'I want to make other people into memes now' - Punk wins multiple tournaments using only Dan days after the Saikyo master released in Street Fighter 5
How long before the goal becomes Capcom Cup?
Dan Hibiki finally graduated from his status as a joke character with his latest incarnation in Street Fighter 5: Champion Edition, and he proved as much by one pro using him to win two different tournaments this week.
PG|Punk managed to win The Online Local's OnlyDans tournament and Next Level Battle Circuit's SF5 bracket while defeating some of the biggest names in the game along the way with Saikyo style.
First up was the OnlyDans event on the day of Season 5's release where the former Capcom Cup finalist went 6-1 overall and squared off with Bandits|MenaRD in grand finals — though it would all come down to some key drops on both sides.
Punk released a new video showing off some of his best moments from the army of Dans which you can check out below, but what's even more impressive than that is winning an open bracket filled with some of the strongest pros in North America.
Pink Dan is OD@PunkDaGod #NLBChttps://t.co/IkzQxnQtHG pic.twitter.com/syRSx8iZDh
— HiFight(ハイファイト) (@HiFightTH) February 25, 2021
Making it to grand finals on winner's side this time, the team of guys wearing pink beat Rise|Smug and EQNX|Brian_F in straight sets before facing DTN|NoNeedToTalk's E. Honda as his final opponent.
What looked to be the aspects of Dan's tools that Punk took advantage of most were his medium kicks in both neutral and the corner to lockdown and hitconfirm whoever he was up against.
V-Skill 2's normal cancels also played a bit part there too, but there were plenty of times Punk would miss the link and get punished for it big time just like Capcom previously warned.
NLBC Online Edition #50 #SFVWinterUpdate Results
— Team Spooky (@teamspooky) February 25, 2021
1 @PunkDaGod (👺)
2 @NoNeedToTalk_ (HO/PO)
3 @SmugDaBeast (G)
4 @Zaferino1 (SG)
5 @danslip6_NJ (CA)
5 @Imyourspaceboy (SK)
7 @whatiskami (SE)
7 @RobTeeVee (KA)
Bracket https://t.co/8vVXqhtIoR
VOD https://t.co/hTFE3yj6gJ pic.twitter.com/o3cyJTXTk4
While he made Dan look fairly strong in his first outings, it's still too early to say how the new character will fare as the season progresses.
This was the first week of his release, so many players were still unavoidably unfamiliar with the match up on top of trying to learn their own characters' balance changes.
The argument could also be made that Punk's abilities as a player were the biggest factor in their victories considering his reactions and confirms won many a round.
Whatever the case is though, it's a good and exceedingly rare thing for Dan to win pretty much anything, so hopefully it's a good sign for the future of Saikyo.
You can check out the full archive for the NLBC tournament here and the OnlyDans event here.
