These are the players invited to ELeague Street Fighter V Invitational

ELeague is hosting Street Fighter V for the first time and 32 players have been invited to participate in a $250,000 event.

Sixteen of those players will be pulled from Capcom Pro Tour 2016’s leaderboard standings – the top 12 from the Global Leaderboard and the top player from each of the four Regional Leaderboards that were not already in the top 12 Global Leaderboard.

The other sixteen players are to receive invites to compete in the first round of the event, beginning March 27. You can find a breakdown of the format on ELeague’s site.

Here are the players who have invites so far:

Joe “LI Joe” Ciaramelli

LI Joe was one of the first to confirm his invite to ELeague. Last year, he became America’s FGC darling after an improbable run into top 8 at Evo 2016. Can he replicate the same success with Urien and Season 2 changes?

Justin Wong

Justin Wong finished CPT 2016 in third place on the Global Leaderboard. He won seven Ranking Events and made a big change by leaving Evil Geniuses for Echo Fox earlier this year. By most standards, that’s a very successful year. By Justin Wong standards, he’ll want to do even better.

Martin “Marn” Phan

Marn surprised everyone early in the year with R. Mika, a character that seemed to fit his personality. He was as entertaining in-game as he was out of game as he trolled his way into top 8 at NCR 2016. It remains to be seen what Marn will accomplish in Season 2.

Ryan “Gootecks” Gutierrez

You might recognize Gootecks as one half of the Excellent Adventures duo. He’s spent quite a bit of time as a host at various Street Fighter V events throughout 2016. But he’s also an accomplished veteran who has a chance to show what his Urien can do at ELeague.

Ryan “Filipino Champ” Ramirez

Filipino Champ qualified for Capcom Cup 2016, playing his trademark Dhalsim, and finished in 13th place at the CPT finale, which was somewhat surprising. The former UMVC3 Evo champion wants to make his mark in Street Fighter V and ELeague is just one of many opportunities for him to do so.

Alex Valle

The long-time fighting game veteran, Alex Valle, still finds time to beat people down in Street Fighter V in between organizing CPT Premier Events and Wednesday Night Fights. Season 2 nerfed Ryu badly so it will be up to his Rashid to put in work at ELeague.

Victor “Punk” Woodley

Punk is the talk of the town in Street Fighter V Season 2. He put on an impressive showing at Red Bull Battle Grounds last year, mauling Justin Wong and nearly beating Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi. This year he’s done nothing but win, establishing himself as one of the best and hated players in North America with his surgical play and brash attitude.

Leah “Gllty” Hayes

Gllty went on an Asian tour last year, spending time in Japan and Singapore to level up her game. Now she must apply that experience gained to competition in 2017 and a national TV broadcast seems like just the right place to do so.

Chris Tatarian

Chris T had the most success of his Street Fighter career last year, placing in multiple top 8s and winning two CPT Ranking Events. He also finished 25th at Capcom Cup 2016. He is one of the premier Ken players in Street Fighter V but still has much to prove going into Season 2.

Joshua “Wolfkrone” Philpot

If there is one player who may be more villainous than Punk right now, it’s probably Wolfkrone. While he hasn’t had much success on the CPT, he did come in third place at Frosty Faustings recently and won Kumite in Tennessee 2017. Many people are interested in seeing what he can do with his Laura in the higher stakes events in 2017.

Darryl “Snake Eyez” Lewis

To say Street Fighter V hasn’t been kind to Snake Eyez would be an understatement. His reactionary style of play was not conducive to success in Street Fighter V. However, with a pocket Akuma and a buffed Zangief in Season 2, that could change and perhaps we can once again see one of the best Zangief players of all time competing in top 8s.

Ricki Ortiz

Ricki Ortiz was a surprise grand finalist at Capcom Cup 2016. The funny thing is she shouldn’t have been. She’s a world class Street Fighter player and there should be no doubts she can capitalize on her Capcom Cup momentum at ELeague and on the CPT 2017.

