Empire Arcadia's East Coast Street Fighter 4 Team
(L - R) Arturo, Sanford, Joe, Marn and Justin
Team Owner: TriForce (middle)

Throughout the years, the state of California has ruled the Nation’s fighting game scene since its inception back in 1994. Fighting Legends such as Alex Valle, Mike Watson and John Choi have dominated the virtual battlefield for over a decade. Traveling over seas to the “Land of the rising Sun” these legends experienced a new level of fighting and used it to hone their skills throughout the years, keeping true the West Coast dominion over the US fighting game scene. Years later Alex Valle, John Choi and company have inspired a new generation of West Coast champions such as Combofiend, Ed Ma, Ken-I and more, to keep the tradition of the West Coast dominance alive.

It is said that no Empire lasts forever or can it rule dominion over all for long. “When the pendulum swings in favor of one it will eventually swing back in favor of its opposites and thus the balance of the universe is maintained.” – Fist of the North Star.

In 2002 an Empire was forged in the east and over the years it has rapidly grown in strength; significantly! Moving from fighting game to fighting game, this Empire has brought together some of the East Coast most talented fighters under one banner to turn the tide. Throughout 7 years of conflict, Empire Arcadia has fought against the West Coast “Tide of Domination”.

Match by match to the East Coast broke the West Coast tradition of being the dominant Coast in fighting games. Now in 2009 lead by the Empire’s greatest fighter Justin Wong the East Coast Empire Arcadia looks to forge its own tradition in a new era of fighting competition.

Justin Wong has established himself as the greatest United States Street Fighter 4 champion for 2009 by not only winning North East Championships 10, Final Round 12 and Devastation 2009 but he also won the Game Stop Street Fighter 4 National Championships and took 2nd place to Japan’s Daigo “The Beast” Umehara at Evo 2K9. However Justin Wong alone will not be enough to defeat the West Coast and keep true the new tradition in the fighting game dominance now forged in the East Coast. Thus a force of fighting champions was assembled to bolster the East Coast defense against the West Coast.

Very few players can be put in the same category as Justin when it comes to Street Fighter 4. However, of the few that can compare to Justin, Marn's accomplishments in Street Fighter 4 compliment him the best. Marn travelled with Justin to France to win the SBO qualifiers after LI Joe and Arturo lost the Empire’s opportunity at the hands of Combofiend and Alex Valle who are fittingly on the West Coast 5 man team. Marn is also the winner of East Coast Throw Down and champion of West Coast Warzone.

Next on the list is Arturo Sanchez who has no doubt established himself as one of the top Street Fighter 4 Players in the Nation. Currently in Japan honing his skills at SF4, Arturo has travelled the United States looking for competition wherever he can find it. After winning and placing top 3 in many tournaments across the Nation, Arturo beat Daigo in a grudge match at Evo 2K9 which fed his desire to improve and become one of the world’s best SF4 players. He has now heard word of the East vs. West and has returned from Japan to take up arms against the West Coast.

Then you have Joe “iloveu” Ciaramelli who resides from Long Island NY. One of the East Coast best kept secrets, Joe has been a solid contributor for the East Coast and has won many tournaments including his most recent win at Summer Jam and BattleField Arcadia #3, where he came back from the brink of elimination, winning 8 games straight in the Grand Finals to win the tournament. Powered by “Sagat”, Joe is a very dangerous opponent as any mistake by his opponent will result in unimaginable loss of energy by Sagat’s traditional “Look at the Damage” combo.

Finally the last component of the team, is Sanford “Santhrax” Kelly; 4th place finisher at Evolution in SF4, Sanford even defeated one of Japan’s Ryu player, Dan. Sanford has raw untapped, uncontrolled power that has yet to be recognized. This behemoth has had the shortest time among the 5 to learn the game and is arguably one of the most skilled players in the Nation. Champion of China Town Fair Arcade “Road to Evolution” tournament and BattleField Arcadia #1, Sanford is not to be underestimated.

Can NYC’s Empire Arcadia of the “East” continue to preserve its newly found tradition or has the time come early for the pendulum to swing back in favor of Southern California Empire of the West? History will be made BarFights II, October 11th, 2009. Be there!