A champion has been crowned in the inaugural major tournament for Street Fighter 6 at CEO 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida, with veteran Saul Leonardo “MenaRD” Mena II claiming victory over Alan “Nephew” Sun on June 25.
The hotly-anticipated fighting game hit the global stage earlier in the month, with the game’s true leap into the competitive spotlight coming at CEO 2023. Over 1,000 players hit the convention vying to become the first SF6 champion, but in the end, it was the reigning Capcom Cup champion who stood above all at the end.
MenaRD has been a force in Street Fighter for years and ended his run in SFV by becoming the first player to ever win two Capcom Cups. That momentum propelled him into the grind for SF6 and the coinciding $2 million Capcom Pro Tour (CPT) season.
With such a massive turnout for SF6 at CEO, it would take something special to make the first cut, but where others struggled, MenaRD walked through the competition with an impressive mix of Luke and Blanka play. From the final 24 until he hoisted the belt, the Dominican Republic champion only dropped two games whilst playing against some of the top talents in the world.
During his top-eight run, MenaRD swept reigning CEO Champion Derek “iDom” Ruffin Manon, beat Victor “Punk” Woodley’s Juri, and then rolled to victory with Blanka over Nephew’s Juri and Chun-Li combo 3-1 for a total series record of 11-0.
“The only words I have are thank you to everyone here,” MenaRD said. “This is the biggest event I have ever won in my life and it feels like I won it at home. My house. The FGC.”
Juri was the character that saw the most success at the highest level in the tournament. In the top 24, six Juri players made the cut while the next highest representation was Luke, Guile, and Cammy tied at three players apiece—and that doesn’t even take into account players who swapped to Juri as a secondary, like Punk.
None of those Juri mains made it into the top eight on the winner’s side, but MenaRD still had to face the “Juri swarm” multiple times, including twice against Nephew—both in their top 24 bout and in the grand final rematch.
While CEO wasn’t a part of the CPT this year, it did act as the first hurdle heading into the summer lineup of big FGC events. The CPT’s offline schedule begins at Evo 2023 on Aug. 4, which is shaping up to be one of the largest Street Fighter tournaments ever.
