Every round, match and Team Battle is vitally important as the six teams fight for the top spots in the standings. We are now in week nine and the end of the season is drawing near, with only four teams moving on to the Playoffs when it ends. Even teams who feel secure in their positions to make the Playoffs have something to fight for, as they strive to finish as high as possible for better seeding. This week’s Team Battles started with BANDITS versus FLYQUEST followed by SHOPIFY REBELLION taking on FIGHTING SPIRIT and finishing with CLOUD9 going head-to-head with RED ROOSTER.
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 FLYQUEST (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Psycho (Kimberly), 2) ChrisCCH (Ed), 3) Punk (Cammy), SUB) Shine
BANDITS came into this week on the bubble in fourth place and was looking to get some points to create some distance between themselves and SHOPIFY REBELLION in fifth. That did not happen as they took a huge loss to FLYQUEST, earning only 10 points in the Team Battle. FLYQUEST, who came into this week in first place, got the 30-10 victory and continues to have momentum and a good team vibe. With just one week to go FLYQUEST is also in a strong position in first place with 20 points next week likely to be enough to clinch it.
Starting things off in the Team Battle was Zhen, who used Dee Jay in this match, taking on Psycho’s Kimberly. Zhen was on his heels virtually the whole match, aside from a brief glimmer of momentum as he won the first round of the second game. The rest was all Psycho, who won 2-0 in another impressive performance this season.
The momentum of the Team Battle completely flipped in the next match as Luiman20’s Dhalsim faced ChrisCCH’s Ed. Luiman20 played a masterful positioning and zoning game in this match, giving a clinic on how to handle Ed with Dhalsim. ChrisCCH had to inch his way forward, avoiding the long limbs and fireballs from all angles, to get close. After a lot of time and effort Luiman20 would teleport, hover or use torpedo to the other side and ChrisCCH had to start over. Luiman won 2-0 in four straight rounds.
As expected, the anchor match was between MenaRD and Punk. The momentum swung back toward FLYQUEST like a pendulum as Punk’s Cammy handed MenaRD’s Zangief one of his most one-sided defeats this season. Punk’s positioning and precise strikes allowed him to start up offense while minimizing exposure to Zangief’s moves. The tick-throw mix-ups were also highly effective for Punk. In all three games MenaRD only won one round, with Punk winning with a clean 3-0.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Psycho | FLYQUEST | Kimberly | defeated | Zhen | BANDITS | Dee Jay | 2-0 |
| 2 | Luiman20 | BANDITS | Dhalsim | defeated | ChrisCCH | FLYQUEST | Ed | 2-0 |
| 3 | Punk | FLYQUEST | Cammy | defeated | MenaRD | BANDITS | Zangief | 3-0 |
| EX | – | – | – | defeated | – | – | – | – |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| AWAY | 30 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
SHOPIFY REBELLION (HOME) vs FIGHTING SPIRIT (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Xian (Dee Jay), 2) NL (Akuma), 3) DCQ (M.Bison), SUB) Oil King
SHOPIFY REBELLION defeated FIGHTING SPIRIT in a crushing 40-0 shutout this week just when the team needed it most. They needed every point to stand a chance at getting into the Playoffs, and with this win they are now positioned to possibly overtake BANDITS for fourth place next week. After this win they are now just 20 points behind BANDITS. For FIGHTING SPIRIT they had their winning streak broken last week with their loss to FLYQUEST and now they have taken a brutal shutout this week. They are still in a good spot, but they need to regain some momentum.
SHOPIFY REBELLION did not lose a single game in this Team Battle and dominated every match. NuckleDu once again led things off for SHOPIFY REBELLION. He went in against Xian using Dee Jay, creating the mirror-match. NuckleDu had the initiative from the beginning and kept it through the match, being very effective with OD Jackknife Maximum several times to stop Xian’s momentum.
Up next was HotDog29 using M.Bison versus NL’s Akuma. HotDog29 got his first win of the season last week and he played with confidence against NL, making great reads and effectively checking most of NL’s attempts to start up offense. HotDog29 would win 2-0.
