Street Fighter League Japan Day 10 Recap: FAV Remain on Top

It was the final day of the regular season with the top four teams making it into the playoffs and the remaining two crashing out of the tournament. 

Matchday 9 saw a crushing defeat to CYCLOPS Athlete Gaming which more or less consigned them to a place in the bottom two while a win was not enough to save Shinobism Gaming. That said, the other four teams needed wins for placement purposes as the top team will be seeded first in the playoffs while the other teams will find themselves in progressively worse situations. 

The matches today were:

• CYCLOPS Athlete Gaming vs Gyogun
• FAV Gaming vs Saishunkan Sol Kumamoto
• Shinobism Gaming vs Detonation FocusMe

CYCLOPS ATHLETE GAMING (AWAY) VS GYOGUN (HOME)

VS

Match Results 

• Dogura (Dee Jay) 0 - Mago (Juri) 2
• Kazunoko (Cammy) 2 - Moke (Chun li) 0
• Go1 (Chun li) 3 - Mizuha (Cammy) 0

The first match was between the high-flying Gyogun and the up and down CYCLOPS Athlete Gaming. Gyogun needed only 10 points to make it into the playoffs and it would be their first. They made no mistake, sending the captain, Mago, to get the points. Up against Dogura whose form has been abysmal, Mago had no problem and was able to get his team into the playoffs. 

The second set featured Kazunoko defeating the much nerfed Moke who hasn't been winning many of his recent sets. Kazunoko equalized setting things up for a final set between Mizuha and Go1. 

The match was a reverse of the second set with Go1 with the Chun li this time while Mizuha had Cammy. Go1 saved his best performance, utterly obliterating Mizuha to get the win for his team. Unfortunately, it was not enough as it left CAG with 170 points. But, the win was a great way to bow out of the tournament.

Final Scores

CAG (30) VS Gyogun (10)

FAV GAMING (AWAY) VS SAISHUNKAN SOL KUMAMOTO (HOME)

VS

Match Results 

• Ryusei (JP) 1 - Kabe (Ken) 2
• Tokido (Ken) 0 - Higuchi (Guile) 2
• Bonchan (Luke) 3 - Shuto (Marisa) 2
• Ryusei (JP) 0 - Shuto (Marisa) 1

Saishunkan Sol were looking to move into second place and if they could get a 40-point game, they might have been able to. They did well with Kabe and Higuchi taking their games against Ryusei and Tokido. Nemo stayed away which was a smart move considering his poor form so far in this second stage. Shuto has been very consistent, but was up against perhaps the strongest player all season, Bonchan.

Their set was so close as each player took games off each other. The set reached the final round and Shuto would eventually lose when he tried to do a level two super to counter Bonchan's pressure and got punished for it. 

It tied up the set and Shuto defeated Ryusei to get another five point and win the match. But, with 20 points, FAV ensured that they will finish top of the table and make it to Grand Final automatically while waiting for one of the other three teams to make it out of the bracket to face them. 

Final Scores

FAV Gaming (20) VS Saishunkan Sol Kumamoto (25)

SHINOBISM (AWAY) VS DETONATION FOCUSME (HOME)

VS

Match Results 

• Fujimura (Ken) 0 - Fuudo (Dee Jay) 2
• Johnny (Marisa) 0 - John Takeuchi (Rashid) 2
• Yamaguchi (Dee Jay) 3 - Nauman (Ken) 0
• Momochi (Luke) 0 - Itabashi Zangief (Marisa) 1

Shinobism were already out and Detonation FocusMe are guaranteed second spot, so this was something of an exhibition. While Shinobism lost the first two sets, Yamaguchi who has easily been Shinobism's best player, leveled matters in the anchor match with a dominant win against Nauman. 

The tie-breaker was between the two team captains, Momochi and Itazan who have both stayed away from matchday squads so far. Itazan's Marisa was the winner and Detonation were 25-20 victors. 

Final Scores

Shinobism (20) VS Detonation FocusMe (25)

This means that FAV Gaming go straight into the Grand Final and also get the advantage of being on the home side. As with last year, the winner will be the first team to get to 70 points. 

The second placed team, Detonation FocusMe, now waits in 'Losers' final' for the winner between Gyogun and Saishunkan Sol with the latter having the advantage of being on the home side. The same is true of Detonation. Whoever wins will take the grand prize of 5,000,000 yen and a place at the World Championship at Capcom Cup.