Street Fighter celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, and that legacy alone is intimidating. At Red Bull’s Battle Grounds in Boston this past weekend, more than 500 competitors fought to scrap their way into next month’s Capcom Cup. That’s a huge turnout, and from our chats with competitors and organizers alike, it was clear the community is still very open to accepting new challengers.
That’s largely the perspective held by Darryl “Snake Eyez” Lewis. He’s Red Bull’s sponsored athlete, ranked 20th in the global Capcom Cup standings. Most notably, he’s one of the best Zangief players in the world. But his chance to make a career out of Street Fighter had humble beginnings. Like many in the sport, Lewis’ introduction to the series was Street Fighter II, a game he immediately loved but didn’t fully understand.
“My friends used to come over and play me in Street Fighter II,” he told Player.One, “they weren't that great, except my friend Dave, who once destroyed me like 50 games straight.” Lewis says those losses made him feel a bit “salty,” but he never gave up. “There was a point where I thought 'I'm just going to secretly play online without him knowing.' When I did, I got really good. I came back and beat him 100 games straight with Zangief and Ken,” he recalled.
He’s committed to becoming a modern Street Fighter V champion ever since. With a practice regimen lasting six to 10 hours a day, he’s conquered major tournaments like CEO, Combo Breaker and the East Coast Throwdown, with a little help from his modded Street Fighter IV Mad Catz Fight Pad. The unique controller feels similar to a standard Xbox 360 remote, but its full-motion D-pad helps Lewis maximize his output in almost every match.
Snake Eyez feels Esports have advantages over physical sports, and thinks they should be regarded in a similar way. “When I played basketball a long time ago, I felt the exact same things I feel in Esports,” he expressed. “The only difference is anyone can play video games, but then there are limitations on who gets to play in the NBA or football.
“You have this element of surprise when you're playing Esports. When you play basketball, the only element of surprise you have is how that team you're used to playing changes up its style.” Snake even went as far as to say he thinks Street Fighter V should be in the Olympics, because “it's easy to watch and you've got some really hype characters.”
That subject of Olympic glory was also on the mind of Chicago Battle Grounds Organizer Noah Vandercook, who wasn’t wild about the idea:
“When you're talking about something like the Olympics, chances are they're not going to want to incorporate your mom-and-pop shops all across the country. They're going to want to set up their own organization and competitive structure. That's the real thing you've got to worry about when these large organizations come in, whether it's the Olympics or anything else, is how they treat the existing competition schedule and infrastructure that's already succeeding.”
Still, he echoed many of the social values held by Snake Eyez.
“How consoles work can change, but, besides that, we're still the same open-bracket, open-atmosphere environment. That's the sort of thing that I hope never changes,” he said with a smile. “It's the in-person aspect of it. The first step to being in the community is you go to an event, meet people and play against other people to learn how you stack up. That alone is a lot more interesting than other communities where your first step into it is to come out to an event.”
That exact environment that has taken Snake Eyez from his couch to some of the world’s biggest stages. He was an early knockout at this weekend’s tournament, but he’ll still be competing for the Capcom Cup in December after “bootcamping” for the next few weeks.
“Keep rooting for me, and I'll take that number-one spot,” he urged his supporters. As for new players who might be waiting to take down Snake in the future, he had a few words of advice: “pick a character that feels good” and “don’t pick Alex.” For him, DLC fighter Zeku seems like an interesting selection for new challengers in the years ahead.
Watch Snake Eyez and the other Street Fighter V greats during the Capcom Cup. Festivities begin the weekend of Dec. 8.