Long “LPN” Nguyen

LPN kicked off Street Fighter V’s launch by winning the very first tournament. He had some respectable finishes on the CPT last year, coming in fourth at Northwest Majors and seventh at Combo Breaker. One of his preferred characters, Alex, was curiously hit with the nerf bat so this year LPN has something to prove.

Ho Kun Xian

Xian is one of the all-time greatest Street Fighter players ever. You have to be in order to make a character like FANG work. He was one game away from making top 8 at Evo 2016 and Capcom Cup 2016. This year, he has his work cut out for him as he’s playing an arguably worse FANG who was inexplicably nerfed in Season 2. ELeague would be a nice showcase for how hard it is to play FANG. Or perhaps it’s time to break out a new character. Maybe Kolin?

Eduardo “PR Balrog” Perez

PR Balrog isn’t complaining about Street Fighter V anymore. In fact, his Balrog looks fantastic in Season 2 and he looks like he’s having fun. That makes him one of the most dangerous players in Street Fighter V and a favorite to make ELeague’s finals in May.

Ryan Hart

Ryan Hart has had his ups and downs with Street Fighter competition over the last few years. Real life has made it tougher for him to train and compete. Yet he still managed to clinch a spot at Capcom Cup 2016 last year, barely. It will be interesting to see how the veteran competitor has adjusted for 2017 and in Street Fighter V Season 2.

Arman “Phenom” Hanjani

Now that Phenom doesn’t have to worry about travel bans, he is free to come dunk his opponents with Necalli at ELeague. Phenom is one of Street Fighter’s most talented young players. He put on a highlight worthy performance at DreamHack Summer 2016, beating Kenryo “Mago” Hayashi, Daigo “The Beast” Umehara, and Ai “Fuudo” Keita. He finished 11th on the CPT Global Leaderboard and placed ninth at Capcom Cup 2016.

Kenneth “K-Brad” Bradley

Look, I’m not saying it’s because of our Food Run that K-Brad went on a hot streak at the end of the year that got him into Capcom Cup 2016 but it is a bit of coincidence, no? K-Brad has been consistently one of the best NA players since last year. He enjoyed a lengthy reign on ESL’s King of the Hill, until he was dethroned by the following invitee…

Bryant “Smug” Huggins

Smug is another young Street Fighter V superstar who made a name for himself as a top Dudley player in Ultra Street Fighter IV. He wasn’t exactly a fixture on the CPT 2016 but with Balrog rising to the top of the tier charts in Season 2, he’s forced himself into the conversation as one of the top players in North America right now.

Lee “Infiltration” Seon-woo

Infiltration was on top of the Street Fighter V world through Evo 2016. He was nearly unbeatable, winning two Premier Events (Final Round and NorCal Regionals,) Red Bull Kumite, and Evo. Then he took a break, picked up a couple of side characters, and never really looked like the same dominant player in the second half of the year. I’m sure he would love to shake off the sting of an 0-2 performance at Capcom Cup 2016 with a great showing at ELeague.

Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi

Tokido had quite a successful year in 2016, beating Infiltration after three tries at CEO 2016. He became one of a few players to pick up two Premier Event wins in Singapore at SEAM 2016. Unfortunately, he also got bit by the 0-2 bug at Capcom Cup 2016. So what did he do? He signed on with Echo Fox and is playing his signature character Akuma in Season 2. His first introduction to the West since these changes will be at ELeague.

Du “NuckleDu” Dang

You can’t have a major invitational without the best Street Fighter V player in the world, Capcom Cup 2016 champion NuckleDu. He hasn’t slowed a step since Capcom Cup, winning tournaments in the U.S. and China, and dominating a rematch exhibition against Capcom Cup 2016 finalist Ricki Ortiz at the Lupe Fiasco event. Without a doubt, NuckleDu is the player to beat at ELeague.

Ai “Fuudo” Keita

Fuudo was one set away from becoming an Evo champion again when he lost to Infiltration in grand finals last year. He went on to take fifth at Capcom Cup 2016, which was a deeper run than many of his Japanese contemporaries. Like NuckleDu, Fuudo doesn’t appeared to be scared off by R. Mika’s nerfs for Season 2 so expect him to consistently compete in top 8s this year.

