Capcom Cup 2016 Results! USA’s Liquid|NuckleDu is First Street Fighter 5 World Champion!

Post header photo by Robert Paul.

Capcom Cup 2016 Results

The 2016 Capcom Pro Tour season has been an amazing one, with thousands of players around the world competing. It was also the first year to feature Street Fighter 5, which made it all the more exciting as we watched players adapt to the game’s evolving meta. In the end only 32 players earned a qualifying spot to Capcom Cup 2016 to compete, with the winner taking home over $120,000 in prize money and the title of Street Fighter 5 World Champion.

The Capcom Cup

In addition to the monetary prize and the World Champion title, the winner would also be able to take home the actual Capcom Cup (shown above), which will have their name engraved on it for posterity, for the year. Next season the winner will have to defend the right to keep the cup, or will have to turn it over to Capcom Cup 2017’s winner!

Capcom Cup 2016: Take Nothing for Granted

Capcom Cup 2016 showed us that one thing is certain; you can’t take anything for certain. Many of the players that were widely thought to get into top 8 or better were knocked out early. Players like Korea’s RZR|Infiltration, EVO 2016 winner and a player that seemed unstoppable early this season, was knocked out 0-2. Japan’s Tokido and BST|Daigo Umehara were knocked out early. All 3 were defeated in their first round in stunning upsets, and those players are only a few examples. When everyone in the tournament is among the best in the world, you can’t take anything for granted.

US and Japan in Top 8

The top 8 was all US and Japan, with 2 players from the US (both starting in the Winners Bracket) and the rest being from Japan. One of the many big surprises of Capcom Cup 2016 was how well not one but both Liquid|NuckleDu and EG|Ricki Ortiz performed, with both winning their top 8 round one matches and setting up a situation that not many would have foreseen: an all USA Winners Finals and an all Japan Losers Finals!

Stunning: All-American Grand Finals

In Losers Finals, Japan’s GGP|Kazunoko, the Capcom Cup 2015 Champion, absolutely destroyed his fellow countryman YOUDEAL MJS|Haitani with a 3-0. Coming off such a dominating win, Kazunoko had so much momentum going against EG|Ricki Ortiz in Losers Finals. Ricki Ortiz, shocking most who were watching, dismantled Kazunoko 3-0, setting up a situation that most would have thought was inconceivable. Both US players, Liquid|NuckleDu from the Winners side and EG|Ricki Ortiz from the Losers side, would face off in an all-American Grand Finals!

Liquid|NuckleDu: Capcom Cup 2016 Winner and Street Fighter V World Champion!

It was a thrilling Grand Finals between Liquid|NuckleDu and EG|Ricki Ortiz, but in the end NuckleDu came out on top with a 3-1 victory. With this win NuckleDu is the Capcom Cup 2016 winner and the first Street Fighter 5 World Champion! NuckleDu had an amazing 2016 Capcom Pro Tour season before this achievement, winning 2 Premier Events in recent weeks on top of all of his other placements through the year. Now he takes home the Capcom Cup trophy and the prize pool of over $200,000! Congratulations to Liquid|NuckleDu on winning Capcom Cup 2016!

If You Couldn’t Watch Live, You Need to See These Matches!

There were so many incredible matches at Capcom Cup 2016. If you could not watch the event, or if you missed some matches here and there, be sure to visit our Videos page, where we will have a playlist for matches from Capcom Cup 2016. You can also go to the Capcom Fighters Youtube Channel to see match videos and replays there.

Top 8 Placements