Each of the six teams for STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE season four have fought their initial Team Battles but this is only the beginning! The league’s double round robin system means that each team will face off against each other twice before the playoffs in week sixteen so anything can happen. This week’s Team Battles started off with VODAFONE GIANTS taking on PANDA GLOBAL with both teams getting wins in week one. Following that up was Team UYU against NORDAVIND, with UYU eager for their first victory and NORDAVIND getting their first W last week. Both Team Battles had a lot on the line and both went the full five rounds to decide.
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 vs PANDA GLOBAL
Banned Characters: Cammy and F.A.N.G.
VODAFONE GIANTS got the first 3-0 team sweep of the season in their victory against UYU in week one. Infexious and the rest of his team could not have asked for a better start to the season. Punk and PANDA GLOBAL had to work hard for their week one win but that was because they were facing Team NASR; SFL season three Champions and one of the strongest teams in this competition. PANDA GLOBAL banned F.A.N.G., which is the main character for VegaPatch, while VODAFONE GIANTS opted to ban Cammy.
This was an epic Team Battle with VODAFONE GIANTS going the distance here against PANDA GLOBAL. In the first two rounds the teams traded wins with Infexious besting Justin Wong using his own defensive gameplan and Nephew easily dispatching VegaPatch’s secondary character, Juri. It’s the back half of the Team Battle where things heated up with Mister Crimson’s Dhalsim getting a stunning victory against Punk’s Karin in a thrilling set that went to the very last round. The loss of Punk was obviously a tremendous blow to PANDA GLOBAL but they still had Nephew.
Infexious looked somewhat unsure of how to deal with a Kolin of Nephew’s caliber as his Zeku alternated between Old and New Zeku trying to find openings. Nephew stayed at ranges where his normals had advantage and put Infexious into the corner, coming out on top 2-0. Both teams were now down to their final player, which is a first for season four. You couldn’t ask for a better climax to this Team Battle as Mister Crimson’s Dhalsim, with one of the game’s worst defenses, facing off against the high-damage offense of Nephew’s Kolin. This was a set where it felt like both of the games were on a razor’s edge with victory and defeat being separated by one hit or combo. Mister Crimson won this tense matchup 2-0, earning their second and biggest win this season.
| Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Score |
| Infexious | VODAFONE | Zeku | defeated | Justin Wong’ | PANDA GLOBAL | Poison | 2-0 |
| Nephew | PANDA GLOBAL | Kolin | defeated | VegaPatch | VODAFONE | Juri | 2-0 |
| Mister Crimson | VODAFONE | Dhalsim | defeated | Punk | PANDA GLOBAL | Karin | 2-1 |
| Nephew | PANDA GLOBAL | Kolin | defeated | Infexious | VODAFONE | Zeku | 2-0 |
| Mister Crimson | VODAFONE | Dhalsim | defeated | Nephew | PANDA GLOBAL | Kolin | 2-0 |
NORDAVIND vs UYU
Banned Characters: Cammy and R.Mika
Veggey’s NORDAVIND got a 3-1 win over BANDITS in week one. Oil King’s UYU got its second loss in as many weeks, so obviously the team was looking to reverse its fortunes here. UYU opted to ban R.Mika, once again taking the character away from Luffy, while NORDAVIND banned Cammy to keep her out of NL’s hands.
UYU needed this win badly and at first this Team Battle went as well as they could have hoped. Kami defeated Veggey in the first round and Oil King came out on top over Luffy in the second round, leaving Phenom as the last player standing for NORDAVIND. But Phenom is no stranger to high pressure situations with years of experience on the Capcom Pro Tour and he very nearly pulled off the first OCV of season four. Phenom had to claw his way back for his team with his wins against NL and Kami going to the last game.
For the second time in a week the Team Battle went the full five rounds with Phenom and Oil King facing off to decide it all. You could almost feel the tension both players were feeling as they traded winning games and went to the final round. In the end both players were low on live and a single good hit could secure victory and after a mad scramble it would be Oil King that would land that final hit to deliver a win for UYU 3-2. Oil King obviously jumped out of his seat elated as he gave his team its first very important win.
| Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Score |
| Kami | UYU | Seth | defeated | Veggey | NORDAVIND | Birdie | 2-0 |
| Oil King | UYU | Rashid | defeated | Luffy | NORDAVIND | Kolin | 2-0 |
| Phenom | NORDAVIND | Karin | defeated | NL | UYU | Ryu | 2-1 |
| Phenom | NORDAVIND | Karin | defeated | Kami | UYU | Seth | 2-1 |
| Oil King | UYU | Rashid | defeated | Phenom | NORDAVIND | Karin | 2-1 |
TEAM STANDINGS
This week’s Team Battles really shook up the standings. VODAFONE GIANTS’ win puts them in the lead at 2-0. PANDA GLOBAL, even with a loss, moves up the standings due to tie-breakers into second. NORDAVIND’s loss moved NASR into third place with NORDAVIND in fourth. The big news is UYU’s victory this week moving them up to fifth place, dropping BANDITS into sixth.
| Team | Record |
| VODAFONE GIANTS | 2-0 |
| PANDA GLOBAL | 1-1 |
| NASR | 1-1 |
| NORDAVIND | 1-1 |
| UYU | 1-2 |
| BANDITS | 0-1 |
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK!
Be sure to catch the next episode on Twitch and YouTube at 4:00 PM Pacific, 7:00 PM Eastern!