STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE is back with an all new season of offline competitive Street Fighter V: Champion Edition Team Battles! Last season upped the ante significantly with the introduction of international players and season four heats things up even further with several new teams and new players entering the fray! Kicking things off in week one was a Team Battle between a brand new team in VODAFONE GIANTS, led by Infexious, against team UYU, a returning team captained by Oil King. Following that up was team PANDA GLOBAL, led by the Punk, against season four SFL Champions in team NASR led by Big Bird. Punk’s ALPHA-3 was defeated by NASR in the recent season three Finals and the rematch was nothing short of sensational.
MISS AN EPISODE?
If you missed any of season four and want to get caught up before reading further, check out the STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE: Pro-US 2020 Season 4 Archive or the Capcom Fighters YouTube channel’s STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE: Pro-US Season 4 video playlist for the full episodes.
VODAFONE GIANTS vs UYU
Banned Characters: Cammy and Dhalsim
Season three was not a smooth one for Oil King’s team UYU but they are back again for redemption. Kami returns to the team but the big change coming into this season was the addition of NL in place of JB. This move strengthens the team by addressing a big problem UYU had last season in having both Oil King and JB using Rashid as their main character, which made the team especially vulnerable to character bans.
VODAFONE GIANTS is a completely new team composed of some of Europe’s best players. They are led by Infexious, who hails from the UK and is almost robotic in his patience and efficiency in play. He is joined by Mister Crimson, who is from France, and VegaPatch from Spain.
For character bans VODAFONE GIANTS selected Cammy targeting NL and UYU banned Mister Crimson’s Dhalsim.
This first Team Battle was a big statement for Infexious’ VODAFONE GIANTS as they get the win over UYU in a 3-0 clean sweep. It was far from easy as many of the matchups were much closer than the 2-0 scores would suggest. The matchup between Miser Crimson and NL, both using secondaries due to character bans, was very close in most rounds. Oil King put up the fiercest resistance for UYU, getting a win in the first game against Infexious’ Zeku but Infexious kept his famous composure, adapted, and won the next two games to secure the win for his team.
| Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Score |
| VegaPatch | VODAFONE GIANTS | F.A.N.G. | defeated | Kami | UYU | Seth | 2-0 |
| Mister Crimson | VODAFONE GIANTS | G | defeated | NL | UYU | Akuma | 2-0 |
| Infexious | VODAFONE GIANTS | Zeku | defeated | Oil King | UYU | Rashid | 2-1 |
PANDA GLOBAL vs NASR
Banned Characters: Karen and M.Bison
The ever-dominant Punk returns to season four with perhaps his best team yet in PANDA GLOBAL. Former ALPHA-3 teammate Nephew is still on the team after an incredibly strong performance last season. Joining them is none other than Justin Wong, one of Street Fighter’s true legends over the last few decades and ex-captain of team SPIRIT in season one.
Season three Champions team NASR return led once again by Big Bird. AngryBird stays on in the roster joined by the UK’s Problem X in place of Samurai. Problem X is an EVO Champion and one of Europe’s best players so his presence on the team is huge for NASR. As the Champions they have a lot to live up to as well as having a big target on their back, but NASR certainly has to be considered one of the strongest teams in the competition.
NASR selected Punk’s Karen for their character ban while PANDA GLOBAL picked Problem X’s M.Bison.
With two world class teams facing off the expectations are high and this Team Battle did not disappoint! There were no easy games here as each and every round had to be earned by both teams. PANDA GLOBAL took an early lead with two big wins early with Nephew’s Kolin beating AngryBird’s Zeku and Punk’s Kolin taking out Problem X’s E.Honda in round two. Only Big Bird remained for NASR against all of PANDA GLOBAL but this Team Battle was far from over.
Big Bird with his Rashid went on a phenomenal run to come within reach of snatching victory away from his opponents. The last two matchups against Nephew and Punk were so close with so many momentum swings that it was breathtaking to watch. The final matchup between Punk and Big Bird was a runback from the season three Finals when Big Bird came out on top 2-0. The rematch here was incredibly close and you could almost feel the tension between the two players as the match went on but Punk would come out on top in this one. PANDA GLOBAL secures its first win narrowly over NASR in a thrilling Team Battle. One team had to lose but this Team Battle is a vivid display of how strong both of these teams are.
| Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Score |
| Nephew | PANDA GLOBAL | Kolin | defeated | AngryBird | NASR | Zeku | 2-0 |
| Punk | PANDA GLOBAL | Kolin | defeated | Problem X | NASR | E.Honda | 2-0 |
| Big Bird | NASR | Rashid | defeated | Justin Wong | PANDA GLOBAL | Rose | 2-1 |
| Big Bird | NASR | Rashid | defeated | Nephew | PANDA GLOBAL | Kolin | 2-1 |
| Punk | PANDA GLOBAL | Kolin | defeated | Big Bird | NASR | Rashid | 2-1 |
TEAM STANDINGS
The first week of STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE season four is in the books and VODAFONE GIANTS and PANDA GLOBAL get their first wins. We are only just getting started with 15 more weeks of action ahead. Next week we have BANDITS vs NORDAVIND and UYU against NASR!
| Team | Record |
| VODAFONE GIANTS | 1-0 |
| PANDA GLOBAL | 1-0 |
| BANDITS | 0-0 |
| NORDAVIND | 0-0 |
| NASR | 0-0 |
| UYU | 0-0 |
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK!
Be sure to catch the next episode on Twitch and YouTube at 4:30PM Pacific, 7:30PM Eastern!