No Neutral 5 v 5 Exhibition: Brian_F Has The Last Laugh

But for the pandemic, we would have been getting ready for another Capcom Cup competition. Considering the players who qualified and the stakes, you can best believe that it would have been an amazing tournament. However, we have to settle for a series of exhibitions between the best players in their respective regions. 

Slated to take place over three days, there will be exciting matches between the 18th and 20th of February. To kick things off, we had an exhibition match between the two hosts of 'No Neutral,' the FGC show hosted by RobTV and Brian_F. In a five vs. five team battle, Brian_F and RobTV each had access to four players who would make up their team. This was how they lined up.

Team Brian

Team Rob

There was some mild drama as RobTV picked ChrisCCH instead of Nephew despite admitting to the incredible skill of the latter. With both teams set out, the first match was between ChrisCCH and Justakid. The match went in favor of Chris, who showed off his Luke and was too much for Justa to handle. This would be the only set that team RobTV would win. 

The format of the exhibition was much like Street Fighter League where the winner gets to go to the back of the queue and wait till it's their turn again. The sets were best of five with the winning team of each set forced to pick their next representative with the opposing team given the ability to counterpick. 

Next was Nycfurby who fought against Shine and won. The game after that had some sauce as we saw Nephew, fresh from becoming a free agent, take on team captain, RobTV. This was something of a grudge match considering that Rob overlooked Nephew in favor of ChrisCCH. Nephew won the set in convincing fashion and the tie ended 3-1. Bereft of their captain and in danger of leaving with nothing to show, Smug went up against Brian_F. 

This was another interesting match because while both players are known as exceptional Balrog users, none of them picked the boxer with Smug opting for G while Brian_F busted out the Oro. It was mentioned that Brian had not played Balrog since he won the CPT Midwest 2 and had been using Oro instead. The results of his work in the lab shone through as he soundly defeated Smug and even when the mayor of Duff city went back to the Balrog, it was not enough.

The next set was the one everyone was waiting for, which was between iDom and Punk. In a rivalry that has dominated the North American scene, these two titans clashed again. There was a little surprise as Punk, who usually uses Karin against iDom, decided to go with Ken. If anyone thought that this would put Punk at a disadvantage, it couldn't be further from the truth. Punk was matching iDom blow for blow, and the set was so tense that it went down to the very final game. Ultimately, iDom was able to clutch it out and get the win knocking Punk out, and with him, the hopes of Team Rob winning the match. 

With Punk out of the way, the only person left was ChrisCCH, and Brian_F, rather ruthlessly, immediately sent out iDom. Chris did a great job, but soon enough, the inevitable happened, and iDom was able to take the set and the entire match in the process. 

This was just a warm-up, and throughout the weekend, we will see Nephew, Punk, iDom, Brian_F, and RobTV again. If the warm-ups were this great to see, we can only hope that the exhibitions are even better. 

For now, though, Brian_F has the bragging rights, and Rob will have to be quiet for a bit.