Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Features

How an underdog Street Fighter 6 player beat the odds to win $1 million

DeAngelo Epps
By
A player holds a check for a million dollars at a Street Fighter 6 tournament.
Capcom

It didn’t take long for last year’s excellent Street Fighter 6 to take the fighting game world by storm. Capcom’s critically praised fighting game didn’t just revitalize the Street Fighter series, but reignited interest in the fighting genre as a whole. Capcom then focused on growing the competitive side of Street Fighter 6  by hosting a new entry of its tournament circuit, Capcom Cup, with a first-place prize of $1 million.

That historic prize pool was enough to awaken a fighting game community that was hungry to land a win. While many big names battled, the ultimate winner was a bit of a surprise. The million-dollar prize went to an unsponsored face that you might not recognize: Wang “UMA” Yuan-hao.

Recommended Videos

Yuan-hao is a relatively new face to the world of competitive fighters, having made his tournament debut in 2017 with Street Fighter 5. Despite lacking the decades of experience and notoriety his opponents had under their belts (as well as hailing from the underdog country of Taiwan), Yuan-hao tackled every challenge to become the Capcom Cup champion.

Related

His story encapsulates why the fighting game community is so special in the world of esports. Seeing someone relatively unknown show up and win a worldwide tournament is the classic tale of hard work paying off and opens the door for the next person who sets their sights on becoming a champion. I spoke to Yuan-hao about his shocking win and what it takes to become a millionaire by playing video games.

Uma (Juri) vs. Chris Wong (Luke) - Grand Final - Capcom Cup X

Digital Trends: Where did you start in fighting games? What made you want to take competing seriously?

Yuan-hao: I seriously started playing fighting games with Street Fighter V, which was the first competitive game that made me feel the joy of overcoming difficulties. The first time I participated in an offline event was at the TWFighter Major Street Fighter V 2016 tournament. I was only a spectator in the audience, not competing, but I felt the atmosphere was fantastic. So, I decided to compete the following year. During my first tournament, I ranked 13th. The audience cheering for me motivated me to practice even harder.

Juri laughing with lolipop and phone in hand during her victory pose in Street Fighter 6.
Capcom

Of all the regions and countries that competed in Capcom Cup, Taiwan wasn’t one that many saw in the conversation to be the home of the winner. Did being away from the more prolific countries hold any shortcomings?

Due to the excellent online environment of Street Fighter 6, Taiwan can practice with players from Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, and other places. This was not possible in Street Fighter V, so Taiwan does not have a disadvantage in terms of practice environment.

Did you ever look into obtaining a sponsorship before Capcom Cup?

Before Capcom Cup, I thought that achieving a good ranking might help me find sponsorship. However, winning the championship made me realize that perhaps I no longer needed to actively seek sponsorship. Sponsorship is also a form of work, a kind of pressure, and sometimes it can affect the player’s mental state.

What training regimen did you follow for such a large tournament?

My practice plan consists of the following: study characters and test strategies in training, online ranked matches, practice with other players, and watching videos of my and others’ gameplay. I also practice defense using Street Fighter 6’s CPU Level 8. When I feel my performance is off during training, I stop practicing. And confidence is crucial. I usually visualize myself winning to boost my confidence.

Uma holding the Capcom Cup X trophie.
Capcom

How much time did you spend practicing a day?

Before a competition, I practiced for over 10 hours a day. Long hours of practice don’t necessarily put me in a bad mood, but not having time to play other games or pursue other hobbies can make me a bit unhappy. So, I don’t plan to do that as much in the future.

I didn’t want to work, so I won.

Have you done anything with your money that you can share?

Currently, I’ve given gifts to my family and bought some Hololive merchandise. Other than that, I don’t have plans to spend money on anything else. I’ll mostly use the money for low-risk investments. I plan to participate in EvoJP and other tournaments, but I’ll have to wait for the official announcement of the Season 2 competition dates.

What training advice can you give to players who want to win, but have to split their time between work and other arrangements?

