It’s time for the Semi-Final Playoffs for season two! The top four teams will compete in a single elimination bracket to determine the two teams who will move on to the SFL: 2019 US vs Japan Finals at Capcom Cup in December. Teams GALE and STORM start in the Winners bracket while FROST and INFERNO start in Losers. It was a thrilling episode and here’s a recap!
If you missed our recap of last week’s episode, browse here to check that out.
Miss an Episode?
If you missed any of season one and want to get caught up before reading further, check out the STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE: Pro-US 2019 Season 1 Archive or the Capcom Fighters YouTube channel’s STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE: Pro-US 2019 video playlist for the full episodes.
Team GALE defeats Team STORM 3-0
The action began with the Winners bracket matchup between NuckleDu’s Team GALE and 801 Strider’s Team STORM. Team GALE has a one sided record against STORM, winning 3-0 both times the teams went head to head in the regular season.
In the first match of the Team Battle we saw the captains go one-on-one with NuckleDu versus 801 Strider. 801 Strider has an incredibly strong G but he had a lot of trouble dealing with the dive kicks and corner pressure from NuckleDu’s Cammy. NuckleDu came out with a clean 2-0 win.
The next two matches were incredibly close with both going to the very last round. RobTV’s Karin edged out Tommy2Step’s Urien in round two. Shine and Mo-Joe both used secondary characters due to bans on their mains in the final matchup. Once again it was incredibly close but Shine landed the knockout blow.
Team GALE is the first team to earn a spot at the USA vs Japan Finals in December. STORM was knocked into the Losers bracket and would play the winner between FROST and INFERNO to get another shot.
Character Bans: Ibuki and R.Mika
| Team | Player | Character | Team | Player | Character | Score | |
| GALE | NuckleDu | Cammy | defeated | STORM | 801 Strider | G | 2-0 |
| GALE | RobTV | Karin | defeated | STORM | Tommy2Step | Urien | 2-1 |
| GALE | Shine | Juri | defeated | STORM | Mo-Joe | Falke | 2-1 |
Team FROST defeats Team INFERNO 3-2
In the first Losers bracket Team Battle we had Dual Kevin’s Team FROST and Punk’s Team INFERNO. During the regular season the teams are 1-1 against one another but now they will break the tie with everything on the line. The winner moves on to face Team STORM and the loser will be eliminated and go home.
This incredible Team Battle had many big moments but it really came down to the stellar performances of JB and Dual Kevin, the Rashid players. Dual Kevin dug deep and narrowly came out on top of Punk’s Cammy in the second round. The loss of Punk was a tremendous early blow to INFERNO but JB has overcome this situation before and he almost pulls it off again here.
The two Rashid players would go head to head in the last matchup to determine the ultimate winner. In the regular season JB defeated Dual Kevin both times with a combined record of 4-0 and in the first game it looked to head down that path with JB getting the early win. Dual Kevin came back starting in the second game seemingly on a whole new level and would go on to beat JB in the next two games to win the matchup 2-1.
Punk’s Team INFERNO, the winner of season one, is the first team to be eliminated in the playoffs in this epic Team Battle against FROST. Dual Kevin was at a loss for words after the emotional win but he and the rest of FROST will move on to face STORM.
Character Bans: Akuma and Karin
| Team | Player | Character | Team | Player | Character | Score | |
| INFERNO | BrolyLegs | Chun-Li | defeated | FROST | Sherryjenix | Necalli | 2-0 |
| FROST | Dual Kevin | Rashid | defeated | INFERNO | Punk | Cammy | 2-1 |
| INFERNO | JB | Rashid | defeated | FROST | Samurai | Ryu | 2-0 |
| FROST | DualKevin | Rashid | defeated | INFERNO | BrolyLegs | Chun-Li | 2-0 |
| FROST | Dual Kevin | Rashid | defeated | INFERNO | JB | Rashid | 2-1 |
Team FROST defeats Team STORM 3-2
Teams FROST and STORM faced off in the final round of the Losers bracket to determine who would join GALE at the SFL: 2019 US vs Japan Finals at Capcom Cup. Dual Kevin’s FROST had just made a clutch win over INFERNO while 801 Strider’s STORM had been soundly defeated by GALE 3-0 in this episode’s first Team Battle. All players came into this crucial match focused but it’s hard not to think that FROST came into this with an edge in confidence and momentum.
STORM’s Mo-Joe with his R.Mika eliminated FROST’s Sherryjenix with her Necalli in a very quick 2-0 set. Things went downhill for STORM in the next two rounds with 801 Strider and Tommy2Step being defeated by Dual Kevin and Samurai. Mo-Joe won a very exciting match against Dual Kevin to eliminate him 2-1 leaving him to face Samurai in the final round.
Samurai with his Ryu would beat Mo-Joe 2-0. Team FROST lept from their seats and celebrated their hard-fought victory. It’s only fitting that Samurai, who had contributed so much to FROST’s fortunes this season, would win the match to earn his team’s spot in the USA vs Japan Finals.
Character Bans: Akuma and G
| Team | Player | Character | Team | Player | Character | Score | |
| STORM | Mo-Joe | R.Mika | defeated | FROST | Sherryjenix | Necalli | 2-0 |
| FROST | Dual Kevin | Rashid | defeated | STORM | 801 Strider | Laura | 2-0 |
| FROST | Samurai | Ryu | defeated | STORM | Tommy2Step | Urien | 2-0 |
| STORM | Mo-Joe | R.Mika | defeated | FROST | Dual Kevin | Rashid | 2-1 |
| FROST | Samurai | Ryu | defeated | STORM | Mo-Joe | R.Mika | 2-0 |
Teams GALE and FROST Advance to USA vs Japan Finals at Capcom Cup!
With their wins this week it is NuckleDu’s Team GALE and Dual Kevin’s Team FROST who will move on to the SFL: 2019 US vs. Japan Finals. The prize for the first place team will be $90,000. Second place will earn $24,000.
Watch at Capcom Cup Finals
Be sure to tune in to the SFL: 2019 US vs Japan Finals which will be held at Capcom Cup from December 13th through 15th. Keep an eye on http://www.capcomprotour.com for more information on the season finale!