Dual Kevin has been one of the consistent bright spots for SHOPIFY REBELLION and he earned another spectacular victory this week. It was against DCQ, who is also one of this season’s top performers. This was a route as Dual Kevin’s Rashid won 3-0 against DCQ’s M.Bison, handing the latter his worst defeat this season. The first game was a nailbiter but after that Dual Kevin got all the momentum and won back-to-back one-sided games.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | NuckleDu | SHOPIFY REBELLION | Dee Jay | defeated | Xian | FIGHTING SPIRIT | Dee Jay | 2-0 |
| 2 | HotDog29 | SHOPIFY REBELLION | M.Bison | defeated | NL | FIGHTING SPIRIT | Akuma | 2-0 |
| 3 | Dual Kevin | SHOPIFY REBELLION | Rashid | defeated | DCQ | FIGHTING SPIRIT | M.Bison | 3-0 |
| EX | – | – | – | defeated | – | – | – | – |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 10 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 0 |
| AWAY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CLOUD9 (HOME) vs RED ROOSTER (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Brutus (Zangief), 2) Uriel Velorio (Ken), 3) Ajax Fidelity (Ed), SUB) Mono
RED ROOSTER is statistically out of the running for the Playoffs, but they are playing for pride and to be a spoiler. This week they got their very first Team Battle win of the season against CLOUD9. CLOUD9 was trying to get enough points to overtake FLYQUEST in first place but that hope was dashed by RED ROOSTER’s 25-20 victory. While the loss was tough for CLOUD9 they still earned enough points to climb over FIGHTING SPIRIT into second place. We will see if the surprising end to this Team Battle, where both Booce and Lexx took losses to Ajax Fidelity, will have any impact on their confidence next week.
The first two matches of this Team Battle were all CLOUD9 and the team looked to be cruising toward a 40-0 shutout. JB’s Rashid went in against Brutus’ Zangief in the first match and won 2-0. JB’s mobility and offensive decisions made it very difficult for Brutus to establish Zangief’s devastating grabs. Up next was Lexx’s Guile against Uriel Velorio’s Ken. Uriel Velorio’s aggressive playstyle can be hard to handle but Lexx made great decisions to check Uriel Velorio’s attempts to gain offensive momentum. This was another 2-0 win for CLOUD9.
Everything was CLOUD9 until the anchor match. Booce looked virtually unbeatable this season, having only lost to DCQ in week six in a full match. His Ken took on Ajax Fidelity’s Ed and Booce won the first game, smothering his opponent with offensive pressure. Ajax Fidelity would make a comeback in the second game, connecting with a wakeup Critical Art. Booce would crush Ajax Fidelity in game three only to have Ajax Fidelity answer back to win game four. In the final game Ajax Fidelity would repeatedly throw Booce in the corner to win the match 3-2.
In the tiebreaker match Lexx with his Guile took on Ajax Fidelity. Ajax Fidelity would land a clutch level 2 Super to win the game and the Team Battle for RED ROOSTER.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | JB | CLOUD9 | Rashid | defeated | Brutus | RED ROOSTER | Zangief | 2-0 |
| 2 | Lexx | CLOUD9 | Guile | defeated | Uriel Velorio | RED ROOSTER | Ken | 2-0 |
| 3 | Ajax Fidelity | RED ROOSTER | Ed | defeated | Booce | CLOUD9 | Ken | 3-2 |
| EX | Ajax Fidelity | RED ROOSTER | Ed | defeated | Lexx | CLOUD9 | Guile | 1-0 |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 20 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| AWAY | 25 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 5 |
TEAM STANDINGS
We have just one week to go and FLYQUEST still leads the way followed by CLOUD9, FIGHTING SPIRIT and BANDITS. Within striking distance is SHOPIFY REBELLION and RED ROOSTER remains in sixth place, albeit with a much improved points total.
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK!
Be sure to catch the next episode on Twitch and YouTube on Wednesday at 4 PM Pacific, 7PM Eastern!