Season four of STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE started with a bang last week with four of the six new teams competing in their very first Team Battle matchups. Last week Infexious’ VODAFONE GIANTS got a convincing team sweep win over Oil King’s UYU. We also witnessed what may have been the most sensational opening week Team Battle in the League’s history with Punk’s PANDA GLOBAL clawing their way to a narrow win over Big Bird’s NASR. This week started with the two remaining new season four teams facing off with MenaRD’s BANDITS taking on Veggey’s NORDAVIND. Next up was NASR going head to head against UYU, with both teams looking for their first win.
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.
BANDITS vs NORDAVIND
Banned Characters: R.Mika and Guile
The two remaining new teams for season four made their debut this week in this Team Battle. Both teams are filled with incredible talent, with BANDITS being led by a Capcom Cup Champion and NORDAVIND having an EVO Champion in its ranks. BANDITS is captained by Capcom Cup 2017 Champion MenaRD and includes SFL season three veteran Caba as well as newcomer Venatori. All three players represent the potent scene in the Dominican Republic. Team NORDAVIND has all new players led by Veggey and includes Phenom and EVO 2014 Champion Luffy. Veggey and Phenom hail from Norway while Luffy is from France.
This was a very close Team Battle but NORDAVIND came away victorious in this first matchup of the season. It was far from easy with two of the four matchups being decided in the final round. Caba showed off a very strong G with his Guile banned by NORDAVIND, getting a win against Veggey in the second round. Veggie downplayed his skills a bit in the pre-battle interview but his Birdie fell just short against Caba’s G. The match between Phenom’s Karin and MenaRD’s Sakura was a standout as both characters were able to pull off high damage combos from a single mistake. Phenom came out on top in the very last round. Luffy’s R. Mika was banned but it didn’t seem to affect him as his Kolin defeated first Venatori in round one and finally eliminating Caba to secure his team’s win, both with 2-0 scores.
BANDITS took a loss but they had a good opening showing and they will be a tough team to face this season. NORDAVIND got that all-important first win against a formidable opponent which is a great start for the season.
| Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Score |
| Luffy | NORDAVIND | Kolin | defeated | Venatori | BANDITS | Cammy | 2-0 |
| Caba | BANDITS | G | defeated | Veggey | NORDAVIND | Birdie | 2-1 |
| Phenom | NORDAVIND | Karin | defeated | MenaRD | BANDITS | Sakura | 2-1 |
| Luffy | NORDAVIND | Kolin | defeated | Caba | BANDITS | G | 2-0 |
UYU vs NASR
Banned Characters: Karen and M.Bison
UYU and NASR both took losses in week one on opposite extremes with UYU getting swept by VODAFONE GIANTS while NASR lost by the tightest of margins against PANDA GLOBAL. Of course this Team Battle is extremely important to both UYU and NASR as both covet a first win to build on.
NASR was defeated within sight of victory last week but they pushed down the gas pedal and never let up this week. This was a team sweep win for NASR, which is unfortunately the second straight such loss for UYU. Problem X’s main character M. Bison was the target of another ban this week and once again his E. Honda put in the work, only this time getting a convincing win against Oil King’s Seth in the first round.
The matchup between Kami’s Akira and AngryBird’s Seth was the highlight of the Team Battle with Kami’s Akira pulling off some visually incredible combos. AngryBird slowly adapted and his Seth managed to better keep Akira at a distance and punish any attempts to come in close. It came down to the very last round but AngryBird came out on top. The last matchup between Big Bird and NL was a fun to watch Ken versus Ryu face-off that isn’t a common occurrence in high level play. NL started off well with a one-sided win in the first game but Big Bird made the comeback in the next two games. NL lost a few of those rounds by slivers of life but Big Bird made the clutch plays to win.
NASR got its first win and despite losing last week seems to be a team with momentum. For UYU its looking a lot like season three and that isn’t good, but it’s only week two.
| Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Score |
| Problem X | NASR | E.Honda | defeated | Oil King | UYU | Seth | 2-0 |
| AngryBird | NASR | Seth | defeated | Kami | UYU | Akira | 2-1 |
| Big Bird | NASR | Ken | defeated | NL | UYU | Ryu | 2-1 |
TEAM STANDINGS
After two weeks of Team Battles its too early to say much as most of the positions are determined by tie-breakers like games won. UYU has taken back to back losses, however, and the pressure builds to get that first win.
| Team | Record |
| VODAFONE GIANTS | 1-0 |
| NORDAVIND | 1-0 |
| PANDA GLOBAL | 1-0 |
| NASR | 1-1 |
| BANDITS | 0-1 |
| UYU | 0-2 |
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK!
Be sure to catch the next episode on Twitch and YouTube at 4:30PM Pacific, 7:30PM Eastern!