Esports illustrated

Japan's Kakeru Wins Capcom Cup 11 - Full Recap

- Japanese Player, Kakeru, dominated the winner's bracket with JP

- 15 year old Chilean, Blaz, secures $100k for runner-up spot

- Top 8 automatically qualified for Esports World Cup later this year

Norris Howard

Kakeru wins $1,000,000
Kakeru wins $1,000,000 / Image: Capcom

The world 2024 Capcom Pro Tour has come to a close, and it's Kakeru of Japan that's walked away with the $1,000,000 prize. Over the course of the bracket at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Kakeru was dominant. Capcom Cup 11 marks the second major prize the 27-year old has won in recent years. In 2023, he burst on the global stage by winning $400k in Saudi Arabia's Gamer's 8 tournament.

How Did Kakeru Win Capcom Cup?

In the group stages of Capcom Cup, Kakeru was one of the few truly dominant players, ending his run there with a 4-1 record. Only Blaz and Japanese player, Fuudo, had better records coming out of groups as both were 5-0. Kakeru's match against his countryman, Tokido, was his only loss during the groups and even that went the distance. He ended the stage in a rough spot as he was seeded to face Blaz, who was lighting up the entire tournament.

CapCup 11 Top 8
The ending bracket of Capcom Cup 11 / Image: Capcom

In the knockout stages, Kakeru hit his stride. Not only did he defeat Blaz in the top 16, he beat him in a straight 3-0. He would proceed to do the same thing to his following opponents Noah the Prodigy and Leshar. By the time the Grand Finals rolled around, Kakeru looked imperious and borderline unbeatable. However, he would come up against Blaz once again who blitzed through the loser's bracket on his way to Grand Finals. Even though the teenager was able to take a game from Kakeru, the eventual winner proved to be too much. With reactive anti-air attacks, good spacing and incredible blocking at some points, Kakeru became the 11th Capcom Cup champion.

Was Blaz Really That Good?

One of the top storylines out of Capcom Cup this year was the rise of Blaz. Following in the footsteps of other teenaged players like Ending Walker, Blaz became a fan favorite through the course of the tournament. His strong fundaments based around spacing and good hit confirms made his Ryu look unbeatable in some cases. Especially considering that Ryu is considered by some to be one of the weaker characters in the game. But in the hands of Blaz, those weaknesses seemed to fade away as we witnessed one of the greatest runs from a young player in recent memory.

On his road to grand finals, Blaz took down some of the biggest names in the game. After having to grind out wins against VxBao and Broski, Blaz went on to make quick work of iDom and Bravery on day three of the groups. Once the knockout stage, Blaz caught fire.

After being sent to Loser's by Kakeru, he took down long time vet Xian 3-0. Blaz then proceeded to dominate other young contenders, Shuto and Noah The Prodigy, both 3-0. And in arguably the most shocking result, Blaz made quick work of 2023 Evo champion, AngryBird 3-0. After defeating Leshar, also 3-0, Blaz was finally quelled by Kakeru in grand finals.

What Comes After Capcom Cup?

Now that the solo competition is done, Capcom Cup will conclude with the Street Fighter League finals on Sunday. All of the top 8 players from the singles bracket will get and automatic seeding to the Esports World Cup competition later in the summer. But in terms of the Capcom Pro Tour, there will be a (very) short hiatus and then the 2025 season picks back up at Evo Japan in April. From there, all the usual tournaments like CEO, Evo, Combo Breaker and more will follow.

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Norris Howard
NORRIS HOWARD

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