Zeng “Xiao Hai” Zhuojun

Xiao Hai has long been known for his incredible reactions in fighting games. Of all the Cammy players in the world, few were as deadly as Xiao Hai. He beat Yusuke Momochi at ESL Brooklyn Beatdown, compelling Momochi to go home and grind out Master rank online in Street Fighter V. Xiao Hai won two CPT Premier Events and finished ninth at Capcom Cup 2016. His selection for ELeague is a no-brainer.

Bruce “GamerBee” Hsiang

There was a time when GamerBee struggled in Street Fighter V. The Taiwanese Street Fighter legend had trouble adapting to a new game with a new character, going from Adon in Street Fighter IV to Necalli. And then it all clicked in the latter portion of 2016. He won Japan Cup 2016 (formerly Mad Catz Tokyo Game Show) in September and EGX 2016 a week later. He didn’t fare as well at Capcom Cup, finishing 17th, but he showed his skills hadn’t diminished and between that and experience, he will be a threat at ELeague.

Daigo Umehara

Ryu feels like a shell of his former self after he was nerfed in Street Fighter V Season 2 but Daigo wants to stick with the iconic character anyway. So far it has been a struggle for him but he’s a world class player and a legend so he’ll likely make it work (unless it’s all a work to get Ryu buffed again, in which case, well played Daigo.) As one of the only Ryu players invited to ELeague — Tokido switched to Akuma — he’ll have his work cut out for him.

Yusuke Momochi

Another all-time great and one of the best Ken players in Street Fighter V gets the call for ELeague. Momochi also made big changes for 2017, leaving his former team Evil Geniuses for Echo Fox. Unlike Tokido, he should be sticking with the same character in Season 2, which means we’ll get to see more of those godlike confirms with Ken at ELeague and beyond.

Olivier “Luffy” Hay

Luffy continues to rule Europe in Street Fighter V, finishing first on the European Regional Leaderboard and 16th on the Global Leaderboard last year. He finished ninth at Capcom Cup 2016. He’s sticking with R. Mika this year despite her nerfs and is off to a pretty good start, finishing second to Ryouta “John” Takeuchi at Cannes Winter Clash 2017. He is also one of three players representing Red Bull at ELeague.

Hiroyuki “Eita” Nagata

Eita is one of the best Ken’s in the world, right up there with Momochi but the two couldn’t be any more different in playstyle. Eita never met a button he didn’t like to press. He had a standout year in Street Fighter V, winning two Ranking Events and making multiple top 8s at Premier Events, including his first Evo top 8. Eita earned his invite to ELeague for being number one on the CPT 2016 Asia Regional Leaderboard.

Julio Fuentes

Julio is yet another Ken player who had a breakout year in 2016. He was part of a Ken ‘trinity’ making noise in North America and causing a coaching controversy on the CPT. Seriously, he even took a phone call in the middle of a grand finals. Julio won two Ranking Events and placed in numerous top 8s throughout the year. He is one of four Echo Fox players invited to ELeague.

Thomas “Brolynho” Proenca

Brolynho finished first on the CPT 2016 Latin America Regional Leaderboard, which earned him an invite to ELeague. He didn’t do so well at Capcom Cup 2016 but he may have been one of the first players to expose post-Evo Infiltration, winning a straight set at ESL Brooklyn Beatdown. The Brazilian is the only Latin American representative in ELeague.

Joe “MOV” Egami

MOV has been around Street Fighter competition for many years. He might be best known for his 3rd Strike playing days. Yet, while many of us talked about Daigo, Tokido, Momochi, and other top Japanese players, MOV quietly — and maybe unexpectedly — climbed the CPT 2016 Global Leaderboard to finish in eighth place overall. He is one of three players to have made top 8 at Evo 2016 and Capcom Cup 2016. Don’t be surprised if he finds his way into ELeague’s top 8.

Michael Martin covers all things FGC. Follow him on Twitter @Bizarro_Mike.