Street Fighter League Japan Day 4 Recap

Street Fighter League Japan has resumed after taking a break for Evo and the teams are now back trying their best to get the points to enable them to make it to the 2nd stage. Japan had a decent showing at Evo with three players, Tokido, Kakeru, and Haitani making it to Top 6. 

This week's fixtures were as follows:

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

Nagoya Oja Body Star vs Team Cyclops

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The first game was between two teams that are currently firmly in mid-table. Nagoya Oja Body Star won their last match and were hoping to continue to build momentum. Meanwhile, Team Cyclops had also won their match and were looking to give themselves more points to move up the table. They were able to get the win after some incredible play by their performers. First up was Fenritti who picked JP who is the toast of all of Japan right now especially with Kakeru's win at the Gamers8 Street Fighter 6 Invitational. JP is considered to be perhaps the best tournament character in the game and there aren't many characters that win the match-up. However, up against Torimeshi, one of the very best Dhalsims in the world, Fenritti had his work cut out. While he was able to take the first game, Torimeshi came back and won the set with a strong display from Dhalsim. 

The second set featured a Cammy mirror match between Kazunoko and Akira. Kazunoko turned out to be the better Cammy and was relentless against Akira.

The third match featured Dogura and his Dee Jay against Kei B's JP. Dogura took the first two games, but was pegged back rather impressively by Kei B. With the scores at 2-2, Dogura showed hgis superior skill to clutch it out at the death and win his team the match. 

Good 8 Squad vs FAV Gaming

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FAV Gaming have been the in-form team of the event so far with two 40-0 wins under their belt. All their players have been perfect and after a productive weekend at Evo, Tokido was the first to get on. He faced a Gachikun who had an unsurprising power up as he was able to use his Street Fighter V character, Rashid. The first round went by pretty quickly with Gachikun getting the win. However, Tokido adapted and it is believed that he had already practised the match-up with Momochi who was in the top 16 with the character at Evo 2023. Tokido soon proved his mettle and won the set.

The next match saw the return of Ryusei. He wasn't involved last year due to some issues, but is back and is using JP. He said he was very happy and honored to be back and was hoping to return with a win. But, up against Tachikawa, he was facing an uphill task. Tachikawa picked Kimberly whose walkspeed makes her a decent choice against JP, but without a reversal, some of her advantages are taken away. That said, Tachikawa did not seem to mind and was able to hand Ryusei a defeat.

The third set to decide the match featured Bonchan againsy Pugera. Pugera has usually come in clutch for his team and has practised really hard with Dee Jay. He won the first game, and was looking good, but Bonchan who has won all his sets so far was unwilling to give that away and fought back. He was the better man, and defeated Pugera.

This means that FAV Gaming is still undefeated while Good 8 Squad have been hit with their first loss. Considering that G8S needed a tiebreaker for their first match and only took the second game in the third set, they were the more vulnerable team. 

Gyogun vs Hiroshima Team iXa

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The first game featured Moke against StormKUBO. Moke was playing as a replacement for Machabo who was out sick meaning he was less prepared than he would have liked. Yet, he did play really well. On the other side, StormKUBO was feeling confident with his Honda and he showed it with his gameplay. He was able to take the first set and his first win this season. 

ACQUA was next up and he was hoping to continue StormKUBO's assault, but he was unable to, losing out to Mizuha's Cammy. 

The third match was between Mago and Kichipa. Mago hasn't had a great season so far, so there was a big risk attached to having him as the anchor, but Mago is always capable of coming through when he is in the mood. He lost the first game and that might have been it, but something clicked for him in the second game and while he was close to losing, was able to take that game and then the next one and with each round, his confidence increased. In the third game, Kichipa attempted a comeback but ultimately failed and Gyogun were able to get their first win of the season while consigning Hiroshima Team iXa to their third defeat with only 20 points.

FAV Gaming are the favorites to get into Stage 2 first as they sit at the top of the table with 110 points. At the other end of the table, DetonatioN FocusMe are without any points, but they will play on day 5 and with Rashid out now, John Takeuchi might have made the switch and could be ready to take his first victory.