Capcom Cup 2018 Analysis: Who is poised to become the Last Chance Qualifier?

With tomorrow being the day of Capcom Cup’s Last Chance Qualifier, expect a lot of fireworks. Last year proved to be just as exciting as Capcom Cup itself, with Nemo not only winning but surging his way into top 8 of the actual event’s bracket.

While Nemo’s victory may be big shoes to fill, he has shown that this qualifying slot is not one to be taken lightly. In fact, so strong is this berth that Capcom took measures to prevent the number one seed from being at a disadvantage by having to play the last chance qualifier winner.

So with that introduction out of the way, who will be the one this year who finds himself in the main bracket? Let’s look at the players whom I think have the best shot.

Bruce “GamerBee” Hsiang – Taiwan

GamerBee is not in Capcom Cup yet, and it’s not for lack of effort. Perhaps if he wasn’t the TO of TWFighter Major and had one more chance to scoop points there, it would’ve been a different story. This is someone that is hard to overlook. His Cammy may be on the same road as Mago’s, but he is still playing a character that has comfortable ranges to a former Adon player in SFIV. He’s definitely worth a look.

Chia-Chen “ZJZ” Tseng – Taiwan

Yes, another Taiwanese player. ZJZ may have the “I don’t even play this game!” option select down on Street Fighter V… but truth be told, for someone who barely takes this game seriously, he does well. His Menat has gotten some serious looks, with Punk actually footing the bill to bring him out for this.

In one of his few forays into the Capcom Pro Tour, he made top 8 at Tokyo Game Show. He also skated dangerously close to top 8 at SEAM as well. Remember that Menat was within sniffing distance of a win at LCQ last year in the hands of Infiltration, so I wouldn’t sleep on ZJZ at all.

Ryo “Dogura” Nozaki – Japan

I seriously thought Dogura didn’t care about SFV anymore. Having set his sights on Dragon Ball FighterZ over the year, he still put himself in a decent position coming into Canada Cup for the Capcom Pro Tour, but had his run cut short by Fuudo. His Urien is still strong, but he just played a more abbreviated schedule of Street Fighter this year. The fact that he’s even showing up shows that getting into Capcom Cup matters, so I can’t overlook him.

Joe “MOV” Egami – Japan

His lack of travel killed his chances of getting in outright. While Chun-Li always has an uphill battle, it’s made even more uphill by his sparse movement through the year, and then further compounded by the fact that he did better at 3rd Strike than Street Fighter V at Canada Cup — his last chance at points. But yet, MOV is still always hanging around as a threat. It’s still a possibility he could eke his way in.

Gustavo “801 Strider” Romero – United States

This is my dark horse pick for sure. His Laura made a lot of sense given his attachment to Abel and her being the closest thing to him. But when you see his G, you have to have a man-in-the-mirror moment and realize that this is the character he needed his whole life. Few people have seen a G of his caliber, and this could very well be what he needs to take this entire tournament.

Final Thoughts

There’s a few other sleepers that could possibly take it, such as Smug, Samurai, and John Takeuchi. But the five above are who I truly believed are poised for a big run in the LCQ bracket, so be prepared!