Coliseum

Editor’s note: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not reflect Shoryuken.com as a whole.

Team Echo Fox’s Julio Fuentes has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the change to Street Fighter V. A relative afterthought in Street Fighter IV, he was never an immediate threat to the major tournament field, seeing only moderate success. In Street Fighter V, however, if Fuentes is in the pack, it’s a pretty safe bet that he will be going deep.

With him reaching Capcom Cup by way of points, how does this member of the Ken Trinity stack up?

The Kenhead, Three in One

Julio has been well-served from collaboration with the Trinity, a team of three Ken players consisting of himself, Chris Tatarian, and Brent “brenttiscool” Franks, who have helped each other build up their play. While all three of the Trinity are always a threat, Fuentes has done the most with the knowledge bestowed upon him.

Juilo Fuentes has double the first place tournament finishes–eight–than the other two parts of the Trinity combined. Each of the other two have participated in eight less tournaments than Fuentes–18 as opposed to Fuentes’ 26. But when combined–36 opportunities from Tatarian and Franks–and they still fall short of Fuentes’ level, it just goes to show how much work Julio has been putting in.

The World Warrior

I don’t think that the difference in performance is down to the amount of events Fuentes has played in. The amount is, realistically, negligible between himself, Tatarian, and Franks. Where we see the main difference is location, Fuentes has traveled, where the rest of the Trinity hasn’t.

Chris Tatarian only really began traveling outside of the West Coast in the approach to Evo 2016. His first tournament outside of that region was Final Round, but he waited until CEO to get outside of the area again. Brenttiscool has only five tournaments outside of the same region.

Had they had the same sponsorship and travel opportunities that Julio has had this season, the standings could have looked different this year. The fact here however, is that Fuentes has had more chances to travel outside of California, and this has helped elevate his game by playing against competitors that Chris Tatarian and brenttiscool simply have not had as much access to. Once you reach a certain plateau in your region, you simply need that access to get any better. Echo Fox’s sponsorship granted Fuentes that opportunity and he is capitalizing on it.

The Japan Factor

The biggest issue with a tournament like Capcom Cup, and any international event to be honest, is keeping up with Asia–and Japan in particular. Can X player from the West beat Y player from Asia?

Usually, the answer has unequivocally been “no.” But with sponsorship opportunities growing for fighting game players in the West, the chances to play high-level players from Asia has been growing, and Julio is no exception.

Although he placed 25th at Japan Cup, Fuentes went to Japan with the intention of staying after the event to train. But how has he done since getting this training?

It’s hard to speculate, as at Red Bull Battlegrounds Fuentes lost to RB from Taiwan to miss the top 8 of the event. He also found himself out of ESL’s Brooklyn Beatdown when he fell to Haitani. SoCal Regionals didn’t even see him make it far enough to face any Japanese or Asian talent, but Julio was eliminated from The Fall Classic by John Takeuchi.

He is on the right track by training against high-level players. He is on the right track by traveling and getting experience against the rest of the field. But it does not seem that he is at the level where he is going to be running through a field populated by Asia’s best just yet.

Final Thoughts

Julio is on the ride of his life this year. He is definitely the best Ken in North America by a long shot. But is he best Ken in the world? Sadly, probably not–that title would likely go to Momochi at this point.

He is working hard and is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the coming years, if he continues to improve. But I look for him to go 1-2 at Capcom Cup at best, two and out at worst.

If you want to style on your opponents with explosive setups and tricky mix-ups, Ibuki is most definitely your girl. In this latest highlight video from RnK_Lucius, he shows off just how crazy a good Ibuki player can be, with some impressive bomb juggles and stun combos.

The editing is as equally as slick, with clever transitions from combo to combo and a suitable soundtrack to match the raw speed of this ninja. Also, for that extra little bit of disrespect, Lucius has chosen not to blur the names of any players that rage quit matches during the creation of this highlight video. If you ever face this Ibuki, don’t go reaching for that Ethernet cable or you could end up exposed in a future mixclip.

Source: RnK Clan