The competition is heating up as we move into the fourth week of Street Fighter League: Pro-US. NASR, a “super team” on paper due to the caliber of its players, is one of two teams who are favorites this season. The other is BANDITS, also composed of strong players and headed by two-time Capcom Cup Champion MenaRD. Both teams are at the top of the leaderboard this week but not by much, with NASR having some close calls and BANDITS having a 2-2 record. VERSUS VORTEX and UYU are both hot on their heels while RED ROOSTER is still in striking distance. This was another spectacular week for Street Fighter League with two of the Team Battles going to the tiebreaker with both having some sensational matches in the anchor position.
If you missed any of season 6 and want to get caught up before reading further, check out the STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE: Pro-US Season 6 Archive or the Capcom Fighters YouTube channel’s STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE: Pro-US Season 6 video playlist for the full episodes.
VERSUS VORTEX (HOME) vs NASR (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Nephew (Juri), 2) Big Bird (Rashid), 3) AngryBird (Ken), Punk (Cammy)
This week’s action started off with a thriller with VERSUS VORTEX as the home team taking on undefeated NASR. NASR scraped out a 25-20 win in another tiebreaker, it’s second this season. VERSUS VORTEX was literally a hit away from victory at several points during the anchor match only to have AngryBird snatch it away.
The first two matches of this Team Battle were one-sided affairs in favor of VERSUS VORTEX. NASR led their player order with Nephew using Juri and VERSUS VORTEX sent in NL and his Luke to face him. This was the first time Nephew played a full set this season, having only played in a tiebreaker match in week 1 previously. NL got a convincing 2-0 win in that first match.
Following that up Xian took on Big Bird. Big Bird decided to use Rashid in this match, his main character in Street Fighter V, against Xian’s Dee Jay. Xian knocked out Big Bird 2-0 in heavily lopsided performance. Xian was very effective at using Dee Jay’s attacks at all ranges as well as throw loops to keep Big Bird guessing and unable to establish his offense. This match mostly under Xian’s control from start to finish.
The real fireworks were in the anchor match and this one was a real edge of your seat barn burner. It was little surprise that NASR slotted AngryBird and his Ken in this spot and DCQ was designated to try to take him down. DCQ was a good choice as he is a strong JP player. The only match AngryBird lost this season was to BananaKen last week, another JP player. This was an incredibly back and forth match where both players made adjustments and counter-adjustments as momentum swung like a pendulum. AngryBird would win this 3-2 by the narrowest of margins as DCQ was literally one hit away from victory more than once. In the very last round was an epic finish where both players were in low health and in burnout. In a scramble AngryBird won with a chipout using his Super.
The score was now tied 20-20 and it was time for a tiebreaker. Oil King using Rashid faced Punk’s Cammy in a single game. Punk went on to win this one handily to give NASR its fourth win.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | NL | VERSUS VORTEX | Luke | defeated | Nephew | NASR | Juri | 2-0 |
| 2 | XIAN | VERSUS VORTEX | Dee Jay | defeated | Big Bird | NASR | Rashid | 2-0 |
| 3 | AngryBird | NASR | Ken | defeated | DCQ | VERSUS VORTEX | JP | 3-2 |
| Tie-Breaker | Punk | NASR | Cammy | defeated | Oil King | VERSUS VORTEX | Rashid | 1-0 |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 20 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| AWAY | 25 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 5 |
UYU(HOME) vs RED ROOSTER (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) PR Balrog (Juri), 2) Ajax Fidelity (Juri), 3) BananaKen (JP), SUB) Mono
RED ROOSTER has so far proven to be a dangerous team so far this season and is very close to being one of this season’s elite. After a 40-0 win to start the season they would lose three straight Team Battles with this week’s loss to UYU included. Two of those Team Battles, again including this week, went to tiebreaker. Aside from Mono, who has only played in one full set and a tiebreaker game so far, each of RED ROOSTER’s players has proven they can hang with anyone in this competition. BananaKen is one of the surprise standouts this season. So far his only loss has been to MenaRD in week two and since MenaRD has yet to be beaten so far this season he has a lot of company there.
Much like the first Team Battle this week the momentum was all in favor of one team in the first two matches. NuckleDu had a great Guile performance as he beat PR Balrog’s Juri 2-0. NuckleDu used Guile’s zoning to great effect and made it difficult for his opponent’s Juri to approach.
RED ROOSTER decided to put Ajax Fidelity, their other Juri player, in the second slot and Dual Kevin’s Luke went in to challenge. Dual Kevin played patiently and exhibited some good defense. He also didn’t seem afraid to fight out of the corner. Ajax Fidelity was just outplayed here, and Dual Kevin won 2-0.
