Group C. The Group of death, so to speak. Three EVO champions, one Marvel God, two bitter rivals, and two of the best dressed men in the FGC are all set to do battle on day three of ELEAGUE‘s first foray into competitive Street Fighter.
K-Brad
Mr Clean himself, K-Brad has had some inconsistent results so far in Street Fighter V. For every incredible win against the elite, there’s a poor tournament showing that evens things out a bit. However, he’s never far from headlines, as one of the most hype players on the circuit. Recently seen all over social media after getting revenge on rival Wolfkrone and popping off in spectacular fashion. A Cammy main, a character that is definitely top 5 in the game.
Wolfkrone
The man on the receiving end of K-Brad’s viral pop-off, but let’s not forget, the only reason why that pop-off was so sweet for K-Brad is because Wolfkrone bodied him first months before. With Laura being arguably the best character in the game right now, Wolfkrone has all of the ability to not only get his revenge against K-Brad, but potentially create a deep run at ELEAGUE.
Tokido
Now finally reunited with Akuma, his SFIV main and the character he is synonymous with, Tokido is already doing some serious work in tournaments with him. A former EVO champion, he has to be a favourite to win the group, but will Akuma’s extremely low health betray him?
Xian
Another EVO winner and the master of the strange character pick, Xian spent all of Season one playing as FANG, who might just be the worst character in the game. He’s since changed to Ibuki – a good choice, because he won the first Capcom Pro Tour event of the new season a few weeks back with her. Xian is the in-form player headed into this E League event and it would be no surprise at all to see him not only win this group, but perhaps the whole event.
Gootecks
One of – if not the – most recognisable faces in the entire FGC, Gootecks is the man behind Cross Counter TV and Excellent Adventures, alongside Mike Ross. In recent episodes of the show, Gootecks has shown to have a high level Urien, his character from Third Strike, and right now Urien is right up there on the tier list. Gootecks enters this group as the underdog, but as a true scholar of the game and with that combination of favourite character/top tier in his favour, he could cause some real upsets at ELEAGUE.
Fuudo
Yet ANOTHER EVO winner, and runner up at EVO 2016, Fuudo is one of the best players to come out of Japan full stop. Sticking with R. Mika, despite her seemingly receiving nerfs in the Season two balance patch, Fuudo is one of the players – alongside NuckleDu – who are proving that Mika is still really good and that she’s now a much more balanced character, rather than a broken one. Again, Fuudo could win this group, or even the whole thing, based on his previous performances alone. Runner up at Final Round XX, losing to Xian in the final.
FChamp
Genuine Marvel vs Capcom legend, but also a fantastic Dhalsim player in Street Fighter V, FChamp is definitely the wildcard in group C. A fiery character, he has arguably the best Dhalsim on the planet right now – a character that has many bad matchups, but some pros just don’t have that much high level experience against him. FChamp is the absolute last person you want to play against if you’re not entirely sure how to face off against Sim. Could go either way for Champ.
MOV
Third Strike player MOV (which means, brilliantly, MASTER OF VAMPIRES) did really well in Season one, playing as his favoured character in all Street Fighter games Chun-Li. However, much like most other Chun-Li players, has struggled to make an impact since the Season two balance patch really did a number on her offensive tools. Will MOV stick with Chun, or will he have a surprise character up his sleeve? He must have had an eye on Ricki Ortiz’s 0-7 Chun-Li performance in Group A.
Prediction
Expect fireworks if Wolfkrone beats K-Brad – there’s some genuine hostility between the two of them and that match is set to have more than just points riding on it. Xian and Tokido will be expecting to qualify for the Semi Finals, with Fuudo and FChamp are my picks to snatch the quarter-finals spots. ELEAGUE have got themselves a fiery group here, with most of the competitors capable of mounting a challenge on the title.