Happy 30th Street Fighter! Here's The Ten Best Competitive SF Moments Ever

With the launch of Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection comes the celebration of all things Street Fighter. For three long decades the franchise has served up some of the best one-on-one gaming competition around, and one need look no further than the competitive Street Fighter scene to find many reasons why. Below are ten of the best moments in competitive SF history, ten prime examples of why this series continues to bring the hype at tournaments across the country. There are countless other moments to consider, but these ten stood out in our eyes.

Tokido Finally Reaches The Peak

Let's start with a recent entry, the Grand Finals of Street Fighter V from EVO 2017. Young up-and-comer Victor "Punk" Woodley showed nerves of steel as he fought through an onslaught of talented players with his formidable Karin. The Grand Finals proved to be a different story though, as longtime Akuma player Hajime "Tokido" Taniguchi.stood between the young prodigy and total victory. Oh this day experience bested youth, with Tokido resetting the bracket 3-1 then going a perfect 3-0 in the last set. Despite his lengthy career this was Tokido's first ever EVO championship in modern Street Fighter, a feat well deserved for a seasoned Street Fighter pro.

LI Joe Wows the EVO Crowd

Nothing excites a live crowd like an underdog story, and Joe “LI Joe” Ciaramelli delivered that in spades at EVO 2016. Shocking the crowd with his magnificent Nash play, LI Joe fought his way to Top 8 on the loser’s side of the bracket, where he faced off in a riveting match against Japan’s Hiroyuki “Eita” Nagata. After some intense back and forth LI Joe emerged victorious, moving on one more time before falling in Losers’ Quarterfinals to Fujimura “yukadon” Atsushi. LI Joe’s run will forever be one of the highlights of Street Fighter V’s early competitive scene.

Gamerbee Gets The Crowd Buzzing

The name Justin Wong holds a lot of weight in the Street Fighter community, so to be able to take him out in a big time tournament can be a launching pad to superstardom. Enter Bruce "Gamerbee" Hsiang, a little known Taiwanese player who faced Wong at EVO 2010. Using Adon, a character without a major track record of success, Gamerbee knocked Wong and his potent Rufus play out of the tournament in a highly contested battle. Gamerbee proved that no man or woman is indestructible, becoming a well known name in the FGC from then on.

INFILTRATION Oils Up

Every competition gives a player a chance to change characters mid-match, perhaps to a better matchup or to an old familiar character. Sometimes the change is futile and still ends in defeat, but there are those moments, like this one from EVO 2013, where Lee “INFILTRATION” Seon-woo took on Eduardo “PR Balrog” Perez. After PR Balrog took a 2-1 lead on INFILTRATION’s Akuma, the seasoned player made an uncommon switch: Hakan, the Turkish oil wrestler. The change proved wise as he took the next two games and moved on. This is a prime example of when changing characters makes sense.

PR Balrog Runs Daigo Back

PR Balrog hasn’t only been on the receiving end of top players however, as evidenced by his Capcom Cup 2014 encounter with The Beast himself, Daigo Umehara. The two traded blows through the entire match, splitting the first two games of the set, but in the deciding third set PR Balrog used one of the toughest techniques in Ultra Street Fighter IV, the Red Focus, to take out the legendary Beast. You win some and you lose some in competitive Street Fighter, and here PR Balrog won a big one.

Action So Good It’ll Knock Your Shirt Off

If there's one lesson that can be learned from this Evo 2015 USF4 bout between Lee Chung “Poongko” Gon and Casey “Epic GG Onisan” Dillon, it’s not to take a man’s signature style. Poongko is known for, uh, disrobing when matches get particularly tense, so Onisan tried not only to copy that swagger, but then he doubled down by placing his shirt on Poongko’s shoulders. Poongko’s response? Perfect first round, crushing second round, out goes Onisan. Don’t try that stuff again Onisan, Poongko isn’t having it.

Rivalry Renewed in a New Generation

Justin Wong and Daigo. Two names synonymous with competitive Street Fighter. Their main claim to head-to-head fame is a little further down the list, but this match at EVO 2009 is just as notable for being part of the first ever EVO Street Fighter IV tournament. This is a great look at what the competitive SF scene looked like back at the beginning of its resurgence, with its greatest sons leading the charge into the future. Daigo came out on top, but the rivalry was rekindled in a big way.

A Legend Gets His Groove Back

Let’s not forget about Alex Valle, previously mentioned with Daigo in our first entry. He continued to play and compete as the years went on, but as new players came in his mystique began to fade just a bit. At EVO 2015 he came roaring back, like in this matchup with Masato "Bonchan" Takahashi. Using an unconventional pick in Hugo, Valle sends Bonchan to the losers’ bracket with an impressive showing, the crowd behind him cheering his every move. We always like to see a top player from yesteryear come back strong, and Valle did just that in 2015.

Snake Eyez goes 5-on-1

Everything we’ve seen so far has been one-on-one matchups...but what happens when one players has to go against five consecutive players in a team battle settling? That’s where Darrryl “Snake_Eyez” Lewis found himself at SoCal Regionals 2014, the last player for Team WNF against a formidable NorCal team. Snake_Eyez persevereD however, defeating all five of the NorCal opponents to win the day for Wednesday Night Fights. Watch this video and see a master of reading opponents in action. It doesn’t get better than this...well, except for that one time...

Evo Moment 37

I don’t need to go into too much detail here, as even the most fringe Street Fighter fan knows of the Daigo Parry. The anticipation it takes to pull this off is superhuman, yet Daigo put Justin away with one of the most famous combos of all time. Watch it. Watch it again. Be in awe of it. It’s the best Street Fighter play of all time.

These are our picks for the best Street Fighter moments ever, but we know we missed a few good ones in our research. Share your picks for the greatest Street Fighter moments and let us know which matches we should be watching in the future. Happy 30th birthday Street Fighter, here's to 30 more years of fighting in the streets. In the mean time: We know you like Street Fighter, so check out the 30th Anniversary Tournament Series that was recently announced and then watch the new trailer for Mayor Cody in Street Fighter 5.