Another year, another legitimate reason to watch pros attempt to like and struggle to enjoy their time with Street Fighter V. Forgive me for being a cynical old goat, but you start to wonder if this Street Fighter, as a game mind you, will still stand the test of time if the ginormous prize pool, marketing, and tournament backing it are taken out of the equation when all is said and done.

The basic details; gimme. 

Here you go.

Date: 16-17 December, GMT+8 (starts at 2am)
Venue: HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas
Stream Link: https://www.twitch.tv/capcomfighters, Twitch.tv/CapcomFighters2, YouTube.com/CapcomFighters 
Schedule: Super Street Fighter II Turbo Champions Collide Exhibition (17 Dec, 4am GMT+8), Street Fighter V Top 32 onwards (16 December, 2am GMT+8)

Why should I care? 

Because Capcom isn’t going to regress back to Street Fighter IV; they’re too far into this Street Fighter V rabbit hole and they aren’t going to stop. Plus it may end with the Super version of the game, so hopefully, that’ll rectify whatever it is right now.

It may not be the same as Street Fighter IV; nothing can top that if this is the current path Capcom’s taking with Street Fighter. But hey, at least guys like Daigo Umehara, Tokido, and Justin Wong have a reason to keep on trucking with a game they kinda tolerate. And we have veteran shoutcasters like UltraDavid and James Chen still having jobs. At the very least, tune into the stream just for these hardworking folks!

Besides, if you want some old-school SF action, the Super Street Fighter II Turbo Champions Collide matchup at 4am Monday morning should tide you over. There’s going to be Alex Valle, John Choi, Afrolegends, and Damdai fighting each other in retro glory!

I’m Asian. Who should I support?

Good question! Here’s the full list of Asian pro players who will be fighting later this weekend.

• Singapore’s Xian. He’s playing Ibuki.
• Taiwan’s Oil King. He’s one of the better Rashid players out there.
• Japan’s Tokido, Itabashi Zangief, Mago, Stormkubo, Gachikun, Nemo, Sako, Bonchan, Haitani, Momochi, and Daigo Umehara. Yes, 4 of the 5 gods of Japan fighting games are representing Japan, among the others who might as well be successors if any of the 4 retires.
• South Korea’s NL, & Verloren.
• China’s Xiao Hai. Because his record-breaking KOF winning streak isn’t enough.

Here’s the full first-round matches for your reference.

Who should I place my bets on?

Never count anyone out. But if you want my opinion, the Rashid players Gachikun and Oil King, and Verloren could be the top fellas to root for. Since SFV favours offensive rushdown fast characters like Cammy and Rashid, the math and meta can work in your favour.

But like I said, never count anyone out, especially when you have the four gods of fighting games who can challenge the tier list and meta of the game.

Where is Infiltration? Isn’t he supposed to fight?

Yeah, about that…

Infiltration has asked us to share his statement publicly: pic.twitter.com/RnguhqcXRZ

— Panda (@PandaGlobal) November 15, 2018

Here is his side of the story.

Who will be commentating?

These guys! I do wonder where Jiyuna & Zhi are…

Anything else I should know about?

• The prize pool is US$400,000. It’s not Dota 2 or League of Legends money, but it’s something, I guess.
• There’s going to be a Last Chance Qualifier tournament later on 15 December, 2am GMT+8. The full LCQ brackets are here, and it’s filled with a ton of killers like Dogura, Snake Eyez, NyChrisG, GamerBee, Ricki Ortiz, and MOV.
• Capcom executive producer and Street Fighter main man Yoshinori Ono will be announcing the next season of Street Fighter V. So please bring in Rose and Sodom, thanks! Or just flat-out surprise us, because we need some freshness injected into this half-life of a game.

How about a sneak preview of what to expect?

Yes! Let’s cap off this feature some videos of the past Capcom Pro Tour events that showcase the best of Asia Street Fightin’.

https://www.facebook.com/kakuchopurei/videos/2172627266388445/?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDl5eXs_6FNgtTXZ1SRyHfV8pHYzCllvsuq90HfPjuA3ZuMpD_yuRb-dJtw576Thf24-sc-W2y_Fc8v2veG9EMLr-xc7If8XJ3EZ0TYorjf4RczsmtBSlnmDJcXPcqTNZMnSNwqH17IgwQrI5Ua4knjelz3nXWbvs0lAMplFUBoyCCBsgzV0gdtP2–2l5qokrDICaafW2GUht6UWzavMMPK8nLd8Fa3pp0QdZ-lpc3-wE7mDStmioQ0-LazMqbJLMnYEUW27kT-GZA45noX7lj9Kswo0KzbAumWE5-geBT6pvzWHbe51hrCMWdFE69XWKd5kGO5uhp8XNhwxxM_xrzKy4sg15oLIzirNZG&__tn__=-R