Team NASR looks like it is running away with first place but the rest of the standings are incredibly tight. Only two wins separate first place from last place. Time is a factor with only a few weeks remaining in the season and only the top four teams will move on to the Playoffs and earn a chance to get to the Finals at Capcom Cup VIII in February. Both Team Battles this week were absolute thrillers clearly demonstrating that it’s still anybody’s game. The first Team Battle this week was a nail-biter between VODAFONE GIANTS and BANDITS. If you are a fan of relentless offense be sure to check out first place NASR against NORDAVIND.
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 BANDITS
Banned Characters: Birdie and Dhalsim
Infexious’ VODAFONE GIANTS got a big win last week against Punk’s PANDA GLOBAL which moved them into the second place spot on the standings. That lead is still slim, however, and with a record of 4-3 there is still time in the season for them to fall. MenaRD’s Team Bandits came into this week in fifth place at 2-4. Fortunately for them the standings between second and fifth place are still pretty tight with only 2 wins separating them. There is still time to make things happen and to get into that all important top four.
BANDITS narrowly beat VODAFONE GIANTS in their first meeting 3-2 in week four and the result this week is the same. It was a very back and forth Team Battle and this one was decided with a matchup between the two team captains. Venatori played very well with his Cammy, eliminating Mister Crimson in the first matchup and losing to Infexious by the smallest of margins. For VODAFONE GIANTS Infexious had to do most of the heavy lifting and each one of his wins against Caba and Venatori were by too close for comfort. MenaRD once again rose to the occasion, getting the most dominant win of the Team Battle against VegaPatch’s elusive F.A.N.G. and then closing out the Team Battle by eliminating Infexious.
At this stage of the season every Team Battle win is tremendously important especially with the standings being so close. The win by BANDITS over VODAFONE GIANTS
| Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Score |
| Venatori | BANDITS | Cammy | defeated | Mister Crimson | VODAFONE GIANTS | Rashid | 2-0 |
| Infexious | VODAFONE GIANTS | Zeku | defeated | Caba | BANDITS | Guile | 2-1 |
| MenaRD | BANDITS | Sakura | defeated | VegaPatch | VODAFONE GIANTS | F.A.N.G. | 2-0 |
| Infexious | VODAFONE GIANTS | Zeku | defeated | Venatori | BANDITS | Cammy | 2-1 |
| MenaRD | VODAFONE GIANTS | Sakura | defeated | Infexious | VODAFONE GIANTS | Zeku | 2-0 |
NASR vs NORDAVIND
Banned Characters: Seth and Karin
First place is solidly in the hands of Big Bird’s Team NASR so they are in no danger for the rest of the season. They will be in the Playoffs and likely in first place, even if they lose the rest of their Team Battles. What they are playing now is mostly to remain sharp. Veggie’s Team NORDAVIND is like almost every team below NASR in the standings. They need every Team Battle, game and round win they can get in case it comes down to tiebreakers. At 2-3 coming into this week they were in fourth place.
NASR got the 3-0 clean sweep in their first meeting in week four and a repeat performance was off the table in the very first matchup. Phenom’s Cammy beat AngryBird’s Zeku in an 2-1 thriller of a match with nearly non-stop offense on both sides. Early in the Team Battle Big Bird asked Problem X why Phenom would take Cammy and they found out why first-hand. Phenom’s Cammy was suffocating, getting a tough win against AngryBird and eliminating Big Bird in dominating fashion to wrap it up. Another big factor in NORDAVIND’s favor this week was Luffy finally being able to play his main character. His R.Mika was banned for the entirety of the first half of this season and now in the home stretch he is finally free. The matchup between Luffy’s R. Mika and Problem X’s Alex was something to behold. If you are a fan of big damage grapplers this is a match you must see.
NORDAVIND takes this one 3-1 with a performance that starkly demonstrates how dangerous this team will be for the rest of the season. Luffy having R. Mika for the rest of the season is such a huge boost and their impressive win against first place NASR is striking.
| Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Score |
| Phenom | NORDAVIND | Cammy | defeated | AngryBird | NASR | Zeku | 2-1 |
| Big Bird | NASR | Rashid | defeated | Veggey | NORDAVIND | Birdie | 2-0 |
| Luffy | NORDAVIND | R. Mika | defeated | Problem X | NASR | Alex | 2-1 |
| Phenom | NORDAVIND | Cammy | defeated | Big Bird | NASR | Rashid | 2-0 |
TEAM STANDINGS
The win by BANDITS is not just big for their team but also for the standings at large. With VODAFONE GIANTS taking another loss it brings the standings even closer and more interesting. NORDAVIND’s performance this week also contributes to the tightening of the standings. NASR is still solidly in first place but after that it’s anyone’s game.
| Team | Record |
| NASR | 7-2 |
| VODAFONE GIANTS | 4-4 |
| NORDAVIND | 3-3 |
| PANDA GLOBAL | 3-4 |
| BANDITS | 3-4 |
| UYU | 2-5 |
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK!
Be sure to catch the next episode on Twitch and YouTube at 4:00 PM Pacific, 7:00 PM Eastern!