The end of the season is approaching so every Team Battle is vital! Only four teams will move on to the playoffs. The top two teams will go into the playoffs on the winners side of the bracket while the next two teams go in on the losers side, but just getting into the top four is the goal at this time. This week’s Team Battles have PSYCHO taking on current standings leader GALE, SPIRIT facing off against STORM and INFERNO versus FROST. Here’s a recap of this week’s episode!
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 PSYCHO 3-2
Result from Battle in Week 4: GALE defeats PSYCHO 3-0, character bans: Dhalsim and Karin
With Smug’s Team PSYCHO at the bottom of the standings and only a few weeks remaining in the season, getting this win was critical for them. To add to the pressure, this week they faced NuckleDu’s Team GALE, who is at the top of the standings.
The first two matches of this Team Battle were incredibly intense. Automattock’s Sagat pulled off a tough victory against Shine’s Juri. Dankadillas’ Dhalsim was on a razor’s edge between victory and defeat during the whole match against RobTV’s Karin but came away with the W in the next round, putting PSYCHO in a great position.
The only hope for Team GALE was with NuckleDu, who would have to sweep the entire team PSYCHO. NuckleDu got a good start by defeating Smug in the G mirror-match. He went on to defeat Automattock next, setting up a showdown with PSYCHO’s last member, Dankadillas. Dankadillas had some flashes of success in the first game even though he came up short, but NuckleDu demolished him in the second game to complete the team sweep for another GALE win.
Character Bans: Balrog and Ibuki
| Team | Player | Character | Team | Player | Character | Score | |
| PSYCHO | Automattock | Sagat | defeated | GALE | Shine | Juri | 2-1 |
| PSYCHO | Dankadillas | Dhalsim | defeated | GALE | RobTV | Karin | 2-0 |
| GALE | NuckleDu | G | defeated | PSYCHO | Smug | G | 2-0 |
| GALE | NuckleDu | G | defeated | PSYCHO | Automattock | Sagat | 2-0 |
| GALE | NuckleDu | G | defeated | PSYCHO | Dankadillas | Dhalsim | 2-0 |
Team STORM defeats Team SPIRIT 3-1
Result from Battle in Week 4: STORM defeats SPIRIT 3-0, character bans: Laura and G
STORM’s Tommy2Step continues to be incredibly strong with his Urien, defeating CJ Truth’s Karin 2-1 in the first round. It was a battle of the long range characters as Sabin’s Dhalsim faced off against Mo-Joe’s Falke. There were a lot of projectiles, long range normals and mix-ups but Sabin was the last one standing at the end of the match to tie up the Team Battle.
iDom’s Laura was a target for bans for most of season one and for good reason. In this Team Battle he is free to use the character. However, 801 Strider used to play Laura as his main character in the early years of Street Fighter 5. That experience helped him keep Laura away so that she could not create mix-up situations. 801 Strider got the win 2-1 leaving only Sabin left for SPIRIT.
The match between Sabin and Tommy2Step was incredibly close with every round leaving the winning player with very little health. Tommy2Step won more of those rounds and came out on top 2-0 to complete the Team Battle win for STORM.
Character Bans: R.Mika and Cammy
| Team | Player | Character | Team | Player | Character | Score | |
| STORM | Tommy2Step | Urien | defeated | SPIRIT | CJ Trth | Karin | 2-1 |
| SPIRIT | Sabin | Dhalsim | defeated | STORM | Mo-Joe | Falke | 2-1 |
| STORM | 801 Strider | G | defeated | SPIRIT | iDom | Laura | 2-1 |
| STORM | Tommy2Step | Urien | defeated | SPIRIT | Sabin | Dhalsim | 2-0 |
Team FROST defeats Team INFERNO 3-2
Result from Battle in Week 4: INFERNO defeats FROST 3-2, character bans: Karin and Akuma
The last time Dual Kevin’s FROST faced off against Punk’s INFERNO in week four it started well for FROST but INFERNO’s JB got the team sweep to snatch victory from defeat. This Team Battle would follow a similar pattern but in FROST’s favor.
FROST’s strategy to ban Rashid was interesting. Rashid is the main character for their nemesis JB but it’s Dual Kevin’s main as well, so the ban affected both teams. Because these top players were forced to play secondaries, both teams put their hopes on one player. FROST hoped that Samurai, again playing anchor, could save them once more while INFERNO put their faith in Punk, one of the world’s best players.
This Team Battle really came down to the one match where Samurai and Punk collide and everyone knew it from the outset. INFERNO got wins against SherryJenix and Dual Kevin to leave Samurai as the last FROST player standing yet again. Samurai made quick work of BrolyLegs in his first match bringing him head to head with Punk.
The onlookers at the studio looking on, players and commentators, literally grabbed popcorn for the match that would likely decide the Team Battle. JB was still available for INFERNO if Punk fell but without Rashid and playing against Samurai with his Akuma the prospects of victory in that matchup were slim. Punk would have to defeat Samurai.
The match lived up to its hype. Punk started off with by relentlessly attacking Samurai, attempting to assert his dominance and shake his opponent’s nerve. After several momentum swings Samurai won the first game and it was Punk who, while not shaken, was obviously aware that Samurai was for real and would not be a pushover. The match went on and the momentum seemed to constantly shift. Punk won game two to tie it up and the final game would go down to the very last round. Both players had low health but it was Samurai who would land the knockout blow. Samurai, usually calm and reserved, lept from his chair in excitement.
JB put up a valiant effort with his Nash against a Samurai whose cup was running over with confidence at this point but it was not to be. Samurai eliminated JB to add another team sweep to his impressive record.
With this team sweep Samurai has earned an impressive achievement. He is the first player in the Street Fighter League to have swept every single team on the series, both season one and two. This includes getting a team sweep in season two against STORM, his team in season one!
Character Bans: Rashid and Necalli
| Team | Player | Character | Team | Player | Character | Score | |
| INFERNO | Punk | Karin | defeated | FROST | Sherryjenix | Ryu | 2-0 |
| INFERNO | JB | Nash | defeated | FROST | Dual Kevin | G | 2-0 |
| FROST | Samurai | Akuma | defeated | INFERNO | BrolyLegs | M.Bison | 2-0 |
| FROST | Samurai | Akuma | defeated | INFERNO | Punk | Karin | 2-1 |
| FROST | Samurai | Akuma | defeated | INFERNO | JB | Nash | 2-0 |
Team Standings
When the dust settled after this week’s Team Battles Team GALE remains in the top spot with a 6-2 record. Team STORM is in second place while FROST moves up to third place, both with 5-3 records. INFERNO drops to fourth place with a 4-4 record. SPIRIT is in fifth place and PSYCHO is in sixth place, with both having 2-6 records.
Tune in Next Week!
Be sure to catch the next episode on Twitch and YouTube at 4PM Pacific, 7PM Eastern.