When Zangief chases El Fuerte, the viewer wins

Street Fighter’s most venerated grappler just couldn’t catch the series’ most slippery opponent.

This was the case when Darryl “Snake Eyez” Lewis, one of the best Street Fighter 4 players in the world, squared off with Yudai “Pepeday” Furushima.

Japanese player Furushima has made a name for himself in recent months with stellar play using El Fuerte, a tiny grappler whose fragility is matched only by his speed. The character stands in stark contrast to Lewis’ Zangief, a plodding wrestler willing to sacrifice much of his life total just to move across the screen towards his opposition.

At this weekend’s Northeast Championship, Lewis found out just how difficult catching the world’s most prominent El Fuerte player could be.

Only needing to whittle down a tiny sliver of El Fuerte’s remaining health to close out the round, Darryl just wasn’t able to land a hit on his slippery quarry.

And Furushima’s acrobatics weren’t about to end there.

Lewis again found himself unable to close out a crucial round in the match in the face of Furushima’s masterful movements.

After these nail-biting rounds, Furushima was able to close out the set against a visibly frustrated Lewis with relative ease. And while he ultimately fell just short of winning the tournament, Furushima’s performance against a world class player like Lewis is just another example of how dangerous he is in spite of his very recent appearance on the scene.