While initially hopeful about their chances at launch, American players had something of a rough start with Street Fighter V. It seems that it was only during the later stages of this year’s Capcom Pro Tour that they seemed to hit their stride.
In a new article called “State of the Union,” Red Bull eSports takes a look at the performance of some of the top American players, talking with them as they share their thoughts on the game and their standing compared to Asia.
On a whole, they seem very optimistic. Evil Geniuses’ Justin Wong states “”I think America’s chances in SFV is way higher than Street Fighter IV.” He continues by explaining that the lack of an arcade version giving Japan a head start has helped them–and other regions–out a lot. “Street Fighter IV was super hard because Japan had arcades for it, they had the game a year in advance, and it was really hard for America to catch up. Since Street Fighter V came out at the same time, it doesn’t look as dominant. Even now, when Asia wins, before it was always Japan winning, and now Japan doesn’t win all the time.” It should be noted that Justin was the first American player to win a Capcom Pro Tour ranking event in Asia, at Manila Cup.
The other thing discussed was the break out performance of Team Liquid’s Du “NuckleDu” Dang. Du recently posted back-to-back wins at Canada Cup and Red Bull Battle Grounds. According to Evil Geniuses’ Ricky Ortiz, Du was able to unlock his potential as a top player during the latter part of the tour allowing him to take these events. “I think when you’re a player and getting better, it’s really hard to know when you’re good or not, but NuckleDu unlocked that potential of actually becoming a great player”
That sad, Du states that he surprised even himself with his performances. “It didn’t kick in until, like, the third day I came back home. I was like, ‘Holy crap, I just won Canada Cup.’ It felt good, because no American had won a Premier event this year, and America is generally seen as the weaker region.”
Despite this progress however, they’re still looking to how Japan trains as a way to catch up. Control Gaming’s Raynel “RayRay” Hidalgo notes their work ethic, and how he feels they work harder than Americans. “I personally think we’re not too far behind, I just think their most talented players are way harder workers than our most talented players,” RayRay states. ” I feel like we have Justin, Ricki and NuckleDu, to me they’re the best players in America and only Du is trying his hardest. I don’t think they’re trying as hard as they could be.”
Meanwhile, Justin Wong states that the fact that America is a much larger country and players are spread much further apart is a problem they need to face. “NuckleDu is all the way in Florida, we’re from California, there’s strong New York players, strong Texas players. It’s really hard to get together unless we go to an event. When I spent time in Japan for two weeks, I noticed that every top player that comes to America or that is a household name, they all live in Tokyo, and they all play against each other.”
Of course, that’s just part of what they talk about in the article. You can read the rest over at Red Bull.
Source: Red Bull eSports