It was BananaKen against VXBao in the anchor position in a sensational JP mirror match. VXBao started things off with a perfect round but from there it was very back-and-forth match with many momentum swings. VXBao had the edge early but BananaKen had more success when he began using more of JP’s ranged zoning attacks and even managed to land a clutch command grab. Despite winning 3 perfect rounds during this match BananaKen would win 3-2 after landing a clutch jump-in to close the final game.
It was time for this week’s second tiebreaker as Zhen stepped forth to take on Mono. This was another mirror match, this time with Dee Jay. As you would expect from a Dee Jay mirror match it was fast paced with virtually nonstop offense, either up close or slinging projectiles across the screen. It was a very close game but in the final round Zhen made a comeback from a life deficit to win the game and the Team Battle for UYU.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | NuckleDu | UYU | Guile | defeated | PR Balrog | RED ROOSTER | Juri | 2-0 |
| 2 | Dual Kevin | UYU | Luke | defeated | Ajax Fidelity | RED ROOSTER | Juri | 2-0 |
| 3 | BananaKen | RED ROOSTER | JP | defeated | VXBao | UYU | JP | 3-2 |
| Tie-Breaker | Zhen | RED ROOSTER | Dee Jay | defeated | Mono | RED ROOSTER | Dee Jay | 1-0 |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 25 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 5 |
| AWAY | 20 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
ENDEMIC (HOME) vs BANDITS (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Xiao Hai (Ken), 2) Chris Tatarian (Ken), 3) MenaRD (Luke), 4) Caba
BANDITS got a tremendous 40-0 win this week against ENDEMIC, who are struggling to find any momentum early in the season. This was a very one-sided Team Battle with BANDITS only losing a single game. This was despite ENDEMIC being the home team and having the advantage of knowing the player order and character choices of their opponents.
From start to finish this Team Battle was completely in the control of BANDITS. In the first match ENDEMIC pitted FlashMetroid against Xiao Hai’s Ken. FlashMetroid decided to use Blanka and Xiao Hai seemed to have little trouble handling the character, winning four straight rounds. FlashMetroid tried to use Blanka’s mixups and Blanka Ball attacks but Xiao Hai’s reactions and decision-making were excellent.
One big development for BANDITS happened in the next match as they finally got Chris Tatarian his first full set. Facing his Ken ENDEMIC sent Samurai and his Luke. This was ENDEMIC’s brightest spot in an otherwise lackluster performance. Both players traded momentum back and forth and both players missed damage opportunities or dropped combos. Despite the play being shaky in spots, Chris Tatarian was able to make enough plays to win 2-1. Getting Chris Tatarian his first win in a full set is sure to be a boost to his confidence, which is sure to make him more relaxed and effective in future Team Battles.
ChrisCCH and his Ken faced MenaRD in the anchor match and MenaRD would cruise to a 3-0 win. ChrisCCH did not look comfortable in this match, and while he did have spurts of success here and there it was nowhere near enough to beat arguably the world’s best player.
After this win BANDITS now has two shutouts to its credit with the first one being against RED ROOSTER in week two. The two shutouts earned BANDITS enough points to put them into first place on the standings over NASR, despite BANDITS only having a 2-2 record and the latter being undefeated.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Xiao Hai | BANDITS | Ken | defeated | FlashMetroid | ENDEMIC | Blanka | 2-0 |
| 2 | Chris Tatarian | BANDITS | Ken | defeated | Samurai | ENDEMIC | Luke | 2-0 |
| 3 | MenaRD | BANDITS | Luke | defeated | ChrisCCH | ENDEMIC | Ken | 3-0 |
| Tie-Breaker | – | – | – | defeated | – | – | – | – |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AWAY | 40 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 0 |
TEAM STANDINGS
BANDITS takes the first place spot despite a 2-2 record thanks to two 40-0 wins. NASR, despite a perfect record, drops to second. UYU, VERSUS VORTEX, and RED ROOSTER are in the middle with ENDEMIC in last place.
| BANDITS | 2-2 | 120 |
| NASR | 4-0 | 110 |
| UYU | 2-2 | 90 |
| VERSUS VORTEX | 2-2 | 85 |
| RED ROOSTER | 1-3 | 70 |
| ENDEMIC | 1-3 | 35 |
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK!
Be sure to catch the next episode on Twitch and YouTube on Wednesday at 4:00 PM Pacific, 7:00 PM Eastern!