FLYQUEST came into this week with the lead in the standings, starting the season with a close call followed by a blowout win last week. They would face another challenge this week against FIGHTING SPIRIT, in a team battle that would need a tiebreaker to decide. For BANDITS the road so far has been tough, with both of their initial team battles being decided by slim margins. This week they took on RED ROOSTER, who has struggled so far at the bottom of the standings but hoped their redemption arc would start here. CLOUD9 has proven formidable so far this season coming into this week in second place. SHOPIFY REBELLION, who took a crushing loss last week, hoped to regroup this week against them.
If you missed any of season 7 and want to get caught up before reading further, check out the STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE: Pro-US Season 7 Archive or the Capcom Fighters YouTube channel’s STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE: Pro-US Season 6 video playlist for the full episodes.
BANDITS (HOME) vs RED ROOSTER (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Mono (A.K.I.), 2) Ajax Fidelity (Ed), 3) URIEL VELORIO (Ken), SUB) Brutus
Caba stepped up in the anchor position to get the win for BANDITS last week and that momentum carried forward into a 40-0 shutout against RED ROOSTER. BANDITS was firing on all cylinders, with each player winning their matches in impressive fashion. For RED ROOSTER this crushing loss follows a 10-30 loss against FIGHTING SPIRIT last week. They will need to find a way to rebound.
Mono with his A.K.I. led the RED ROOSTER player order and MenaRD took up the challenge with his Blanka. MenaRD lost his first two matches this season by slim margins but he was back on track in this one-sided performance. MenaRD was very effective with throw mixups against Mono, and would lose only one round in two games as he cruised to a 2-0 win.
The most exciting and competitive match of the Team Battle was Luiman’s Dhalsim taking on Ajax Fidelity’s Ed. Dhalsim has a lot of ways to make Ed’s day difficult with his long reach and teleports. Ajax Fidelity had to play patiently and struggle for every chance to get in while Luiman played his zoning game. The match was back and forth, going to the very last round where Luiman chipped out his opponent with Critical Art while he was in burnout.
RED ROOSTER tested Uriel Velorio’s Ken for the first time in the anchor position and Caba with his Guile attempted to recreate his success last week. Uriel Velorio was very aggressive in game one and won in two rounds, keeping Caba off balance. After the first game Caba was able to establish Guile’s gameplan of zoning and projectiles and won three games straight to finish the match 3-1.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | MenaRD | BANDITS | Blanka | defeated | Mono | RED ROOSTER | A.K.I. | 2-0 |
| 2 | Luiman20 | BANDITS | Dhalsim | defeated | Ajax Fidelity | RED ROOSTER | Ed | 2-1 |
| 3 | Caba | BANDITS | Guile | defeated | Ajax Velorio | RED ROOSTER | Ken | 3-1 |
| EX | – | – | – | defeated | – | – | – | – |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 40 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 0 |
| AWAY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CLOUD9 (HOME) vs SHOPIFY REBELLION (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) NuckleDu (Guile), 2) Dual Kevin (Rashid), 3) HotDog29 (M.Bison), SUB) Sayff
SHOPIFY REBELLION took the season’s first shutout loss last week and was looking to start a comeback against CLOUD9, who came into this week after a narrow 20-25 loss in a tiebreaker against BANDITS. This was a competitive Team Battle but Booce, given his first opportunity in the anchor position, continued to impress and helped deliver CLOUD9 the 30-10 victory.
The first two matches were interesting in that they were both Rashid vs Guile matchups. JB’s Rashid took on NuckleDu’s Guile in the first match and this was the closest match of the Team Battle. NuckleDu had a lot of success establishing Guile’s projectile and zoning, making it difficult for Rashid to approach. JB managed to eventually get in, but it was tough going. In the final round of the final game JB would clutch hit confirm into Super to win 2-1.
The same matchup but characters switch teams as Lexx’s Guile faced Dual Kevin’s Rashid. This match was not as competitive as the previous one, with Dual Kevin’s Rashid winning 2-0.
Booce and his Ken got the chance to play the anchor position for the first time as he faced off against HotDog29’s M.Bison. Booce, who burst onto the competitive scene in the online World Warrior events this year, has shown that he can play the high-stakes sets offline as well. Booce won a dominating game one and a more contested game two. HotDog29 was able to get some momentum to win game three but Booce would win the final game to stay undefeated so far this season with a 3-1 win.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | JB | CLOUD9 | Rashid | defeated | NuckleDu | SHOPIFY REBELLION | Guile | 2-1 |
| 2 | Dual Kevin | SHOPIFY REBELLION | Rashid | defeated | Lexx | CLOUD9 | Guile | 2-0 |
| 3 | Booce | CLOUD9 | Ken | defeated | HotDog29 | SHOPIFY REBELLION | M.Bison | 3-1 |
| EX | defeated |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 30 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| AWAY | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
FLYQUEST(HOME) vs FIGHTING SPIRIT (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Oil King (Rashid), 2) NL (Akuma), 3) DCQ (M.Bison), SUB) Xian
The final Team Battle this week was a nailbiter between FLYQUEST and FIGHTING SPIRIT. FLYQUEST was the last undefeated team this season coming into this week and the streak remains unbroken. FIGHTING SPIRIT put forth a valiant effort but FLYQUEST would win 25-20 after a tiebreaker match.
FLYQUEST lost the first two matches of the Team Battle but was able to rebound, with Punk once again turning things around from the anchor position. Oil King with his Rashid won a pretty dominating first match against Psycho’s Kimberly. Psycho has performed well in his first few matches this season but Oil King won 2-0 here.
The second match of the Team Battle between NL’s Akuma and ChrisCCH’s Ed was also a 2-0 win for FIGHTING SPIRIT. Despite the one-sided score, ChrisCCH put up stiff resistance in this match. For this match a few clutch plays made the difference, with a wakeup Raging Demon and the end of game one and a surprise OD Dragon Punch at the end of game two being standouts.
FLYQUEST was behind 0-20, but Punk has faced this situation many times over his many seasons of SFL. His Cammy went up against DCQ’s formidable M.Bison and it would be a tough match. You wouldn’t know it by watching Punk’s demeanor, as he was in good spirits even in times when the situation was in DCQ’s favor. For most of this set Punk seemed to have DCQ on the back foot. Punk would jab DCQ out of OD Psycho Crusher to finish the match with style 3-1 and force a tiebreaker.
In the tiebreaker match Punk stayed on as NL sat back down to face him. Punk won round one and NL answered him right back with a perfect round two but Punk would win the final round.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Oil King | FIGHTING SPIRIT | Rashid | defeated | Psycho | FLYQUEST | Kimberly | 2-0 |
| 2 | NL | FIGHTING SPIRIT | Akuma | defeated | ChrisCCH | FLYQUEST | Ed | 2-0 |
| 3 | Punk | FLYQUEST | Cammy | defeated | DCQ | FIGHTING SPIRIT | M.Bison | 3-1 |
| EX | Punk | FLYQUEST | Cammy | defeated | NL | FIGHTING SPIRIT | Akuma | 1-0 |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 25 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 5 |
| AWAY | 20 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
TEAM STANDINGS
FLYQUEST retains its lead after a tough Team Battle this week with CLOUD9 and BANDITS close behind. FIGHTING SPIRIT is in fourth place. SHOPIFY REBELLION and RED ROOSTER are in the bottom spots but there is still plenty of time for a rebound.
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK!
Be sure to catch the next episode on Twitch and YouTube on Wednesday at 4 PM Pacific, 7PM Eastern!