This article is part of our Street Fighter series.
Between Toryuken 7, Battle Arena Melbourne 10, Red Bull Conquest Seattle, and Stunfest 2018, there was a lot of fighting game action to consume last weekend. While plenty went down from each tournament, the biggest story by far came out of the Stunfest 2018 Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition bracket. Despite having heavy hitters like Daigo "The Beast" Umehara and Lee "INFILTRATION" Seon-woo in the running, it was Atsushi "Fujimura" Fujimura that stood tall in the end.
While the win over INFILTRATION in the grand finals was impressive enoughs given that he won two 3-0 sets while only losing two rounds, it was his entire run that deserves a closer look.
Before we even get into what he did, it's worth talking about who he did it with. His character of choice was Ibuki, a character that doesn't really see much play these days. In fact, he was one of only two Ibukis (the other was Ho Kun "Xian" Xian at BAM 10) in the Top 8 across all four of the major events that took place this past weekend. If we broaden the scope even more and look at the current Capcom Pro Tour standings (where Fujimara is now sitting in a comfortable 3rd place after his Premier win at Stunfest), you would have to go all the way down to 39th to find another Ibuki besides him and Xian (who is 27th). So yeah, he's kind of breaking the mold here.
Now, let's take a look at this incredible run of his.
His path to the Top 8 actually had to go through the losers' bracket on account of a man name Daigo Umehara. The two faced off in the winners' quarterfinals and he was taken down 2-1 by the legend and his Guile.
That put him in the losers' Top 12 where he faced Fuudo in what was a fairly close match. Fuudo almost pushed the series to a third game, but Fujimara remained calm and composed to pick up the final round needed to move on with a 2-0 sweep.
Then it was time for the Top 8 where Fujimara really put on a show. Throughout the entire bracket, he only dropped two games, and they both were in one series against Li-Wei "Oil King" Lin. Outside of that series, he was on his p's and q's.
He opened with a 3-0 against Kanamori "Gachikun" Tsunehori. Then he 3-0'd Christ "Akainu" Onema. It was in his match against Akainu that you started to notice that there was something special about this run.
Given the fact that Ibuki doesn't see much play at the top levels, Fujimura pulled off some nutty stuff due to his opponent's being unable to tech his moves. That was no more true than his most potent string of the day.
Fujimura's air Kunai into Critical Art was a backbreaker for every opponent that he faced on Sunday. No one had an answer for it, which made the mode virtually unblockable. Hit confirming into a Critical Art is obviously a huge part of winning in SFV, but doing it off of just a single hit is incredible. The added patience that comes along with knowing the right moment to use this move makes it all the more impressive. With his "secret" weapon eliminating Akainu, it was time for the losers' semifinal where he faced a familiar foe.
He was once again pitted against "The Beast" in a rematch of the winners' semifinals. Despite Daigo getting the upper hand on Saturday, it was all Fujimura, all the time in this go around. Daigo's Guile looked dazed and confused as Fujimura cruised to a 3-0 win.
The losers' final pretty much should have been the grand finals, as it was by far the closest series of the two. Oil King actually had the lead late in the series, up 2-1 with one round each. Then Ibuki did this.
You can tell these guys were having a ton of fun in this matchup, as Oil King tosses Fujimura a thumbs up after that tight round. In the second round of Game 5, Fujimura had a one round lead but Oil King had a major life lead. I think you know how this one went.
With that win in hand, it was time to face one of the best SFV players in the world, INFILTRATION. He's the reigning EVO Japan and Final Round 2018 champion. All the accolades meant nothing at all, as Fujimura ran wild all over him during the grand finals. Coming from the losers' bracket, he had to win two sets to take home the title. He didn't just win two sets, but he 3-0'd twice and only dropped two rounds in the process. Perhaps no sequence that better demonstrated Fujimura's dominance than when he trapped INFILTRATION in the corner and threw him not once, not twice, but three times in a row before adding in one last EX Kunai to seal the deal.
Time will tell if Stunfest 2018 was Fujimura turning a corner, leading to an incredible run throughout the rest of the year. At least for a few days, though, Fujimura can enjoy the title of best SFV player in the world.
Final placements for Stunfest 2018, as well as Battle Arena Melbourne 10, and Toryuken 7 are below.
Stunfest 2018
- 1. Fujimura (700 points)
- 2. INFILTRATION (270 points)
- 3. Oil King (200 points)
- 4. Daigo (160 points)
- 5. Akainu (130 points)
- 5. NL (130 points)
- 7. Haitani (100 point)
- 7. gachikun (100 point)
BAM 10
- 1. Tokido (150 points)
- 2. Xian (70 points)
- 3. Verloren (40 points)
- 4. Brandon (20 points)
- 5. RB (10 points)
- 5. Jiewa (10 points)
- 7. bksama (1 point)
- 7. Somniac (1 point)
Toruyken 7
- 1. JWong (150 points)
- 2. Problem-X (70 points)
- 3. Nuckledu (40 points)
- 4. CJ Truth (20 points)
- 5. Sabour (10 points)
- 5. FluxWaveZ (10 points)
- 7. VastEnd (1 point)
- 7. Chi-Rithy (1 point)
