It’s week ten of STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE: Pro-US 2019 season two and the playoffs are approaching fast. Only the top four teams will make the cut to move on to the playoffs. The placements within that top four are also important as it will determine the starting positions on the playoff bracket with the top two teams starting in Winners and the bottom two in Losers. There’s a lot on the line and time is running short! Here’s a recap of this week’s episode!
If you missed our recap of last week’s episode, browse here to check that out.
Miss an Episode?
If you missed any of season one and want to get caught up before reading further, check out the STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE: Pro-US 2019 Season 1 Archive or the Capcom Fighters YouTube channel’s STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE: Pro-US 2019 video playlist for the full episodes.
Team SPIRIT defeats Team FROST 3-1
Result from Battle in Week 5: SPIRIT defeats FROST 3-0, character bans: Karin and Rashid
In their first Team Battle in week five CJ Truth’s SPIRIT got the clean sweep against Dual Kevin’s FROST 3-0. The rematch would go only slightly better for FROST but the result is still the same: a SPIRIT win.
The only real bright spot for FROST was Samurai who once again had the weight of his team on his shoulders. Even with his Akuma banned and using Ryu, Samurai put up a valiant fight as he won a very close match against CJ Truth in the second round.
For SPIRIT we got another look at iDom’s Poison due to the Laura ban, and he continues to look incredibly strong with the character. Dual Kevin looked to be at a loss as to how to approach with his Rashid against Poison’s long range attacks.
SPIRIT’s Sabin faced off against and defeated Samurai in the fourth round 2-1. The match between these two players was incredibly close and came down to a desperate scramble in the very last round. Sabin was visibly relieved when he landed the last hit.
Character Bans: Akuma and Laura
Team | Player | Character | Team | Player | Character | Score | |
SPIRIT | Sabin | Dhalsim | defeated | FROST | Sherryjenix | Necalli | 2-0 |
FROST | Samurai | Ryu | defeated | SPIRIT | CJ Truth | Cammy | 2-1 |
SPIRIT | iDom | Poison | defeated | FROST | Dual Kevin | Rashid | 2-0 |
SPIRIT | Sabin | Dhalsim | defeated | FROST | Samurai | Ryu | 2-1 |
Team INFERNO defeats Team PSYCHO 3-1
Result from Battle in Week 5: PSYCHO defeats INFERNO 3-2, character bans: G and Rashid
Smug’s Team PSYCHO got their first win of season two against Punk’s INFERNO in a very close 3-2 Team Battle in week 5. Here in week ten INFERNO got the win 3-1.
Smug defeated BrolyLegs in the first round of the Team Battle but it was all downhill from there as Punk and JB took turns eliminating PSYCHO’s team members. We will have to see next week if INFERNO can make it into the top 2 to start in the Winners bracket during the playoffs. As for PSYCHO, they are out of contention for the top four playoff spots and can only play the role of spoiler.
Character Bans: Dhalsim and Karin
Team | Player | Character | Team | Player | Character | Score | |
PSYCHO | Smug | Balrog | defeated | INFERNO | BrolyLegs | Chun-Li | 2-0 |
INFERNO | Punk | Cammy | defeated | PSYCHO | Automattock | Sagat | 2-0 |
INFERNO | JB | Rashid | defeated | PSYCHO | Dankadillas | G | 2-0 |
INFERNO | Punk | Cammy | defeated | PSYCHO | Smug | Balrog | 2-0 |
Team GALE defeats Team STORM 3-0
Result from Battle in Week 5: GALE defeats STORM 3-0, character bans: R.Mika and Ibuki
NuckleDu’s Team GALE and 801 Strider’s Team STORM held the first and second spots on the standings respectively going into this week. In a surprise move, both teams decided to ban characters that nobody on either team plays. The most likely explanation for this bizarre strategy is that both teams came to an agreement before the Team Battle to do this so that both teams can fight head to head at full power.
The last time these two teams met in week five GALE washed team STORM 3-0. STORM had something to prove here but failed to redeem themselves, losing once again to GALE with the same result. It was a very exciting Team Battle to watch as it had the feeling of a finals match due to the energy all players exhibited.
With this loss STORM is still in second place but only due to tie-breakers. If they lose next week they could fall out of the top two and start the playoffs in the Losers bracket. Many will wonder if throwing away their bans this week was worth it.
Character Bans: Ryu and F.A.N.G.
Team | Player | Character | Team | Player | Character | Score | |
GALE | RobTV | Karin | defeated | STORM | Tommy2Step | Urien | 2-0 |
GALE | Shine | Ibuki | defeated | STORM | Mo-Joe | R.Mika | 2-1 |
GALE | NuckleDu | Cammy | defeated | STORM | 801 Strider | G | 2-0 |
Team Standings
With just one more week to go before the top 4 playoffs we have Team GALE still holding the top spot at 7-2. Next week will be very interesting indeed as second through fourth place hold the same record with tie-breakers deciding the placements. STORM holds on to second place despite its loss this week, INFERNO moves up to third and FROST falls to fourth. All three teams hold a 5-4 record. At fifth place is SPIRIT at 3-6 and PSYCHO brings up sixth place with a record of 2-7.
Playoff Standings
The top four teams move on to the playoffs with the top two starting in the Winners bracket and the bottom two starting in the Losers bracket. So far GALE is solidly in the Winners bracket but as you can see from the overall standings above it’s still very much up for grabs who will ultimately end up in second place and earn that second Winners bracket start.
Tune in Next Week!
Be sure to catch the next episode on Twitch and YouTube at 4PM Pacific, 7PM Eastern.