Street Fighter League Japan Day 10 Recap

Day 9 of Street Fighter League Japan was one of the most exciting match days as Shinobism defeated Cyclops Athlete Gaming 40-0, while Gyogun continued to find their way up the table with a win against DetonatioN FocusMe. 

The top four spots are up for grabs as Saishunkan Sol Kumamoto taking the top spot, but with FAV Gaming playing on Day 10, there is a chance that they will take the top spot back. 

The matches set up for today are as follows:

•  FAV Gaming vs. Gyogun
• Cyclops Athlete Gaming vs. Hiroshima Team iXa
• Good 8 Squad vs. Nagoya Oja Body Star

FAV Gaming vs. Gyogun

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Gyogun have been performing really well over the last couple of match days, but they were up against their toughest test against FAV Gaming who are one of the top teams in the league. 

The first set was Machabo against Bonchan and off the back of a great performance at the second World Warrior Japan event, it was expected that Bonchan would take the win. But, Machabo was more than a match and took the set. The second game was between Moke and Sako in a Chun li mirror match. Moke has been the points gatherer for his team, so seeing him in the middle spot was a surprise. He continued his rich vein of form and took the set against Sako who was great, but could not defeat Moke. 

While Mago was expected for the anchor spot, it was Mizuha who stepped up. Mizuha has been missing in the last couple of game matches, but he came to his team's aid this time around. On the other side was Tokido who has won 100% of his matches so far. Tokido's Ken has been imperious, but Mizuha was like a new man using Cammy to great effect against Tokido. He won the set 3-1 to take the match for his team. 

With this, Gyogun had just defeated FAV, the top team 40-0.

Cyclops Athlete Gaming vs. Hiroshima Team iXa

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Hiroshima Team iXa came into this match with only 15 points between them and Good 8 Squad and if they got even 20 points, they would be out of the drop off zone. Meanwhile, Cyclops were still smarting from a 40-0 defeat to Shinobism Gaming. Their pain showed in their playstyle as Dogura, Fenrich and then Kazunoko all won their matches to inflict a heavy defeat on Team iXa. 

Kichipa tried to bring out a surprise opting for Lily over his Zangief, a true low-tier hero. This is similar to how Kichipa moved to Alex in Street Fighter V. Lily has many of the same tools including her command grab. But, he couldn't get a win, and neither did any of his other team mates. This win puts Cyclops on 170 which is level with FAV Gaming and Saishunkan Sol. But Team iXa are right back in the middle of a dog fight to stay up. 

Good 8 Squad vs. Nagoya Oja Body Star

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The final match was between bottom team, Nagoya Oja Body Star and the struggling Good 8 Squad. With the first two matches of the day ending with 40-0, G8S must have hoped that they could compound Nagoya Oja's woes with another 40 point win. But, with Nagoya Oja so desperate, the sets were competitive. G8S started really well with Pugera whipping out Juri for the first time this season while Oniki, who is the World Warrior #1 for Japan, was the one on the other side. Pugera's character change paid off and he was able to get the win.

Gachikun was next against Kei.B. Gachikun hasn't had a great season winning only two of his sets so far and his and Kawano's form are huge reasons why G8S haven't been as great this season. Unfortunately, Gachikun's rotten luck continued as he lost to Kei.B.

In the anchor match it was a little surprising not to see Tachikawa who has been the best player on Good 8 Squad all season. Instead it was Kawano. The Evo winner has not had a great time of it this season so far and it was hoped that this set could see him find his way back into some form. However, against Akira who was also looking for a victory, he had his work cut out. Akira's passion shone through as he read Kawano like a book. 

Soon, he got the win to ensure that Nagoya Oja got 30 points to take them off the bottom of the table. 

Day 11 will take place on Friday and will feature Team iXa against DetonatioN FocusMe with one of those teams getting knocked out. 

With all the action going on, we can't wait to see how the 1st stage will end.