Daigo Back to his Winning Ways – Street Fighter V

Fighting Games
July 27, 2020
Jordan Ashley

Competitive Street Fighter has been in a bit of a rut lately, with canceled events casting a bit of a shadow. The recent Capcom Cup qualifiers might have reversed that though, with legendary player Daigo has taken home first place. The matches themselves were pretty impressive and show a strong comeback for Daigo. Partially though, this is a great win for those who want to see the competitive scene for Street Fighter flourish. Daigo is a talented player. But he also goes above and beyond in content creation and trying to foster a more welcoming competitive community. The player coming in first signals that Street Fighter is accessible to most players of fighting games again.

Daigo Back to his Winning Ways

Who is Daigo?

Daigo Umehara winning a major event has definitely peaked people‘s interest in Street Fighter again, so who is this player? Daigo has been a major force in Street Fighter since the 2000s. He’s been one of the best players in the game for quite some time. He’s often thought of as being one of the best Street Fighter and 2D fighting game players in general.

Daigo’s major claim to fame is probably the Diago parry that happened in EVO 2004. It has since been called EVO Moment #37 and is now considered a historic esports event.

After being knocked to just a pixel of health, any special move that connects (even if blocked) would have ended the match against Daigo. The string of tense high-risk parries that he pulled off to block these attacks and salvage a terrible situation at the end of the round is a legendary moment in Street Fighter that is talked about for nearly two decades.

 

With moments like this and a long history with the game, Daigo is definitely the biggest name player Street Fighter has at the moment. He’s even had the story of fighting game prowess adapted into a manga. Diago creates educational content and spends a lot of time labbing and participating in online tournaments at every stage of the game’s skill level. This kind of activity has made him fairly popular in the community.

The legacy Daigo and Justin created for the title is immense. Ten years later they even recreated the game defining moment in a re-match.

Capcom Cup Qualifiers – Diago’s Comeback

The Capcom Cup 2020 is going to be a major event for competitive Street Fighter and Street Fighter betting.

at the moment regional events are being held to decide who will take a place at that major tournament. The most recent tournament was the qualifier for Asia East. In this event, Daigo has just come out in first place. The matches in Street Fighter V might not have had the same dramatics as EVO 2004, but they were still eventful.

The win did not come out of nowhere. It has been reported that Daigo took his online events and preparation seriously this past few months. While many of the players were taking a time off or getting used to the new life and playstyle the pandemic brought, Daigo gave his best at practicing and helping the community evolve.

Even in 2020 Daigo is still capable of pulling things back in the clutchiest of moments.  At the Capacom Cup 2020, it’ll be interesting to see if Daigo’s resurgence continues. The impact of a player with so much time for the community taking first place this week can be felt though. The new Pro Tour format for 2020 is definitely boosting his odds. With such a big name to attract viewers, Street Fighter V might even see a boost in popularity soon.

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