In my case, I didn’t want to work, so I won. The disparity between tournament play and private practice is difficult to put into words, but generally, in Street Fighter 6 tournaments, anyone can sign up, so it’s worth participating. During the competition, everyone gets nervous and makes mistakes. It’s the same for everyone.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
DeAngelo Epps
DeAngelo Epps
Former Digital Trends Contributor
De'Angelo Epps is a gaming writer passionate about the culture, communities, and industry surrounding gaming. His work ranges…
Street Fighter 6 does everything it needs to as Capcom’s next grand fighting game

Street Fighter 6 made a strong first impression during its State of Play gameplay unveiling. It made an equally strong impression when I went hands-on with its traditional 1v1 Fighting Ground experience at Summer Game Fest Play Days.
Thanks to the technical prowess of the RE Engine, Street Fighter 6 is a marvelous game to look at. Its gameplay is equally impressive as it’s deepened with the new Drive Gauge and Modern Control type. While being the next grand mainline entry in the most important fighting game series of all time is a tall order, Street Fighter 6 already seems prepared to take on that challenge.
A Visual Marvel
The build of the game I played let me go hands-on with four characters: Ryu, Chun-Li, Luke, and brand new character, Jamie. Ryu and Chun-Li’s redesigns look fantastic, while Luke and Jamie have distinctive styles as relative newcomers to the franchise. In general, Street Fighter 6 is an utterly gorgeous game.
Street Fighter 6 - State of Play June 2022 Announce Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games
Powered by the RE Engine behind games like Resident Evil Village, Street Fighter 6’s character models are incredibly detailed and colorful. The inner-city alleyways of Metro City and the cherry-blossom-filled Genbu Temple I fought at were vibrant and lively, and pre-game presentation always got me hyped as the Street Fighter characters pumped themselves up for the impending fight.
Fights and special moves aren’t too visually busy, so you’ll always clearly understand what moves you’re doing. Drive Impacts create gorgeous, paint-like streaks across the screen, giving these disruptive moves more satisfying visual feedback. Especially on next-gen consoles, Street Fighter 6 will be one of the prettiest fighting games ever.
Street Fighter 6 loads super fast-on PS5 too, with rematches loading nearly instantly. Those quick load times helped ensure I stuck around for even longer than my allotted demo time, but so did Street Fighter 6’s satisfying gameplay.
A delicious combo meal
Street Fighter titles have always been very lauded and popular fighting games. As genre trailblazers, the last few Street Fighters mainly focus on evolving the combo-based gameplay that sets a standard for the rest of the genre. Street Fighter 6 is no different.

You’ll punch and kick as your favorite characters, stringing together button press and stick movements to pull off wild special moves and combos. Many of the iconic combos and button presses return just as you remember them, so you shouldn’t have trouble pulling off a Hadoken a Ryu when you finally get your hands on Street Fighter 6.
In Street Fighter 6, players draw from two different gauge meters. The more traditional Super Gauge lets your character pull off their special moves. Meanwhile, the new Drive Gague lets players do up to five colorful offensive and defensive moves like the Drive Impact counter, the Drive Parry, and more. Players must manage this meter wisely, as they’ll take more damage if it fully depletes. It doesn’t revolutionize the fighting game experience but adds an exciting risk-vs-reward element to each fight.
Even though I’ve played less than an hour of Street Fighter 6, it already feels fantastic to play and like a solid evolution for this classic series. For fans that might not be as familiar with fighting games, Street Fighter 6 isn’t leaving them in the dust.
This game introduces the Modern Control type, which lets players execute special moves like the Hadoken or the Shin Shoryuken with simple button presses. Holding R2 and mashing triangle is much easier to understand than a complicated string of button press and stick movements, so fans who want to see each character’s flashiest moves should enjoy this new control scheme.

Read more
Street Fighter 6 shows off its new style in debut trailer
Chun Li fighting other girl

This summer's PlayStation State of Play was packed tight with big names, including Street Fighter 6. Capcom revisited the highly anticipated follow-up to its flagship fighting game series with a detailed trailer that showcases the setting, gameplay, and versus mode, including cameos from Ryu and Chun-Li. It looks slick, even if it's shifting the art direction from what Street Fighter fans already know.

Street Fighter 6 stars a new protagonist called Luke -- introduced in the first few moments of the trailer. We see him training at a martial arts gym in what looks like New York City. Heck, the Statue of Liberty is pictured in a zoomed-out shot of the harbor. Like Street Fighter 5, it seems that Street Fighter 6 will have some kind of story mode. It involves some open-world exploration, where Luke will meet roam the streets of New York and take on familiar fighters from the series. Ryu and Chun-Li appear, along with other newcomers Jamie and Kimberly.

Read more
The fight to keep the Nickelodeon All-Stars Brawl scene alive
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl screenshot of Garfield fighting Spongebob.

The Super Smash Bros.-esque fighting game Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl may not have received critical acclaim at launch, but it quickly gained a small, dedicated competitive player base nonetheless. Fans praised for its fast fighting gameplay that's clearly inspired by the Smash formula, though it adds some unique spins of its own. Despite this early support, the game's scene died down due to the pandemic continuing to shutter live events, which limited interest in and opportunities for the game.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl - Official Garfield Trailer

Read more