CL GAMING and PANDA GLOBAL started off this week’s action with an incredible Team Battle with a dramatic finish. Both teams were riding in the middle of the standings at third and fourth place respectively prior to this week and need every point to move up. CL GAMING had a big win against RED ROOSTER last week while PANDA GLOBAL’s latest Team Battle was a loss against UYU in week four with DCQ making a big impact with an upset win against Punk.
The second Team Battle this week was NASR X BANDITS going head to head against UYU. NASR comes into this week as the only undefeated team at 3-0. Their last win was a close fight against CL GAMING ending with an epic duel between AngryBird and ChrisCCH. UYU had a big win against PANDA GLOBAL in week four only to have the wind taken out their sails with a loss last week to ENDEMIC. The result of this Team Battle would be a first for season five.
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.
PANDA GLOBAL (HOME) vs CL GAMING (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Justakid (Juri), 2) Samurai (Luke), 3) ChrisCCH (Luke), SUB) Filipinoman
The first player in CL GAMING’s lineup was Justakid with his Juri. PANDA GLOBAL decided to send in Kami using Luke for this match and it did not go well for Kami. Luke is a very strong character but Justakid’s Juri was in control for most of this match, making great use of the character’s high maneuverabilty, useful V-Skill 2 and her stored moves to keep Luke on the defensive for most of the matchup. Justakid went on to win the first match 2-0 in a strong start for CL GAMING.
PANDAL GLOBAL’s situation did not improve in the second match with JB and his Rashid stepping in against Samurai’s Luke. Both players played cautiously with a lot of time being spent in the neutral, using pokes to look for an opening. There were some flurries of more aggressive offense on both sides and Samurai came out on top more often in these exchanges. Samurai won the second game after JB took a gamble that resulted in putting himself in the corner. It was another 2-0 victory for CL GAMING which extended their lead to 20-0.
It was time for the all-important anchor position and to nobody’s surprise it was Punk going in to face ChrisCCH in a Luke mirror-match. The match started off with an almost even back and forth with both players playing cautiously in the neutral game looking for a mistake. ChrisCCH won game one but the situation changed starting in the second game. The exchanges in the neutral game were more and more in Punk’s favor and he would win to tie it up. Punk looked expressionless in game one but with this win in game two his smile returned and so too did his between match banter. Punk would go on to win the next two games as the momentum fully swung in his favor. After this 3-1 win Punk was brimming with confidence as he tied the score in the Team Battle 20-20.
For the one game tie-breaker match CL GAMING swithched things up and decided to send Samurai against Punk in another Luke mirror match. In this game it was the laser-focused Samurai against the playful and confident Punk. This was a tense game with both players trading momentum several times. Samurai won round one by running out the clock, with both players throwing out Sandblasters at range in the final scramble. Punk came back strong to win round two but Samurai got the final word in a strong round three, winning the round comfortably. It was a tremendous win for Samurai and for CL GAMING.
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 20 | 0 | 0 | 20 | – |
| AWAY | 25 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 5 |
NASR X BANDITS (HOME) vs UYU (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Xian (Seth), 2) NL (Luke), 3) DCQ (Urien), SUB) Oil King
That first Team Battle was a tough act to follow and it fell to NASR X BANDITS against UYU. Up first was Big Bird using Ken going up against Xian and his Seth. This match was very one sided with Big Bird’s Ken making quick work of Seth. Xian had several rounds where he started strong and built a nice life lead only to watch it disappear quickly after a Ken counter-attack that usually resulted in Seth being in the corner. This was a quick 2-0 win for Big Bird to put them in the lead.
Up next it was Caba using G taking on NL using Luke and it was a close match. Caba won the first game playing patiently and using G’s high damage combos to punish mistakes and exploit openings. Most of these combos carried Luke to the corner, putting him at a disadvantage. In the second game NL used Luke’s normals and Sandblaster to blunt G’s advances, making G fight out of the corner several times. NL would tie up the score and the final game would go to the very last round. In that final round Caba landed a very early Critical Art for big damage and followed that up with a brutal damage combo off a subsequent mistake by NL. Caba would win that last round confortably to get a 2-1 victory over NL.
AngryBird is one of STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE’s greatest closers and he would go in against DCQ in the Team Battle’s final match. DCQ started off strong with his Urien making great use of his special moves and mirrors to take the win in the first game against AngryBird’s Ken. From the second game onward AngryBird got the momentum and managed to keep it, using Ken’s fireballs, run, and big corner-carry combos to great effect. There were several instances where DCQ went on a big damage run to get a lead only to have it reversed and lose. AngryBird would go on to win 3-1 to give STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE season 5 its first 40-0 clean sweep!
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Big Bird | NASR X BANDITS | Ken | defeated | Xian | UYU | Seth | 2-0 |
| 2 | Caba | NASR X BANDITS | G | defeated | NL | UYU | Luke | 2-1 |
| 3 | AngryBird | NASR X BANDITS | Ken | defeated | DCQ | UYU | Urien | 3-1 |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 40 | 10 | 10 | 20 | – |
| AWAY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
TEAM STANDINGS
As week five comes to a close here are the current standings. NASR X BANDITS takes the lead with their 40-0 clean sweep this week while the standings largely remain unchanged outside of first and second.
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!