Daigo "The Beast" Umehara continued his solid run for Capcom Pro Tour points with a decisive victory at E-Sports Festival Hong Kong 2016.
The Red Bull athlete and Twitch-sponsored player made very quick work of every competitor who faced him. His run in top eight was dominant; his record was 9-1, overall, across every opponent. Daigo's only loss was against the ever-aggressive Hiroyuki "HM|Eita" Nagata's Ken, but the legendary Street Fighter competitor never struggled.
There were two other performances in the top eight worth noting: HuomaoTV's Johnny "HumanBomb" Cheng and the newly-sponsored Zowie Bruce "Gamerbee" Hsiang. HumanBomb played Chun Li as a strong comeback character. If his pressure was negated or if his neutral space was invaded, his v-trigger activation provided a potential round-winning momentum shift to secure a victory. His signature strong execution allowed for simple hit-confirms to strike hard and damage both the opposing character's life and the opposition's own mental state.
As for Gamerbee, this was a resurgent tournament of sorts. The veteran fighting game player struggled at the start of Street Fighter V's lifespan, but his performance in Hong Kong could signal a return to the elite. He was strong in decision making and fearless in his approaches. When faced with a tough choice or deficit, his Necalli continued to move forward and create the necessary space to strike fear into his opponents.
But, really, the tournament was all Umehara. Whether it was meter management, pressure through buttons or projectiles, or just pure footsie ability, the Beast was every bit as legendary as his reputation made him out to be. In his hands, Ryu was a tank. He moved forward and suffocated the opposition. His strategy to secure the knockdown through guess sweeps or meter usage and his ability to remain unpredictable on wakeup made him a headache to strategize against. Most importantly, his fireball game, considered one of the best, did all the moving for him. As a result, he steamrolled nearly every game and every opponent.
Umehara's unique style is his understanding of risk and reward coupled with sound mechanical and fundamental skill in the neutral space. What makes it impossible to truly duplicate is the signature fearlessness of the Beast. His trademark stone face when playing truly mirrored the character he controlled. If this performance sounded a call to every Street Fighter player announcing his return, the call was a loud one.
Umehara is now ranked 18th in Capcom Pro Tour points globally.