SFL newcomers Lexx and Booce helped guide CLOUD9 to another win last week, allowing the team to reach the top of the standings. Tied in points but in second place due to tiebreakers was FIGHTING SPIRIT, who is on a three Team Battle winning streak with FLYQUEST just five points back in third place. BANDITS came into this week in fourth place with SHOPIFY REBELLION and RED ROOSTER in the bottom spots. The second half of the season began this week, so it will be exciting to see what adjustments each team makes during the rematches as the season continues. This week’s Team Battles started with FLYQUEST taking on RED ROOSTER followed by CLOUD9 versus FIGHTING SPIRIT and in the finale, BANDITS went head to head with SHOPIFY REBELLION.
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.
FLYQUEST (HOME) vs RED ROOSTER (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Uriel Velorio (Ken), 2) Ajax Fidelity (Ed), 3) Brutus (Zangief), SUB) Mono
Leading off this week’s Team Battles was FLYQUEST versus RED ROOSTER and it was a solid 40-0 win for FLYQUEST. They have been either at the top or within striking distance of the top of the standings all season and this week’s shutout will certainly keep them flying high. For RED ROOSTER this season has been one tough loss after another. Like many of their other Team Battles this season they were just one or two interactions away from winning some of these matches but victory remains elusive. The pressure of being in last place with just 40 total points is sure to be taking its toll on their confidence.
The first two matches of this Team Battle were close and could have gone either way, but they both broke for FLYQUEST. Punk’s Cammy against Uriel Velorio’s Ken had both players playing patient footsies, looking for openings with Punk coming out on top 2-1. Shine hasn’t played much this season and has not performed to his usual standard but he earned his first win this week. With his Kimberly he won a close 2-1 match against Ajax Fidelity’s Ed.
In the anchor position ChrisCCH with his Ed faced Brutus’ Zangief and this was a one-sided 3-0 win for ChrisCCH. ChrisCCH’s strategy of using Ed’s far-reaching attacks to make it difficult for Zangief to approach was highly successful. ChrisCCH was also effective with anti-airs when Brutus tried to jump in, and his use of dashes made his Ed a harder target for Brutus to engage with. This was another strong win for FLYQUEST, and you could tell by the demeanors of the players before and after the match that spirits are high.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Punk | FLYQUEST | Cammy | defeated | Uriel Velorio | RED ROOSTER | Ken | 2-1 |
| 2 | Shine | FLYQUEST | Kimberly | defeated | Ajax Fidelity | RED ROOSTER | Ed | 2-1 |
| 3 | ChrisCCH | FLYQUEST | Ed | defeated | Brutus | RED ROOSTER | Brutus | 3-0 |
| EX | – | – | – | defeated | – | – | – | – |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 40 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 0 |
| AWAY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CLOUD9 (HOME) vs FIGHTING SPIRIT (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Oil King (Rashid), 2) NL (Akuma), 3) DCQ (M.Bison), SUB) Xian
CLOUD9 has been red hot so far this season and came into this week in first place, but they were brought down to earth this week after a crushing shutout loss to FIGHTING SPIRIT. FIGHTING SPIRITS’ win is even more impressive since it was from the away team position, where the opposing team can counterpick with players and characters. This win moves FIGHTING SPIRIT into first place and with a lot of momentum.
From the start of the Team Battle FIGHTING SPIRIT put the pedal to the floor and they were only slowed during the close match in the anchor position. In the first round JB went in against Oil King to create a Rashid mirror-match. Oil King went on offense from the beginning and won 2-0. In the first four weeks this season JB was locked in but this is his second in a row.
The next match was between NoahTheProdigy’s Luke against NL’s Akuma. NoahTheProdigy has a very aggressive playstyle which created a tense match against the low-health Akuma. NL won 2-0 with a great gameplan featuring lots of fireballs to slow Luke’s approach and effective use of shimmies to draw out attacks to punish.
