Last week we were able to speak with Group D from the ELEAGUE Street Fighter V Invitational Tournament. Joining us on the conference call was Yukadon-Fujimura, Haitani, iDom, Infiltration, FChamp, and Daigo.

Disclaimer: Some of the players’ words were edited for clarity but the intent was maintained as well as possible. Daigo, Haitani, and Fujimura’s answers were given through a translator.

DE: If you are able to move forward in the competition who from the other groups is going to be your most difficult matchup personally?

Infiltration: Maybe for me, iDom. Because he is very aggressive and I need time to adapt to his playstyle, but a best 2 out of 3 format is not good for my style.

FChamp: On my bracket side it would be Smug on Losers, and Problem X on Winners. Those guys are very tough matchups for my character, I would say they would be the hardest for me

iDom: Probably for me, the hardest opponent would be Tokido, because I have seen him play a lot and he’s very adaptive and fast, he has quick responses, and is ready for anything.

Fujimura: For me, it would be Tokido and Problem X. There is no explanation needed for Tokido. Problem X is one of the strongest Bison players and it is hard to find that level of Bison player in Japan so I haven’t had enough practice to prepare for that matchup.

Haitani: It would be Smug because, similarly to what everyone has mentioned before, there are not enough Balrog players in Japan, and since I switched to Akuma I haven’t had enough practice or experience against Balrog, and Smug is a highly competitive Balrog player. I have to be very careful against him.

Daigo: Again, Smug, because I have never won against him and his Balrog. Similarly to what Haitani said, there is no way we can prepare for that level of a Balrog player in Japan. That is the only weak spot I would have in this competition.

DE to FChamp: Have you felt any pressure to change from Dhalsim for this event, and if so how have you dealt with that?



FChamp: So I thought about switching, which I ultimately decided to do, and switched to Menat. But I only had 2 or 3 weeks until the event when I decided to do that. Given the competition at hand, all the best players in the world are here, and I felt like whatever practice I could get I wouldn’t have enough time to prepare to play against the best players in the world with a new character so I decided to stay with Dhlasim as my main character, probably for the last time. But ultimately I have decided to switch to Menat after this, and slowly switch to her by picking Dhalsim in some matchups but Menat for most.

DE to Daigo: What do you think could be done to Ryu to bring him up to the competitive level as some of the other top tier characters in the game, or do you think that is even possible?

Daigo: Unrealistically speaking, add another V-Trigger to Ryu that makes him stronger than ever, and at least that would help me match against other characters.

*laughs*

The ELEAGUE Street Fighter V Invitational returns July 13th at 6:00 PM EST for the finals, featuring the top 8 competitors that have survived the gauntlet all the way up to this point! The bracket is as follows:

Winners bracket:

Echo Fox|Tokido

Echo Fox|Punk

Mousesports|Problem X

Hx.Twitch.CYG BST|Daigo Umehara

Losers bracket:

CO|Dogura

Echo Fox|Momochi

RISE|Smug

FUDOH|Fujimura (Ibuki)

Daily Esports will be there live at the ELEAGUE Finals providing coverage straight from the big stage! Who will take home the championship and the $250,000 that goes with it? We will find out in just a few short weeks!