You actually may make a case for MenaRD being the most effective Road Fighter 6 participant on this planet proper now. His win at Sunday’s Evolution Championship Collection in Las Vegas brings him as much as 4 whole Evo wins, with two back-to-back wins at Evo in Las Vegas (2025-2026) and two back-to-back wins at Evo Japan (2024-2025). And whereas his Blanka regarded dominant all through the match, one of many extra attention-grabbing tales that got here out of the Road Fighter 6 prime eight was the truth that in his most vital matches, Mena opted towards utilizing the character that he is most well-known for.
In Winners Semis, Mena began off through the use of M. Bison, going 2-2 with Shigematsu’s Blanka. After swapping to Blanka for the mirror match within the deciding recreation, Mena received a tough fought recreation that ended up going to the ultimate spherical, sending Shigematsu all the way down to the losers bracket.
Shigematsu would not be denied his runback nevertheless, as he ended up preventing his method by Dogura, Craime, and Kilzyou to succeed in Grand Finals for what all of us assumed could be a Blanka vs Blanka mirror match, proper from the beginning. However as soon as once more, Mena opted for the Bison, and performed out the entire first set with the character. Shigematsu ended up resetting the bracket towards Mena’s Bison with a rating of three video games to at least one, and certain sufficient, after the reset Mena lastly determined to convey out the Blanka. It was quick work from there as Mena took subsequent set 3-0, successful his fourth Evo Championship.
However why did he resolve to decide on Bison within the first place? After the match, Mena responded to the query by saying, “Truthfully, it was a matter of Shigematsu [being] a teammate with one other prime Blanka participant from Japan known as Takagi. So I took that into consideration and I had confidence in my Bison after apply. And my Bison truly produced higher outcomes towards the Blanka gamers that I practiced with. However I additionally had the suspicion that his model was just a little bit totally different. A bit extra aggressive, and had plenty of tips.”
After the shut name in Winner’s Semi’s, Mena nonetheless felt like he may have received with Bison, and since he was on the winner’s facet of Grand Finals, he may danger shedding a set, so he determined to attempt it once more. However after Shigematsu took the primary set off him, he realized that he needed to swap to his bread and butter.
Mena credit his coaching in Japan as being very useful in his enchancment as a participant. “I am staying in Japan proper now. I am enjoying within the Road Fighter League. My teammates within the Zeta Division: Momochi, Higuchi, and Yamaguchi, they’re all wonderful gamers and I see them on daily basis.”
Mitchell Saltzman is an editorial producer at IGN. You’ll find him on twitter @JurassicRabbit
