With three weeks of the season behind us we are beginning to see the standings solidify. FLYQUEST leads the pack followed closely by CLOUD9, BANDITS and FIGHTING SPIRIT with SHOPIFY REBELLION and RED ROOSTER rounding it out. Only the top four teams will advance to the offline US Finals in January, so SHOPIFY REBELLION and RED ROOSTER need to start gaining ground. There is still time, but the midway point of the season is only one week away. This week’s Team Battles are FIGHTING SPIRIT taking on SHOPIFY REBELLION, RED ROOSTER against CLOUD9 and FLYQUEST versus BANDITS.
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.
FIGHTING SPIRIT (HOME) vs SHOPIFY REBELLION (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) KnuckleDu (Guile), 2) HotDog29 {M.Bison), 3) Dual Kevin (Rashid), SUB) Brutus
The first Team Battle this week was an impressive 40-0 win by FIGHTING SPIRIT against SHOPIFY REBELLION, who has been reeling in recent weeks and continues to struggle. FIGHTING SPIRIT was dominant in all three matches in the Team Battle with only the anchor match between NL and Dual Kevin being competitive.
Xian’s Dee Jay took on NuckleDu’s Guile in the first match and Xian would win 2-0. Both games were back-and–forth and Xian’s Dee Jay did a good job navigating the many projectiles NuckleDu put in his path, as Guiles projectiles outclass Dee Jays in a shootout.
Things only went downhill in the next match as DCQ faced off against HotDog29 in a M.Bison mirror-match. DCQ would win a dominant game one and a more competitive game two to win 2-0. HotDog29 had a few strong rounds, but DCQ mostly made this match look easy.
SHOPIFY REBELLION’s resistance certainly stiffened in the anchor match with NL’s Akuma challenging Dual Kevin’s Rashid. Dual Kevin won the first game with every round being quick. As the match progressed the play from both NL and Dual Kevin got wild at times with both making some clutch plays. Each game was close except the last one, which NL dominated and finished with a hit confirm into level 2 Super. NL won 3-2 but it was a tough fight.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Xian | FIGHTING SPIRIT | Dee Jay | defeated | NuckleDu | SHOPIFY REBELLION | Guile | 2-0 |
| 2 | DCQ | FIGHTING SPIRIT | M.Bison | defeated | HotDog29 | SHOPIFY REBELLION | M.Bison | 2-0 |
| 3 | NL | FIGHTING SPIRIT | Akuma | defeated | Dual Kevin | SHOPIFY REBELLION | Rashid | 3-2 |
| EX | – | – | – | defeated | – | – | – | – |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 40 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 0 |
| AWAY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
RED ROOSTER (HOME) vs CLOUD9 (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) NoahTheProdigy (Luke), 2) Lexx (Guile), 3) JB (Rashid), SUB) Booce
RED ROOSTER has had a rough season seven so far, with no Team Battle wins so far and the team looking for a way out of last place. In contrast, CLOUD9 looks very strong and came into this week in second place. This Team Battle was a tale of two halves, with RED ROOSTER winning the initial matches but JB coming through with a stellar performance in the anchor position to give CLOUD9 the 25-20 win. It’s not all bad news for RED ROOSTER, as SHOPIFY REBELLION’s shutout defeat in the first Team Battle this week allowed them to gain some ground.
The first match between Uriel Velorio’s Ken and NoahTheProdigy’s Luke was an absolute barnburner. Both players thrive on offense, with NoahTheProdigy unafraid to go into burnout to keep up pressure. This was high octane action with lots of OD reversals and Uriel Velorio would win 2-1.
Ajax Fidelity’s Ed took on Lexx’s Guile in the next match and it was another close one. It was back-and-forth with Ajax Fidelity using Ed’s Flicker to apply pressure from farther back in neutral while Lexx’s use of OD Flash Kick was effective. Ajax Fidelity would win 2-1.
At this point the momentum would swing wildly to CLOUD9 as Brutus’s Zangief stepped in against JB’s Rashid. Brutus has already shown this season that he is dangerous with his Zangief nearly beating Punk in week one. Brutus was sidelined in last week’s Team Battle as they were the away team and Zangief is vulnerable to being counter-picked but they were home team here. JB was completely locked in this week and aside from a close first game this was a clean 3-0 win for his Rashid.
With the score now tied it was time for a tiebreaker and JB didn’t even get up from his seat, awaiting whichever player RED ROOSTER put forth. After some deliberating Uriel Velorio went back in for the final game. Uriel Velorio tried to impose his furious offense but it was not effective against JB, who won handily.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Uriel Velorio | RED ROOSTER | Ken | defeated | NoahTheProdigy | CLOUD9 | Luke | 2-1 |
| 2 | Ajax Fidelity | RED ROOSTER | Ed | defeated | Lexx | CLOUD9 | Guile | 2-1 |
| 3 | JB | CLOUD9 | Rashid | defeated | Brutus | RED ROOSTER | Zangief | 3-0 |
| EX | JB | CLOUD9 | Rashid | defeated | Uriel Velorio | RED ROOSTER | Ken | 1-0 |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 20 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| AWAY | 25 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 5 |
FLYQUEST(HOME) vs BANDITS (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Caba (Guile), 2) Luiman20 (Dhalsim), 3) MenaRD (Zangief), SUB) Zhen
FLYQUEST, who has been at the top of the standings since the first week, was finally brought back down to earth in a thrilling Team Battle against BANDITS. This was a tough Team Battle with every single match needing the full number of games. BANDITS would win 30-10 and bump FLYQUEST from the top spot for the first time, even though the points are tied and the difference was determined by tiebreakers.
Starting things off was ChrisCCH and his Ed going in against Caba’s Guile. Caba would clutch out a win in an incredibly close first game but ChrisCCH would win the next two games in quick succession. ChrisCCH was in high spirits throughout the match while Caba remained focused. ChrisCCH won 2-1.
BANDITS rebounded in the next match as Psycho and his Kimberly took on Luiman20’s Dhalsim. Both players have impressed with their performances so far this season. In this exciting match Psycho did a good job challenging Luiman20 in the air while Luiman20 made good use of Drive Reversal to get out of tight spots. Luiman20 would take it 2-1. This win for Luiman20 is especially impressive as it was in an away team game where the opponent got to choose a player and character to counter-pick.
The last match to decide the ultimate winner came down to Punk and MenaRD, two titans who have a long history of facing off against one another. Punk used his tried-and-true Cammy against MenaRD’s burly Zangief. As you would expect this was an epic matchup with momentum regularly switching between both players. Punk played patiently, looking for openings while trying to avoid Zangief’s high damage grabs. MenaRD would win the final round of the final game with a perfect, sealing a 3-2 win and victory for his team 30-10.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | ChrisCCH | FLYQUEST | Ed | defeated | Caba | BANDITS | Guile | 2-1 |
| 2 | Luiman20 | BANDITS | Dhalsim | defeated | Psycho | FLYQUEST | Kimberly | 2-1 |
| 3 | MenaRD | BANDITS | Zangief | defeated | Punk | FLYQUEST | Cammy | 3-2 |
| EX | defeated |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AWAY | 20 | 0 | 10 | 20 | 0 |
TEAM STANDINGS
The standings after week four are very interesting with a three way tie at 105 points between BANDITS, FLYQUEST and CLOUD9. Fighting Spirit is just one 5 point tiebreaker match behind the top spots at 100 points. Rounding out the standings is SHOPIFY REBELLION and RED ROOSTER, who are both also tied at 40 points.
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK!
Be sure to catch the next episode on Twitch and YouTube on Wednesday at 4 PM Pacific, 7PM Eastern!