The last few weeks have seen some big changes in the standings as each of the six teams compete for coveted points. NASR X BANDITS regained its top position last week after a big win against PANDA GLOBAL, knocking the latter down to sixth place. UYU jumped from sixth place to fourth place on the back of their victory over RED ROOSTER. RED ROOSTER fell to fifth place.
The first of this week’s Team Battles was between the two top teams on the standings, NASR X BANDITS as the home team taking on second place ENDEMIC. NASR X BANDITS remains unbeaten at 6-0 and is looking to solidify their position in the Playoffs. They now have a 25 point lead over second place which is significant as it is the equivalent of a full Team Battle in points. ENDEMIC is on the move after a 40-0 clean sweep win against CL GAMING in week eight and is looking to close the gap.
Next up we had PANDA GLOBAL as the home team taking on UYU. The two teams moved in opposite directions in recent weeks with PANDA GLOBAL moving down to sixth in the standings while UYU moved up. PANDA GLOBAL in particular needed a win this week not just for the points but to snap a four battle losing streak.
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 UYU (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Oil King (Rashid), 2) NL (Luke), 3) DCQ (Urien), SUB) Xian
PANDA GLOBAL needed a win here against a resurgent UYU and they got within one hit of pulling it off. This was an absolutely explosive Team Battle where both teams fought with everything they had and every round was heavily constested. All three matches went the distance and every single one of them could have went to the other team if just one interaction was different.
Nephew and his Kolin was sent in by PANDA GLOBAL to face Oil King’s Rashid in the first match. As you would expect it was a game of cat and mouse with Nephew’s Kolin trying hard to get hold of Oil King’s tricky Rashid. Nephew seemed unable to keep Oil King in the corner with Rashid’s ability to wall jump out at different angles. Oil King won 2-1 to give UYU the early lead.
It came as a big surprise to see Punk step up in the second round to take on NL. Punk has been in the anchor position until now but he and the rest of PANDA GLOBAL had a lot of faith that JB could fill that role. This Luke mirror-match was an absolute thriller with both players trading blows. Punk won a very close first game with a jump-in attack to finish off NL in the last round. Game two saw NL make a comeback in a fairly quick game in which NL bullied Punk into the corner several times. In the third game you could feel the tension as both players seemingly fought for their lives. It would go to the very last round that would have surely one of the most sensational finishes in the history of STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE. At the end of the round there were several scrambles but as the last few seconds ticked away both players franticlly unleashed Sand Blaster and Thermobaric Thrash ranged attacks to get chip damage if not a full hit to finish the other off. As the clock read zero Punk unleashed one last Sand Blaster to chip NL’s health down just low enough to give Punk the win as the time ran out.
It would be hard to follow up a match like that but the clash between JB’s Rashid and DCQ’s Urien in the anchor position did just that. This was a absolute nail-biter of a match with both players trading rounds and games. JB did a fantastic job through the match of getting offensive pressure on DCQ to push him into tick-throw situations. JB frequently pushed DCQ into the corner which made these tick-throw and meatie mixups very effective. DCQ only infrequently successfully teched any of JB’s throws. For DCQ’s part he was able to check some of JB’s advances and retaliate with big combos and somehow managed to contest almost every round. This match would go down to the very last round and would also have another heart-stopping ending. JB had a nice health lead with DCQ having very little remaining when DCQ managed to somehow push JB back far enough to get out a mirror. The mirror bounced JB into the corner where DCQ kept up a viscious series of attacks. He landed a clean hit that led to DCQ taking the win out of JB’s grasp. UYU gets another incredible win 30-10 that will not only help them in the standings but is sure to be a huge boost to their confidence.
Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
1 | Oil King | UYU | Rashid | defeated | Nephew | PANDA GLOBAL | Kolin | 2-1 |
2 | Punk | PAND GLOBAL | Luke | defeated | NL | UYU | Luke | 2-1 |
3 | DCQ | UYU | Urien | defeated | JB | PANDA GLOBAL | Rashid | 3-2 |
SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
HOME | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | – |
AWAY | 30 | 0 | 10 | 20 | – |
NASR X BANDITS (HOME) vs ENDEMIC (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) NuckleDu (G), 2) Shine (Cody), 3) iDom (Laura), SUB) GamerBee
NASR X BANDITS takes their first loss of the season in this noteworthy performance by ENDEMIC. The first two matches of the Team Battle were all NASR X BANDITS. The most contested match of the Team Battle was the first one between MenaRD’s Luke and NuckleDu’s G. The match started out in NuckleDu’s favor with him winning the first game. MenaRD’s Luke turned things around in a very close game two and you could feel the momentum shift. The third game was all MenaRD with him winning in dominating fashion to finish off NuckleDu.
In the second match it was AngryBird and his Rashid against Shine’s Cody. This one never really seemed to be out of AngryBird’s control as his Rashid was very precise and mobile, moving and attacking from different angles. Shine’s Cody had a few instances where things looked like they might turn but it was not to be as AngryBird won this one mostly clean 2-0.
Then it was time to face iDom’s Laura and NASR X BANDITS elected to go with Big Bird and his Ken. Big Bird had limited success at first keeping Laura at bay but it didn’t last long and soon iDom was crushing Ken with throw and meatie mixups. In the last game Big BIrd tried changing characters to Luke but it made no difference as iDom quickly dismantled him to win 3-0.
In the tie-breaker AngryBird went in against iDom. AngryBird used Ken, as if wanting to show Big Bird how it is done. Like Big Bird he looked to be having some success in the first round but like the previous match there came a point where iDom took control and never let go, winning two rounds straight and giving ENDEMIC the Team Battle win.
Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
1 | MenaRD | NASR X BANDITS | Luke | defeated | NuckleDu | ENDEMIC | G | 2-1 |
2 | AngryBird | NASR X BANDITS | Rashid | defeated | Shine | ENDEMIC | Cody | 2-0 |
3 | iDom | ENDEMIC | Laura | defeated | Big Bird | NASR X BANDITS | Ken/Luke | 3-0 |
Tie-Breaker | iDom | ENDEMIC | Laura | defeated | AngryBird | NASR X BANDITS | Ken | 1-0 |
SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
HOME | 20 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
AWAY | 25 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 5 |
TEAM STANDINGS
NASR X BANDITS gets their first loss of the season but it was a narrow one and they retain their 25 point lead on top of the standings. ENDEMIC closes the gap some but remains in second. UYU continues to climb the standings with their win moving them up to third place. PANDA GLOBAL moves up a spot to fifth but with only a 10 point lead over RED ROOSTER.
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!