Coming into week six of Street Fighter League: Pro-US 2021 season four there was still no clear cut frontrunner. It looked like VODAFONE GIANTS was that team up until week four when they took a stunning upset loss to BANDITS. Sitting at first place coming into this week was Team NASR, who has won their last three Team Battles, but there was only one game separating them from the next two teams on the standings; VODAFONE GIANTS and PANDA GLOBAL. In this week’s episode the top two teams on the standings faced off with NASR taking on VODAFONE GIANTS in the first Team Battle. Following that up we had PANDA GLOBAL going head to head with BANDITS.
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 NASR
Banned Characters: Rashid and Dhalsim
The two top teams on the standings coming into this week, Big Bird’s NASR and Infexious’ VODAFONE GIANTS, faced off in the first Team Battle of week six. VODAFONE GIANTS started the season off with two strong wins but they took a loss to BANDITS in week four. NASR, in contrast, took a loss to PANDA GLOBAL in the very first week but went on to win three straight.
Problem X and Infexious were the first players to compete with Problem X finally bringing out his M. Bison against Infexious’ Zeku. Infexious did a great job of making it difficult for Problem X to get in, using Old Zeku’s normals and special moves to keep M. Bison away. Problem X worked his way into advantageous positions and several times got Zeku backed into a corner. The set would go to the very last round to decide but Problem X got the 2-1 win.
In round two Big Bird faced Mister Crimson. Both players had their primary characters banned so Big Bird used his Ken while Mister Crimson brought out G. Mister Crimson had some bright spots in this set but his G looked outclassed by Big Bird’s Ken and it would end with another NASR victory.
VegaPatch was the last remaining player for VODAFONE GIANTS against a full strength NASR. This was the first time since week one that he was allowed to use his F.A.N.G. and it was a real treat to watch. Things started off well with VegaPatch pulling off a tough win against AngryBird’s Seth 2-1, which is a tremendous feat. Next up he went against Problem X’s M. Bison and in the first round they got a rare double KO. After that it seemed as though Problem X was able to keep F.A.N.G. from imposing his mix-up heavy gameplan and kept him mostly in check, going on to win 2-0. If there wasn’t a clear frontrunner before this week it might be NASR after this performance.
| Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Score |
| Problem X | NASR | M. Bison | defeated | Infexious | VODAFONE GIANTS | Zeku | 2-1 |
| Big Bird | NASR | Ken | defeated | Mister Crimson | VODAFONE GIANTS | G | 2-0 |
| VegaPatch | VODAFONE GIANTS | F.A.N.G. | defeated | AngryBird | NASR | Seth | 2-1 |
| Problem X | NASR | M. Bison | defeated | VegaPatch | VODAFONE GIANTS | F.A.N.G. | 2-0 |
PANDA GLOBAL vs BANDITS
Banned Characters: Guile and Kolin
Punk’s PANDA GLOBAL came into this week in second place with a 2-1 record. Their loss came in week three against VODAFONE GIANTS but their road so far has not been an easy one. All three of their Team Battles before this went the full five rounds to decide. Team BANDITS, led by MenaRD, has had a tougher road coming in 1-2. Their win was a huge one against VODAFONE GIANTS in week four but they dropped one last week against NASR. PANDA GLOBAL had a close call here against BANDITS winning 3-2 but once again it took the full five rounds.
This was another tough loss for BANDITS as they were within striking distance of taking this win. The first round of the Team Battle between Punk and Caba was much closer than almost anyone would have expected considering that Punk was using his main in Karin and Caba was using G due to Guile being banned. Caba won the first game of the matchup and was very close on the other two. This round proved to be pivotal for the Team Battle as BANDITS didn’t get anywhere near this close to taking out Punk in the last rounds.
Venatori’s Cammy easily handled Nephew’s Rose and MenaRD’s Balrog bullied Justin Wong’s Menat in the next two rounds, both matchups rather decisively 2-0. BANDITS was in a great position here but the last remaining player was Punk, one of the world’s best players, who is used to this kind of pressure. Punk may have had to work hard to beat Caba’s G but he did not have the same difficulties against BANDITS’ two remaining players. Punk easily dispatched Venatori and MenaRD to get the OCV win for his team.
| Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Score |
| Punk | PANDA GLOBAL | Karin | defeated | Caba | BANDITS | G | 2-1 |
| Venatori | BANDITS | Cammy | defeated | Nephew | PANDA GLOBAL | Rose | 2-0 |
| MenaRD | BANDITS | Balrog | defeated | Justin Wong | PANDA GLOBAL | Menat | 2-0 |
| Punk | PANDA GLOBAL | Karin | defeated | Venatori | BANDITS | Cammy | 2-0 |
| Punk | PANDA GLOBAL | Karin | defeated | MenaRD | BANDITS | Balrog | 2-0 |
TEAM STANDINGS
NASR extends their lead over most of the field with a 4-1 record but PANDA GLOBAL is still only one game back in second place at 3-1 after their respective wins this week. VODAFONE GIANTS drops to third place at 2-2. The rest of the standings remain the same with NORDAVIND at 1-2 and BANDITS and UYU at 1-3.
| Team | Record |
| NASR | 4-1 |
| PANDA GLOBAL | 3-1 |
| VODAFONE GIANTS | 2-2 |
| NORDAVIND | 1-2 |
| BANDITS | 1-3 |
| UYU | 1-3 |
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK!
Be sure to catch the next episode on Twitch and YouTube at 4:00 PM Pacific, 7:00 PM Eastern!