CLOUD9 was in a bad spot at this point and Booce’s Ken took on DCQ’s M.Bison in the anchor match. This was a nailbiter that would go down to the final round of the last game. DCQ’s M.Bison won a strong first game but Booce answered back to win game two. Booce’s reactions, footsie game and throw mixups kept the momentum going and he would win game three. At this point DCQ switched characters to JP and would claw his way to winning the last two games using JP’s range and zoning attacks to keep Booce at arm length.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Oil King | FIGHTING SPIRIT | Rashid | defeated | JB | CLOUD9 | Rashid | 2-0 |
| 2 | NL | FIGHTING SPIRIT | Akuma | defeated | NoahTheProdigy | CLOUD9 | Luke | 2-0 |
| 3 | DCQ | FIGHTING SPIRIT | M.Bison, JP | defeated | Booce | CLOUD9 | Ken | 3-2 |
| EX | – | – | – | defeated | – | – | – | – |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AWAY | 40 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 0 |
BANDITS (HOME) vs SHOPIFY REBELLION (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) NuckleDu (Cammy), 2) Sayff (Ken), 3) Dual Kevin (Rashid), SUB) HotDog29
In our final Team Battle this week it was BANDITS against SHOPIFY REBELLION. BANDITS has been very successful this season with Team Battle wins, but many of them were close 25-20 scores. That was the case this week as well with BANDITS beating SHOPIFY REBELLION 25-20. The road has not been easy but they are still winning, even if they are not by big margins. SHOPIFY REBELLION has been trying to get out of the bottom two spots in the standings and they have yet to break out, despite Dual Kevin playing like a beast this season.
BANDITS had all the momentum in the first two matches of the Team Battle. MenaRD got his team off to a great start with his Zangief getting a 2-0 win against NuckleDu. NuckleDu started with Cammy but after losing the first game he tried switching to Dee Jay. He had moderately more success but not enough to turn the tide.
Things did not look any better for SHOPIFY REBELLION with Caba’s Guile winning 2-0 against Sayff’s Ken. Caba used tons of projectiles to make approaching difficult and made good use of normal to create offensive pressure when Sayff was close. The highlight of this match was Caba’s incredible comeback win in the second round of game two. Sayff had a huge life lead with Caba on a few pixels of health. Sayff missed an opportunity to finish him off and Caba went on offense, landed a perfect parry that allowed him to go into a combo with just enough damage to win.
At this point Dual Kevin and his Rashid stepped into the anchor match against Zhen’s M.Bison. Once again Dual Kevin is the consistent bright spot for SHOPIFY REBELLION. Dual Kevin won a mostly one-sided 3-0, not allowing Zhen to get anything going. There was even a point where it looked like Zhen contemplated changing characters to Dee Jay but he stuck with M.Bison to the end. In the tiebreaker match Dual Kevin stayed on and MenaRD sat down. MenaRD’s Zangief seemed to have the momentum from the beginning with a perfect first round and finishing the second with a sick read to land Super to win the Team Battle.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | MenaRD | BANDITS | Zangief | defeated | NuckleDu | SHOPIFY REBELLION | Cammy, Dee Jay | 2-0 |
| 2 | Caba | BANDITS | Guile | defeated | Sayff | SHOPIFY REBELLION | Ken | 2-0 |
| 3 | Dual Kevin | SHOPIFY REBELLION | Rashid | defeated | Zhen | BANDITS | M.Bison | 3-0 |
| EX | MenaRD | BANDITS | Zangief | defeated | Dual Kevin | SHOPIFY REBELLION | Rashid | 1-0 |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 25 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 5 |
| AWAY | 20 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
TEAM STANDINGS
CLOUD9 dropped from first place to fourth place after their loss this week while FIGHTING SPIRIT takes their spot on top. FLYQUEST is in second place just five points back followed by BANDITS. SHOPIFY REBELLION is still in fifth place but they are just one Team Battle win from possibly breaking out of the bottom spots while RED ROOSTER looks on from sixth place.
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK!
Be sure to catch the next episode on Twitch and YouTube on Wednesday at 4 PM Pacific, 7PM Eastern!