Don’t let the cute grin fool you (Image courtesy of Mad Catz)
Earlier this morning, TOPANGA LEAGUE’s fourth outing concluded, providing us with yet another champion in this prestigious Street Fighter IV event.
After coming up empty in the past three events, Daigo Umehara of Mad Catz proved that he’s once again a force to be reckoned with. Umehara, who recently made a switch to Evil Ryu in Ultra Street Fighter IV, had an incredible undefeated run through the upper league finals, dropping high-level competitors like Michael-tan, Uryo, Bonchan, and HORI’s sako with relative ease. Only Momochi and his admirable Ken play would provide a challenge to the Beast during his run, forcing a tie-break situation that saw Umehara win eight games to six.
If you happened to follow TOPANGA’s provisional ranking matches, however, this shouldn’t have come as a complete surprise. Even against a larger pool of opponents and characters, Umehara lost only one game–funny enough, to future contender Momochi.
For his accomplishment, Umehara was awarded ¥1,000,000 (~$8230 USD).
With an appearance in Capcom Cup quickly approaching, these results definitely bode well for Umehara’s chances in the year-end event. While it’s hard to find tougher competition than TOPANGA LEAGUE, he’s sure to see some more diverse playstyles courtesy of world warriors such as Luffy of Meltdown, Evil Geniuses’ Ricky Ortiz, Snake Eyez, Ryan Hart of Dignitas, Infiltration, and Razer’s Xian.
Do you think Evil Ryu will give Umehara the push he needs to secure another high-profile championship? Let us know in the comments.
Complete results for TOPANGA LEAGUE 4 can be found in our coverage hub.