Three teams fought their way through the ups and downs of challenging seasons to emerge victorious in their respective regions. At the World Championship, the winners of SFL US, SFL Europe and SFL Japan clashed to see who would be crowned Champion. Team BANDITS from the US, 00 NATION from Europe and FAV GAMING from Japan represented their regions to decide the ultimate victor. The winner took home $80,000 with second place earning $40,000 and third place getting $30,000. The winning team also earned the bragging rights for being the first SFL World Champion for Street Fighter 6.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STRUCTURE
The SFL World Championship 2023 consisted of two stages: a Group Stage and a Final Stage. The home and away team format from the regular season was still in effect and the Group Stage teams were randomly assigned home and away sides. Group Stage matches used the scoring format from the regular season with player matches earning 10 points for the first and second match and 20 points for the third match. Tiebreaker matches were worth 5 points. The two highest scoring teams played each other in the Final Stage.
The Final Stage was a first to 70 points with teams swapping home and away teams after each set. There were no tiebreaker matches.
Below was the schedule for the Group Stage.
MATCH 1: BANDITS (HOME) vs FAV GAMING (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Tokido (Ken), 2) Ryusei (JP), 3) Bonchan (Luke)
The opening match between BANDITS and FAV GAMING gave us a preview of what was to come in the Finals. It was very close and would be decided by a tiebreaker. Tokido, who was one of the most consistent players of the entire event, won the first match 2-1 with Ken over Caba’s Guile. Ryusei extended the lead by beating Xiao Hai’s Ken 2-0 using JP. As he had done so many times this year, MenaRD would give his team new life from the anchor position. In a very back-and-forth match against Bonchan’s Luke he would start by using Blanka and switch to Luke in the final game. MenaRD would prevail 3-2 in a nailbiter to tie up the score. MenaRD and Bonchan would go back in for the tiebreaker but this time MenaRD won handily, giving BANDITS a narrow 25-20 win.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Tokido | FAV GAMING | Ken | defeated | Caba | BANDITS | Guile | 2-1 |
| 2 | Ryusei | FAV GAMING | JP | defeated | Xiao Hai | BANDITS | Ken | 2-0 |
| 3 | MenaRD | BANDITS | Blanka, Luke | defeated | Bonchan | FAV GAMING | Luke | 3-2 |
| 4 | MenaRD | BANDITS | Luke | defeated | Bonchan | FAV GAMING | Luke | 1-0 |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 25 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 5 |
| AWAY | 20 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
MATCH 2: FAV GAMING (HOME) vs 00 NATION (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Rikemansbarnet (JP), 2) Phenom (Ken), 3) Lord Venom (JP)
00 NATION had a tough showing at the World Championship and it began with their match against FAV GAMING. Rikemansbarnet had trouble getting wins during SFL Europe’s regular season but won where it counted in the region’s Finals. In the very first match he faced the legendary Tokido. He had some shaky spots including a crucial drop that cost him the first game, but otherwise had a good showing despite Tokido winning 2-1 in the end. FAV sent in Ryusei to face Phenom’s Ken in the second match and it was a tense contest. Ryusei would win 2-1 with a clutch level 2 Super at the end. Bonchan using Luke took on Lord Venom’s JP in the anchor match and Bonchan had that match under control from start to finish, winning 3-0. FAV GAMING came away with a 40-0 shutout.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Tokido | FV GAMING | Ken | defeated | Rikemansbarnet | 00 NATION | JP | 2-1 |
| 2 | Ryusei | FV GAMING | JP | defeated | Phenom | 00 NATION | Ken | 2-1 |
| 3 | Bonchan | FV GAMING | Luke | defeated | Lord Venom | 00 NATION | JP | 3-0 |
| 4 |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 40 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 0 |
| AWAY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
MATCH 3: 00 NATION (HOME) vs BANDITS (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) XiaoHai (Ken), 2) Caba (Guile), 3) MenaRD (Luke)
00 NATION was put into a precarious position with its shutout loss in the prior match. Now their only chance to make the Finals was to earn a shutout of their own against BANDITS. Once again Rikemansbarnet went in first, this time against Xiao Hai’s Ken in the first match. Both players traded quick games to start, but Rikemansbarnet’s JP had real trouble handling Ken’s throw mix-ups in the corner and Xiao Hai won 2-1. With this loss 00 NATION was out of contention for the Finals and the rest was for pride. Veggey’s Zangief took on Caba’s Guile next and had real trouble getting in to establish offense and his grapple game. Caba won 2-0. Lord Venom’s JP faced MenaRD in the anchor position. After losing the first game Lord Venom won the second. MenaRD then switched to Blanka and won the next two games to finish 3-1 and give BANDITS its own 40-0 shutout.
