It’s been a week full of emotion and excitement for Street Fighter fans. Capcom Cup 12 and the Street Fighter League: World Championship 2025 events took place in Japan over the past few days, and players from all over the world entered the tournament, including veterans and newcomers. Players weren’t the only ones to make appearances; celebrities like Kenny Omega, who did the motion capture performance for Alex, as well as other popular announcers, were present at the event. Both the Cup and the League had incredible matches, and while the finals were restricted by PPV regulations, the early days still had great highlights that we can share.
Capcom Cup 12 was structured in three phases. Winners from the first phase immediately advanced to the final Top 16 bracket. Losers from the first phase battled for a place in the Finals bracket during phase two. While we can’t share many details from the finals because of the PPV restrictions, the first day and Phase gifted us a magnificent match between Blaz and Xiaohai. Both players gave it their all in a close set, but in the end, the young Blaz took the victory over the five-time EVO champion. The final 16 players included: Blaz, Chris Tatarian, Fuudo, Big Bird, Sahara, Xerna, Dual Kevin, Momochi, Vxbao, Kincho, Leshar, Higuchi, Micky, MenaRD, Kilzyou, and Itabashi Zangief. In the third-place match, Blaz (Sagat) defeated Higuchi (Guile) 5–3. In the finals, Sahara (Ed) took the victory over Kilzyou (Cammy) 5–1, crowning Sahara the Capcom Cup 12 champion.
In the Street Fighter League scene, matches were played in a Home/Away format, with the top two teams from the qualifiers advancing to the finals. In the finals, matches consisted of a First Match, Second Match, and Third Match, with the team earning the most total points across the matches taking the victory. The teams participating included: Reject, with team members Tokido, Leshar, Fuudo, and Daigo; Bandits, with members MenaRD, Caba, Booce, and Chris T; and Ninjas in Pyjamas, with Phenom, Juicyjoe, AngryBird, and Big Bird. The League also gifted fans amazing moments, including a staredown between the legendary Daigo and MenaRD. The finals saw Reject face Bandits, with Reject ultimately taking the victory.
This Capcom Cup was full of great moments, positive energy between the fans, and good competitive spirits between the players. However, there were some issues. Although you could’ve watched the event for free in the Street Fighter 6 Battle Hub, it had a couple of problems, including limited server space and connection errors (speaking from personal experience as well). Hopefully, the Capcom Esports team will take all feedback for this and the PPV format into consideration for the next event. Did you have the opportunity to watch the event? What was your favorite moment? Let us know in the comments below, and for more on Street Fighter, stay tuned to GameObserver.
