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Infiltration wins Red Bull Kumite, Julio takes a call in grand finals at Texas Showdown

Street Fighter V spectators were blessed with a busy weekend as four different events took place around the world, including two high-profile exhibitions and two Capcom Pro Tour Ranking Events.

Two months into the game’s lifespan, the fruit of promising young players’ labor is paying off, while a handful of Street Fighter veterans continue to dominate the international scene. In case you missed it, here’s what went down this weekend.

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(Image: PAX East)

PAX Arena

PAX Arena turned out to be much more entertaining than expected. Eight of North America’s best Street Fighter V players were invited to Boston to compete for an $8,000 prize purse.

Martin “Marn” Pham returned to America with his nutty R. Mika, but he didn’t quite have the same success as he did at PAX Arena. He played his first match of the event against Liquid’s Du “NuckleDu” Dang, and after falling behind 1-2, NuckleDu decided to give Marn some of his own medicine. NuckleDu switched from his primary, Nash, to a surprise pocket R. Mika, took the set 3-2, and stuck with Mika for the bulk of the tournament. Marn would go on to finish in fourth place with a 3-4 overall record, looking far more dejected at this event than we’ve seen in the past.

Evil Geniuses’ Ricki Ortiz looked like the favorite heading into grand finals with NuckleDu. One game separated the players in the first day standings. However, in the top 6 bracket, NuckleDu bullied Ortiz with R. Mika, sending her to the losers bracket. She fought her way into grand finals and took a 2-0 lead, practically claiming her $3,000 check for first place. But NuckleDu went back to his main Nash and took three straight games to win PAX Arena. He also kicked off a weekend showing off just how dominant top tier Nash players can be in Street Fighter V.

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(Image: Red Bull eSports)

Red Bull Kumite

Across the Atlantic, an even higher stakes invitational took place in Paris. Red Bull France invited 14 of Street Fighter’s biggest names to battle it out in a cage highlighted by the energy drink company’s trademark red and blue colors.

Before the main event started, Red Bull held a 256-player open qualifier, twice the size of last year’s qualifier, giving two players the chance to play their way into a 16-player final bracket. Team YP’s Valentin “Valmaster” Petit took second place in the qualifier, losing to Falcon Arena’s Adel “Big Bird” Anouche. The 18-year-old prodigy Big Bird showed incredible poise after getting knocked into the losers bracket by last year’s champion, Red Bull Athlete Masato “Bonchan” Takahashi. He eliminated long-time veterans RZR|Xian and AVM|GamerBee before being beaten by Kazunoko, and is now considered by many to be the best Ken player in the world after his Kumite performance.

Mad Catz’ last remaining player, Daigo “The Beast” Umehara, made his first international appearance since his exhibition with rapper Lupe Fiasco. Unfortunately, the day didn’t go so well for the Street Fighter legend as he lost right away to his former teammate Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi and was eliminated by GamerBee two matches later. He said he was disappointed with his results and hoped to learn from the experience.

Grand finals had a familiar look as it came down to Street Fighter V’s top two players, Tokido and Razer’s Seonwoo “Infiltration” Lee. Prior to their final match, Infiltration engaged in a little trash talk, calling Tokido the “silver collector,” a taunt Tokido used against Bonchan at last year’s Red Bull Kumite. The humbled Tokido could only respond with how he expected to win…and he did just that by taking the first set 3-1. Unfortunately, Infiltration adapted to Tokido and shut him down, taking the final set 3-1 and walking away with the giant Red Bull Kumite trophy.

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(Image: Capcom)

Texas Showdown

We’ve seen a lot of character variety in top 8s throughout the Capcom Pro Tour. On Sunday at Texas Showdown, that came to a screeching halt as an M. Bison and a Dhalsim player got eliminated from top 8 right away, leaving four Necalli and two Ken players in the bracket. A total of four mirror matches later, Evil Geniuses’ Eduardo “PR Balrog” Perez clawed his way out of the losers bracket to face Julio Fuentes in grand finals.

PR Balrog needed to win two sets, and he looked like he was on the verge of doing just that. He completely ran away with the first set, winning it 3-0, and leaving Fuentes baffled. That’s when Fuentes got a call. Yes. He received a call on a cell phone from West Coast Warzone champion (and fellow Ken “Trinity” member) Chris Tatarian with words of advice.

(Photo: Texas Showdown)

Fuentes decided to change up his strategy and go with a more fireball-focused play style against PR Balrog’s Necalli. It worked out better than expected, as Fuentes took the final set 3-0 and cemented his first major tournament win as well as a spot in the CPT Regional Ranking Event. During an interview with commentator Tasty Steve after the match, Fuentes said he couldn’t hear Tatarian on the phone and he had committed to the fireball strategy.

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(Image: Capcom)

FrogByte

Those players that chose to skip Red Bull Kumite opted instead for a shot at ranking points at FrogByte in Italy. Despite the popularity and prestige of Red Bull Kumite, attending FrogByte was a wise choice for anyone committed to qualifying for Capcom Cup at the end of the year.

Norway’s Arman “BX3.TP-Link|Phenom” Hanjani won FrogByte, putting himself in great position early in the Pro Tour. He took second place at the first CPT event of the year, Cannes Winter Clash, and is currently in fourth place on the global leaderboard with 192 points after his win. Benjamin “PxP|Problem X” Simon came in third place at FrogByte, and is in fifth place on the global leaderboard with 160 points thanks to his victory at Hypespotting V earlier this month.

Phenom narrowly missed out on an opportunity to qualify for Capcom Cup 2015 in Ultra Street Fighter IV, while Problem X was the only UK-based competitor to play in the CPT finale last year.

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(Photo: Red Bull eSports)

There’s a lot to take away from the Street Fighter V action this weekend. Infiltration remains the best player in the world, but Tokido is knocking and he may be closing the gap. NuckleDu has a strong Nash but he appears to have a pocket R. Mika, and that could be scary. NuckleDu is already showing he can create match-up nightmares for his opponents.

Meanwhile, in CPT action, the UK players are quietly racking up points on the leaderboard. Phenom and Problem X are not players to sleep on this year. And Ken is the flavor of the month in the U.S. With Chris Tatarian and Julio Fuentes winning their first majors in consecutive weeks, the only player left in the Ken “Trinity” to win a major is Brentt “Brenttiscool” Franks. He may get his shot at Northwest Majors, taking place in Seattle April 29 through May 1.

Michael Martin covers Street Fighter V and the Capcom Pro Tour. Follow him on Twitter @Bizarro_Mike.