Street Fighter League Japan Stage 2 Day 8 Recap: A Day for Underdogs

With the season nearing its end, we are closer to knowing who will make the playoffs and the teams that might fall away. 

The matches were as follows:

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

FAV GAMING (AWAY) VS CYCLOPS ATHLETE GAMING (HOME)

VS

Match Results 

• Ryusei (JP) 2 - Dogura (Dee Jay) 1
• Bonchan (Luke) 1 - Go1 (Chun li) 2
• Tokido (Ken) 0 - Kazunoko (Cammy) 3

CYCLOPS Athlete Gaming is easily one of the most emotional teams this season and in a sense unpredictable. The team, headed by Go1, have had serious highs and some pretty damning lows. After suffering another defeat last time around, they rallied once more and got a remarkable win against FAV Gaming who are considered to be favorites to win the tournament. 

Dogura went out first but was defeated by Ryusei. But, Go1 put up a fantastic performance to defeat the erstwhile undefeated Bonchan. Tokido was in the anchor spot which was a little strange considering Bonchan has been the major points earner for FAV, but seeing as Bonchan lost, maybe it would not have mattered. 

In Kazunoko, CAG have perhaps the most in-form player as he hasn't suffered a single defeat and he continued his winning run with a 3-0 win over Tokido.

The win puts CAG at 140 points, just 10 behind Saishunkan Sol who were still to play. This means they still have a shot at the playoffs. 

Final Scores

FAV Gaming (10) VS CYCLOPS Athlete Gaming (30)

SHINOBISM (AWAY) VS GYOGUN (HOME)

VS

Match Results 

• Johnny (Marisa) 1 - Machabo (Ken) 2
• Fujimura (Ken) 2 - Moke (Chun li) 0
• Yamaguchi (Dee Jay) 3 - Mago (Juri) 1

Shinobism have been in atrocious form so far in this second stage, but it seems today is the day of the underdogs as they were able to find the win against the in-form Gyogun. 

While Yamaguchi and Fujimura come to the fore for their team, Johnny's luckless run continued with another defeat to Machabo. Gyogun were without Mizuha who was ill and so, Machabo had to step in and he performed wonderfully defeating Johnny, who played well, but could not use Marisa to get the win. 

Fujimura was excellent against the very strong Moke and Yamaguchi overcame his disappoint over the weekend where he lost to Fuudo in the Grand Final of the World Warrior Japan Regional Final, to get a much-needed victory for Shinobism. 

With this win, they now have 105 and will still need things to significantly go their way to make playoffs, but now, they are still in with a chance. 

Final Scores

Shinobism (30) VS Gyogun (10)

DETONATION FOCUSME (AWAY) VS SAISHUNKAN SOL KUMAMOTO (HOME)

VS

Match Results 

• John Takeuchi (Rashid) 2 - Nemo (JP) 1
• Nauman (Ken) 0 - Higuchi (Guile) 2
• Fuudo (Dee Jay) 0 - Shuto (Marisa) 3

This match was always going to go down to the anchors. John Takeuchi's form has been a lot better in recent times and it was on show today again as he defeated a subdued Nemo. But Higuchi levelled things for his team by defeating Nauman.

So it was between the strongest player of the season, Shuto, versus the man who took the World Warrior tournament by storm and who is now in Capcom Cup, Fuudo. Shuto's Marisa is a proper menace and it was on show as he took down Fuudo is a storming performance using a lot of Marisa's damaging combos to leave Fuudo gasping for air. 

The win puts Saishunkan Sol in 2nd place, level on points with Detonation FocusMe. 

Final Scores

Detonation FocusMe (10) VS Saishunkan Sol Kumamoto (30)

This means that CAG and Shinobism have their work cut out for them as they must win their remaining games and hope things go really badly for their opponents to make. With only two more matchdays left, things are at a head. 

The next set of matches for Matchday 9 are:

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