Six teams started the season and after ten weeks of intense competition four teams advanced to the Street Fighter League: US Finals, which for the first time was a live offline event held in Los Angeles on February 22nd. Those four teams were, in order of seeding, Punk’s FLYQUEST, Oil King’s FIGHTING SPIRIT, JB’s CLOUD9 and MenaRD’s BANDITS. A prize pool of $75,000 was on the line with $60,000 going to first place and $15,000 to the runner-up. The winner would also go on to compete against the champions from SFL Europe and Japan in the SFL World Championship, which will take place in Japan following Capcom Cup XI on March 9th.
US FINALS FORMAT
The US Finals consisted of three stages starting with the two bottom seeds, CLOUD9 and BANDITS, facing off in a Quarter Finals. The winning team would move on to the Semi Finals to take on second seed FIGHTING SPIRIT. The winner of the Semi Finals advanced to the Grand Finals to face number one seed FLYQUEST.
All three stages are played in the same Team Battle format used in the regular season with the following changes. The winner of the Team Battle is the first team to reach 50 points in the Quarter and Semi Finals and 70 points in the Grand Finals. The points structure for each set is the same but there is no tiebreaker. After each set the teams would switch home and away team positions and start again until one team earns enough points to win.
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 7 video playlist for the full episodes.
ROUND 1 QUARTER FINALS: CLOUD9 (HOME) vs BANDITS (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Luiman (Dhalsim), 2) Zhen (M.Bison), 3) MenaRD (M.Bison), SUB) Caba
This was CLOUD9’s first season in SFL and here they are competing in the US Finals, which is an impressive feat. The players on the team seem to have good chemistry and certainly have a lot of raw talent. Up against them in the Quarter Final was BANDITS, the defending SFL World Champions. BANDITS had an up and down season but each player on the team stepped up when needed to help get them to the next level. This is a significant improvement over prior seasons, where MenaRD largely carried the team on his back.
The first set of the Team Battle started off well for CLOUD9. As the home team they could counterpick and up first in the BANDITS order was Luiman20 using Dhalsim. JB sat down to face him with Rashid and it was a frantic match with Luiman20 trying to keep JB away with only limited success. JB would win 2-0, but after that match CLOUD9’s fortunes would change.
From that point onward BANDITS was in control. Zhen, who struggled during the regular season, dispatched Lexx’s Guile 2-0. In the anchor match MenaRD debuted his M.Bison against Booce’s Ken. MenaRD admitted he had matchup issues with his other characters during the regular season but his M.Bison was the right call here, where he managed to keep Booce on his heels and cruise to a 3-0 win.
In the second set Luiman20 went in against Lexx’s Guile and the match was incredibly close. It went to the final round of the final game with both players in burnout and Lexx having Luiman20 in the corner, but Luiman20 landed a clutch level 3 to win 2-1.
At this point BANDITS had a 40-10 lead, and the pressure was on JB to keep CLOUD9 alive. Zhen’s M.Bison faced JB’s Rashid and seemed to make all the right decisions, winning two strong games in a row to finish the Team Battle. BANDITS advanced to the round two Quarter Final.
SET 1: CLOUD9 (HOME) vs BANDITS (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Luiman20 (Dhalsim), 2) Zhen (M.Bison), MenaRD (M.Bison)
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | JB | CLOUD9 | Rashid | defeated | Luiman20 | BANDITS | Dhalsim | 2-0 |
| 2 | Zhen | BANDITS | M.Bison | defeated | Lexx | CLOUD9 | Guile | 2-0 |
| 3 | MenaRD | BANDITS | M.Bison | defeated | Booce | CLOUD9 | Ken | 3-0 |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| HOME | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| AWAY | 30 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
SET 2: BANDITS (HOME) vs CLOUD9 (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Lexx (Guile), 2) JB (Rashid)
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Luiman20 | BANDITS | Dhalsim | defeated | Lexx | CLOUD9 | Guile | 2-1 |
| 2 | Zhen | BANDITS | M.Bison | defeated | JB | CLOUD9 | Rashid | 2-0 |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| HOME | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AWAY | 50 | 10 | 10 | 0 |
ROUND 2 SEMI-FINALS:
With a dominating win in the first round, BANDITS now had to face FIGHTING SPIRIT in the Semi Final. FIGHTING SPIRIT was a rebranding of the team UYU, with the same players that got to the World Championship in 2022. This Team Battle mostly broke for BANDITS with DCQ’s wins in the anchor position being the only thing keeping FIGHTING SPIRIT in contention.
