Street Fighter 6 At Headstomper 2023: So Close, But No Cigar

One of the first major tournaments for Street Fighter 6 has concluded and the winner was none other than Mister Crimson using his customary Dhalsim to win against folk hero, PopiBlueBeast after a reset. 

The tournament in general was full of amazing moments and a Grand Final that many will remember for a while. 

There were some notable names missing from top 8 including EndingWalker who was eliminated in top 16 by Ixion. Also, Leffen made top 32, but his journey ended there. 

Headstomper Top 8 Recap

The top 8 for this tournament was a stacked affair. Things started off with Mister Crimson taking a 3-0 win over Mystic Smash. The score is a little flattering as the matches themselves were pretty close and Mystic's JP is certainly going to come up in leaps and bounds as the game goes on. However, Mister Crimson in customary fashion was adaptable and was pretty handy with his use of the Drive Reversal which is one of the mechanics of the game that isn't used as much as one would think. This is likely because it isn't the only option to break pressure. 

The next match saw another Frenchman, TKR, defeat Rikemansbarnet who was on home turf. Rikemansbarnet is one of the top players in Scandanavia and was well known for his insane Menat in Street Fighter V. There is also the legendary story of how he walked forever to get to the Capcom Cup venue. Rikemansbarnet made use of Juri initially, but lost pretty badly to TKR. He then made a switch to Lily which might have surprised some, because Lily isn't really high up on any tier lists, but Rikemansbarnet does seem to like the niche characters and with Lily, he was able to get a game off TKR. But, it was not enough and soon enough TKR adapted and ran off as a 3-1 winner. 

But, all the fun was really in the Losers' bracket where Popi was on a tear. Popi was knocked to Losers' in the round of 32 and then went on an insane run dropping only one game on his way to top 8 and then winning 3-0 against Dragoi, Rikemansbarnet and Mystic Smash to advance to Losers' final against TKR. 

Popi's story is fascinating. He was a great player in Ultra Street Fighter IV, but wasn't active in Street Fighter V and had taken a bit of a break. He is also a well-known Guilty Gear player and he only just returned competitively for Street Fighter 6. So, his impressive showing at Headstomper is sure to bring some attention. His Cammy was clean and his footsies were impossible to live with. 

Against TKR, he endeared himself further to the crowd by coming back from a 2-game deficit to win. TKR had initially done really well and had negated all of Popi's momentum. Then Popi came right back into it utilizes all his skill and went back against TKR. It seemed that TKR did get impatient a few times which might have contributed to his defeat. He showed similar tendencies against Mister Crimson and it worked against him there too. 

At the end, it was Popi with his clincal Losers' run against Mister Crimson in Grand Final.

Headstomper Grand Final

The Grand Final was a match between France and Sweden. The home crowd were clearly up for it and were chanting for Popi. But, the French crowd was also in full voice supporting Mister Crimson. It initially seemed like Popi would steamroll Mister Crimson like he did everyone else, as he constantly punished Crimson's normals and had great answers for Dhalsim's teleport mindgames. He was able to force a reset against Crimson, heightening anticipation for a great upset. 

In the second set, however, Mister Crimson showed why he is one of the top players in Europe and also that his rise in Street Fighter V was no fluke. Slowly, methodically, he wore Popi down and soon he was able to clutch it and win the tournament 3-1. 

Mister Crimson has started his SF6 career in the best way possible and it could be a glimpse of things to come. This is partly because in Street Fighter V, Mister Crimson won the first European offline tournament (Cannes Winter Clash 2016) and now he has the first offline tournament for Street Fighter 6. 

So far, Street Fighter 6 tournaments have seen a nice spread of character wins including Cammy, JP, and Dhalsim. It'll be interesting to see how the game develops in the near future.

Street Fighter 6 Headstomper Top 8