Street Fighter League Japan Stage 2 Day 4 Recap

The season has been heating up and the action has returned again for Street Fighter League Japan. The season will be going on another break for the CPT offline tournament in France that a lot of the players will go for. The lineup of games today went as follows:

• Gyogun VS FAV Gaming
• Saishunkan Sol VS Shinobism
• CYCLOPS Athlete Gaming VS Detonation FocusMe

GYOGUN (HOME) VS FAV GAMING (AWAY)

VS

Match Results 

• Tokido (Ken) 2 - Moke (Chun li) 0
• Sako (Chun li) 1 - Mizuha (Cammy) 2
• Bonchan (Luke) 3 - Machabo (Ken) 1

FAV Gaming has been the team to beat so far and they were once again in fine form against Gyogun who have a few problems. While Moke and Mizuha have been in fine form, Mago, hasn't been so scintillating and Machabo is far from the force he was in Street Fighter V. So when Tokido took down Moke, and Mizuha tied things up by defeating Sako who was playing his first match of the season, there was already a lot of pressure riding on Machabo to defeat Bonchan. 

This was not helped by the fact that Bonchan has been in phenomenal form winning three out of his last four bouts. While Machabo offered some real threat in the first game, Bonchan rallied and went on a hot streak, winning three games straight to finish the match a 3-1 winner. 

Final Scores

Gyogun (10) VS FAV Gaming (30)

SAISHUNKAN SOL KUMAMOTO (HOME) VS SHINOBISM (AWAY)

VS

Match Results

• Nemo (JP) 0 - Fujimura (Ken) 2
• Higuchi (Guile) 0 - Johnny (Marisa) 2
• Shuto (Marisa) 3 - Yamaguchi (Dee Jay) 2
• Shuto (Marisa) 0 - Yamagichi (Dee Jay) 1

Saishunkan Sol Kumamoto were in the playoffs last season and were one of the top teams of the first stage. However, they have not been as dominant in the second stage. They have lost two of their three games and were looking to avoid another defeat to Shinobism who have been similarly uninspiring so far. 

The first set featured Fujimura who absolutely destroyed Nemo winning 2-0. Nemo had no response to Fujimura and the final round where he started showing signs of life, he missed the chance to go into a level 3 perhaps hoping to save it for later, but he paid for it and lost. The second set saw Johnny who doesn't play much and whose record isn't always great (he won only one match in the first stage) against Higuchi who is normally one of the brightest spots for his team. But again, we saw something of a surprise as Johnny was the one with the upper hand. A lot of this had to do with the success of Johnny's anti-airs where he got 7 out of 8. This continued Higuchi's poor form so far in this second stage as he has won only one game out of three. 

But, if Saishunkan Sol have a potent weapon, it is Shuto. The Marisa man has been the undisputed MVP of the team as he led them to the playoffs last season and has also been his team's main point collector. Against Yamaguchi, he was incredibly impresive and was able to gain 20 points for his team and level the scores.

The tiebreaker featured the two anchor fighters again, but this time it was Yamaguchi that was the winner getting his team an extra 5 points. 

Final Scores

Saishunkan Sol Kumamoto (20) VS Shinobism (25)

CYCLOPS ATHLETE GAMING (HOME) VS DETONATION FOCUSME (AWAY)

VS

Match Results

• Kazunoko (Cammy) 2 - John Takeuchi (Rashid) 0
• Fenritti (JP) 2 - Itabashi Zangief (Marisa) 1
• Go1 (Chun li) 3 - Fuudo (Dee Jay) 0

Cyclops came into this match bottom of the table without any wins which is unbelivable considering the amount of talent in the team. They were also against Detonation FocusMe who have been the top team in this second stage so far. But, Cyclops were determined and they set the tone thanks to Kazunoko's win against John Takeuchi. John Takeuchi might have been a poor choice considering his form conpared to Nauman who has done better so far. He lost pretty badly to Kazunoko and this went on to affect Itabashi Zangief who's Marisa was unable to get the better of Fenritti. While Itazan played well, Fenritti was just better and won the set 2-1. The final match placed Go1 against Fuudo. Fuudo has won the last two World Warrior tournaments in Japan and is one of the strongest right now. But, Go1 did not care as he proceeded to produce one of the finest individual performances you'll ever see. 

He had an answer to everything. He checked Dee Jay's Drive Rushes, he anti-aired everything, he avoided getting stuck in the corner, and he punished any errant projectiles. Thanks to this, he was able to get a 3-0 win against Fuudo. This was a huge deal as it really moved Cyclops up in points and they are now in a much better spot. The defeat will have Detonation rethinking their team  lineup for future games. 

Final Scores

Cyclops Athlete Gaming (40) VS Detonation FocusMe (0)

The league will now take a break for the Capcom Pro Tour Offline tournament in France. You can check out the brackets here.