Japanese pro player Sahara won Capcom Cup 12 in Tokyo, taking the biggest title win in Street Fighter 6 and the tournament’s $1 million grand prize.
It’s notable that the event wasn’t livestreamed publicly, being only available through the pay-per-view system due to Capcom’s decision to monetize its pro tour.
Sahara is a very unexpected winner, because prior to taking up Street Fighter 6 last year, he mainly played Fortnite and Valorant, as he was a runner-up in Fortnite Asia and a Radiant-tier player in the latter.
Still, he wasn’t a complete wild card, as he made it to the Capcom Cup 12 through the Premier Tournament qualification, having won the Ultimate Fighting Arena 2025 in Paris last September. Still, Capcom Cup is its own beast, and the hungry sharks like MenaRD, Leshar, Xiaohai, and Punk are always out for blood. Unfortunately, the latter wasn’t able to attend the event in Tokyo due to some problems with his passport.
The event itself was as brutal as ever, even though it wasn’t streamed for the general audience. Group stages at the Capcom Cup always take some big names, and this event wasn’t different either: Xiaohai, Ending Walker, Kawano, NL, Caba, AngryBird, Tokido, and NuckleDu all failed to advance to the next round.
During the playoffs phase, which wasn’t dual elimination, Sahara faced Xerna, Dual Kevin, and up-and-coming superstar Blaz, and won all the matches in a relatively convincing fashion. His opponent in the Grand Final was also not the biggest favorite to win it all: Kilzyou. Unlike Sahara, he was on the brink of elimination twice – against Itabashi Zangief and Higashi, as both of them had a match point against the Frenchman.
However, the Grand Final of Capcom Cup 12 did not live up to the billing, as Sahara, after losing the first bout against Kilzyou, proceeded to win five straight games and became the proud recipient of $1 million.
Capcom Cup 12 top 8:
- 1. Sahara
- 2. Kilzyou
- 3. Blaz
- 4. Higuchi
- 5. Fuudo
- 5. Dual Kevin
- 5. Vxbao
- 5. Micky
Sahara and Kakeru, who won the Capcom Cup last year but unfortunately had to retire due to illness, are the biggest indicators of the changing times in the Japanese Street Fighter scene. While all the veterans still compete at the highest level, like 40-year-old Fuudo, who made it to the top-8 at this event, they seem to be unable to overcome the power of youth when it matters the most.
