Cup. 

Second XP Cup 

The second XP Cup played host to a 64-player double elimination bracket, where the kompetitors had to play in a best-of-five (first-to-three) format. 

The Winners Bracket

The winners bracket of the online qualifier saw all eyes on FTG Sho Kahn who had won the first XP Cup. His form from the previous tournament clearly hadn't dropped as he went up against two tough opposition players, FTG Stifonto and Law-837 respectively, who he managed to overcome with relative ease, beating them both 3-0. 

In his next match, in the fourth round of the Winner's Bracket, he went on to face Mr 5000. Mr 5000 finished 8th in the first MK Cup where he lost in the winner's bracket against FTG Sho Kahn (3-1) and then again to XRay_92 (3-2) in the losers bracket.  Mr 5000, is one of the most well-known players in the Zambian FGC community. He went so far as to represent his organization, Gematrix, in the Injustice 2 Pools at Evo in 2018. And now in the Mortal Kombat 11 first season, he has been looking to prove that he is one of the best in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Mr 5000 came prepared for the second XP Cup and showed that he was ready to fight for his spot in the tournament. In his match against Sho Kahn, he went on to smack down his opposition, winning the match 3-0 thanks to his unstoppable play. 

In Mr 5000's next two matches he brushed aside his opposition, rtkay123 and TagaBearClaw, winning both matches 3-0. The Zambian then waited to see who would win the losers bracket to face him in the second online XP Cup. 

The Losers Bracket 

The losers bracket saw some serious competition as one of the most notable performances came from FTG Parasurama. Falling out of the initial XP Cup after the first round of the losers bracket, he needed to perform to the best of his ability in the second XP Cup. Perform he did, as he went on to win six matches in a row until he eventually got knocked down by rtkay123 (3-2) and finished in sixth place.

On the other side of the bracket we saw the previous week's finalists, KillJoy and FTG Sho Kahn, go head to head. FTG Sho Kahn seemingly had a point to prove as he pinned his opposition down (3-0). FTG Sho Kahn then went on to face ZeeTheJanitor (View Zee's Run), an old rival and fierce fighter in his own right. In a tightly contested match, FTG Sho Kahn fought through, narrowly defeating his opposition (3-2). 

FTG Sho Kahn progressed, determined to fight for the top spot, but rtkay123 stood in his path. FTG Sho Kahn barely noticed that his opposition was standing in his way as he breezed past him (3-0), progressing to face another old rival in TagaBearClaw. Taga stood, determined to show that his training was not in vain. The match was tightly contested as FTG Sho Kahn let a single round slip out of his grasp. He did, however, reach forward to grab control by defeating Taga who finished the tournament in third place. Now, after six hours of competition, FTG Sho Kahn had his shot at revenge against Mr 5000. 

Grand Finale

The Finals were upon us. The champion of old, FTG Sho Kahn, fought through the tides of bodies in his way to extend yet another challenge against the new champion, Mr5000. FTG Sho Kahn would be required to beat his opponent in two best-of-five sets in order to knock his opposition into second place, whereas Mr5000 only needed to win one. 

Sho Kahn managed to come up strong as he went on to reset the bracket by defeating his opponent. In the second best-of-five, the first two rounds were tightly contested as both players struggled to gain the advantage, tied at 1-1. Mr 5000, however, then went into his final form as he managed to beat down his opponent's Cassie Cage with his beefy-big-armed Geras. FTG Sho Kahn saw black, passed out and fell out of the tournament in second place, losing 3-1.

The new champion emerged as Mr5000, who won the second XP Cup with an unblemished record. 

Leaderboard 

Here are the current Top 16 players on the leaderboard. 

More Character Cups!

In the MK11 Rival Character Cups, players stand a chance to win MK11 hampers and - by simply competing - unlock an exclusive ACGL MK11 Avatar. 

Players competing in the Rival Character Cups will only be allowed to play with that specific character until the completion of the tournament.

Our first rivalry was Scorpion (complete) vs Sub-Zero (27 June - registrations open)

We are excited to our next set of Rival Character Cups.   

Raiden Vs Sho Kahn! 

Sign Up Now: 

To view the full leaderboard go here.

For More 

For more information about the ACGL Mortal Kombat 11 Season, tournament dates and rules, and the registration page, please visit https://acgl.co.za/mk11. Registration is open right now.

To learn more about Mortal Kombatâ„¢ 11, please visit www.mortalkombat.com or join the community conversation on Facebook (MortalKombat), Instagram (@MortalKombat), Twitter (@MortalKombat), Twitch (NetherRealm), YouTube (Mortal Kombat), Discord (MortalKombat) or Reddit (MortalKombat).

Photos of the Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! By Marriott Menlyn are available here.

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