Wolfkrone signs with Circa eSports

Love him or hate him, Joshua “Wolfkrone” Philpot is no longer a free agent.

Circa eSports announced that it had signed talented and sometimes-controversial Street Fighter V player Wolfkrone to its roster on Thursday. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Wolfkrone has not been a frequent competitor on this year’s Capcom Pro Tour, but he earned top-16 finishes at both Final Round and Evo. The highlight of his 2017 season was his performance at the ELEAGUE Street Fighter V Invitational, where he finished among the top eight.

Wolfkrone’s results weren’t the only things that brought him attention.

“The one thing that struck us [besides his results], which may seem a little weird to other teams, is his attitude,” Circa CEO Mark Leikach told Dot Esports. “Truthfully, I think the [fighting game community] is a little soft and can’t handle the “banter” that goes on in the scene.”

Wolfkrone certainly brought plenty of banter in 2017, most of which was directed at Kenneth “K-Brad” Bradley. The two engaged in a tense rivalry that wouldn’t look out of place in a WWE ring. Their feud culminated at ELEAGUE, where Wolfkrone got the better of things in their match and proceeded to needle K-Brad in a post-match interview.

The signing of Wolfkrone comes just after the team parted ways with its previous Street Fighter-focused player, Long “LPN” Nguyen. LPN’s run with the team began in May of last year and ended one month ago.

The team’s lack of presence in Street Fighter V is in sharp contrast to that in the other two major fighting games with developer-backed circuits: Injustice 2 and Tekken 7. Christian “ForeverKing” Quiles will represent the team in the ELEAGUE Injustice 2 World Championships final on Friday, and Joseph “Joey Fury” Bennett will do the same at the Tekken World Tour Finals on Sunday.

“We like to stay in the main fighting games, so we have to always keep up to date with our players,” said Leikach.

Wolfkrone’s first tournament under the Circa banner will be Red Bull Battle Grounds, the Capcom Pro Tour’s North American final. Wolfkrone will compete in the event’s last chance qualifier in hopes of becoming the eighth and final player to qualify for the regional final. The winner of that eight-player tournament qualifies for the Capcom Cup.