Season five of STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE has been the most competitive yet. With the new points system introduced this season even teams that have not gotten the Team Battle wins are still in the running because they earned more points in the close contests even if it didn’t result in an overall victory. Only two weeks remain in the regular season and while the top two spots have been secured by NASR X BANDITS and ENDEMIC there are still two more up for grabs! At the start of this week every team still had an opportunity to ultimately earn the spot.
The first of this week’s Team Battles was RED ROOSTER as the home team versus NASR X BANDITS. RED ROOSTER came into this week in last place but were only 20 points behind CL GAMING in fourth place and 35 points behind UYU in third place. With two Team Battles left they had the opportunity to get into one of those spots. NASR X BANDITS is locked into first place so they had nothing at stake this week but had the opportunity to experiment in preparation for the playoffs without risk.
Up next we had CL GAMING as the home team against PANDA GLOBAL. With just 15 points separating them on the standings and time running short this one was crucial to both teams. Last week both teams snapped losing streaks with CL GAMING breaking a three battle losing streak against RED ROOSTER and PANDA GLOBAL shrugging off a big five battle losing streak against ENDEMIC.
If you missed any of season 5 and want to get caught up before reading further, check out the STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE: Pro-US Season 5 Archive or the Capcom Fighters YouTube channel’s STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE: Pro-US Season 5 video playlist for the full episodes.
RED ROOSTER (HOME) vs NASR X BANDITS (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Caba (Guile), 2) Big Bird (Rashid), 3) AngryBird (Ken), SUB) MenaRD
RED ROOSTER was in last place coming into this week going up against a nigh-unstoppable NASR X BANDITS in first place. They needed a big win and they came away with just that. RED ROOSTER’s 30-10 win here gives them a much neded boost in the standings and puts them in a position to contend for one of those playoff spots.
The first two matches were incredibly close with both teams taking a win for 10 points. Ajax Fidelity started off going in to face Caba’s Guile with his ferocious Ed. Ajax Fidelity got a dominating win in the first game with his characteristic withering offense centered on Flicker. He also had success pushing Caba into the corner and making it hard to get out. In the second game things got interesting when Caba switched to G and from that point on it was very back and forth with both players trading momentum. Caba’s G had some huge damage combos but Ajax Fidelity was able to adapt, doing a good job with anti-air kicks and strong neutral. Ajax Fidelity would come out on top 2-1.
Big Bird and his Rashid was next in the lineup and RED ROOSTER sent in HotDog29 with his M. Bison against him. Big Bird won huge in the first game with hyperactive movements and some smothering offense. From the second game HotDog29 was able to significantly slow down Big Bird’s pace with some strong positioning and neutral as well as effective anti-airs. HotDog29 won game two and the third game was a tug of war with both players trading rounds. Big Bird won the last round to win 2-1 to tie up the score.
The first two matches were very close but the last match in the anchor was a bit of an anti-climax in the best way for RED ROOSTER. AngryBird has been an imposing player to face since he first entered STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE and has come through time and again for his team in the anchor position. RED ROOSTER used Smug to face him with his G while AngryBird had selected Ken. This was a very one sided match with Smug’s G beating AngryBird three games straight. Smug made some fantastic reads and made the most of G’s huge damage combos. It was very difficult for AngryBird’s Ken to get in reliably. Smug also blocked several Ken EX Dragon Punches and got punishes for huge damage. Smug has only been used sparingly by RED ROOSTER this season but his last two outings have been wins with this one spectacularly so. This is sure to be a huge boost to Smug’s confidence as his team enters the home stretch.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Ajax Fidelity | RED ROOSTER | Ed | defeated | Caba | NASR X BANDITS | Guile/G | 2-1 |
| 2 | Big Bird | NASR X BANDITS | Rashid | defeated | HotDog29 | RED ROOSTER | M. Bison | 2-1 |
| 3 | Smug | RED ROOSTER | G | defeated | AngryBird | NASR X BANDITS | Ken | 3-0 |
| Tie-Breaker | – | – | – | defeated | – | – | – | – |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 30 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| AWAY | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
CL GAMING (HOME) vs PANDA GLOBAL (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) JB (Rashid), 2) Kami (Luke), 3) Punk (Luke), SUB) Nephew
CL GAMING comes away with a tremendous 40-0 sweep this week against PANDA GLOBAL in a great performance by all three players. As with the first of this week’s Team Battles the first two matches were very competitive with Justakid’s Juri narrowly beating JB’s Rashid 2-1 and Samurai edging out Kami in the first of two Luke mirror-matches.
The first match was very close with both players trading games in the first two games. Justakid’s Juri and JB’s Rashid are both highly mobile characters with lots of offensive potential so it was a matter of which player can impose their will on the other. Justakid was just able to get more interactions in his favor and had great success with throws to push him on top.
Samurai and Kami played a tense Luke mirror-match next. Both played patiently in this match, being cautious in the neutral game looking for openings. Samurai had a lot of success early by getting a life lead then using the clock against his opponent to force a mistake. He’s also not afraid to win with a time-out. As the match progressed Kami seemed to start using Samurai’s strategy against him. This one would go to the very last round during which Samurai went on an offensive run and was able to finish off Kami with a Critical Art. Kami had some amazing play in this set but Samurai came out on top.
It was capped off with ChrisCCH getting a stunning 3-0 win against Punk in another Luke mirror-match. The match was mostly played in the neutral and ChrisCCH was just able to get a lot more hit-confirms into damage on a regular basis. This one seemed to be in ChrisCCH’s control for almost the entirety of the match. It’s not ofen that you see Punk get beaten three straight like this and it had huge consequences for both teams. For CL GAMING they vault over UYU into third place on the standings and PANDA GLOBAL now needs a miracle to get into the playoffs.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Justakid | CL GAMING | Juri | defeated | JB | PANDA GLOBAL | Rashid | 2-1 |
| 2 | Samurai | CL GAMING | Luke | defeated | Kami | PANDA GLOBAL | Luke | 2-1 |
| 3 | ChrisCCH | CL GAMING | Luke | defeated | Punk | PANDA GLOBAL | Luke | 3-0 |
| Tie-Breaker | defeated |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 40 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 0 |
| AWAY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
TEAM STANDINGS
CL GAMING’s 40 point win over PANDA GLOBAL was huge, vaulting the former over UYU into third place and the latter down into sixth place. RED ROOSTER moves to just five points behind UYU. It’s going to be an intense last week of the regular season so be sure to tune in!
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK!
Be sure to catch the next episode on Twitch and YouTube on Friday at 4:00 PM Pacific, 7:00 PM Eastern!