After his spectacular Capcom Pro Tour Asia East online qualifier win, Daigo Umehara spent some time talking to his fans on his Twitch stream and explained what happened during his tournament run.

Daigo acknowledged that he had been playing really well online, but he didn’t expect to win the stacked qualifier.

When asked which matchups he was worried about, Daigo responded that he was comfortable going up against Cammy players because he had spent a lot of time practicing against her. He then said the player he wasn’t confident in playing opposite was his own teammate, Keita “Fuudo” Ai.

“[Fuudo] is one of the three people in the world I don’t want to play against right now. I really don’t get the Poison matchup,” said Daigo. The Street Fighter V legend also explained his miscalculated stun combo that helped Fuudo reset the bracket.

“Yeah, that one I messed up. But I think that situation was really rare,” Daigo explained. “When Poison got stunned, I forgot what I was supposed to do.” Knowing that his damage had been completely scaled down, Daigo said he panicked. So, he went for a throw instead, which was the worst option in that situation.



In his Q&A with his fans, he also mentioned that it was his first tournament win using a Hit Box arcade stick. Daigo made the switch back in May and has stuck with his decision ever since. He also explained that, “for [Hit Box], Sonic Boom and Flash Kick comes out faster. But, when it comes to overall maneuverability, the [traditional] arcade stick is better.”

Credit: Hit Box

Daigo also believes that, since the tournament was held online, he was able to focus on playing and wasn’t distracted by fans asking for photos and autographs. But, he did say that he doesn’t mind interacting with fans, because that is part of his job.

Finally, Daigo revealed that he learned something new throughout his online tournament experience. The 39 year old pro player decided to track his body temperature during the entire CPT Asia East tournament. “It turned out, my body temperature was 38°C (100°F). I always felt dull during tournaments. This was why. No wonder,” said Daigo. This would explain why Daigo often had an indifferent expression while playing in the biggest Street Fighter tournaments.

Daigo’s CPT Asia East tournament win earned him so much praise from different prominent figures in the Street Fighter community. He is already considered by some as the best player to ever play Street Fighter, but a win at Capcom Cup 2020 will solidify his claim as the greatest of all time.

READ MORE: 5 reasons why Daigo might actually be better today than he was 10 years ago