Capcom Cup X Grand Finals: Dark horse Juri player Uma becomes a millionaire

When the record-setting prize for Capcom Cup X was announced a year ago, many asked jokingly "Would you Dragon Punch for a million dollars?" After four days, over fifty participants, and at least a billion Luke picks, it appears the answer is "yes." A year's worth of qualifiers boiled down to two players, dark horse Juri main Wang "Uma" Yuan-hao and Wong "Chris Wong" Yuk-cheung. Overwhelmingly, both were considered upset picks in a top 16 featuring the likes of MenaRD, Kawano, Gachikun, and more. This was, quite literally, an unpredictable Capcom Cup X finals, but would it be Uma or Chris Wong?

Only one could walk away with the first prize, one million dollar purse. It just so happened to be a player in Uma that nobody foresaw winning. Uma's previous total winnings from fighting games was just over $6,000. Now? He's a millionaire. He did it on the back of aggressive Juri play and standing tall against every Luke player in the tournament--largely considered the best character in Street Fighter 6.

While Juri is far from a meta pick, she certainly has a number of tools that allows her to compete with main man Luke. We saw this in the winners side match between Uma and Chris Wong, with the Taiwanese Juri player taking the advantage. Needing to win three matches to reset the Capcom Cup X Grand Finals bracket, Chris Wong walked into the opening round at a disadvantage. However, massive damage and a control of the mid-range gave him the first two matches and the momentum.

Uma's Juri attempted to take advantage of the fastest forward dash in the game and quick air attacks. However, large-scale assaults by the player from Taiwan were often met with massive Drive Rush combos from Chris Wong's Luke, time and again. Uma often found himself in Burnout situations and paid the price. Chris Wong quickly reset the bracket with a 3-0 victory.

Uma opened the bracket reset of Capcom Cup X Grand Finals with massive aggression, pressing Chris Wong to the corner. Low fireball pressure allowed Uma to push his opponent into the corner time and again. However, Juri's Level 2 Feng-Shui Engine remained a constant threat to Wong's Drive Meter and his life bar. An impressive reaction Wheel Kick against Luke's Sand Blaster finally got Uma on the board and gave him the 1-0 lead.

Chris Wong would meet this loss with his own aggression, burning meter and using every resource available to press Uma into a corner. Uma baited out a Critical Art attempt by Chris Wong that turned the momentum and led Uma to going up 2-0. Chris Wong was running out of time.

The third set began with a beautiful Drive Counter cancel by Uma into Juri's Level 1, bringing him one step closer to Capcom Cup X Grand Finals match point. However, after both taking a round, Chris Wong burned his meter and took the Level 3 Super. But it just wasn't enough, as Uma bullied Chris Wong and his Burnout meter over again. Uma landed the Burnout corner squash combo and took the Capcom Cup X Grand Finals crown and one million dollars.

Not a bad weekend's work for a man with only one major first-place finish.

Stay tuned to esports.gg for esports news and Street Fighter 6 information.