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Xiao Hai | BANDITS | Ken | defeated | Rikemansbarnet | 00 NATION | JP | 2-0 |
| 2 | Caba | BANDITS | Guile | defeated | Veggey | 00 NATION | Zengief | 2-0 |
| 3 | MenaRD | BANDITS | JP | defeated | Lord Venom | 00 NATION | JP | 3-1 |
| 4 |
| SCORE | TOTAL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Break |
| HOME | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AWAY | 40 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 0 |
GROUP STAGE RESULTS:
FAV GAMING and BANDITS moved on to the Final Stage. It was a tough day for Europe’s 00 NATION earning no points in the Group stage. Because BANDITS had the most points in the Group Stage they started the Final Stage as the home team.
FINAL STAGE:
After the Group Stage FAV GAMING and BANDITS advanced to the Final Stage. This was a sensational Final and a perfect end to a great year for Street Fighter League. Up until now the US had never won a SFL World Championship and as the Final progressed the chances of changing that looked grim. Xiao Hai beat Ryusei in the very first match of the Final 2-0 but after it went downhill for BANDITS after that. In the anchor position of the first set even the mighty MenaRD took a tough loss. Bonchan won 3-2 finishing the last game with a perfect round.
As the second set progressed the situation for BANDITS continued to deteriorate with Tokido beating Xiao Hai and Sako winning against Chris T. At this point Japan had a 50-10 lead in this first to 70 points Final. Once again it was MenaRD who sparked what would ultimately turn into an unbelievable reversal of fortunes. During the previous loss to Bonchan, MenaRD once again switched from Blanka to Luke. In this match he started with Luke and stayed with him. In another thrilling match MenaRD would prevail over Bonchan 3-1.
Despite Bonchan’s loss FAV GAMING only needed 20 points to win the Final. Caba delivered a crucial 2-1 win against Sako’s Chun-Li to start the third set. Tokido, who hasn’t lost a match all event, beat Chris Tatarian 2-1. For the fourth time in this event, MenaRD would go up against Bonchan in the anchor position. At this point Bonchan crumbled and MenaRD won with a stunning 3-0 to tie up the score 60-60.
One final match was required in the fourth set to determine the Champion with both teams needing just 10 points to reach 70. BANDITS of course sent MenaRD back in. After a long deliberation, FAV GAMING decided against Bonchan as well as the consistent Tokido and sent in Ryusei. Ryusei would put up a valiant effort but MenaRD would win 2-0 to complete the epic comeback for BANDITS.
SET 1: BANDITS (HOME) vs FAV GAMING (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Ryusei (JP), 2) Tokido (Ken), 3) Bonchan (Luke)
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Xiao Hai | BANDITS | Juri | defeated | Ryusei | FAV GAMING | JP | 2-0 |
| 2 | Tokido | FAV GAMING | Ken | defeated | Caba | BANDITS | Guile | 2-0 |
| 3 | Bonchan | FAV GAMING | Luke | defeated | MenaRD | BANDITS | Blanka, Luke | 3-2 |
SET 2: FAV GAMING (HOME) vs BANDITS (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Xiao Hai (Ken), 2) Chris Tatarian (Ken), 3) MenaRD (Luke)
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Tokido | FAV GAMING | Ken | defeated | Xiao Hai | BANDITS | Ken | 2-0 |
| 2 | Sako | FAV GAMING | Chun-Li | defeated | Chris Tatarian | BANDITS | Ken | 2-1 |
| 3 | MenaRD | BANDITS | Luke | defeated | Bonchan | FAV GAMING | Luke | 3-1 |
SET 3: BANDITS (HOME) vs FAV GAMING (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) Sako (Chun-Li), Tokido (Ken), Bonchan (Luke)
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | Caba | BANDITS | Guile | defeated | Sako | FAV GAMING | Chun-Li | 2-1 |
| 2 | Tokido | FAV GAMING | Ken | defeated | Chris T | BANDITS | Ken | 2-1 |
| 3 | MenaRD | BANDITS | Luke | defeated | Bonchan | FAV GAMING | Luke | 3-0 |
SET 4: FAV GAMING (HOME) vs BANDITS (AWAY)
Away Team Player and Character Order: 1) MenaRD (Luke)
| Match | Player | Team | Character | | Player | Team | Character | Result |
| 1 | MenaRD | BANDITS | Luke | defeated | Ryusei | FAV GAMING | JP | 2-0 |
| SCORE | TOTAL | S1: 1st | S1: 2nd | S1: 3rd | S2: 1st | S2: 2nd | S2: 3rd | S3: 1st | S3: 2nd | S3: 3rd | S4: 1st |
| FAV GAMING | 60 | 0 | 10 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| BANDITS | 70 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 10 |
CONGRATULATIONS TO TEAM BANDITS!
All three teams had to overcome hurdles during the regular season and managed to rise up and emerge as the winners of their region. At the SFL World Championship 2023 BANDITS earned the very first win for a US team. It was not an easy feat as they had to claw their way to winning many of the tough matches round by round, especially in the Finals. The success of BANDITS was owed to the incredible talent of MenaRD and his ability to give his team opportunities to win. He did not and could not win alone, and his teammates did come through with their own crucial wins to contribute. Congratulations to BANDITS on becoming the 2023 SFL World Champions!