Xian’s Dee Jay went head-to-head against Caba’s Guile to lead off the first set. Caba was successful at managing his Drive Guage while attacking that of his opponent, helping him win 2-0. Up next was NL’s Akuma going in against Zhen’s M.Bison. Zhen once again showed that he was over his regular season rut, winning 2-1 over three quick games.
With BANDITS ahead 20-0 it was time for a crucial anchor match for FIGHTING SPIRIT, as a loss here would put them down by a daunting 40 points. Waiting on the away team order for BANDITS was MenaRD using Luke and FIGHTING SPIRIT decided to send in DCQ using JP. DCQ proved to be dependable in such in the regular season and he continued to show his worth. This was a back-and-forth set with both players changing characters after losing games, with MenaRD switching to Blanka and DCQ going to M.Bison. DCQ would win 3-1 to tie the Team Battle score 20-20.
The second set played out similarly to the first with BANDITS winning the first two matches and DCQ standing strong in the anchor position. Zhen went in first with M.Bison against Oil King’s Rashid and won 2-0 in another strong performance. This was followed by MenaRD using M.Bison to take down NL’s Akuma 2-0.
Once again it was up to DCQ in the anchor position using M.Bison and this time Caba’s Guile faced him. DCQ would win the first two games but Caba would win the third, prompting DCQ to switch to JP. Caba dominated DCQ’s JP, forcing a switch back to M.Bison for the final game, which he would win to finish 3-2.
The Team Battle was now tied 40-40 and it was down to one final first to two match to decide the winner. The pressure must have been immense, with the winner going to the Grand Final and locking in at least $15,000 in prize money while the loser went home. There was no doubt that FIGHTING SPIRIT would send in DCQ one last time, but after some deliberation BANDITS sent in MenaRD. MenaRD’s Blanka would win a competitive first game against DCQ’s M.Bison with both players trading perfect rounds. MenaRD would go on to win the second game to deliver his team to the Grand Final against FLYQUEST.
Set 1: FIGHTING SPIRIT (HOME) vs BANDITS (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Caba (Guile), 2) Zhen (M.Bison), 3) MenaRD (Luke)
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Caba | BANDITS | Guile | defeated | Xian | FIGHTING SPIRIT | Dee Jay | 2-0 |
| 2 | Zhen | BANDITS | M.Bison | defeated | NL | FIGHTING SPIRIT | Akuma | 2-1 |
| 3 | DCQ | FIGHTING SPIRIT | JP, M.Bison | defeated | MenaRD | BANDITS | Luke, Blanka | 3-1 |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| HOME | 20 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| AWAY | 20 | 10 | 10 | 0 |
Set 2: BANDITS (HOME) vs FIGHTING SPIRIT (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Oil King (Rashid), 2) NL (Akuma), 3) DCQ (M.Bison)
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Zhen | BANDITS | M.Bison | defeated | Oil King | FIGHTING SPIRIT | Rashid | 2-0 |
| 2 | MenaRD | BANDITS | Blanka | defeated | NL | FIGHTING SPIRIT | Akuma | 2-0 |
| 3 | DCQ | FIGHTING SPIRIT | M.Bison, JP | defeated | Caba | BANDITS | Guile | 3-2 |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| HOME | 40 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| AWAY | 40 | 10 | 10 | 0 |
Set 3: FIGHTING SPIRIT (HOME) vs BANDITS (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) MenaRD (Blanka)
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | MenaRD | BANDITS | Blanka | defeated | DCQ | FIGHTING SPIRIT | M.Bison | 2-0 |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st |
| HOME | 40 | 0 |
| AWAY | 50 | 10 |
GRAND FINALS:
FLYQUEST had another great season, finishing first in the standings by a wide margin. Much like BANDITS, FLYQUEST in previous seasons relied on Punk to carry the team but this season all four players contributed to success. BANDITS came into Grand Final flying high from their wins in the first two rounds, hoping the momentum would carry them to the World Championship.
