NorCal Knockout: Round Two is taking place on May 16, 2025 in Redding, California. This tournament is sponsored by EventHubs.
Prize money for Street Fighter 6 is at $1,000 USD, 2XKO and Guilty Gear Strive are both at $750, Tekken 8 $500 and Street Fighter 3: Third Strike and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves both at $250 pot bonuses as of a week ago. There’s also a cosplay competition which awards $200 in slot play for 1st prize. Over 100 entrants are currently signed up for the tournament.
Redding, California, the hosting city of NorCal Knockout, is well known for its surrounding nature attractions. Mt. Shasta, which is 14,179 feet tall, was called one of the 8th most energetic places on Earth you can visit by The Huffington Post.
There are all sorts of legends and spirituality associated with Mt. Shasta, and people travel from all over the globe to visit it each year, also for skiing, hiking, sight seeing and many other activities that can be found there.
Other spots surrounding this area include Shasta Caverns, Shasta Lake the largest man-made lake in the state, and the redwood trees in Humboldt County where some of the Ewok scenes from the 1983 film Star Wars: Return of the Jedi were filmed. The redwood trees here regularly live to be 600 years old and can live as many as 2,000 years.
We spoke with Matthew ‘JoeySalami’ Elmore, the man hosting the tournament.
EventHubs: Why should people come Touch Grass up in Northern California?
JoeySalami: First and foremost, the community. NorCal oozes with love and a fire for our scene that is something special and undeniable. But the reason to come touch grass up in Northern California especially is our location. Those making the drive, as you approach Redding, a thing to notice is at a certain point you start to be able to see both Mount Shasta and Lassen Peak in view. We’re surrounded by nature. It’s one of the things that makes this place special.
We know we are far. We know we are all the way up here in Redding but we invite you to make the trek. That’s even something we’ve leaned into – hence all the mountain themes in our design. We wanna become the pilgrimage that players are willing to make each year.
There’s something that’s so sick about the idea of hopping in a car with all of your homies and making that journey up north to the mountains and fighting it out – a true regional to see who is the best. Ask players who came out last year, so many can’t wait to come back. And if you are able, you can even set a day aside to visit some outdoor destinations people travel from across the world to see. Destinations like Lassen National Park or Mount Shasta or Castle Crags State Park. If you’re into it but don’t have that much time, we highly recommend checking out the Sundial Bridge, it’s in the city. Or maybe even making the 20-minute drive to check out Shasta Dam. It’s a pretty unique spot in-between it all.
EventHubs: Which games are currently available for sign up at NorCal Knockout: Round Two?
JoeySalami: There will be six games total thanks to Win-River Casino’s support with the venue and BayAreaMADHouse’s support with the consoles and equipment. We’re running Street Fighter 6, 3rd Strike, 2XKO, Guilty Gear -STRIVE-, Tekken 8 and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. Each with a dedicated pot bonus and one-of-a-kind custom-made NorCal Knockout boxing gloves for each champ.
EventHubs: Tell us about the venue for the event.
JoeySalami: Win-River Resort & Casino is an awesome host for this event for many reasons but a good place to start is the venue – the Event Center. The screens are huge. Outside of the projectors on-hand, there’s all these TVs scattered throughout, all along the walls. Even at the bar, there’s TVs above you showing the matches on stage being played, so you won’t miss out on a thing while waiting in line for a drink. The sound system is also killer, with these giant hanging line array speakers and subwoofers overhead. Then you get to the fact that it is held at a casino (literally right off the casino floor actually). That means you have a 24-hour spot to enjoy yourself, kick it and have a great time during, before and after the event. We’ve even leaned into that aspect a bit with the marketing which has also been fun. And just a heads-up, even though it’s at a casino, it remains an all-ages event.
When I take a step back and look at NorCal Knockout, it’s something that’s just so fun, unique and special. It’s such a blessing to be a part of and something you can really only find here in NorCal.