Easton Becomes Local Hub for Fighting Game Pros and Newcomers

Tayshawn Johnson | Writer

Fight your rival banner

Fight Your Rival (FYR) is a monthly fighting game tournament currently held at Mystery Box Games in Easton, Pa, offering locals the opportunity to compete against one another. 

FYR was first started in 2017 at the South Mall by tournament organizers Taylor Beasley and Deven Baker. They realized that there were no fighting game tournaments in the Lehigh Valley, with the closest being in Philadelphia or New Jersey. The owners took this opportunity to create something to bring the community together.

“We had been going out to different tournaments all the way out in Philadelphia, and we saw that there was a need here,” said Beasley.

Since then, FYR has hosted a multitude of fighting games, including  Guilty Gear Strive, the Street Fighter series, the Tekken series, and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. On tournament days, they offer both casual and competitive play, charging a venue fee of $12, $10 per tournament, and a $5 spectator option. 

In the eight years since their founding, FYR has built a small, but loyal, community dedicated to testing their skills against each other. The official Discord server for FYR has 148 members, and in-person tournaments can see up to 21 attendees. In the Discord server, the owners sometimes set up in-game lobbies for casual play.

The owners said that FYR may move to another temporary location in the coming months, as one of their main goals is to have a permanent building solely for FYR. With a promising future, FYR is a growing community brought together by the sport of fighting games. Anyone interested in becoming a part of the community can go to https://linktr.ee/fightyourrivalfgc to find more information.