The unthinkable has happened at Capcom Cup 2016. Seonwoo “Infiltration” Lee, the reigning Evo champion, has been eliminated in first round losers to Kenyro “Mago” Hayashi and Johnny “Humanbomb” Lai Cheng in winners bracket.
Infiltration going 0-2 is extremely rare considering he won a majority of the Majors in the first half of 2016. In the SFV life cycle, Infiltration has never gone 0-2 in tournament, even in top 32’s of other tournaments. Infiltration losing at any point is a huge news with how dominant he’s been playing SFV.
Mago, who beat Infiltration, was apart of the flurry of first round upsets as Oliver “Luffy” Hay took out Mago’s Karin in winners to set up the losers bracket heavyweight matchup. Mago will most likely face Daigo Umehara in the next round.
Infiltration has been struggling as of late so a lackluster performance was not out of the question, but to fall out this early in the biggest event of the year is shocking. It could be the Nash matchup has become predictable and players are having an easier time dealing with all of Nash’s defense to offense tools.
It’s no question that Infiltration has been the best player in 2016, but ending the year on a sour note puts the debate for best player back in question. infiltration is known for his ability to learn and master many different characters so a character switch could be coming if the results don’t pick up. He’s still clearly talented enough to win majors but will have to make a few adjustments.
As for the rest of the tournament, the story of the day has been upsets. Daigo Umehara fell to Kenneth “K-Brad” Bradley, Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi lost to a talented Vega player, Ray “DR Ray” Roasrio in winners. The Chun-Li players have had a great showing going 5-0 in winners bracket and displaying the many tools at Chun’s disposal.
update: Tokido has now fallen 3-0 to Hiroyuki “Eita” Ngata in losers round one and now the top two overall seeds have been eliminated!
Check the twitter @Tokyodown and @The_Game_Haus for more updates