BANDITS once again started the first set as the away team and Caba using Guile led off their order. ChrisCCH sat down using his Ed and what followed was a back-and-forth match that went down to the final round of the final game. Caba would win 2-0 in a dramatic last round. Caba would be the only player on BANDITS to win all his matches in Grand Finals.
Up next in the BANDITS order was Zhen’s M.Bison and Psycho stepped in with his Kimberly. Zhen was on a hot streak up to this point, but Psycho’s Kimberly stopped him cold, handing him a crushing 2-0 loss with both games having a perfect round.
In the anchor position it was the first of two confrontations between Punk and MenaRD. In this match Punk’s Cammy had the upper hand against MenaRD for all three games, making the right decisions on offense and defense to not allow MenaRD to get anything going consistently. After Punk won the first two games MenaRD tried switching to Zangief. He would have more success with Zangief in that third game but not enough to win, with Punk finishing the match 3-0.
FLYQUEST would be the away team in the second set and Shine’s Kimberly was up first. Zhen was beaten handily by Psycho’s Kimberly and now he went in to face the character again. Shine would win 2-1 with the highlight being a clutch Critical Art at the end of the first game that did just enough damage to win the game.
Next up in FLYQUEST’s order was another Kimberly only this time used by Psycho. Caba was sent in and once again came through for his team, using accurate anti-airs and Sonic Booms to limit Psycho’s approaches to win 2-0.
Punk and MenaRD would get the runback in the anchor position with MenaRD starting out with Zangief. This was a much better match for MenaRD, being more aggressive and making better use of Zangief’s grabs. It was an intense match from start to finish but Punk would come out on top once again, this time with a close 3-2.
After the first two sets FLYQUEST had a commanding 60-20 lead, putting BANDITS in the tough position of needing to win every remaining match to survive. In this last set BANDITS was also once again the away team, giving FLYQUEST the advantage of choosing their matchups.
ChrisCCH would get a runback against Caba to start the third set. Once more Caba would come through for his team, dismantling ChrisCCH in four straight rounds.
Luiman20 was up next in BANDITS’ order, and Punk went in as his Cammy was strong against Dhalsim. Punk won the first game quickly, suffocating Luiman20 with withering offense. Luiman20 put up a valiant effort, clawing his way to winning the second game. The match would go to the final round of the last game and Punk would come out on top 2-1. FLYQUEST is the US Champion and will go to the World Final in Japan next month.
Set 1: FLYQUEST (HOME) vs BANDITS (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Caba (Guile), 2) Zhen (M.Bison), 3) MenaRD (Blanka)
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Caba | BANDITS | Guile | defeated | ChrisCCH | FLYQUEST | Ed | 2-1 |
| 2 | Psycho | FLYQUEST | Kimberly | defeated | Zhen | BANDITS | M.Bison | 2-0 |
| 3 | Punk | FLYQUEST | Cammy | defeated | MenaRD | BANDITS | Blanka, Zangief | 3-0 |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| HOME | 30 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
| AWAY | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
Set 2: BANDITS (HOME) vs FLYQUEST (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Shine (Kimberly), 2) Psycho (Kimberly), 3) Punk (Cammy)
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Shine | FLYQUEST | Kimberly | defeated | Zhen | BANDITS | M.Bison | 2-1 |
| 2 | Caba | BANDITS | Guile | defeated | Psycho | FLYQUEST | Kimberly | 2-0 |
| 3 | Punk | FLYQUEST | Cammy | defeated | MenaRD | BANDITS | Zangief | 3-2 |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| HOME | 60 | 10 | 0 | 20 |
| AWAY | 20 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
Set 3: FLYQUEST (HOME) vs BANDITS (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Caba (Guile), 2) Luiman20 (Dhalsim), 3) MenaRD (Zangief), SUB) Zhen
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Caba | BANDITS | Guile | defeated | ChrisCCH | FLYQUEST | Ed | 2-0 |
| 2 | Punk | FLYQUEST | Cammy | defeated | Luiman20 | BANDITS | Dhalsim | 2-1 |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| HOME | 70 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| AWAY | 30 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
TUNE IN FOR THE STREET FIGHTER LEAGUE WORLD FINALS!
Be sure to tune in to the Street Fighter League World Championship, which will take place in Tokyo, Japan on March 9th!